kids...
The other night Rita had a heart-to-heart with Ethan. As a recap, here are my kids in chronological order:
Ethan (8)
Leighton (3)
Jackson (.25)
Ethan has this thing where he doesn't really stop talking. It's an issue right now that we are working on with him. He was talking while Jackson was screaming in his car seat. Jackson burped and threw up his entire dinner all over himself. He was a bit upset. Rita told Ethan to be quiet so she could concentrate on the baby.
This is where Ethan says: "You love Jackson more than me."
Wrong thing to say.
I don't have enough time to write about the complication of misunderstandings like this. Raising kids is hard.
system kid tickets
people - get your system kid tickets for the hollywood show before Friday!
click here
new vocabulary - capacious
it's a new word i used this week. i heard it somewhere last week and had the chance to use it while lecturing at Cal Poly. i was pretty proud of myself.
capacious |kəˈpā sh əs| |kəˌpeɪʃəs| |kəˌpeɪʃəs|
adjective
having a lot of space inside; roomy : she rummaged in her capacious handbag.
work hard - retire youg
this week at my house i completed four things that have been on my list for quite some time. here's the laundry list:
- installed 4 windows.
this was
really hard. taking out the old windows is really easy. it only takes about 5 minutes. after that, i have to use my saws-all to trim out the flanges from the old window frame because the new windows are all slightly larger than the openings (grrrrrr). they are made out of aluminum, so a lot of metal shards go flying at you while you're cutting. then i have to do a test fit for the new window which weighs between 75 and 200 pounds. most of the time, it still didn't fit. i had to go back and trim some more, then test fit the new window again. if it then fit in the hole, i had to remove it, caulk the flanges, and then place it in the opening. once it is seated, i had to run inside and drill and screw the frame to the house to hold it securely. then i can go back outside and caulk around the entire window to prevent the elements from getting in.
in one case, i had to remove and replace the plywood on the front of the house dues to dry rot and a really bad leak we were having due to bad building. the roof would shed water right onto the old window frame and it would com into the house every time it rained really hard. unfortunately, it came into the only room with a wood floor - the salon. water + wood = warpage. a lot of extra work went into that window. new roofing paper (for a moisture barrier), new plywood, new flashing and lots of caulk. i actually had to rip out the entire old window frame there, which was much easier than trimming it with the saws-all.
- trimmed the interior of the windows with solid pine molding.
this was longs hours, but not too hard to do. i spent $330 on wood to do this. the idea here is twofold - to make it look like the new windows are really part of the interior space, and secondly, to seal the gaps between the new window and the old frame. it's really amazing to see how much just framing the windows adds to the final look of the house.
i made a huge mountain of sawdust under the table saw; ripping, crosscutting and beveling boards into exact fitting trim for the windows. it turned out really nice.
- hung blinds and shades in the windows.
not too hard, but they all had to be trimmed down to fit the new width of the openings. again, they really add to the final look of interior.
- cleaned up the side yard junk pile.
major nasty over there. first off, we have never cleaned that area out since we have owned the house. there's wood that was leftover from the playhouse i built for the kids a couple of years ago, leaves, a chain (?), and the largest ant nest i've ever seen. i chopped all the old wood up, keeping the boards for firewood this winter and tossing the plywood pieces in the trash. i killed hundreds of thousands of ants (not kidding) and swept and shoveled all the crap out of there. it was just a lot of grungy, dirty work.
overall, i feel like i accomplished a good amount. now i can get back to working on the kitchen. homeownership. bah.
5 for 5
yep, now we're all sick. steer clear. i need some stabblingly sore throat, sneezing, coughing, runny nose, stuffy head so i can rest medicine.
...and tomorrow is the first day of school. damn.
a typical day
hit the snooze
get up
get dressed
wake up Ethan and Leighton
get them dressed
make them breakfast
brush my teeth
shave
clean up the boy's breakfast mess
load the dishwasher
have the boys brush their teeth
take leighton to preschool
take ethan to school
go home
take a shower
get dressed for work
drive or bike to work
work
lunch break
work
drive or bike home
do homework with ethan
take ethan to soccer practice
play with leighton on the jungle jim
go home
have dinner
have band practice
do band business
take out the trash
put ethan and leighton to bed
tell leighton a story
sneak out once he has fallen asleep
spend time with rita
watch tv
check emails an IM's
go to bed
i forget what it was like being single, not that I would change anything. there's just a lot going on right now. i can't believe how much i have had to change my daily routine since 5 years ago.
Croup
never heard of it? it took me a while to find it because i couldn't spell it correctly.
Croup is a common respiratory problem characterized by a harsh, barking cough. Croup most often affects young children. It causes inflammation, swelling, and narrowing in the voice box (larynx), windpipe (trachea), and breathing (bronchial) tubes leading to the lungs.
all three of my kids have it. ethan and leighton both missed school because of it, and when rita took them to the doctor, he told her to send them back to school because that is where they got it. there is not antibiotic for it - only aids that help minimize the cough and help sleep. so since it came from the school - it doesn't help to keep the kids away from it - it just runs its course and eventually goes away. the doctor said it will last about 10 days.
the worst part is jackson - it sucks to see a 3 month old baby get sick. there is nothing they can do. he just looks miserable.
the tears flow easily this week for my kids - they are way more sensitive due to lack of sleep. therefor, we have a lack of sleep.
the nevus hasn't changed
Rita has a nevus in her eye.
nevus |ˈnēvəs| |ˌnivəs| |ˌniːvəs| ( Brit. naevus)
noun ( pl. -vi |-ˌvī| |ˌniˈvaɪ| |ˌniˈvi| |-vʌɪ| |-viː|)
a birthmark or a mole on the skin, esp. a birthmark in the form of a raised red patch.
an optometrist who was doing an eye exam on her found it a couple of years ago. he became concerned when she told him that she had two other moles removed that were pre-cancerous. now she has to get it checked out every 6 months.
the doctors dilate her pupil with eye-drops so they can see into her eye more easily. the thing is, her eye stays dilated for 6 hours. she is basically blind for that length of time.
after the doctor checked it out, he said it looks exactly the same now as it has ever since they first examined it. if it ever changes, she would have to go through a crappy procedure of having her eye removed. this is not something that can be separated from the eye. i hope it never changes.
"cheese cutter" or "the earring that saved my son's toe"
my son Jackson (he's almost 3 months old) crapped out of his pants this morning. mustard everywhere. so i take him into his room to change him, and while
carefully removing the diaper and his clothing, he urinates right onto his face. nice.
so we decide to give him a bath to clean him up. while bathing him, Rita sees some of her hair entwined in his toes, and tries to remove them. while pulling the hair out, a couple of them form a slip knot and strangle one of his toes a bit. so there is this very fine ring of hair indented into his toe with the potential of cutting off his circulation. it looked like one of those wire cheese cutters. his toe was getting more and more bright red.
Rita freaks out a bit and yells for me to bring her the tweezers to remove the hair. the hair is on so tightly that she can't get the tweezers underneath them. so now it's panic time.
we get out the door and are going to the local kaiser clinic. they won't pick up the phone due to the high volume of calls. of course. meanwhile Leighton is due to be picked up from preschool any minute. we decide to go get Leighton first and then go to the clinic, hoping we don't have to drive to the urgent care in fontana.
while we are getting Leighton, i decide i'm going to try to rip the hair off. it breaks at the knot but leaves the strangling hair still wrapped around the toe even tighter now. DAMMIT.
one of Rita's friends who also has her son in preschool says to try an earring to get it off. OF COURSE! it's not too sharp to puncture Jackson, but its small enough to hopefully fit under the hair. i had to dig a little (Jackson got a little pissed about that) and once i hooked it, i ripped it off. the hair broke and all was fine. it only took a little walk to get him to calm down. now Rita is paranoid about hairs around his digits.
a day in my life as a father.
Kyle Smart on ABCNEWS.com
Kyle is on the web at abcnews.com.
Click here to read about his trip.
Katrina Google Maps
I found out that Google Maps has a new set of satellite images from Katrina. If you go to
maps.google.com and enter 'New Orleans' in the search field, it will take you to that area. Once you're there, click on the 'satellite' button to see satellite imagery instead of the street maps. You'll notice that there's also a new button up there for Katrina satellite images. It's pretty mind-blowing to see the before and after photographs from that vantage point. Freeways just vanish into water, the roofing is ripped off the Superdome, the entire city is covered in water.
Here are some photos that I grabbed; before on the left, after on the right:
Kyle Smart - Katrina disaster support - the third day
Dear Friends and Family,
I am very encouraged by all of your responses and what I am hearing from Deanne. I hope you do go with the church or the Red Cross or whatever.
We are back in Houston in time to get some rest. I am back to work tomorrow night. It has been a whirlwind, but we all feel like it was well worth it. We hit two sites today and saw another seventy people, unfortunately we were never able to get to the "Water Front" where the five thousand were. Sadly, today we came across two evacuee sites that had not yet received any health care, that is 6-7 days. We were overwhelmed by the need and by the people. These people were broken, and there were many emotional outbursts. I took care of one lady and her eight children, whom poked and prodded Jared & I, while I wrote out all of their prescriptions. Jared worked with one patient that couldn't talk because of her uncontrollable sobs. James and his sister, Ladeta, were able to work with her allowing Jared to keep seeing patients.
The five hour drive back to Houston gave us time to debrief. We made some important realizations. One, the culture of the effected region, especially LA, has deep and large family bonds. Where we might define immediate family as mom, dad, siblings and maybe grandparents, they define immediate family as the above plus aunts, uncles, cousin, etc, etc. So now you have a family group of 20 - 40 people living in and around their great-grandwhatever's home, that are now separated because of the chaos. Not only are these people traumatized, in emotional shock and have lost everything, but now are left without a primary coping mechanism: family. Until this concept is identified and begun to be rectified, the emotional recovery will be hindered. Secondly, we have visited approximately 10 evacuee sites, and the ones that have addressed all of the evacuee's needs were far more positive and better off than those that did not. In other words, its great to house and feed people, but its better to do that and give some basic medical and emotional support. The medical term is biopsychosocialspiritual approach (bio: medical, psycho: mental/emotional, social: family/finance, spiritual: beliefs/values). At one site the volunteers just didn't know how to do this, at other sites it was against protocol. Any help is appreciated, but there were definitely different levels of support out there.
We are staying at Jared's uncles house tonight, the hospitality is unending. Apparently, he lives in Houston, which is 50 miles away from the Houston airport, Houston is BIG.
Sincerely,
Kyle Smart
Kyle Smart - Katrina disaster support - the third day
Dear Friends and Family,
I don't have much to say, its DSL, rather than dial-up so I have to use it--we are so spoiled. After a good nights rest, we are ready for the day. Its hard to believe our short time is already up. We need focus today and providential guidance as we have penciled in three sites, but may not have time to get to them all. Especially if anything about the one site is true: 5000 (yes that's thousand) people, with little relief support because of exaggerated safety issues.
Sincerely,
Kyle Smart
Jared Salvo- Katrina disaster support - the second day
Hi All,
Another late night- we have just returned from a full day. Kyle and I have seen nearly 150 patients between the 2 of us. We have seen it all. Today we stopped by 5 different Evacuee stations. One thing you will find is that people here do not want to be called refugees so we have the media to thank for another misnomer- we are using the word evacuee which is now acceptable. I think Kyle and I have the unique experience of being 2 of a few docs who have visited both Red Cross/FEMA and non-governement camps (i.e. Churches and faith based locations). As hard as this is to say as a strong supporter of government- I will tell you that the Churches have far surpassed the government in taking care of all the evacuees. The supplies and medications that Churches have collected are unbelievable. The Red Cross and FEMA on the other hand are too busy fighting each other for jurisdiction of care and over what needs to be done- so in the end things dont get done. At the Churches though, we (and the other volunteers) can just roll up our sleeves without red-tape and get the job done. The Red Cross facility at Southern University this morning was a depressing place, partly from the people that are working there. The other Churches today that we went to have the same acuity of evacuees but they are in much better spirits. Please understand that the Churches are housing people of all race and religion. If ever there was an argument to support local government rather than a federal, central governent, I am seeing it. The National Guard are actually thanking Kyle and I for our work! Sorry to ramble- but I dont think the media will ever tell you this.
People are able to drive back to New Orleans today to try and collect their valuables but they have to be out before dark or risk being arrested and/or shot as suspected looters. We are hearing stories first hand of unbelievable anarchy down there but most of that is now over. People here are in shock over the things they have seen. Many just need someone to talk to or cry to- and we are tellling them that California and America cares- that we dont want them to think they are alone. We hope our actions and words will support that statement.
We are seeing all types of patients: foot wounds from the filthy water wading people have done- we are treating all wounds very aggressively with antibiotics and referring people for tetanus shots wherever we can get therm (Kyle and I cant carry these with us). Pharmacies have been honoring our California prescriptions thus far. We are seeing a lot of chronic diseases- hypertension, diabetes, HIV, sickle cell and we are seeing acute diseases- tons of skin infections. No massive outbreaks yet but my understanding from another Doc we ran into that neither the CDC or dept of Health are ready to send anyone down to assess suspected outbreaks of anything. Also, as you can imagine, the stress and events have stirred up all of the psychiatric disorders and we are seeing flare ups of psychosis, schizophrenia, and some of the worse Bipolar/mania I have ever seen. We are hanging in there and really trying to help in any capacity. I feel I have done something if we can alleviate the burdens on the Emergency Rooms by treating in the field.
I have to give props to a small town; Waverly, Tennessee who alone managed to put together one of the best stocked clinics I have seen- to rival what the govt put up at the Astrodome and they even sent down almost 10 nurses to assist- they were just waiting for some Docs which arrived in the forms of Kyle and I this afternoon to get the clinic in full swing. I will never know how such a small town was able to put together an effort to rival all others- and they are still sending more! Truly amazing.
Tomorrow we will try and find more small evacuee camps at various churches and civic buildings where no medical care has arrived yet becuase that is where we are truly needed. Just as I had hoped- the places are getting word that more structured relief will be arriving next week which is exactly what I wanted- for us to be a bridge until more help arrives. We will work our way back to Houston tomorrow night stopping at sites along the way. We fly back Tuesday mroning and I am not really sure how I will return to 'normalcy' knowing people still need help.
If anyone wants to send relief in the form of clothes or goods, I have addresses of 2 large evacuee sites that are welcoming them by mail (yes there is mail here):
St John Missionary Baptist Church
820 New Rafe Mayer Rd
Baton Rouge, LA 70807
Miracle Place Church
2080 Main St
Baker, LA 70714
I thank you all for listening to me and my rambling- I only hope I can get the word out of what is really happening here since I am not sure what the media is telling you or if they see the same stuff we do. I will share photos when we get back. Again, we are safe and WELL FED! Southern Hospitality!!
- Jared Salvo
PS: Thank you to Blues Icon, Larry Garner for housing Kyle and I here in Baton Rouge. He has been a great host- check him out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Garner
Kyle Smart - Katrina disaster support - the second day
Dear Friends and Family,
Another wonderful day. We spent ten hours going to two Red Cross sites and three churches. I think it was unique to find a site which had not received any health care, as we did on the first night. Hence, all of the sites today had previously seen physicians--thankfully. We still saw seventy people.
Today we treated some higher acuity patients. A hospice patient dying of prostate cancer, an HIV patient that had been without her anti-viral medications, and a bipolar patient in an acute manic phase.
All of our objectives are being met. I have many reliable contacts for those of you looking to come out and help.
We continue to be well fed, thanks to the Crawley's. Jared and I are staying with his brother-in-law, while James is staying with his mom. Oh by the way, James' brother-in-law is blues icon Larry Garner.
I am thinking of forwarding you Jared's email which is a much more colorful account of the day. I realize mine is drab, probably due to exhaustion, and you guys deserve better.
Sincerely,
Kyle Smart
Kyle Smart - Katrina disaster support - the first day, pt 2
Dear Friends and Family,
I probably do not need to send this to all of you, but it is the reality of the situation. All people listed below gave me permission to post their name and the names of the missing on the web. They do not even know where to begin to look/find their loved ones. Please note the missing are likely only separated, not dead. I believe there are sites devoted to helping people find each other and I am hoping one of you will forward this there. All of the people listed below can be contacted at:
St. John's Missionary Baptist Church
820 New Rafe Mayer Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70807
Pastor: Donald R. Ruth
Phone: 225-775-9756
1. Marlyin Berry is missing grandson Allen Dequeie (5 y/o), last seen with his mother Trachell Williams (28 y/o).
2. Alfred Galmon JR is missing girlfriend Raneeka Marsh & newborn Asia Marsh & children Alfred Galmon III and Antwon Galmon. Also sister Wanda Galmon & her boyfriend Lawrence Brown SR & their six children Leonard, Joseph, Timothy, & Lorenzo Galmon and Lauren and Lawrence JR Brown.
3. Darcell Brown is missing son Kenneth Brown (5 y/o) last seen with godmother Susan Brock. Also mom Lorraine Brown and grandmother Marion Brown.
4. Nonya Grove is missing mom Nicole Winsey, step-father Darrin Winsey, brother Darrin Winsey JR, and sister Gabriella Winsey.
5. Akela George is missing aunt Sheka George and cousins Artamus and Amahd Rainey.
Thanks for your help,
Kyle Smart
Kyle Smart - Katrina disaster support - the first day
Dear Friends and Family,
What an awesome day. Today alone was worth the trip, and we still have two more days.
The Houston airport, lending to the stereotype of TX, is BIG. A train system connects the five terminals. James and I arrived at 6 AM, we finally connected with Jared, whom arrived at 4 AM, after searching for over an hour. James and I had some good time to catch up. James and Jared hit it off immediately, we were off to breakfast, then to the Astrodome.
The Astrodome and the surrounding area was amazingly quiet and serene. We stopped at a Sam's Club, and it was business as usual, one would not have know 25,000 + evacuees (not refugees) were across the street. We pulled into the entrance and were directed to physician check in without incident. The place was a well oiled machine, it had been like that since yesterday. It was organized, coordinated, with a lab, XR, CT, pharmacy, and plenty of providers. Most physicians were from TX, we met one from NY. It was cool to be there, we registered, we networked with other docs, we interacted with the evacuees, I saw one patient, Jared helped organize the cardiac medications in the pharmacy, and we bailed. We were assuming our efforts would be better served in less popularized areas. We felt very safe, and based on our first hand conversations with people there is a lot of misinformation going on both ways.
The five hour drive to Baton Rouge was beautiful: open spaces full of lush green forest, which turn into, wetlands and marshes, which turn into swamp land as far as the eye can see, which turn into waterways, rivers, and bayous. Based on our contacts, we wanted to hit two sites in Baton Rouge, working into the night. One was a church (150 people), the other a university (500 people), apparently both had not received any health care.
Well we arrived at the church, where we were definitely needed. As Jared and I began to see patients, James went ahead to the university to scout it out. We were the first physicians that these New Orleans' evacuees had seen, they couldn't believe that we came from CA. We spent five hours there and saw almost sixty people. Approximately half are coping well, the others needed emotional and physical help--there was a lot of hugging and crying. Most people in the latter group are still missing relatives (see next email). We treated blood pressure, diabetes, muscle aches, wounds, skin infections, bug bites that have turned into skin infections, STD's, soar throats and ears, and a lot of situational anxiety. This church is a great contact for anyone that wants to give directly to evacuees.
Needless to say we are going to the university tomorrow, as we are exhausted and ran out of time. The info James' gathered on that site is that it is much like the Astrodome. The Manning brothers made an appearance there today, and there are plenty of providers. We are still going to go, but will look for sites that have not received any aid.
Finally, one of those little perks that inevitably shows up on these kinds of excursions: we ate at a very authentic creole restaurant. The setting was right on the bank of the bayou, the climate was perfect, and the food was delicious. Seafood gumbo, jambalaya, etoufee (??), shrimp, crayfish, catfish, oyster (cooked), frog legs, and hush puppies.
The hospitality of the Crawley's is amazing, the people are friendly and so far have received us well, the need is great. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Kyle Smart
Kyle Smart - Katrina disaster support - before the trip
Dear Friends and Family,
You may think I am some sort of adrenaline junkie, but
I am not. I am taking a small relief trip to the
southeastern states effected by the hurricane Katrina.
Like many of you, when I first began to realize the
amount of devastation, I thought to myself, "I should
do something." My responsibilities kept me from
taking that urge seriously.
Then I checked up on a friend of mine from New
Orleans, Louisiana. James and I have been friends a
long time and he and his family have lived in Southern
California for many years, but he has many friends and
relatives in the South. He told me their accounts
about people, survivors, refugees that are on the
periphery of the destruction, crowding into churches,
YMCAs, wherever. He told me about his three relatives
that are still missing.
I soon saw a short, but definite hole in my schedule.
We (James and I) are going to leave tomorrow, Friday
night/Saturday morning and come home Tuesday midday.
I will only have to call off one shift.
Our goals are: 1. To provide tangible support/relief.
2. To provide encouragement, hope, prayer. 3. To
provide medical support where/if needed. 4. To
gather information and contacts. 5. Maybe have a
wedding (that was a Sri Lanka joke).
We are flying into Houston, and plan to spend Saturday
at the Astrodome. Saturday night drive to Baton
Rouge, to meet up with James' family. Spend Sunday
around there +/- 200 miles. Monday , drive back
hitting as many "refugee camps" as possible (if they
exist).
As in Sri Lanka, your thoughts and prayers are needed
and appreciated. I hope you are well and that this is
well received. If these emails are a nuisance to
anyone, please just send me an email and I will take
you off of the list.
Bye for now,
Kyle Smart
Katrina evacuee support
A good friend of mine, Dr. Kyle Smart, is on a support trip to help evacuees of the hurricane disaster. With his permission, I will post his emails to me throughout his 3 day trip. He reports what he sees from a human and medical perspective (read: not media-based bullshit). I hope it opens your eyes and hearts as to what's going on there. I have been down the last few days as I have been watching and hearing different reports.
porsche for sale
i have decided to sell my car so i can finish up another project. it sucks, but i need to do it. here are the details:
1987 Porsche 911 Targa
$17,500
This is a 3.2 liter, 6 cylinder, with the G-50 transmission. This is a great car with the best transmission Porsche produced for the Carrera. basically, it feels very solid and you don't miss a shift compared to the older style transmission, which feels like a loose pot of mush when you're shifting. the car has 152,000 miles on it. it runs extremely strong and has absolutely NO leaks. i have all the service records for the car, and i am it's third owner. the car has never produced a problem for me
at all. it is extremely reliable. the targa top is in excellent shape, as is the complete interior of the car. there are no rips anywhere. the exterior paint is really nice, and has a couple of tiny dings as would be expected on an 18+ year-old car. overall, i rate this car in GREAT condition in drivability and appearance. see for yourself:
email me with any questions.
