E-level becomes AIYEE-level

I'll be coaching my 9-year-old daughter's soccer team this year. This'll be about the fifth time I've coached her (I had last year off). Since I earned my "F" level license about eight years ago when my oldest daughter started soccer, I thought that I had better hone my skills. So I decided to up my license to an "E" level which meant going to a clinic. That's one evening of lecture and two six-hour days on the field. At first I thought that the last day would conflict with when we're taking my youngest to summer camp, but the coach/trainer also had a conflict on that Sunday. So he decided to double up on Saturday: 12 hours. Well, realistically he figured we'd get through the material and training in about ten hours. It worked for me as it freed up Sunday for traveling to camp.

A couple of days prior to the clinic I had a chance to buy some gear I'd be needing as coach: cleats, athletic shorts and a couple of shirts. Not being an athletic guy normally, this was all new to me. I decided to wear my cleats to the field workshop on Saturday. I was a little nervous about that as this would be the first time I'd wear them (actually the first time I've ever worn any cleats) and I wasn't sure how my feet would feel at the end of a ten-hour day. Turns out, my feet weren' the issue. About fifteen minutes into the opening warm-ups, a felt my left knee kind of "pop". Just a little. But I knew it wasn't good. It was sore the entire day and really interferred with my level of participation. I may not be good but I like to make a go of it anyway and get some experience doing the drills I'm going to be asking of the team.

After practice, Missus Koko and my daughter pick me up and we go off to Old Navy to pick up some stuff the wee one (not so wee anymore, though) will need at camp. No way can I take standing around with that knee. I bide my time at Baskin Robins (Mmmm, Banana Royale). By the end of the day, I'm using a cane to get around.

And practices start the following week.

"...a 70% chance..."

You take the good. You take the bad. You take it all and there you have the state of our health care. Last year, I finally convinced the missus to wean herself away from Kaiser and try something different. Besides, we were aiming to get our learning disabled daughter into the MIND Institute out of UC Davis. Well, UCDMed doctors near our home weren't taking any new patients so we signed up with Sutter...and loved it. The medical offices are conveniently close. Getting an appointment is generally easy and quick. And the whole atmosphere is far less stressful. PLUS, Sutter has some of the pre-eminent pediatric neurologists and neurosurgeons.

Skipping the boring details, we had another MRI done on our daughter and the medicos were able to spot a tiny legion (less than 3mm) in her brain. Her previous MRI, done several years ago, missed this as the technology did not provide the necessary level of detail. What this means is that this is the likely cause of her seizures and could potentially be removed with surgery. I gotta tell ya, the first time that prospect was brought up to me I was rather strongly against it. The idea of someone cutting into my daughter's head kind of freaked me out. I was hoping that we could just continue the meds and maybe the onset of puberty might mitigate her seizures (as odd as that sounds it was suggested to us by one of her previous doctors as a possibility). However, I've come around and we are pursuing this possibility. Naturally, several tests must be performed to ensure that the area to be removed is not near anything "important"--i.e. speech, memory, motor and/or sensory control areas. Strange to think that there are unimportant portions of the brain but since we only use about 4-6% I guess there's some wiggle room. In mid-April we met with the surgeon, a wonderful woman who says Maddy seems like a good candidate for surgery. Next step is for her to be observed with an EEG during several seizures. This means an overnight (or 2) stay while she is off her meds. We decided to postponed this until this summer so she'd be out of school. (Interesting note: Dr. Z. is also on staff with UCD so whatever path we took would have eventually led to her. Hmm, fate seems to have had this one decided for us.)

Then when we called in June to schedule the observation, we discovered that Dr. Z (the neurosurgeon) had gone on sabbatical. It seems she was on the verge of completing some groundbreaking research that would visually identify the damaged brain tissue making surgery that much more accurate (better than EEG & MRI mapping, I'm guessing). Whether it is the sabbatical or just a bureaucratic snafu, the communication broke down somewhere between the neurosurgeon, the epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU), the neurologist, and the primary care physician. I spoke with various assistants and then waited for someone to get back to me. Called again. Waited again. Called again. Got a different number to call since the paperwork had been forwarded on to the EMU. Called that number and got voice mail. Waited. Got a call back. More bureaucratic dancing. Finally after mentioning (for about the third time) that the request was initiated by Dr. Z and not Dr. A, the neurologist, a light went on for the person on the other end. Waited just a bit more. Got a call back and Maddy is scheduled to go in after Dr. A gets back from his vacation: August 9. This will be immediately following her sister coming back from camp--the same camp Maddy had to miss because we were never able to schedule her time in the EMU.

We assume she will have at least a portion of her head shaved for the EEG. This, on top of the possibility of brain surgery, has our daughter quite upset as she will have to start school in just a few weeks afterwards. I keep telling her though that for the price of a few weeks of not looking like you're used to, you may very well be free of seizures for the rest of your life. And that she'd be able to concentrate better and do better in school.

I keep telling myself that, too.

Dr. A. told us that 70% of patients deemed as good candidates for surgery are seizure free afterwards. Those are pretty good odds, I think.
Dear God, please let it be so.

Where's my muse when I need her?

Not quite a year ago I attended a friend's 50th birthday celebration. I was asked by her husband Pat to write a song for the occasion--nothing profound, mind you, just a fun novelty ditty. Well, I did and it went quite well. I've heard that the Kitty, the birthday girl, played that portion of the video many times and sang along. Now, fast forward to about a month ago. She wants me to return the "favor" to her husband on his 50th. I've been so consumed with re-financing and pool installation and a particularly busy time at work that I've done nothing for the Pat's song. Kitty came by last night to brainstorm some ideas and work out some of the event scheduling (oh, I'm emcee-ing this shindig as well). I've got a draft of the first stanza so far and the party is tomorrow evening. I'd better get pretty damn creative pretty damn soon.

All wet and lovin' it

OK, the pool is in. The filter is fixed and hardly leaks at all. And even the solar heater seems to be doing its job. Now, my girls, the youngest two especially, are spending much of their day in the pool. And yes, we are VERY strict about the "no one swims alone" rule. We knew a family who lost their two-year old son and his two-year old cousin at the same time due to an unsupervised pool (they mistakenly believed the gate was locked). That is a tradgedy the mere contemplation of which brings me to a difficult emotional state. Even though all my kids can swim and the pool is not so deep that even the youngest can stand with her head above the water, accidents can happen. So either swim with a sister or have mom or dad within earshot (no going back in and watching TV or playing on the computer).

Now we've got to get the water pH balanced which will take overnight and then we'll have to apply a heavy dose of chlorine, too. We've been using it but the pool is essentially just tap water right now and it is starting to show it.

So, it can be viewed as a bit of an inconvenience, I suppose. But they're not in it all the time and it gives me motivation to hurry on home. That and the fresh bottles of Bombay Saphire and Schwepp's Tonic. By the grace of God, I do give thanks that I live in a civilized world.

Oh, and we've already noticed the beginings of a secondary benefit. Our second daughter, the middle schooler with learning disabilities, is not only away from the TV more (poor thing has no friends as she is emotionally immature), but she is challenging herself physically in the pool. After seeing me do it, she tried to do a handstand but she failed. However, after just a little coaxing she tried again! It's difficult to express how wonderful that is. Her epilepsy and learning disabilities has also caused a delay in her emotional and physical-control maturity. Also, as an LD kid, she is so used to failure that her self-esteem is lower than dirt. To see her push herself even after meeting with defeat was one of those small but great moments of being a parent.

from Welles to Shyamalan

Entertainment News Article | Reuters.com

As a semi-regular viewer of the SciFi channel, as soon as I saw the first promo for "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" I knew that it was a hoax. And now the entertainment "press" are boo-hoo-ing that they were made to look silly because they weren't in on the joke. Cry me an f-ing river! The suits are falling all over themselves with apologies because nobody knows what to do with actual creativity. I don't know if this is sad or just plain stupid.

"Inconvenience & Labor" vs "Hope & Confidence"

So we get up this morning to see that the pool has drained maybe three inches. A this rate it'll be a day or two before it is emptied. And you know what, who says it really needs it. I know it would be best to have blocks under all the supports but I've got them under the ones on the long side where the ground was noticably softer than elsewhere. And as we thought about it, it made sense that the top would bow in as the pool filled. The water first spreads out the bottom, after all, which would cause the top to bend inward. So, the wife came back around to my original way of thinking (having now nearly obliterated my confidence in my plan) and I jam the boards I removed back under that one support. It was still quite muddy there and the back neighbors were watering their lawn so it would continue to get muddy, no doubt. It took a but of finagling but with a bit of digging out and a good amount of hammering into place, I got them in place. And now the pool is once again filling. By the time I get home today, it should be about waist deep. Tonight's project will be laying out and "dressing" the power cord for the pump. Oh, and I've got to pick up an additional hose to connect the solar heater and maybe a "first time use" sanitizing kit.

Man, just wading around in the knee-deep water last night while setting up the siphon (which worked far too slowly), was nice. It's going to be quite motivating to get my arse home after work during Sacramento's notoriously hot summer days.

...provided the pool doesn't collapse from our ineptitude.

All wet...well, not yet

Damn, hubris bites. Especially when it is my own.

I could blame my work. I emailed in this morning that I would be a bit late. You see, we were nearly done setting up the new soft-sided pool (a big one, 14'x26'x52") and I had to complete the pump/filter connections this morning. Then the missus notices that the pool is really, seriously bowing in along the middle of the long sides. We're both wondering just how bad will that be as the water fills it? So, we decide to put a few blocks of pressurized wood under a few of the supports. We bought enough to go under all of the supports and that was our original plan but it didn't seem necessary. Well, I get a rather quick response from my boss that the program I just put into production is kicking out bad data and I'm needed ASAP. Left unsaid is the recent talk we had about the many hours here and there I've been missing for various family needs.

So, back to the pool. We think that if we prop up the middle supports with the wood blocks it will help level the pool. I do about four on one side and three on the other, just where it was sagging the most or the poles were really loose with too much slack. The wife is not sure and suggests that we (and by "we" she means me) put blocks under all the poles. It sounds like a good idea but I'm already running way late for work and I gotta get out of there, besides the pool finally looks completely level like never before. I go off to work and we start the filling of the pool.

This evening as I get home it is about a foot deep and the middle sections are now sagging inward. We figure that as the water level rises, they will bow back out. We continue to fill the pool. Now, about twelve hours after we first turned on the hose, the sag is even worse and the wife and I are getting worried. I do a google on "soft sided pool" and "filling" and I discover a little tidbit: "Important: if you use blocks, you must use them under ALL supports to prevent undue stress on the frame." Well, Jesus H. Tap-dancing Key-rist on a pony! There's about 18" of water in my pool now and I've got to either pull the blocks out or put new ones under those supports without any. I go around to the far side and discover that the ground is flooded. I check for air bubbles from the pool thinking maybe the stress cause a seam to split but I see no sign of damage. It must be from my backyard neighbors. I've had that happen before. But this also tells me that I cannot remove the blocks because that side will often be soggy. No, I need to block every support.

So now, I've rigged a siphon hose and the pool is draining. I doubt it'll be empty enough by 6am tomorrow (that's when I'd be available before work to fix the pool) for me to work on it. This will be very disappointing to my daughters but then if we were to break the pool, it would be even more disappointing and expensive.

Rumspringa

We can't make fun women, Jews, Asians, Native Americans, Latinos, and certainly not African Americans. So who's left? Okay, so there'll always be the ubiquitous "easy target": the white male duffus (and, no, that is not redundant). But, c'mon, Ray Ramano has adequately replaced the void left by Tim Allen. But there must be some minority group we can really stick it to, right?

Well, leave it to UPN to find SOMEbody we can still debase and exploit: the Amish. It'll be like Kingpin meets The Real World. It sounds awful. And, yes, I probably will tune in but I'm not proud of that.

Eat Two, Octavius?

Just got back from seeing Spiderman 2 and I gotta say: pretty awesome summertime fun flick. Besides simply adding more and more stuff to action films, I never could see how they could really get any better than the tons of stuff we've all seen since Indiana Jones through Pirates of the Carribean. But Sam Raimi does it. The direction, the fantastic use of the camera, during the battle on the train was phenomenal. Not just capturing the same kind of framing that is used in comic books, but also jarring us with chaotic angles that take us into a sort of Spidey's-eye view of the world. And Kristen Dunst...ahhhhh. I do so like the red headed ladies. McGuire and Molina were more than fine in their respective roles, although I didn't really see the chemistry between them--something you only very rarely see in films--a sub-sensory visceral connection between hero and villain. On the spot now I can only recall it between Keaton and Nicholson in Batman. It is that rare.

The romance is touching and noble. The theme of responsibility for one's choices (going a tad beyond the first film's theme of the responsibility that comes with power), is worthy of far more grandiose films. Or you can just sit back and ride the roller coaster. But do yourself a favor and note some of the symbolism such as the the power of great aspirations to lift you above the humdrum of life and how when we give up our dreams we come crashing to earth. Note, too, the Christ-like crucifixion as Spidey "gives his life" for strangers and how they become his ersatz evangelists by not spreading his word but by living the example he set for them. Good stuff, I'm telling ya! Unless you're like my stepdad or my wife's Uncle Bill, neither of whom can tolerate a film that deals in any way with something outside of recorded human experience, see this movie.

Presbies drive to the brink of change...then turn away

PC(USA) - 216th General Assembly (2004) - News - Stand against gay ordination upheld

They had a chance to enact just the first step toward recognizing the rights of gays to fully participate in their church. It was looking like they would finally move an inch forward, though not completely around this stumbling block. But in the end, the conservatives won back their precious status quo with the tiniest of nods: they admit a "period of discernment" which they've handed over to their Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church. I guess this former presby should've seen it coming. When faced with a difficult decision, Presbyterians will almost invariably refer the matter to a committee.

Freedom of Speech vs Freedom of Religion vs Hate

What is it about the right wingers that they so love to be "victims"? Although no such action has occurred, this article reports on a group offering their services just in case an action occurs. What action? Well, seems some Pennsylvania pastors are concerned that if they preach against homosexuality it will be tagged as hate speech which is an actionable offense. Has this happened? No. Is it likely to happen? No. If it did happen, would it get far given the extents to which the Supreme Court went just so it wouldn't have to decide if it was okay to coerce children to say "under God"? Of course not. But better to bemoan yet another "attack by the liberals" on their freedoms.

Hey, preacher, never mind what the law says for a moment. Ask your self the now-cliche question: What would Jesus do? And before you answer that, first remember what he said about homosexuals. In case you don't recall, let me refresh your memory. According to the Gospel of Matthew, he said nothing about homosexuals. According to the Gospel of Mark, he said nothing about homosexuals. According to the Gospel of Luke, he said nothing about homosexuals. And according to the Gospel of John, he said nothing about homosexuals. Nothing, nothing, nothing and nothing. This is the man who ate with sinners, scolded the Pharisees, and told the rich man the odds didn't look good for him to get into heaven. And yet not a single word about the nancyboys? Hmm, I wonder if there's a lesson to be learned there?

The question hinted at in the article is not whether or not the Bible might be considered "hate literature". Of course it won't. But there are passages which could be highjacked to support some pretty ugly things. It's happened before (i.e. slavery, oppression of women) and it is happening now with regard to homosexuality.

I'll just have to pray for those poor, misguided Pennsylvanian ministers.