To Word Press

Moving over to Word Press but leaving this open. I'll have to see about  a new design. The next post here will be related to the passing of my mother-in-law.

Recurdos de mi querida hermana Lucrecia (Luqui).

^... el caso es que ustedes no saben lo que será su vida mañana. Porque son una neblina que aparece por un poco de tiempo y luego desaparece. (Santiago 4:14)

Luqui sabia eso pero tenía la esperanza que ha sostenido a las personas de fe por milenios.

“Muy verdaderamente les digo: La hora viene, y ahora es, cuando los muertos oirán la voz del Hijo de Dios, y los que hayan hecho caso vivirán. Porque así como el Padre tiene vida en sí mismo, así ha concedido también al Hijo el tener vida en sí mismo.” (Juan 5:25,26)

Mas en el futuro cercano...

Patterns

Having a little fun with my phone camera.

The seven things I learned while doing LE at PN

Coming up...finally the seven things I learned while doing the Lean Eating program at Precision Nutrition.

I've had time to think, experience and really apply on my own.

The magnificent seven...coming up!

A fit person, the building blocks!

1. This month I will train every week and follow habits.
2. This week I will train five times and practice my new habits.
3. Today I will train at gym/home and will do my daily habit.
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I am eating slowly without having to think about it, I'll be in automatic mode.

I not obsessed with what I'm eating, not having to keep track of every little detail and be more relaxed around food, I'll be able to concentrate more on my real work.

When trouble arises and under stress I will not use food as the source of comfort or revert to bad habits.
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A fit person, the Building Blocks

1. A fit person chooses to be active, and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to perform some activity at the gym or outdoors today.

2. A fit person chooses to de-stress, and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to breathe deeply and find a quiet place in my mind today.

3. A fit person chooses to listen to his body and real hunger cues, and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to really pay attention to my physical needs today.

4. A fit person chooses to be around people who support good habits, and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to be around those friends that encourage me and support what I'm doing to live fit today.

5. A fit person chooses to eat slowly and really enjoy good food, and therefore to live as a “fit person”, I choose to select food that will support my goals and eat consciously today.

At the end of the day I'll be able to say:

I ate healthy today. I exercised.
I did what was right today!
I am lean and strong, healthy and happy!
Because I take care of my health I am so!

Almost Over

For the past 11 months, I've been involved in the nutritional and exercise program from Precision Nutrition. It's called the Lean Eating Coaching program. I've learned a lot and lost 39 lbs in the process.

The beauty of it all is the habits I've developed that I'm quite sure will help me from here on to preserve what I gained given my young age of 54. I will definitely post my entire experience come January when it ends.

Blogging and Journaling

I started blogging some years ago as a way to do journaling. It morphed into various activities but I quickly learnt that putting very personal items on a blog was not a good idea.

My venture in blogging continues and have now started journaling again using a specific kind of software to journal. Well, I really have not decided on which one, I still have my book where I hand wrote my thoughts for a while so I'll just do both until one of them wins.

Writing in it will allow me to voice anything I feel without exposing myself to internet predators. Stupid and irrational remarks will go there (therefore not create too much problems for me). :-)

So today I begin and will use of my journal comments as the basis for some blog posts as well. This way it will give me a chance to think things over.

The things on my mind and not necessarily in this order are:

My family.
My spiritual growth.
My finances.
Reading.
Singing.
Music.
Dance.
Exercise.
Food.
Friends.
My daughter (part of my family of course but specifically my daughter).
My dear wife (she's been on vacation, I miss her), there I said it. Call me a milksop if you must but that's how it is.
Work and programming code.
Health (related to food and family).
My mom.
More...

I have not posted anything here since my dear father passed away because I just did not want to let that post go into oblivion but it will resurface of that I'm sure.

A Farewell to Dad

February 13th, 2010

On Saturday February 13, 2010 my mother and I went to visit Dad at the convalescent home where he was being cared for. He could hardly talk, a few words were all we could pick up, my name, a nickname for mom 'conchita', water and 'give me more'.

I fed him lunch, gave him water, held his hand,  caressed his forehead.

We struggled to make out what he wanted go say, just the fact that he could say our names was enough to keep us connected. After about a couple of hours we told him we were leaving and would come back later.

Like so many times before he would not want us to leave. I kissed him and promised to come back. He kept calling my name as we slowly said good bye. It was my name 'Fernando' the last thing I would hear him utter.

He passed away before we came back that evening. We came back as promised, but now there was only silence. He was serene and relaxed, no longer suffering .

We joked and told short stories that he could no longer enjoy but that made us remember better times.

I kissed his forehead and held his hand, and said good bye one last time!

I did come back Dad!

Baker's Heritage

 

Dad was a baker for a good part of his life, I will always miss the bread he would bake, sweet memories of warm bread out of a brick oven. All that's left, is an empty bread basket waiting for the next batch to come in.

The care that he put into baking his bread is sort of what he did for us when we were kids. There were five of us. Not quite a Baker's Dozen but a handful nevertheless. He would take us to the park by himself and give mom a break. That was a Sunday ritual.

We would go to the pool, the park, have some Ice Cream and it was just so much fun. Whatever was happening that made him lose sleep was never apparent, we always felt secure.

I can thank my dad for a life long love of swimming. The pool we use to visit was an Olympic size pool. His nephew (Margarito), was a life guard and an excellent swimmer. He taught me how to swim and master the free style. Swimming has become part of who I am and what dad left for me.

His Personality!

My dad was a 'character' as some of our friends put it. He had his temper but also a good sense of humor and there were many times when we laughed our heads off as we talked every time we got together.

He had these peculiar phrases he would use from time to time, we called those 'Miguelisms'. Whenever someone said it was hot, he would say, 'It's not hot, it's just absence of cool weather!'.

We traveled to many places together, through sad times and happy times he was there. My youngest sister said it best, 'He never turned his back on us'.

Some facts and observations.

Dad is survived by my Mom 'Conchita', four of us kids (you know we will always be the kids), nine grandchildren.

Dad was born in Guatemala on December 4th, 1924. But I dare to say that he is probably one of the few people that because of clerical errors has actually three birth dates. December 24, 1924 (that's close, a 2 for the 0) and September 4th, 1924. December and September are nowhere near in spelling, so I'm not sure how that happened!

The troubles that these different dates caused are an amusing part of the story. Of course it was not so funny when the health service providers would not get paid. Someone involved in the process had the wrong date and bills were not being taken care of. I was called to clarify the issue and had to use the wrong date in order to get billing cleared.

The battle to clarify that whole mess began in earnest and I'm not sure it will ever be completely fixed. I hope we don't have an issue with the death certificate as well. Turns out without it, you can't 'turn off' certain services and taxpayers money or retirement funds keep coming to someone who is not there.

It opens up the door for unscrupulous individuals to take advantage of the situation and manifest by illegal actions their love for money.

______________________________________________________________

Below is a small brochure created so that it would be distributed at funeral services.

It's kind of crazy, but prior to about an hour before the event and for days before I had this fear and anxiety attacks. It was based on an uncomfortable dream that absolutely no one would show up.

I was sitting there by myself without friends and family. Crazy as it may sound, that's what concerned me for the better part of the week. Almost as if no one knew of my father's passing away.

Don't know where those fears came from, perhaps related to the emptiness that is felt upon the loss of a loved one.  Unfounded fears of course! We had received condolences from as far as the East coast, New York, Boston, Florida and as far south as our country of origin Guatemala.

There were more than 300 people in attendance, so I'm not sure what I was thinking!

...to dust you will return...

Dad donated his body for medical research. His remains will be spread out in the coast of Oregon, a place we visit a lot. I can say I'm visiting Dad every time I go there from now on.

A lighthearted view...

This is kind of a morbid joke, but I did get a lot of experience doing my Dad's photo collage. I told some of my friends that if they wanted to pre-order one I was now very experienced in creating such an item!

I even have an idea of what I want form my own collage. One can select the best photos and not leave it to some one else. In fact one can start collecting photos now, keep the best and get rid of the less flattering ones.

Ok, a little over the top but I think it's related to us not wanting to think about the inevitable.

We also received a note from his Dr. who offered his condolences, it mentioned how my father was a good patient and cooperated with everyone involved.

I think he must have been thinking about someone else, there were many times when the Dr. had to establish who actually was the physician and in charge. Really, it's just funny now but at the time quite annoying. Dad would eventually acquiesce. That's what the Dr. remembers!

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This posting has grown and will continue to do so as I remember more and time passes by. 

Below a memory of a previous visit while dad was still at home. It will involve a little work on your part but just click on it and read it, it will become clear as your brain processes the information.

A night at the ER

For 15 seasons ER entertained at one point 16.4 million viewers. Shows as ER give you a dramatization of what happens in emergency rooms in hospitals across the U.S and perhaps the world.

Television is one thing, being there is another.


Recently because of my father’s health issues I’ve had the opportunity to visit the Emergency Room (ER) quite a few times in the last couple of months. I think my dad may be on to setting a record for going from home to the ER to a convalescent home, to the ER, back to the convalescent home and back to ER.

Reminds me of what is recorded in the gospels regarding one of the Apostles: “…when you were younger, you used to prepare yourself and go wherever you wanted. But when you grow old you will extend out your hands and another man will restrain you and position you where you do not wish.” It’s true of most of us when young and independent and true when older and frail.

On the last occasion, I was in an intensive care unit, visiting a relative-in-law as he recovers from major trauma due to a freak accident. I was about 40 miles away from home in this other hospital. Around 8:30ish I received a call from my sister. The convalescent home where my father is residing had placed a 911 call because my father was experiencing severe breathing problems.

I left that hospital on a borrowed car as I was riding with my daughter and went to the ER back home in Whittier. I arrived there around 10:00PM and stayed with Dad until he was stable and admitted to the hospital and placed in a regular room.

It’s sad seeing your own dad in a helpless condition, unable to breath and additionally not being able to communicate as the oxygen mask muffled the sounds of his voice as he would try to talk to me. I reassured him that I would be there for the duration and that Mom and everyone else would be informed of the situation. My second goal was to soften the bad news to my mother as the stress of all these recurring trips to ER, have taken a toll on her. I brushed my hand against his bear shoulder and sort of massaged it to calm him down. He fell asleep for a few minutes.

I took the time to talk to the staff and asked them about their schedules, sleeping patterns, how they managed in their environment. I thanked them for just putting up with all the craziness that is part of the package of being in ER. 

The staff I’ve met has to deal with everyone wanting their immediate attention. Rude Doctors especially. I suppose, dealing with trauma day in and day out tends to change your demeanor.

I overheard a nurse talking to my Dad’s doctor. He was saying something about “let’s hurry this up!”; she looked frustrated and almost aghast at his response. It was past midnight so maybe that had something to do with it. Awoken by the phone in the middle of the night, apparently elicited a not to friendly response. Obviously a common occurrence that may have not been emphasized as part of a daily Dr’s life routine while still in school!

After some time, the ER was satisfied with his condition, a resident Doctor talked to me and Dad was admitted to the hospital and place in a hospital bed. I was almost out of juice; it was just about 2:00AM. My dad would get some rest, I would be going home but the ER would remain active all over the world.

Have you had a chance to thank this folks for the work they do? I made sure to express my gratitude. I may be seeing them again!

Fake or Not?

Like to take a poll. What do you think? Vote on it.

Cardinals and Ordinals, do you know the difference?

It's 2010 C.E.

So far our calendar has recorded 2009 years and a few days as of this writing. When most people speak of the last 10 years, technically, they are really referring to the last 9 complete years and whatever amount of days within the 10th year since 10 complete years have not passed.

In 2001, December 31st for example, one complete year had passed. Actually on 2002, January 1st, one year had passed and the second year had begun (2002). As of midnight, January 1st, 2002, one whole day of 2002 was complete, 2002 would not be complete until 364 days later. That would be the very second that the clock turned to January 1st, 2003.

Birth date years are Cardinal. When you're 1, a complete year has passed. You start with milliseconds upon being born (literally 0) and end up being 1 year old on the same date of your birth, the next time around. Some cultures start counting upon conception. So when you are born you are now 9 months old or any variation of that depending on whether birth was premature or not.

This is not the case with Calendar years (at least not with the Gregorian and Julian Calendars). The Romans and Greeks had no year 0. Year 1 A.D. or C.E of our calendar was not a Cardinal number but an Ordinal number. One whole year had not passed, that would only happen on 2 A.D. or C.E. Anytime you see years marked in calendars, you have to subtract one to find out the real number or whole number (Cardinal).

So for 2010, the 10th year will be complete on 2011, January 1st on the first tick of the clock of that day be it a nanosecond after midnight of 2010, December 31st or what ever unit of measurement you want to use.

One easy way to understand the differences then is to think of Ordinal numbers as numbers that tell you a position, like in a race, 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Calendar years are positional.

Cardinal numbers tell you how many, in order words a quantity (whole numbers).  A basket of apples with a count of 10 apples uses a Cardinal number. You don't normally think of the apples in the basket as 1st or 3rd unless you want to know if you put a green or a red apple in the basket first.

One thing is for sure, time keeps on going forward (as we understand it) and we can't go back to change things done in the past.

When 10 whole years of this new century (which is Ordinal as well) have passed, where will you be in relation to your goals and aspirations?

Almost over..

It has now been a month, since my dad experienced a stroke.  He was hospitalized, and since then has been discharged, sent to a convalescent home,  back to the hospital twice, sent to convalescent home again a number of times. Phew!

I really believe he's going to outlive us all.

My mom is surely stressed out, he wants to go back home. Can't! He needs to complete his therapy. He has improved but this going back and forth is delaying things more. 


In my family within last month we have had three different members end up in the emergency ward. And if you missed it, a couple of months ago my ...our dog died!


What can you do? Even with all these things going on, we are most definitely blessed. What do we complain most about? The weather, the food, how we look, our shoes, our clothing! Spoiled is what we are!


In any case, my dad is still with us and we'll keep going as life delivers more curbs our way!


Have you had similar experiences? What did you do? How did you weather the storm? Share your experience if you can on a link or a comment.

The Day After (Stroke)

It has been four days now since my dad has been hospitalized. He has lost use of his left leg and while can move his left arm he has no strength in his left hand at all.

The stress that this whole thing places on families is amazing. But there is one thing for sure. Nothing brings a family together like a stroke or a hear attack. I'm sure other catastrophic diseases tend to do the same thing.

The big issue is that of denial of what's really going on. My dad seems to feel like he's ready to go home. He can barely walk or for that matter feed himself. It takes an experienced nurse or two to move him and change him. I suppose there is a lot more we'll have to learn from this episode.

My mom is really being affected, in one way, she's sleeping better at home because he's being taken care at the hospital. The second thing is the fear of having to take care of him when he returns. As I mentioned before it's a very difficult and physical thing to do. Not having dealt with this issue before, we'll have to pull together and talk to the hospital staff that have done a wonderful job in taking care of my dad but in reality of the whole family.

Today we again had some light conversation, we listened to some classical music together, laughed  and left on the board the hospital has in the room the faces that are allowed in the room. This is allowed :-)  This is not allowed :-( nor this one ;-{ ,  nor this other one :-[  Silence is Ok, there is no need to force the conversation.

It has been great with all the friends that have come by. It certainly makes time fly. Hopefully my dad will be patient enough to allow for the hospital staff to do more of their job. I suppose when independence is taken away from us, we all react the same way.

Life goes on, the reality is that humanity spends its youth ruining their old age. When will we learn?

My Parents ll

I'm still very fortunate to have both my parents around. I have been sharing stories with them and getting together once a week.

Today (11/23/2009) my Dad experienced a stroke. Although he seems to be doing better, having recovered use of his left arm and left leg, we'll see how he does in the coming days. This is the second stroke in about two weeks span.

I'll be visiting him again tomorrow at the hospital in a regular room since he has been moved from the emergency ward to a regular patient room. I have lots of fond memories and need to make sure to get as many more as I can while things are stable.

Another day in the life of my parents.

Land of the lost

I was reading an article on technology. In conversing with others about it, a thought was brought out. The promise of technology was to give us more time to do the things we enjoy.

Imagine having to go get your water out of well every day.

Indoor plumbing beats having to get out really early in the morning to fetch water. I grew up with indoor plumbing but no hot water. We used to fill a tub and warm it by leaving out in the sun. A quick bath with Sun warmed water felt good! Showers were cold out of the shower head, that took a little more will but didn't have to go down to the river either!

In any case you can probably think about other things like indoor heating, your stove for cooking, DVD's and more!

Communications are also another thing, how easy it is for us to get in touch with practically anyone across the globe. Instantly at that! I remember writing letters to my Grandmother and Aunt in another country. E-mail has
taken over, and there are all the social media avenues available online as well as our super duper smart phones.

It's true that we now have more free time in our hands. It also seems that we have filled the time with more things to do, so use of our time has to be managed lest we spend all our time online and even perhaps addicted to electronic stimuli.

Being extremely busy then distracts us. Case in point, I went to the versa teller to deposit some cash. I drove up to the machine and without hesitation pressed the onscreen button. Out pops a Visa Check Card! The person before me drove off in a hurry, and forgot to get his card. Now I'm looking for a place to deposit the card, maybe the bank has a lost card receptacle to place them. No such luck. I'm thinking, while I deposit my cash maybe the person will realize his mistake and track back.

I was having trouble with the cash machine. It would not take my cash. Ended up getting out the car, parked and went in to the walk in machine. It's about 8:30PM. I'm getting a little nervous by now. Previous card holder nowhere in sight! After I finished depositing my money, I called the Bank's customer service to report the lost card.

I used my iPhone of course, and finally talked to a bank representative. It seemed that the whole affair took for ever. Waiting with elevator music spewing out of my phone! See what I mean about extra time being filled! The unfortunate gentleman before me probably did not realize that he had left his card or lost it until the next day. I sure hope the bank gives him a courtesy call because the amount of time he'll spend looking for his card and back tracking will certainly fill some of his free time. Not to mention the stress caused by fears of someone actually using his card to buy things.

Whew!

Technology can be a blessing and a curse. We are in such a hurry to get things done and invariably something will slow us down. Maybe that's what we need, slow down a little. Perhaps we'll not be so lost all the time.

Drowning in bits and bytes!

Wait it a minute! I have to text message or call some friends and find out when we can get together. Where's my phone?

My parents..

The Da Vinci Code

Secrets revealed.

Squeeze an Orange and you get: Orange Juice. It may be sweet or bitter or too tart. But it's always Orange juice.

What happens when we get squeezed? Squeezed by friends, family, our jobs, difficult situations?

Someone said that people are like tea bags. Put them in hot water and you'll quickly see what you get. Do we like what comes out?

Now I need to explore some ideas to maintain or improve on what is released.

Alternate Paths

As of August 26, 2009 I'm taking a different direction. This blog will have general stories of interest. My tech (geek) side will be recorded at http://refreshrate.wordpress.com/

My fitness endeavors will be recorded at http://fitconundrum.wordpress.com/

My photographic vision at www.lumiouscanvas.com I'm excited about the changes.

Although photographic in nature but focusing on just the beauty of flowers this is where flower photography will go: http://sowandbloom.blogspot.com/

This will help keep my thoughts for each blog more focused.

Parting of a friend

Last night, Cookie our Rottweiler passed away. How Cookie came to be part of our family three years ago is an essential part of the story.

First lest talk about Rottweilers for a minute. This dog's genus original breeding came from Germany. It was called the Rottweil Mezgehund (“Butcher Dog”). Rottweilers are strong and very intelligent. They have been used as messengers and guard dogs but also as search and rescue, guides for the blind besides their original use as herding dogs. In fact this type of dog, goes back to the Roman Empire.

While primarily a herding dog, it gained it’s reputation as a ‘Butcher Dog’ not because it was a killer but rather because Rottweilers were used by butchers at markets during the middle ages. The dog carried the money for the butcher in pouches tied around their necks. You know, no one was going to mess with the butcher’s dog or the butcher for that matter. *

I had the wrong impression of this type of dog for a long time. Until Cookie came to us! My now son-in-law brought the dog which was residing in his parents home. His parents had many more dogs and Cookie really needed a home. Cookie adapted the minute she walked in the door. Actually Cookie the dog, got along quite well with our resident Cookie (a female cat). Cookie gave us a lot of work, roaming around our back yard but also a lot of joy. And I don’t know that you can call it love, but Cookie sure was happy to see me every time I went out in the back yard. There was this competition between Corky and Cookie as to who would get petted the most.

I have a weight rack in the back and what I would have to do while working out is pet them in between sets. They would move as soon as I started the set and my 30 second rest would be devoted to paying attention to both dogs. It became part of the workout.

My sons (the twins) go in the habit of walking her and Corky (our other dog) in the afternoons. She really enjoyed those walks. Although my wife complained about how Cookie would lie down on her flower beds, Cookie was very obedient and could give you that look that only dogs can give their owners and make everything Ok.

Cookie now peacefully rests in my back yard. My son-in-law and myself (after checking with city ordinances), buried her in the back. There was a spot she was fond of, the grass would not grow there because she would sort of dig around that area. That spot is now hers for ever. Cookie was after all, a sui generis.

The very last workout with Cookie was to bury her. Only this time there would be not petting in between digging rests.

While I have lost a friend I’ve gained a son-in-law whom I hope to keep for ever as well.

* On Rottweilers