The internet has been down for us since Thursday afternoon. This Saturday evening is the first I have been able to access the internet from home since then!

It is incredible the feeling of intense isolation not having the internet gave me. I am home, alone with Conor and Kat has her job to do during the day. Even though I really do not talk to anyone much online anymore (instant messages, etc) I still find that the occasional email to respond to, and even posting on xanga is a means of connecting to other people. Not having that was a rather painful separation for an extrovert like myself.

I really appreciate and value every email, thought, greeting, and comment I get from all of you. It brightens my day and gives me encouragement- as well as someone else to chat with.

Short Update

-I created my first complex recipe from scratch with no 'base recipe'. A "Patrician" dish I call pork fillet with pear framboise sauce. It was an incredible success and quite truly inspired. I'm proud of my first creation.

-Katrina is as beautiful as ever.

-Conor has inheretted a concentrated dose of all our stubborness.

-Conor is VERY energetic and becoming more explorative and curious every day. Today he finally figured out, on our kitchen floor, how to get his small walker-on-wheels to move in a desired direction. He apparently went wild with glee and began exploring EVERYWHERE in the kitchen. Since Kat was doing some shelf-putting-upper work he even got into the trash at one point. Uh oh. Kat saved the day, though. I dread the day when he can move like that on his own.

-Conor is not far from speaking, I think. Lots of new sounds every day. No purposeful words yet, though he clearly wants to communicate.

That's all for now.

-Patrick

New Technology

Bringing Ultrasounds a Notch Up

I have just recently experienced having my first baby, so it is easy to quickly recall the feelings of seeing our son for the first time while he was still in the uterus. There is nothing quite like getting to actually see your baby move before they are born- for first time parents, it makes the reality of the fact there really is a little life inside there come home. Yet there is still that barrier and limitation- until you give birth, it is a little like a child in an antique shop. You can look, but you cannot touch.

Until now.

Technology has been worked on in the area of medical technology to allow development in the area of haptic devices- technology that allows you to 'feel' things electronically. Tom Anderson is the chief executive of Novint technologies and was recently awaiting the birth of his son. They presently can take the information from MRI's and catscans and create algorithms from them to allow tactile contact through their state-of-the-art haptic peripherals. It was during this time that Tom realised as he saw the ultrasound of his son that this technology could easily utilise the data from an ultrasound as well.

Under his direction, the Novint team adapted its software to produce a texturised representation of Will, the baby still in the uterus.

"I could touch Will's skin and feel the difference of textures between my son's
nose and my wife's amniotic fluid," Anderson says. "It was a neat experience for
a parent." (Going one step further, he imagined creating "contemporary versions
of bronzed baby boots"—keepsake 3-D sculptures based on the sonograms. He formed
a subdivision of the company called Novint Sono to create Baby Light Gems, 3-D
glass cubes of infants' likenesses sculpted with ultrasound imagery.)
[quote and general information taken from MSNBC from this article ]

Of course, we do not have hopes of this technology being available anytime very soon, as haptic devices such as these are in the five digit range at present. Controllers made by this company can cost up to $48,000 and is used by research groups. One can only guess when it will be possible for your 'average person' to touch their baby when they visit a hospital, but it is most probably it will be well over five years from now before that is even a possibility.

Still, the idea of being able- even imperfectly- to "feel" your child inside the uterus is fascinating. Of course, one must take into account that the 'physical image' is static and thus will feel more like a sculpture than a living thing must be accepted- and I am unaware just how advanced haptic technology is at this point. Yet it lends itself towards thought such as- will one day we be able to have 'real time' contact with babies through consistently updated images translated to 'touch'? Instead of an ultrasound where you watch- an ultrasound where you can touch and feel different parts of your baby?

What about surgeries and medical work? Doctors could use their hands to quickly "feel" around a heart and find out the shape and texture without having to spend time trying to visually look at a chart. One day, decades from now, surgeries could be done perhaps "real-time" with haptic technology like this!

Until then, however, it is a realistic and fascinating potential to think about.

-Patrick

But A Legend Never Dies

I feel like we've lost a distant relative. Steve Irwin was a great guy- a strong personality, and probably a little irritating to some people, but a good man. He was killed today by a stingray barb to the heart.

An African croc hunter (unlike Irwin, he is a killer and has killed thousands of crocs) respected him and said that being killed that way was "not a fitting end", as though it was embarassing- that he should have died by a croc. I beg to differ- in fact, I demand to differ.

I feel this is the way he would have wanted to go- if he was to be killed it would be doing what he loved, and not by crocs. This way, his children will not fear or resent crocodiles- nor will people as a whole fear or resent them. There will not be people on TV saying "Look at him! We all knew eventually all his carelessness with crocs would get him killed!" I think, personally, that this is Steve's way of being able to say "Yes, I was killed doing what I loved- but not by crocs. I knew crocs till the end, I respected them, and I never died by them."

I hurt more for his family than him- his two children, especially his daughter, are going to grow up without a Dad. But I am sure the entire zoo will be like a second family to them now. I think this also teaches us all a lesson- the seemingly harmless danger we don't really look at is far more deadly than the obvious danger right before us.

Farewell Croc Hunter. You were loved, and will be remembered.

-Patrick

Do any of you remember Mr. Yuck? Back when I was little in the eighties, it was a green "icky" face with a scowl and a tongue sticking out. You would put stickers of Mr. Yuck on things that children should not eat/drink- like medicine bottles, cleaning stuff, etc.

Well, yesterday late afternoon I got my first "Mr Yuck" experience. We were in a hurry and I tend to help Kat remember her meds by getting them for her, plopping them in her hand and offering her the drink for it. It just so happened that I needed to take my meds about that time. I was getting drink from the fridge so that I could give her something to take her meds with, and something distracted me. I poured the drink... and then, when I got back on track, my mind picked up that I had meds and a drink but did NOT pick up that they were for Kat. So...

Pop, into my mouth, guzzle the drink...

Oh CRAP. I just took her meds.

Quick, Call 911. Call FEMA- wait, that didn't work for New Orleans, so call the president of the United States and hope he doesn't send anti-terrorism units to us!

So I talked to Kat who was a little stunned. Last time we had talked about her meds, she had given me the impression that she was on such a high dose of synthroid it would be dangerous for anyone to take it. For those who do not know, my Wife takes three different medications- one of which is synthroid because she no only has hypothryroidism, she has no thyroid gland at all and was born that way. So she takes a HIGH dose. The thyroid regulates everything in your body- metabolism, blood pressure, tons of things. So, I just took enough substitute thyroid medication for a whole person- and I have a fairly active thyroid (though my metab is going down now that I am getting a little older).

I called 911 and remembered as I waited for the ring, "Wait a minute. I have Vonage. Wasn't there a thing a while ago about Vonage not having 911? Wait, I think they have it, but maybe it can't tell where you live- so what if I pass out and they don't know where I am and by the time Kat calls again..." Well, by then they picked up. They seemed to know where I was. Whew. They weren't too helpful, "I took my Wife's medication by accident. Do I need an ambulance?"

"I'm not a nurse, so I cannot say. I can send you an ambulance though."

"Ermmm... I guess I'd better call a doctor or something first." Ambulance's cost money.

"Well, I have a number here for poison control. I don't know if that is what you need now..."

"Yes, please."

Poison control works. I remembered pretty clearly that poison control deals with situations like these. And they do. I called, and they took down the exact medications I took- the medications I normally take- and my body weight.

"Sir, I checked, and you should be fine."

"I don't have to make myself throw up."

"... ah, no, you don't need to make yourself throw up."

Whew, good. I hate throwing up.

"One of those medications may make you feel a little sleepy, but the synthroid shouldn't hurt you with one dose. You might have high blood pressure or notice your heart goes fast sometimes."

Later, I realised I forgot to tell her I have a regurgitating (sp?)- or leaking- tricuspid valve on my heart. Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I'm alive to type this and she really didn't seem that concerned anyway.

Weirdness

So, I felt a little dizzy later that evening- Kat couldn't get her car detailed because she felt like she didn't want to take me out too long. But we ended up shopping anyway, and getting food to go. By the evening before bed, though, I had begun to feel a little strange.

No, not life or death strange. But you see, I normally have a rather low blood pressure. I tend to be colder than Kat, and many folks. So suddenly I'm hot now. Then I am sitting down in the chair, and I can feel a strange full feeling in my neck- I yawn a lot too, but after I yawn, the area of my neck below my jaw feels... strange, kind of big and sensitive. I found out later that is near where my thyroid is. Poor lil guy, he's probably all worn out having to deal with these increased demands- or maybe it is like thyroid caffine, and he's going bonkers having fun with a rest break while the sythroid does his work for him?

I wake up at night, the middle of the night, and have trouble sleeping. And I am HUNGRY. I ate dinner, but I am STARVING and my stomach won't stop. But I ignore it for at least half an hour and finally go back down. I knew if I got up to eat I'd never get back down.

High Metabolism goes Higher

So Kat tells me today part of the reason my hunger was like that is because my metab probably skyrocketted. As she is telling me this, I just woke up- still starving- and go to eat the leftovers from dinner last night for breakfast. I NEVER eat breakfast- I usually go until afternoon, then eat a light lunch and a big dinner later. I cleaned the plate. And my blood pressure is up, so I have energy and my teeth hurt a little because of a slight sinus pain- I think it is the increased blood going through. I can't run around or I get quesy. So I'm not bad, just... wierd. Yep, wierd. Everything feels strange, but not bad. I breath more often, I feel warmer, and I have this feeling of energy I used to have when I was younger but haven't had for years- like if I want to get up and run around I can at will, and it actually is enticing. Normally, the idea of getting up is exhausting. Of course, if I did, I'd probably feel sick because I'm not used to the high blood pressure.

It's weird being able to sit down, put me feet up, and not have cold fingers or toes, though.

Experiment "Take Wrong Meds":  survived

So, I never plan to make that mistake again. But I made it out fine, and while I feel wierd and everything it is one of those things I can put into my past experience book. Maybe it will help me write a neat fictional story later?

Lesson Learned- Never hold someone else's meds in my hand while pouring a drink, when I am used to taking meds of my own at the same time. Also, never take body-altering medications of high dosages when I am already taking high levels of brain-altering medications (anti-convuls that effect the way the brain works).

Hee hee. Well, if they HAD said to throw up, I would have tried my best. But I'm glad I didn't have to.

-Patrick

Excel Saga

A very crazy anime, but you just have to see the ending song here. It is sooo cute and hilarious. The idea is that the main character meets this cute little dog and you think she will take it in as a pet. But she isn't able to get work and thus is starving, so she begins to chase the cute little puppy in an attempt to eat it. She ends up sparing it- but only as a "reserve food source". So the rest of the series, he is trying to escape and existing as her 'temporary pet' until she decides it is time to eat him.

-Patrick

Cultural Blogger

In the previous entry the comment was given- "Where did you get that?" about the Happy Ice Cream thing. Well, my personal FAVOURITE blogger is actually part of a anime-fan base product seller who sells Japanese anime-related products from Japan to people in the states. You can look at his latest blogs here, and even sign up for an email of them. Each email, in addition to featuring new products, also has two or three paragraphs of a journal written by him with the most fascinating information. I always enjoy the read.

Note- If you go there, do NOT stumble your way towards "jlist"- it contains adult content and is best avoided by all. Jbox is their "clean" section for children and those folks like myself who seek to avoid x-rated anime material.

Japanese Language Partner- Jun

I met with my language partner tonight for the first time one-on-one. We'd met just once before at the large group pizza party. Just enough time to say hello, exchange information, find out a few small things and set the next time to meet. Well, tonight was GREAT. I had a wonderful time getting to know Jun and just hang out with him. It was a very different experience than with my first attempt at a partner, Yuki- no awkward pauses and that strong 'reserved' feeling was fortunately gone. Of course, it is probably there to some extent with most Japanese people, but it is not a tangible thing with Jun like with Yuki. This is a very intelligent and relaxed guy that I can look forwards to being friends with. Most importantly, he desires to invest time in building a friendship with me- and that's always a plus. It seems like around CIU I have gotten used to an environment where everyone is so BUSY... that people tend to have to pick and choose who they want to prioritize for time investment and I usually ended up feeling like I had to fight for my 'people time' with them or anyone.

Flat Sprite Anyone?

Well, that is what it feels like I am drinking. I brought Jun to the local Asian market to show him a place he might want to drop by in the future if he gets home-sick for Japanese food items that are hard to find here. Well, he pointed out a new drink for me to try besides my present favourite "Ramune" (Rah-moon-ay). It was a curious looking drink- it titles itself a "Non-carbonated Soft Drink" and apparently the name in American was changed from "Calpis" (the real Japanese name) to "Calpico". Of course, after saying Calpis aloud I realise maybe why that might be- try it and you may understand. Say it five times fast. Heh heh. Anyone figure it out yet? I just love how some words translate over in the most amusing ways.

So, Calpis looks milky white- probably because it actually has skim milk in it. So I drink it expecting (as most Americans would) a milky and perhaps slightly rich flavour. Instead, I am shocked to get a tangy flavour- my mouth expects it to culminate with a bite, but instead, it fades out and tastes like... like...

Flat sprite.

Yes, here I am drinking something that looks like milk and tastes like flat Sprite. Perhaps the American mis-understanding of the name Calpis (still haven't figured that out yet?) is not quite that far off. Maybe more like Cal-milk-pis.

Jun thought it was pretty good so I am keeping an open mind. I just recoil because I'm used to flat Sprite being a BAD thing... this isn't bad... it isn't bad, just new... give it a chance. I'm usually a pretty open minded guy with new things- try it before I decide I don't like it. I try to give things I do not outright hate a fair chance. Although personally I would prefer it had a milky flavour. We Americans really are conditioned to expect certain colouring in certain flavours, aren't we? White colouring is milk, or coconut... NOT citrus lemon-lime-ish.

Calpis, calpis, calpis, calpis... I want to like calpis, I can like calpis... I will like calpis... ARGH, I DO NOT LIKE CALPIS.

Ahem.

How often to Americans eat meat?

That was one of the questions Jun asked me. I thought it was interesting as I realised that the Japanese really do not eat a lot of meat- especially not red meat, and not too often non-seafood meat. Part of the reason now is that it is just too darn expensive. I mean REALLY expensive. You'd have to be wealthy to eat an American-sized steak on any kind of regular basis in Japan. He found it interesting to realise that we eat meat with EVERY single meal except perhaps breakfast- and even then, if it is a more formal breakfast then we might eat meat too (bacon, ham, etc) though we normally just have cereal on regular days... if anything at all.

I told him that sometimes we have trouble with eating ONLY meat for a meal- maybe a little white bread too, like with a meat sandwhich (ie- hamburger, chicken sandwhich, fried chicken, etc). In Japan they have to work to get meat in a meal- here, we have to work NOT to get meat in a meal. Going to the restraurants here in SC... it is hilarious how hard it is to find ANYTHING without meat in it that is a main meal. Even the SALADs that are not side-salads have meat in them!!

What do Americans do for entertainment?

We watch movies- though lately we are often going to theatres less and watching movies and TV from our homes and just getting nicer TV's and sound systems. Next to that, Sports is a big thing- which can combine with the first, since we watch them on TV a lot. I don't like watching sports personally, but it is very popular and particularly among men. American Football and Basketball are tops, at least here.

Apparently in Japan it is thought that the BIG American sports are Basketball and Baseball. I think baseball has a big following, but American Football far tops it and it seems to be loosing popularity in the adult crowd. The Japanese don't know much about American Football- rather, they do find rugby very interesting instead.

-Patrick

As some of you may know, in America it is common for people to say "Jinx!" when two people say the same thing at the same time.

Well, in Japan, they do the same thing- except instead of "jinx" they shout "Happy ice cream!"

Kinda neat isn't it? *laugh!* I think I am going to try that next time.

-Patrick

.....

.....

Not.

I heard recently through the open net initiative by some very prestigious organizations like Harvard that China has apparently gone berserke on censorship. We knew they had it before, but apparently they are going beyond their present nation-wide internet censorship and news censorship and cracking down on everything from personal blogs to cell phone messages!! Anything outside the country that doesn't meet their criteria gets filtered out by sophisticated programs and technology as well as people, and those inside the country? Well aparently they are ready to start arresting everyday people for blogging about news. Take a look at the new regulations they are going to impose.

Specific Provisions of Regulations


The provisions of RAINIS apply either to all Internet entities
distributing news or target a specific group of news sites (as
explained above).

A. Generally Applicable Content Restrictions

The 2000 regulations and RAINIS both enumerate extremely broad
categories of content prohibited on all types of Internet news Web
sites. These categories leave crucial terms undefined - for example,
"state secrets," "interests of the nation," and "disturbing social
order" - thereby providing considerable discretion for state
enforcement. The 2000 regulations ban any material categorized as:

1. violating the basic principles as they are confirmed in the Constitution;
2. jeopardizing the security of the nation, divulging state secrets,
   subverting state power, or jeopardizing the integrity of the nation's
   unity;
3. harming the honor or the interests of the nation;
4. inciting hatred against peoples, racism against peoples, or disrupting the solidarity of peoples;
5. disrupting national policies on religion, propagating evil cults, and propagating feudal superstitions;
6. spreading rumors, compiling and promulgating false news, disturbing social order, or disrupting social stability;
7. spreading obscenity, pornography, gambling, violence, terror, or abetting the commission of a crime;
8. insulting or defaming third parties, infringing on the legal rights and interests of third parties; or
9. constituting any other content prohibited by law or rules.(26)

In other words, by taking the rules above, I could probably randomly find any blog on xanga and find a reason to arrest that person if it were in China. I just love the rules on "social stability" and "social order". You know, reading these things makes me realise just how GLAD I am to have been picked by God to be born in a country that doesn't do these things. Where people would go berserke and start rioting if these things happen. It also makes me realise my responsibility to other believers in Jesus that DO live in countries like this- to pray for them, to support them, to encourage them. If you're an American believer- do you do this? Also, realise that if we're not careful over time "good reasons" could allow the same freedoms to be taken away from us. We must realise that in order to allow a certain amount of freedom we must also allow for the fact this freedom will allow for a certain amount of evils to be present- to take away these freedoms would be to allow greater evil.

Remember- unlike in the movies, in real life most villains don't think of themselves as evil nor do they run around claiming to be so.

"Your children are vulnerable! Do you want to keep them safe? Well, in order to do that, we need to start keeping track of everyone who has ever been tried as a sex offender. Now you can find out where they live." (this is the current situation in the states. Many would agree)

"Men who have committed a violent crime are 50% more likely to become sex offenders. We should put them on a watch list, and allow everyone to know where they are as well."

"Because we know the most dangerous sex offenders are ones who never get caught, we need to start watching all men more carefully- and put ANY suspicious men on a watch list."

"People who know about the watch list are presently abusing it by committing vigilante crimes against them. We should make it private, and develop an organization of the government specifically for this- a citizen watch department!"

"Women are now known to commit sex crimes against children as well, and while not as common as men, when it does happen it can happen for a long time and they are rarely caught. Our citizen watch now needs to monitor the presence of any women in contact with children as well. People should be required to have tracking chips in them, that let the watch know whenever they are near children. (incidentally, allowing all people to be tracked all the time)"

"A tracking chip enabled us to stop a crime- they weren't near children, but look at the good it did! Even if it was against the rules, it saved so many people- we should make it legal to officially track everyone for other reasons, too."

By this point, big brother is then watching EVERYONE. Yes, you could call this a fallacy- an argument of the extreme. But is it that unbeleivable? Look at China- and realise that any country can get there eventually, and all for seemingly GOOD reasons. After all, to get there, people had to have SUPPORT- and they get that support through offering good, valid reasons the people accept at the time. Hitler didn't do all his work single-handedly... nor was he hated. Likewise, the government of China isn't a ten person group.

The question is- how much freedom are we willing to sacrifice for "safety"? There has to be a balance, and a "control check" where people can step up and say "you're going too far now" and have that listened to.

Of course, I'm just a humble homemaker... so...

-Patrick

I have made this post on my online ministry project, EKKO, protected. If you came here interested in this idea feel free to send me a message and ask- or a comment- and I can pass information onto you.

-Patrick