Spark of Light

For some reason... just can't get away from this subject.  I first picked up "Spark of Light" when I grabbed whatever book I can find the day before we left for Tahoe.  Ended up bringing it up and back on the 9 hour round trip.  Never even looked at it until Christmas Day.  Hmm... didn't even realize the irony.  The day we celebrate the BIRTH of Christ...is when I crack open a book on abortion.

Like all of Jodi Picoult's books, she jumps right in and hooks you.  This time, it was a different hook.  So many characters.  So many arcs.  And by the time you get to the second chapter... you soon come to realize, this is a backwards book.  Like Memento... or that famous Seinfeld episode.  This bothered me soooo much... cuz I neglected to remember enough of the previous chapter... and I sorta kinda made me want to re-read it.  But I held out.

"Spark of Light." As Picoult describes it... is the moment a sperm fertilizes an egg.  And the chemical reaction will generate zinc... and also generate... a Spark of Light.  Is that where life begins...at conception? Or does life begin... at the exit of the womb? Or does life begin... whenever State government determines it begins? The author dove deep into the philosophical, religious, legal, and emotional angles.  Heck... she even took us between a woman's legs and inside her uterus, going through an abortion play-by-play, down to every last instrument inside the body, and every last tissue and liquid, coming out of the body. Never have I ever... but now I have.

The book was, strangely enough, centered around 2 dads and their daughters' relationship.  And oddly enough... not once, did I cry.  Me.  The guy who cries over diaper commercials!!  I did not cry... until I got to the Epilogue, when it wasn't even about the story anymore.  Picoult describes the real life doctor she interviewed and fashioned for the book.  And she said, "He chose this work because of his faith - not in spite of it."  At that moment... the waterworks came bursting.

Stranded

The atmospheric river or pineapple express has been wreaking havoc on California for a month now... torrential downpours unlike anything I remember for all the time I've lived here.  Yes - we get pounded, but not relentlessly, like this.  

And as trees, powerlines, and mountainsides came running down... also came down were bridges, especially up in the Santa Cruz mountains, in which one of my co-workers lived.

I tried reaching him the first week of the year... to no answer.  I vaguely remember he said he'll be on vacation, so I didn't give it much thought.  Then week 2 came by and still no response.  Out of the blue, my associate manager says the guy is trapped.  The access roads to his neighborhood got wiped out.  He's without power and running water.  But he has food and water, thankfully.

I didn't know what to do.  Call 9-1-1?? What's 9-1-1 gonna do??? Send in a helicopter to evacuate??  So I started cold-calling my company's emergency / security hotlines to ask for help.... no one knew what to do.  Physically, he was safe.  But for how long?? 

It was impossible for me to reach the guy... who turned on his phone just a few minutes a day... to conserve power on his phone.  So only way I got word from him was through that associate manager.  And he told me... the ravine from where the bridge use to be is at least 50 feet wide.  I told him... we can drive up to the ditch... and heave bottles of water, propane, battery, Domino's Pizza over to him.  

That was going to be our Thursday adventure. Drive up to the ravine.  I was thinking... we should bring ropes.  Maybe we can make a transport line.  Or I can maybe borrow a drone and fly some water (and beer) over to him.  Later in the afternoon... a co-worker that lives in Santa Cruz says someone made a zipline to ship supplies over.  Relief.

Then late last night... we find out that one of my employee's neighbor used a chainsaw and made a bridge or something... and the entire neighborhood got out. He was now in a safehaven of a Quality Inn.  

My L4 manager and I headed up to meet with him today and had lunch.  I thought about bringing a care package but wasn't sure what to get.  We drove through an hour of rain and mountainous regions... through fallen trees and power lines.  We saw CalTrans and PG&E fixing this and that along the way.  Suffice to say... it was not a drive I would take on any other Friday.

We got to this amazing Italian restaurant, situated in the middle of no-where, and as we found it, it use to be a brothel.  The decor is amazing.  The service is exceptional.  And the clam chowder... well worth the drive.  When my colleague walked in... he was smiling from ear to ear.  He was so glad to see a couple of familiar faces.  His eyes started welling up.  "You didn't need to do this.  But I'm so happy to see you right now." 

History repeating itself

A year and one day ago... this happened.  Course... the ensuing events snowballed into an inferno of a mess. A year and one day later... "Daddy... I got into Team A."  

Redemption. Validation. Vindication.  NN wanted it so bad.  She played with a chip on her shoulder.  She ran harder and faster than she ever ran... to a point, where she broke her shoe. 

Now she has a new chip on her shoulder.  She's riding pine. She'll have to work her way to the starting lineup.  Keep fighting Nui.... with every last sweat and every last beat of your heart... but in all things, give Glory and Honor to Jesus. 

I'm an American!!!

"Y'know... I know nothing about soccer.  What you'll get is an adult with a loud voice. You sure that's what you want?"

"An encouraging warm body is all we are looking for. :)"

I am so lost.... don't even ask me to explain offside.  I'm an American!!! I don't know anything about soccer.  But guess what.... Coach Henry is back. 

中華之傲

What a moment for Asians.  A moment for women.  A moment for 60 year olds.  Carry this to the Oscars.  You've got, at least, 2 billion people behind you... 

Records are made to be broken

The kids woke up and fought to play Minesweeper.  Then they found out... overnight.. I clocked in at 11 seconds!! HAHA!!  I think at my best, on Windows, with a working mouse, I was at 9 seconds for the Easy level.

Within an hour... NN clocked 8 seconds.  I ain't beating that record. Nope.  Not even gonna try. 

The Classic

Busted out a classic video game for the kids today... and they're addicted. Nope. Not Super Mario Brothers. Not ATARI. Not Tetris on the black and white Gameboy. Those are all good in their own sense. But today... I downloaded and introduced the kids to... Minesweeper!!

After some explaining... SW's first "Easy" game took 294 seconds. Then he played by himself and he finished in 170 seconds. Then I played... and finished in 30 seconds. I thought that record was gonna stand for a few weeks (or a few days). It took SW all of 3 tries and he chopped it down to 23 seconds. NN couldn't stand it anymore...she had to come and learn. And she was addicted. Not so much to the game, but to the fact she had to beat SW's time.

It got to the point where we flossed, brushed our teeth, and were about to go to bed when NN finally came up the stairs to proudly announce, "21 seconds." Immediately... SW woke up, raced downstairs, and disappeared for the next 10 minutes. We finally heard footsteps, coming up the stairs when he said, "家姐，we tied. I also got 21."

Phew.... glad he got 21. If he got anything else... NN would've rushed downstairs and they would never sleep. Little did they know... that after they're tucked away and snoring and dreaming... that I would come down... demolish their times... and hold the record of 11 seconds for "Easy" mode. Can't wait till we get to Intermediate and Expert!!

Don't ever forget that feeling!!

SW and I went to shoot some hoops today.  For whatever reason... he had an off day and I beat him in all of our games.  He was feeling pretty lousy.  But then... what I've been wanting to do... was drive him back onto campus.  I parked right next to the bench where he and I sat when he found out he didn't make Team A.

I pointed to the bench... "Remember that day... the third day of tryouts... and Coach Jacob said you were on Team B?"  

He quickly responded, with tears welling up, "Yeah." 

I didn't expect that response... but I guess to him... the wound is still deep and healing.  I then asked, "So you remember how you felt.  Do you remember how you felt when you won MVP?"

Much to my surprise, he said, "Not really."  I guess, in life, the 5 oz of pain far outweights 5 lbs of gains.  

I launch into a speech, "Don't ever forget that feeling. No matter how low life can get... you pick up yourself up.  Use your God-given talent.  Put in hardwork.  Extra effort.  Your coach will see it.  Your teammate, who voted you MVP, will recognize it.  You will become a better player.  A better person.  There will be more disappointments in life.  And in those moments, you will need to rise up.  Look that fear and disappointment in the eye and show them who's boss."  

We then went to McDonalds and got a cold drink and some crispy, hot fries. 

GFCI

Freezer in our garage started leaking water.  Turns out the wall socket wasn't working. My immediate thought was to replace it.  Not too bad... $7-10 from Home Depot.  What bugs me is... the front panel as a GFCI sticker on it, but there's no GFCI button.  Grrr....

I wasn't sure which breaker the socket was on... so I turned off all the breakers in the house.  Using the flashlight from my iPhone... I carefully removed the wires.  Then I turned on all the breakers to buzz out the wires only to find... zero volts!! So it's not the socket itself.  I give up. Nothing I can do at this point.

Had to call the landlord to get an electrician.  I sent him pictures and told him what I did.  He quickly responded... "Press the button on the GFCI circuit in the garage."  Then it dawns on me... duh... a socket can be on a GFCI circuit in series!!!!  There's zero volts because another circuit in series has tripped.  I finally locate that socket (it's 10 feet away), press the button and "presto", let there be light.  

And I call myself a EE.  Pssssh! 

Frozen Jaw

Woke up this morning to a frozen jaw... or locked jaw. For some inapparent reason, my left jaw bone was stuck beyond opening 1-2". A million thoughts went through my mind.. including falling back asleep and catch another 10 minutes of shut eye. Do I see a doctor? Do I see a dentist?

In a situation like this... Did what most red-blooded Americans would do and googled the symptoms and there's a term for this!! Temporomandibular joint dysfunction or TMJ/TMD.   Causes include stress, grinding, a bacterial infection, and maybe excessive chewing...  The cure?? Heat pad for 30 minutes... or just some simple massage.  So that's what I did.  Laid in bed and rubbed my jaw for about 5 minutes and like a jammed door... or opening a jar of spaghetti sauce... it slowly and surely, budged and eventually... noramlity. 

Frozen jaw??

"The cold never bothered me any ways..."  

Intolerance

In school... we are taught to be tolerant.  Tolerant of people's antics, shenanigans, differences.  It's a sign of acceptance.

In church, ironically, we are taught to no longer tolerate.  That we've been wronged all our childhood lives and we should stand firm in our beliefs.

What if... intolerance isn't for a human being.

What I thought was a one time occurrence during COVID, came back during the holidays.  And then yesterday... I was knocked out the entire day after one bowl of milk and cereal. It's not coincidence.  I am one who can no longer tolerate... lactose.