Southwest Missouri

You know all those brochures that sit in the lobby of every motel and hotel that advertise great things to do or things to buy in the area you are staying? Well, Peter and I fell victim to one of those and so our first destination on July 5th, was the Airline History Museum located at the downtown Kansas City airport. This airport is used mainly for communter flights and private flights.

The museum, actually a hangar, is run by passionate historians of aviation. Kansas City was the original home of TWA, which stood for Transcontinental and Western Airways. The museum has three rooms of artifacts of long gone era of American Aviation. Here's something that attendents of flights had to be wary of.

Watch out when you go to the bathroom!

The main part of the tour was to see the restored planes the museum has purchased and has volunteers working on restoring. There is a plane who's name I can't remember, a DC3 and the pride of the museum and Constellation, affectionately known as a Connie.

A DC3 being carefully restored to original specifications.

Peter and I enjoying the first class seats of the restored Connie

After the museum, it was time for Peter and I to leave the big city and work our way to Little Rock. We made a conscious decision to stay off the big highways and to let serendipity lead the way.

Follow the purple hatched line, it's the route we took.

By taking the small roads, we saw the beautiful countryside of Southwest Missouri. We stopped by a historical plaque which marked the location where 12,000 men of Missouri camped one winter during the War Between the States. These men entered on the side of the Confederacy. Peter and I were clearly now in the South.

On a cliff above the confluence of the Osage and Sauk rivers.

Our wanderings took us near many lakes and reservoirs. At Stockton State Park, I took a dip. Definately refreshing! The scene of a person taking a swim on a hot summer day in the South was one that I lived.

Sampling the local produce.

Eventually our path lead us onto this famous road.

Historic Route 66

After driving the winding roads of Southwest Missouri, I got onto Route 66, a long straightaway, and found myself going over 75 miles an hour. I got pulled over by Officer Byrnes of the Missouri Highway Patrol. I gave him my California drivers liscense along with the rental car paperwork. He was quizzical and asked Peter and I what the purpose of our trip was. His response, "are you getting paid to do this?" brought howls of laughter to Peter and I. After determining that I had no outstanding warrants for my arrest and had a clean driving record, Officer Byrnes let us go with a warning to "keep the speed down." A hearty shout out to Officer Byrnes!!

As the sun was setting, we rolled into the town of Joplin, MO. The pattern of development of these small cities is to have a charming and architecturallly beautiful downtown that is economically dying. Out near the interstate, all the chain and box stores have drawn residents away from the old town square. We saw this over and over again in most every town we entered.

After hitting up a local for dinner suggestions, Peter and I ended up at Big R's Restaurant.

A local steakhouse in Joplin, MO

I have to say that there was so much hope and potential for Big R's. But the steak I had was mushy and Peter's ribs were nothing compared to Arthur Bryants.

Sleep was found at the Joplin, MO Motel 6.

Harry S Truman (#33)

Harry S Truman (1945-1953)

July 4th, 2005 in Independence, MO. Patriotic and fitting was how Peter and I saw it. We started the day by taking a tour of Truman's lifelong home at 219 North Delaware Street. It's a grand old house with great porches.

The Truman Family Home in Independence, MO

The inside of the house is exactly the same as the day Bess Truman passed away in 1982. Even the calender on the wall is set to 1982. On the coat rack in the hallway is the last coat and hat that Harry wore. It is as he last set it there before he died. One interesting note, it is in Bess' will that the Truman's daughter, Margaret Truman, is allowed to stay at her childhood home at anytime she likes. Because of this, the entire upstairs is off limits to tourists as it is Margaret's home. Margaret, now in her 80's, hasn't stayed at the North Delaware home in a few years.

After the house tour, Peter and I moved on to view the Truman's Museum about a mile north of his home. For the decade after Truman left office, he took a brisk walk to and from his home to his office at the museum complex. He claimed it kept him healthy. His aim was to take 120 steps per minute to keep the heart in shape.

Of the three museum's Peter and I felt that the Truman Museum was the most honest. It certainly celebrated his life and accomplishments, but there was no overstating propaganda. During the opening film, the narrator clearly stated that the decisions and issues that Truman handled some 60 years ago have not yet fully played out and so a decision as to whether he did something well/right/badly/wrong cannot yet be determined. In addition, throughout the museum, viewpoints that stated what Truman did was incorrect were always presented. For example, it was on Truman's watch that the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. There were clear statements in view by those who felt that Truman's decision to drop the bombs was a mistake. It was refreshing to read criticisms of Truman's years in the White House.

It also became clear to me that during the years Truman was in office, he didn't catch a break. The end of WWII, the Korean War, Joseph McCarthy, emerging Civil rights, the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine. One after the other, Truman was bombarded with crises and he simply did his best.

If his persona had to be summed up in one line it would be:


THE BUCK STOPS HERE

That saying was printed on a placard that sat on his desk. I think it is a great motto for our leaders.

I walk with the giants of history!

Oh, an observation. Since we spent a number of hours at the Truman Museum, we left in the middle to go get some lunch. In our pursuit of healthy food options, we noticed that up to this point in the trip, we had yet to see a grocery store. Where do the people of this part of the country shop for groceries? It's unfortunate, that we had to resort to McDonalds for lunch.

After our time at the museum, we went wandering around Kansas City. The city is knows as the "CITY OF FOUNTAINS" and so we went to a part of town that we were told had a number of the most beautiful. Along the way, we drove through downtown, which was eerily quiet. We stopped in and saw the newly renovated Kansas City Union Station. Driving south, we stumbled upon the obviously very yuppie section of Kansas City along 47th Avenue. Case in point? Restoration Hardware. Enough said!

The skyline of Kansas City, MO

On the evening of July 4th, Peter agreed to attend a baseball game at Kauffmann Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals. On this evening, they were playing the one and only Seattle Mariners. Seattle won 6-0.

Kauffmann Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals

Fountains at Kauffmann Stadium in the city of fountains.

After the game, a great fireworks show and then sleep at the Southeast Kansas City Motel 6.

Dwight David Eisenhower (#34)

General and President Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-1961)

Every couple of years or so, my friend from college, Peter Steinberg and I decide to take a trip together. To say that these trips are far from the mainstream, is quite an understatement. Past trips have included a weeklong sea kayaking trip in Nova Scotia, exploring northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula and this years expedition to Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. The motivation? We wanted to see the Eisenhower, Truman and Clinton presidential libraries. Geeky? You betcha!

Late Saturday July 2nd, after pulling an OJ in the Houston Airport (those readers who think this is a reference to Kato and Nicole, ummm grow up!), I arrived at the Kansas City Airport and met up with Peter. Now for an informational nugget. The Kansas City Airport has 90 gates. Who would have guessed a number that high.

The first decision that Peter and I had to make was whether or not to rent an car that had XM radio. The young woman at the checkout counter was quite hip to our banter, but in the end we decided that to visit these states, we should be subject to local radio. XM Satellite radio would be the equivalent of eating at McDonalds the entire trip. So, no satellite radio for the two of us.

Peter and I drove west along I-70 for an hour and stayed the night at the NW Topeka Motel 6. As we drove, the number of signs pointing out things to see and do along I-70 in Kansas was surprisingly large. A small sample include, the territorial capital of Kansas (before it was a state), Leavenworth Military Prison, the Kansas Motor Speedway where Danica Patrick was to race the next day and the Brown vs. Board of Education historic site. All within an hour of Kansas City.

On Sunday the 3rd, Peter and I hauled ourselves another hour and a half west to Abilene, KS, the childhood home of Dwight Eisenhower. In fact, here I am in front of his childhood home.

E Chen looking droopy in front of DDE's home in Abilene, KS.

The Eisenhower Museum (I like how there is a grain silo in the distance behind it)

The first thing I learned is that every president since Herbert Hoover (excluding Richard Nixon) has a presidential library that houses his papers and also a museum, which documents his life. The libraries are run by the National Archives and Records Administration known affectionately as "NARA."

The tour of his childhood home was perfunctory and the library itself had little of interest. But his museum was what I came to see. What I learned is that Eisenhower was immensely popular, but really had few issues to deal with. The 50's, when he was president, was a time of great economic prosperity in the United States. To be way oversimplify in my summary of him, Eisenhower got to benefit from the work done before he was elected.

After a couple hours in the library, Peter and I drove back east to Kansas City. Thanks to Peter for driving through what was apparently a nasty downpour and lightening storm. I napped most of the drive.

We got into Kansas City just in time to get to eat at the famous Arthur Bryant's BBQ. The brisket sandwich and short ribs Peter and I had were everything they were said to be. We literally got in with 15 minutes to spare.

An outside view of Arthur Bryant's BBQ and 17th and Brooklyn, Kansas, City, MO

With our stomachs stuffed, Peter and I pushed on to stay the evening at the Motel 6 in Blue Springs, MO.

Progress is good

First off, I have had more than a couple people comment on how tidy and clean I appear to keep my workspace. Granted, I am generally a person who keeps things organized, but in this case, there is an external factor at work. You see, the couple upstairs from me have a six month old baby daughter who needs her naps. Therefore, whenever Cora is going to nap, I get a call to stop my work. It's turned out that these enforced breaks are good. During these times, I can clean up as well as step back and think about what my next steps are going to be. In years to come, Cora can claim that her sleep was the reason why I didn't make any mistakes. So what does it look like now?

There used to be a wall in that hole

At this point, I have only a couple more edge pieces of wood to remove and then I'll fit the door in. To remove all that wood, I used a "sawsall."

The "sawsall"

I fully admit that when I got up this morning, I was a bit apprehensive about having so much power in my hands. My first cut was not a good one, but I got pretty comfortable with it by the end. Man, does it vibrate.

So, I leave the project at the halfway point as I jet off to the Midwest for a trip with my friend Peter S. We're going to see the Eisenhower, Truman and Clinton Presidential Libraries. They are located in Abilene, KS, Independence, MO and Little Rock, AR respectively. I will be blogging from the road and thereby returning the blog to its original purpose!

Wall Be Gone (part 2)

Thursday June 30th, 2005 -- 9:00AM

Wall Be Gone

The major project of the summer consists of me demolishing the wall between my bedroom and the front room of my place and then installing a set of French doors. For those who know me well, manual labor is not my forte. So the thought of me hammering away at plasterboard, using an electric saw (called a "sawsall"), and then trying to level a pair of doors must be causing bursts of laughter across the United States. You readers will be treated to the continuing saga of this project throughout the summer.

The wall as seen from my bedroom

The wall as seen from the front room

These prehung(!) French doors (on their side) will be installed in place of the wall, thereby providing me a sitting room attached to my bedroom.

The status of the project as of 9AM Wednesday June 29th, 2005.

A Florida Gator Union

This past weekend, because I didn't have surgery on my right foot as was previously scheduled, I joined Scott as he and I flew across the country for the wedding of one of his closest friends from his years at the University of Florida. To be more specific, Scott was one of the four groomsman at the wedding of his dear friend Rob (a Gator) and his bride Kristi (a Gator).

Scott and I flew into Orlando, arriving Friday (6/24) afternoon around dinnertime. Another of his friends from his Florida friends, Scott S.(a Gator) and his partner Jay(a Florida State Seminole, gasp), picked us up and we immediately attacked the drive (and traffic) of Interstate 4 to St. Petersburg, FL, the location of all wedding festivities. Friday evening was spent eating and reminiscing about their days of yore at Florida and the Florida Marching band. I had a fantastic time, sitting out in the warm evening on the balcony of Dan Marino's Restaurant eating Mahi Mahi and drinking fresh brewed lemonade. I can complain about the heat and humidity of Florida weather, but it's nice to never have to worry about being cold in the evening.

Saturday was spent meeting more friends, eating more food and attending the rehearsal dinner at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. The setting looked familiar as I remembered the view looked very reminiscent to the view from the reception of another wedding I attended here in St. Petersburg back in 1999. In speaking to my friend Gina, her wedding which I attended right here in St. Petersburg back in 1999, the location of her reception was a mere half mile from the Yacht club.

The wedding took place on Sunday, not Saturday. The wedding and reception took place in the afternoon at the Mirror Lake Lyceum. I would personally like to thank Rob and his bride for having all of us in attendance sit through a ceremony that lasted at most 10 minutes. Seriously. It was a tactical strike of a wedding ceremony. Afterwards, the reception was help in the same space and the wedding party asked the spouses of the wedding party to join them at a large center table in the middle of the dining room. That meant ME! In a matter of seconds, I went from anonymously sitting at a table with a family from Iowa to being seated at the center table. I had become a SPOUSE. Scott and Jay (from the drive down), and Scott and I were equal members of this wedding party table. I thought it was totally cool.

In fact, everyone at the wedding was kind and open to the Scott's, Jay and I. Rob, the groom, has been friends with the Scott's for so long, that the extended families are comfortable with gay relationships. On the flight home, I asked Scott what percentage of wedding attendees did he think were Republican voters, he said probably 90%. However, I never felt any overt hostility, and that was really nice.

However, what became most striking to me about this wedding was the pride all the graduates had in their alma mater, The University of Florida at Gainesville. Talk centered on the upcoming football season, who was going to attend which games, which games on the road were sold out (South Carolina and ten cool points to non-SEC football fans who can email me why) and the score of the Florida-Texas baseball game as the University of Florida Gators Baseball team had made it to the College World Series finals for the first time ever and the games were being played that weekend. I'm sorry to report that the Gators the best two out of three series, 0-2, having made valiant comeback attempts in both losses.

Here's what the groom's cake looked like.

The design of the groom's cake. GO GATORS!!

I don't think many of us who have lived our lives in the Northern tier of states truly can understand the passion with which those in the South identify with their schools. The "heated" interplay between those who went to Florida State versus Florida might be interpreted as outright hostility to those of us not in the know. But it's all apart of daily life here in the South. Many of Scott's friends are excited to have me experience it all when I attend the Florida versus Tennessee game in Gainesville on the 17th of September. It will be quite the experience as a) it will be Florida's SEC East Opener b) Urban Meyer's first SEC game c) Tennessee and it's coach Phillip Fulmer are the team most thought to contend with Florida for the SEC East division title d) the game time has been moved to 8PM thereby allowing for extended tailgaiting. I can't wait!

The most touching part of the evening was when all the Florida alumni were asked to gather and sing the alma mater. The fact that I got misty eyed (man I've been doing that a lot lately) was a testament to how much that place and time is held so dear in the hearts of those who were belting out:


Florida, our Alma Mater
Thy glorious name we praise;
All thy loyal sons and daughters
A joyous song shall raise.
Where palm and pine are blowing,
Where southern seas are flowing,
Shine forth thy noble Gothic walls,
Thy lovely vine-clad halls.
'Neath the Orange and Blue victorious
Our love shall never fail.
There’s no other name so glorious—
All Hail, Florida, Hail!

Best wishes to the newlyweds as they spend their honeymoon in Hawaii and then return to domestic bliss. Thanks to all those in St. Petersburg who made me feel welcome and recognized the significance of Scott asking me to attend this wedding with him.

Early Mornings

So with summer break fully in swing, my routine is set. When Scott gets up at 6AM, I get up too and have breakfast with him. Then I retreat to my room, fire up the laptop and enjoy two to three hours of pure quiet time bliss and read my email the Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Washington Post and Salon.com.

Anyway, for those of you familiar with Seattle area "celebrities", this article about what's on people's TIVO had me laughing out loud. Whoever this Pamela Sitt is, she's funny.

Pictorial Guide to Replacing Glass in a Window

My bathroom window shattered when I left it open during a windstorm, oops.

The windowframe after the glass has been removed.

Remove old glazier points which held the old glass in place.

Apply window glazing (feels like silly putty)

Use putty knife to push glazier points into the frame itself to keep the glass in place.

The finished product.

The friends keep coming

This father's day weekend I had two friends (from the same circle) visit San Francisco independently of each other. To introduce them takes a bit of background. During these years, I was living in Baltimore and spent most of my free moments down in DC. It starts when my high school friend Kristin S. graduated from Wellesley, she went to work for the EPA in DC and lived with a couple friends. Those friends left after a year and she ended up living in a house with my Cornell friend Peter S. and two other guys. Kristin was the first to move out, but over the course of a couple years, this four person house on Wisconsin Avenue housed a number of people, one of them, Simeon, became a friend as well. It is Simeon and Peter (along with his girlfriend) who were in town this weekend. We, Scott included, met at my favorite Dim Sum restaurant. Afterwards, we trekked up to the top of Bernal Hill to take in the sunny day and views.

Peter, Allison and Simeon with San Francisco in the background

Scott and Ernie (but what's up with the sunglasses, Chen?)

After that, I took the crew to the Esmeralda Street slide. The tandem slide is located a couple blocks from my house, and is placed along a set of stairs that climb from the bottom of Bernal Hill to the top along the western slope. It's one of the charming things that make me continue to love living in this neighboorhood.

Scott on the Esmeralda Street slide

Peter and Allison

Peter and Simeon

A mere hour later, Peter and Allison took off for an Alcatraz tour and tomorrow Simeon flies to Portland to see family. It was a short reunion, but I know I'm grateful for the few hours we all had together again. It felt like 1993 in Washington, DC.

Five years of teasing come to fruition

In the fall of 2000, I taught an Honors Geometry class that remains legendary. Two Ken's, Two Chris', an Ali and Allie, Conrad the 8th grader and the smartest kid I ever taught and Becky, Elana and Sarah. Ahh, Sarah H. You've met this family before, actually about this time last year, her father invited me to play Cypress Point. Well, ever since Sarah and I have known each other, I have given her a hard time due to the fact that in 9th grade, she wanted to be a socialite, be written up in the Nob Hill Gazette and dreamed of her Debutante Ball. We all know that I can and could not resist giving Sarah a hard time. To her undying credit, 9th grade Sarah took it in stride and it became a constant source of laughs. Well, last night, the big night occurred. Sarah was presented to society and I had a massive cultural experience.

First off, here is me in a tuxedo, just after I had dressed myself at the base of Nob Hill.

First time in a tux in probably a decade

The evening started crazed because of a goodbye dinner for a friend who is moving to LA because of a job transfer. After getting dressed right there in the street, I was dropped off at the Fairmont. Except the ball was at the Westin St. Francis, so I had to catch a cab and I arrived to watch the presentation of about 25 young women with five minutes to spare.

Sarah and Alex (her escort and another one of my former students) during the post-presentation walk, which was quite complicated.

There were about 500 people in the room, many of them classmates of the women being presented. The presentation is exactly what you think. Each young woman comes out center stage and is met by an escort of her choosing. She curtsies, is escorted down a short flight of stairs and then handed off to her father for official presentation. Done.

Our protagonist and her two time high school math teacher

I need to no longer be in front of the camera, especially when next to Melissa B. (FYI, Dad, this is Frank's neice)

It was a wonderful evening as it was a look into San Francisco Society. Let's chalk it up to anthropology!

The first of three

This week has been and will continue to be a busy one. Two stints as a medical patient, trying to sort out the medical issues regarding my foot surgery and the visit of three, count them three, of my out of town friends, and there is little down time. Well, except for right now.

Ian M. is a long time friend of mine from my Seattle days. Currently living in NYC, he was out on a West Coast swing, San Francisco being the last stop before heading back to NYC and a career in real estate. Last night, he, Jennifer K. (the longtime roommate but alas, no longer) and I went to dine at a San Francisco institution, The Original Old Clam House. We ordered a clambowl and a meleneza for the three of us and the piles of mussels, clams, crab legs, prawns and scallops was massive. For those of you locals, I highly recommend this place. I've been wanting to try the Clam House since I moved here since I drive by it every single day on my way to work, but it took six years to finally go inside. I should have done it earlier.

Ian and Jennifer at The Original Old Clam House

Afterwards, we continued our dining pleasures to get ice cream at another San Francisco Institution, Mitchell Brothers. For those of you who followed the link, check out the flavors. It's a good thing I have some will power to resist ice cream because I live a mere three block walk from this shop.

Lastly, on the medical front, Kaiser has officially denied my request to have my hardware removal done by Dr. B in Seattle. Since the estimate I received were I to think of paying out of pocket for this surgery was $9,000, I'll go ahead and meet the doctor Kaiser has contracted to work on these types of surgeries. This Kaiser doctor is a former president of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, I have to believe he's the bees knees and can do my removal without much difficulty.

Emily, Alicia and others

Can it be that it is already four years past 2001 and my first set of graduating advisees from HRS are now college graduates? Oh my! So last night, two women from that group, along with one of their friendboys and Scott went out to Moki's for dinner.

Emily and Alicia

A sign that they are growing up and maturing? They were only four minutes late. So for those of you who have been waiting with anticipation, here's the moment you've been hoping would come sooner rather than later:

Scott (aka S&M) revealed

I am a medical conumdrum

The first year medical students have spent the year working on learning the practical aspects of being a physician. Every doctor has to know how to give basic examinations, such as taking a medical history, cardio-pulmonary or neurological just to name a few. To test what they have learned, UCSF sets up mock-clinical exams for the first year students. So, last Thursday, yesterday and tomorrow, I have and will spend four hours in the afternoon being prodded, poked and touched by first year medical students. I was selected because my friend H. Carrie Chen runs this first year class and knows my medical history and thought I would be interesting for the students to examine because they end up finding things that throw them for a loop.

The first years perform a musco-skeletal exam on me in front of a teaching doctor who evaluates them. As they perform the exam, they are palpating (touching and feeling) the bones, joings and ligaments along my shoulders, back and knee all while asking me if I have any pain. In addition, they ask me to do range of motion exercises as well. I am wearing a hospital gown as we do it, but during some portions the exam, I take it off.

One of the last parts of the exam, is to test for reflexes in the knee and ankle, which I have learned tests for spinal cord function in the L4-L5-S1 area. This is where things get interesting. As they hammer at my knee, nothing happens. It totally throws them for a loop because everything else has been going so well up to that point. After five or six whacks at my knee, the doctor or I will tell them that they are doing it correctly and that I have dimishished reflexes in both areas, bilaterally.

When the exam is done, the doctor, student and I sit and talk about techniques they could have used or if they tried to inspect something in the wrong place. For example the students always miss the biceps tendon. When they say they've found it, I am looking at them knowing that they've TOTALLY FAKED it when they said they found it. But what the doctor asks them to do is to make any other observations about me. What the doctor is trying to get them to do is ask about the huge scar on my left side. Only 25% of the first years even ask about it and if they do, I am allowed then to tell them the story of my accident. Once all that is on the table, the first years have a context for the lack of reflexes because my spinal fusion is at L1-L2-L3 and my reflexes are controlled by the spinal cord below my surgery. The moral of the story for first year doctors? If you look and ask, you may have the answer given to you.

Summer Break and taking one for the team

The Monday morning after graduation is when the final faculty meeting occurs. We say good-bye to those who are retiring or leaving the school. Faculty recognition awards and chairs are presented to those teachers who have served in an extraordinary capacity and the following years committee assignments are revealed. In the past, I have served a two-year elected stint on the professional development committee, one year of two-years on the faculty compensation committee and three or four years on the admissions committee. In addition, when I was serving as department chair, I served on the curriculum committee and department council. Next year, however, I am chairing the Annual Fair. For many years, it was headed by my wonderful colleague Mr. Chu, who left this past year for greener pastures. To give you an idea as to how much of a headache bring the point person for the fair is, I have been relieved of EVERY OTHER outside of classroom duty. All I have to do is the Annual Fair.

So, what is this Annual Fair? The fair takes place on the evening of third Friday of October. The clubs and groups of the Middle and Upper Schools organize booths and games for our Lower Schoolers (K-5). In talking with some of my students who were at one time Lower Schoolers themselves, they remember the Annual Fair being one of those things they greatly looked forward to. What's in it for the older students? Ahhh, you see, the fair operates on little red tickets. Lower School parents purchase both an entrance fee to the fair as well as wads of little red tickets. Every red ticket collected by a booth or game represents money in the operating budget of a groups account. So, months of September and October will be all Fair, all the time.

As I left school Monday afternoon, I felt my annual tinge of sadness at the school year being over. As a kid, I was that kid who cried when school was over in June because I loved school and I always found summer kind of boring. I still feel that now, but at least now summers are usually filled with things to do. So, stay tuned for some of my summer adventures. Can it be a year already that this blog has been in existence? The genesis of this blog was to provide family and friends to keep track of me during last years cross-country road trip, but now has taken on a life of its own.

A week in the life

Since I last wrote

•Get a haircut
•Attend faculty retirement party
•Go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's (a task made much more tolerable with Scott)
•Proctor the Extended Time Testing Final for History Department
•Get Subaru's oil changed
•Proctor Math Finals
•Grade Math Finals (2 pages of 50 Honors Geometry and all 35 Geometry)
•Calculate, determine and submit Spring Semester and Year grades
•Attend Senior Project Presentation Evening
•The Congressional Quarterly's 2006 Guide to Congress arrives
•Little sleep as Ernie now knows Gwen Moore (D-WIS) is a new congresswoman
•Fly to Seattle
•See all the nurses and Dr. B in the Foot and Ankle Clinic at Harborview
•Dr. B and Dr. Schuberth (Kaiser's Foot and Ankle specialist and is former president of the Association of Foot and Angle Surgeon's) talk, Schuberth agrees to work on allowing Kaiser to allow me out of network surgery
•One hour later, word comes that Kaiser denies out of network surgery
•Fly back to Bay Area
•Have first misunderstanding with Scott (the Ernie Operating Manual is more complicated than first thought)
•Find out from Dr. Schuberth's nurse that she is filing paperwork and so there still is hope for out of network surgery
•Serve as model patient for 1st year UCSF Medical students (musco-skeletal exam)
•Say goodbye to two colleagues at a dinner
•Gather further evidence that the Math Department is weird
•Attend graduation rehearsal
•Get confronted by Shahana about my crappy treatment of her and discover that the issues come down to ones of boundaries (S, if you're reading this did I cross one by posting here?)
•Final Math Department meeting of the year
•Order Dad the most PERFECT Father's Day Gift
•Attend advisees graduation party
•Get up at 5AM to set up mile markers (and directional arrows) 5 through 18 for Scott's training group's 23 mile run
•Attend graduation and well up with tears for the first time EVER
•Take a breather and write this posting......

What was that all about?

I was up early today because Scott had to set up the course for the marathoners he is training. So I made breakfast and sat down with Sports Illustrated (I read it every week cover to cover, it's a true weekly pleasure) and came across the fact that Johns Hopkins beat Duke this year to win the Collegiate Lacrosse Championship. The strange thing was, I ACTUALLY felt a pang of nostalgia and sentiment for Hopkins. It was fleeting, granted, but what does it mean that I actually felt something for my graduate school? Maybe there is a slow thawing of my anitpathy for that time in my life. Whatever it is, doesn't mean I'm giving them money anytime soon.

Art's Crab Shak

There is NOT a misspelling in the title of this post. Met college friend Hans for dinner tonight, it's been a while since we've gotten together. He and Teresa recently moved from Berkeley to the wild streets of Oakland. He and I walked four blocks to 40th and Broadway (a stones throw from the Oakland Kaiser Hospital in which I had my first surgery after my infamous accident) to eat at Art's Crab Shak. The place looks like it has been stuck in time since the 1960's. And truth be told, it has. The house specialty is garlic crab and it's amazingly good. Much of my enjoyment of the crab can probably be attributed to the inch thick pool of melted butter at the bottom of the plate that Hans and I shared. All you who live in the East Bay, it's well worth checking out. The Shak is at 4031 Broadway (at 40th). Tell them Ernie sent you.

In case you didn't know yet

I give this marriage six months, tops!

Off the grid

Gary D., a former rowing buddy, is a person that in the craziness of life that I lost touch with, until today. Before I lost touch with him, there was mention of purchasing a home that was off the grid in Sonoma county, a place where he could work and live away from the hectic life in Berkeley. Note the words "off the grid" which I took to be "a little out of the way".

Car batteries to store excess generated solar power

Off the grid really meant off the PG&E power grid. In a complicated buying scenario, Gary now lives in a house that was once owned and occupied by a "kooky woman" (Gary's words) that built a self-sustaining home. Gary now is "on the grid".

Thomas (an ex of Gary's), Thomas' current boyfriend Y (pronounced "E"), Scott (you all know who he is) and I caravaned up to Gary's too have what was advertised as a "country brunch". Let's say, hmm, it was more than country and less than brunch. In all seriousness, Gary had contractors over doing work and so we went out to brunch.

A view of Gary's home and it's view

Gary D.

We drove to the lovely little town of Occidental to have brunch at a cafe called The Naked Lady Cafe.

Thomas, Y and Gary post brunch

So, the most shocking moment of the day occurred on the drive home when a car reached a four way stop intersection with no cars anywhere in sight and came to a full and complete unprovked stop. This, in California no less. The timing of this incident was particularly bad due to my almond sized bladder.

We have a winner!!!!!!!

Those of you who are regular visitors to my blog will understand the the joy and vindication when I saw the following in my mail. After seeing two friends of mine get married (well the ceremony was formality due to the fact they eloped last summer) an hour later than scheduled.

Justice is served when one follows the legal system and works within it in a courteous and professional manner. NAH NAH NAH NAH Subaru of America

More like Mom every day

This post should make Mom happy. Everyone reading this give a shout out to Ernie's Mom!!! Anyway, I had friends Tim and J'Tao over for dinner last night. I was planning on meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but for some reason my oven is on not working correctly again and emits gas as it heats up. My garbage disposal is also not working but that's irrelevant the story at hand. Doing a bit of improvising, I end up heating up some of these spinich quiches for appetizers and for dinner I cooked Trader Joe's Mandarin Chicken (you all need to try it, it's great) with some green beans and steamed rice. But for dessert? I pulled ouot watermelon, strawberries and grapes. Fruit for dessert? My mom was pulling this stunt for years saying how fruit is the best dessert and I always wanted something with artificial sugars. Well, at 35 years old, here I am, serving fruit for dessert and LOVING it.

Punt

I have to say that Kaiser Permanente has been quite impressive of late. I have registered to have my prescriptions filled online and sent to school. Ch-ching. But since I last wrote, much has happened in the hardware removal storyline.

On Monday 5/23/05, I called the Dept. of Orthopedics and left a message in two places for Dr. Gorek to either see me or to figure out how to get a referral for Dr. B to do the removal. At 2PM that afternoon, I got a message from one of the nurses saying that I should expect a call later from Dr. Gorek's assistant. The assistant's call came this morning (5/24/05) at 10:30AM stating that Dr. Tang, my PCP, be the one to deal with finding someone within Kaiser or refer me out. Dr. Gorek punted due to the fact that he's a spine surgeon, not and orthopedic surgeon.

I called Dr. Tang to relay the message to him after I called Dr. Gorek's office asking his office to send an official message to Dr. Tang. This all occurred around 3:30PM this afternoon.

At 6PM this evening, Dr. Tang calls and tells me he has referred me to see an Orthopedic Surgeon within Kaiser San Francisco and I should receive a call from them in day or so.

All this in less than 36 hours. Amazing. More posts to come in this ongoing saga.

I consider my self a political moderate....

but this is over the line.

In my mailbox Tuesday 5/24/05

I have to wonder how and what mailing I got myself onto.

Why I get up in the morning...

Things between Scott and I go well. A good sign is that we split nights at each others houses. We live a mere 8 minutes and one stop light apart since I discovered a cool backway to each other's homes. Anyway, on his counter sits a juicer, not a blender, but a juicer. Since I've been taught how to use it (as well as take it apart and clean it) every morning when I get up from his house, my first thought is "JUICER". I love the fact that this spinning blade/sieve type thing can extract juice from fruits and vegetables and all that is left over is shredded organic bits. Todays morning mix was grapefruit, orange, kiwi, apple and carrots.

Morning Motivation

Setting off metal detectors at the airport

An x-ray of my right heel after surgery and the way it is currently

I won't rehash the details of my accident of August 2002, but the most difficult and longest recovery was from the essential destruction of my calcanei (the heel bone) in both of my feet. Pictured above is the "erector set" of plates, pins and screws that Dr. Stephen Benirschke constructed in both of my feet in order for them to heal properly and eventually allow the joints around the shattered bone to function as "normally" as possible. As witnessed by my only slightly impaired mobility today, Dr. B's work was of the highest order.

The metal is serving no purpose and Dr. B suggested that I schedule a day surgery with him to have the hardware removed. I would need to avoid putting the weight of my body on the foot for the five days following surgery. I have scheduled to have Dr. B perform the surgery to occur on June 23rd, 2005.

All great plans must at some point go awry. I got a call from Dr. B's billing clerk and she said that she would need to have Kaiser (my HMO) to sent a letter to Dr. B's office in Seattle stating that they approve of my having this operation outside of the Kaiser network. The very nice woman in Dr. B's office named Emmy, told me that I would need to contact my primary care physician, Dr. Tang, to start the paperwork in motion by contacting Kaiser San Francisco's outside services office. When Emmy told me the name of the woman handling my case, I knew I was going to be for a tough battle. This woman, who shall remain nameless as I have learned that naming names when not talking about them nicely does get one in trouble in some unforeseen way, was the 800 pound gorilla that stood in my way of being released from Kaiser into the care of the doctors in Seattle back in 2002. Let's just say the word "NO" doesn't cause her any pain or guilt to say.

So this morning, I headed over to see Dr. Tang to get the ball rolling. Even though I didn't actually get anything rolling due to the fact that Dr. Tang isn't himself an orthopedic specialist and therefore wouldn't hold any sway in the decision making process. However, he did suggest that the person who may be able to make a decision and have that decision carry weight with outside services be the attending physician during my stay in Oakland, are you ready for this blast from the past, Dr. Josef Gorek. Dr. Gorek performed the initial surgery to fuse the L2,L3 and L4 vertabrae in my back. The scar I have from that surgery is still a sight to behold here on the left side of my body. Anyway, Dr. Tang said that since it was Dr. Gorek and his group that released me from Kaiser's network to the more experienced and specialized surgeons that I needed to see who were in Seattle at Harborview Medical Center.

Since Dr. Gorek is himself an orthopedic surgeon, and the surgery to remove hardware from my feet would be classified as an orthopedic surgery, it would be up to him to decide whether or not a surgeon in the Kaiser network can do the surgery or whether or not it is in my best interest (and note I'm going to get him not to say in Kaiser's best interset) to have Dr. B, the surgeon who inserted the metal, to do the removal.

I tried calling Dr. Gorek today, but the Oakland Kaiser Facility's Department of Orthopedic Surgery is closed Friday. I will call Monday and leave a message with Dr. Gorek. I don't think he has thought of me since my final checkup with him back in August 2003.

Lastly, because it would be Dr. Gorek making the call to send me out of network, I would work through the Oakland Kaiser's outside services office and avoid dealing with "the woman" altogether. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

No news yet about the ruling on my claim against Subaru.