Hostel experiment was successful, in that it disproved a hypothesis

[xiphias]

I'm posting from home on Saturday night; I'll be going back to Boskone in the morning, but I'm sleeping here tonight. Our plan had been to stay at the youth hostel on Hemminway St, three blocks from the con, and that's where Lis is staying tonight; I'm not.

See, we wanted to demonstrate that I could stay at a youth hostel, because they're cheap. And if I could stay at youth hostels, we could potentially travel more, which would be a good outcome for Lis. So I got my hostelling card, and we tried it.

Lis had no real trouble sleeping last night. Me, however -- I count last night as among the most horrific nights of my life.

We got back from the con to the hostel at midnight, about. and got changed into pajamas and got into bed. It was a six-bunk dorm room, three sets of bunk beds. I was in Bed 2, which was a top bunk.

We noticed later that my bunk was higher than the other two -- high enough, actually, that the ladder to the bunk bed didn't actually reach the ground, and therefore wasn't braced against anything, and was just hanging loosely off of the side of the bunk. . .

Have I mentioned that I'm afraid of heights? Well, I am. So I managed to crawl my way up the shaky, swaying ladder into the bed. I mentioned to Lis that I'm afraid of heights.

"I thought you slept in a bunk bed when you were a child," she said.

"I did. I fell out and broke my wrist when I was eight."

That, incidentally, was an exaggeration on my part. I did not, actually break my wrist. I simply sprained it severely enough that it still hurts today, especially in cold weather or in pressure changes. In very fine weather, when I'm feeling particularly healthy, my wrist will occasionally stop hurting briefly. This is a problem.

See, this is how I learned left from right: "Right Is The Wrist That Hurts." It's STILL how I tell left from right, which is why I get lost more often when I'm feeling well than poorly.

Of course, I can get equally lost any time that I bang my left wrist against anything. I have, over time, collected more asymmetric aches and pains, so I can go to "Left Is The Palm That Hurts, Left Is The Instep That Hurts, Right Is The Thumb That Hurts, Right Is The Fourth Toe That Hurts," and so forth, but I still primarily rely on "Right Is The Wrist That Hurts."

Which is one of the reasons I dislike bunk beds.

The second reason I disliked the bunk bed was that the mattress was. . . um, frankly better than you'd expect for a cheap hostel bed. If I wasn't me, I don't think I'd have had a problem with the mattress. There was nothing particularly horrific or objectionable about the mattress. It was thin, sure, but I think a normal person would have had little problem with it.

I am not a normal person. You know the fairy tale of the Princess And the Pea? Yeah, I've got deep sympathy for that woman, and think that she really should have brought a lawsuit for pain and suffering against those sadists who stuffed a dried pea under those mattresses.

And the pillow had similar problems -- which is to say, it would be reasonably comfortable for a reasonable person. Less so for me.

So, that's the physical part of the situation.

Then there's the social part.

We got to bed at around midnight, and Lis had a little trouble dropping off to sleep because of the noise in the street. 'Cause, see, the hostel is really right near the nightclubs. It's a GREAT place to be if you want to go out clubbing and all. Like, y'know, if you're a youth traveling to Boston.

I strongly suspect that I'm far to old a fuddy-duddy to really stay at this hostel. As evidence, I submit the fact that I just used the word "fuddy-duddy", and meant it.

I couldn't sleep until 3 AM, after the clubs closed down, just from noise from partying groups of people walking around outside.

Lis, of course, could sleep right through it.

But what was far worse was, for me, when the other occupants of our room came in. Mostly after 3 AM, after the clubs closed down. They were all, to a person, considerate, attempted to be as quiet and unobtrusive as they could be, and yet I felt absolute PANIC every time the door opened.

It wasn't about noise, or discourtesy, or inconsideration -- they were quiet, courteous, and considerate. It was simply that I can't sleep with strangers about.

I never knew that about myself.

I mean, I've crashed out on the floor of staff rooms at cons before -- but the other half-dozen people on the floor were all people I knew, at least somewhat. I can DO that. Acquaintances, no problem. Strangers -- problem.

This rather puts a kibosh on the idea of youth hostels for me.

And for this reason, I now consider the experiment of staying at a youth hostel a success (after Lis pointed this fact out to me). An experiment is a method of testing a hypothesis. We have now disproved the hypothesis "Ian Can Stay At A Youth Hostel" in a situation in which I could go home afterward instead of being stuck in a strange city with no place to stay.

Comments

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

Totally not trying to fix this, but the hostel we stayed in in San Diego had single/double rooms for a bit more, but still cheap. firecat and kyubi stayed in one, if I remember right.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

The important fact is that we've discovered a problem, and a possible reason for the problem, in a situation and condition in which said problem didn't cause much of a problem.

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

Yes, is very cool. As I said, I wasn't trying to fix anything, just noting something that I thought of when I read your post.

[tylik.livejournal.com]

My sympathies. Between my chronic (though reasonably controlled) insomnia, and the general grumpiness of my back, I have come to look at sleeping at places that are not my home with great paranoia. I have a set up that allows me to backpack in relative comfort. After a fairly awful bed and breakfast attempt, I've decided to bring my ultra light therma rest and inflatable insulated pillow with me even when I'm staying in supposedly more civilized quarters -- if the mattress doesn't suit, I will sleep on the floor.

I'm still not sure how well I will handle sleeping in the presence of other people. There is some kind of family bike trip being planned this summer, and while I'm one of the more avid bicyclists in the family, I'm looking at the whole thing with dismay...

[ellettra.livejournal.com]

i feel your pain. i like to think of myself as a chill, laid-back sort of person, who can do anything, anytime, anywhere. but this is simply not true.

case in point: we stayed in a giant home with 50 people i'd never met before when we went snowboarding a few weeks ago. the place was noisy, noisy, nosiy. drunken kids make the most noise ever. and it made me cranky and crazy. i don't know that a hostel would be do-able for me, either, much as i like the idea. maybe, but i think it would be a problem if i had to do it for too long... i just wouldn't be getting as much sleep as i like/ need to be a hapy and non-whining member of any entourage.

you know, maybe i could overcome my personal problem with earplugs, since it tends to be the noise that affects me the most. shanon was in bed with me when we stayed with all those people, so i didn't feel like i was just alone in a strange bed somewhere. i don't know how i'd do in a place where i was sleeping alone, even if she was in the bunk below.

but the moral is, good on ya for giving it a go. now you know!

[cafemusique.livejournal.com]

I had similar feelings about other people when I stayed at the hostel in Toronto. I think it was also that the bed made a lot of squeaks so I was afraid to adjust my position for fear of waking the others...I had a miserable night...and I was tired to begin with...which is probably why I left a day early...and skipped out on lunch with people I knew. I was feeling just awful and couldn't deal with people. (I think it was also that I need my alone time, and I didn't get it that trip, because I was with strangers when I was sleeping, and the rest of the day was mostly spent doing stuff with people I'd never met in person, but knew from a mailing list.)

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Don't you have a wedding ring?

I have a wedding ring, part of the purpose of which is to indicate "left hand".

Also, if you stick your thumbs in your ears and waggle your fingers then pull your hands forward to where you can see them without otherwise changing their position, the thumb and first finger of your left hand form an L, whereas the ones on your right hand form a reverse L, but if you can tell an L from a _! you're OK.

Oh, and if you don't need your wrist to hurt for useful left/right distinctions, ginseng can be very good for ancient improperly healed injuries. Celestial Seasonings (available in US) do a Ginseng Mint tea that might be worth seeing if you like.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I so agree. I've always known that I couldn't do youth hostels, even when I was a youth. The mere thought of sleeping in a roomful of drunken rowdies sends me running. I need my own private room with a door that closes, and preferably my own bathroom as well. So when I travel, I go ahead and spring for a budget hotel. They're definitely not fancy, but I do get my private night's sleep.

[alcinoe.livejournal.com]

I was the same way when I was in the hospital. I would FREAK when new people would come in, but more so when I would get a new roommate. I did ebb a bit as I got used to it, but I don't know if I could get used to it in a hostel. I think that it is great that you tried and learned what it is you can handle and what you can't. I bet that there are other low cost alternatives, but now you know what you can tolerate and what you can not.

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

I have the same problems. I have spent extra money to have a single room at hotels when I was at training programs. If I do have to sleep in a room with others I take benedril.

[cogitationitis.livejournal.com]

Damn, I so wanted to meet you at Boskone, but I don't know your real name.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

Sorry you had a bad night, but glad you could fix it the next night. I hope you are enjoying Boskone other than this problem. I want to hear all about it! love you

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I swap my wedding ring back and forth from hand to hand. I usually keep it on my left hand, but I swap it to my right hand when my left hand ring finger starts getting sore from wearing a ring.

I know the "Left Hand Makes An L" trick, but I either forget which way I'm supposed to hold my hands, or, more frequently, forget which way an "L" goes.

I DO, however, have a big L-shaped scar on the palm of my left hand, which also helps, but the advantage of "Right Wrist Is the One That Hurts" is that I need not actually LOOK in order to figure it out.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It's Ian Osmond, and I DID write "Xiphias" on my badge in pen above it. For all I know, we may have met. . . I am one of the many, many balding, bearded, glasses-wearing overweight men in their thirties, but I'm shorter than most of them.

[fibro-witch.livejournal.com]

Well I do at least hope you enjoyed Boskone. I was unable to attend as my parents roof decided to take up traveling on Friday. Thus Saturday and Sunday were taken up by picking up said roof, as it did not travel all that far.

As for the hostel, some places have smaller rooms, and if you are truly afraid of heights, you can request a lower bunk.

Don't give up on hostels yet

[dancing-kiralee.livejournal.com]

I think I would define the experiment as well thought out, rather than successful.

One aspect of a well-thought out experiment is that in minimizes risk. So, Trinity happened in the desert, and not, say, Manhattan. And your hostel experiment happened in Boston, where you had a good back-up plan if it failed, and not, say, in Chicago.

A successful experiment proves the hypothesis. That's usually how the word is used by scientists... although occasionally they mean that the experiment disproved the hypothesis in a really interesting way that could, possibly, lead to an even more interesting hypothesis (like the experiment to determine the speed of ether that Einstein used as the basis of the theory of relativity.)

I don't think this situation fulfills either qualification for success (unless you think the insights into why it didn't work were particularly valuable). But you did accomplish something by running the experiment.

You might say it's a successful use of the scientific method (where, in this case, successful means effective, or life-enhancing) but not a successful experiment.

Kiralee

[ckd]

Note that, despite the similarity in icons, it's easy to distinguish between xiphias and I in person.

I'm the one without glasses.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Also, you probably weigh 75 pounds less than I do.

[ckd]

Hm. Perhaps, though I'm not sure the difference is that marked.

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

Hi there - wanted to wish you belatedly a very joyful birthday year ahead.

Much love and hugs!

[ailbhe]

I sympathise. I am still trying to decide whether to stay in a private room in hospital this August, because *at night* the public wards give me all the problems you mentioned - noise, fear of people suddenly walking in for totally innocent purposes, wondering whether I or someone else is going to fall out of bed / trip over something on the way to the loo, the nasty mattresses - but during the day, the isolation of a private room might kill me.

Ho hum.