4 ms·

A few years ago I had the pleasure of spending 10 weeks in hospital, which as well as having bits dating back to 1860 and being extended every couple of decades

A few years ago I had the pleasure of spending 10 weeks in hospital, which as well as having bits dating back to 1860 and being extended every couple of decades, is also attached to the local uni. The only way I stayed sane was spending my nights exploring as much as I could, made all the more exciting by having to crawl up stairs and drag my wheelchair behind me. I decided very quickly that "no public access" signs didn't apply as I wasn't a member of the public, I was an inpatient. Elevators are particularly interesting. You might need a key-card to get onto the 4th floor, but it turns out that for efficiency half the elevators waited on that top floor. Get into elevator, read book for 5 minutes, wait for it to reset, go home and let you out in the restricted section. Or this entire floor is locked off from the stairway, but the floor above is open and the elevator lets me go down a floor and get out. It's honestly amazing where you can end up, especially if you combine boredom, time and a bit of a can-do attitude. One of my favourite games was using the stick from an ice-lolly (sold from a machine in reception) to jimmy the lock on badly fitted doors. I also found an ebay pair of scrubs to be really useful once I'd worked out how to get into places - you'd go down a corridor, have people stick their heads out of doors and start with "Hey! You can't be down her---oh sorry doctor". I ended up reporting most of it to security just after I got released. They refused to engage, but had swapped out all the locks when I had a check-up a year later.

pests 3y ago
I treated my college campus like this. I had tons of secret nooks and crannies, rarely used single-occupant bathrooms, good reading chairs or study areas, even found a working shower in an old CS building that used to be dorms. In winter I would know the route through the complex of buildings and rarely used passages and connections to reduce my time spent outdoors.
- milesward 3y ago
  Oh dude I found my sousaphone, plus a like-new Rhodes piano, and a whole-ass pipe organ my college had forgotten. Plus the ID card laminator, that was clutch ;)
- dekhn 3y ago
  I grew up near Wesleyan U in connecticut; they have an extensive underground tunnel system partly for steam delivery and partly just to get around in weather. We used to do medieval recreation and other stuff down there, and I still occasionally dream I'm wandering the tunnels, 35 years later.
  - pavel_lishin 3y ago
    Are you the inspiration for Stephenson's "The Big U"?
    - dekhn 3y ago
      Lol, no! That's based on BU, and was published right around the time I started LARPing. I can't remember if there were tunnels or LARPing in that book, but steam tunnels/walking tunnels are common in the northeast, as is LARPing.
      - pavel_lishin 3y ago
        There was definitely both! Man, I should re-read that book. I read it in college, and definitely felt like I was missing out on what I felt should have been a quintessential college experience, like losing a radiation source, fighting off mutant rats, and building my own tank.

pests 3y ago

I treated my college campus like this. I had tons of secret nooks and crannies, rarely used single-occupant bathrooms, good reading chairs or study areas, even found a working shower in an old CS building that used to be dorms. In winter I would know the route through the complex of buildings and rarely used passages and connections to reduce my time spent outdoors.

milesward 3y ago
Oh dude I found my sousaphone, plus a like-new Rhodes piano, and a whole-ass pipe organ my college had forgotten. Plus the ID card laminator, that was clutch ;)
dekhn 3y ago
I grew up near Wesleyan U in connecticut; they have an extensive underground tunnel system partly for steam delivery and partly just to get around in weather. We used to do medieval recreation and other stuff down there, and I still occasionally dream I'm wandering the tunnels, 35 years later.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  Are you the inspiration for Stephenson's "The Big U"?
  - dekhn 3y ago
    Lol, no! That's based on BU, and was published right around the time I started LARPing. I can't remember if there were tunnels or LARPing in that book, but steam tunnels/walking tunnels are common in the northeast, as is LARPing.
    - pavel_lishin 3y ago
      There was definitely both! Man, I should re-read that book. I read it in college, and definitely felt like I was missing out on what I felt should have been a quintessential college experience, like losing a radiation source, fighting off mutant rats, and building my own tank.