Journals

satchmo14 years ago2009-05-26 21:24:34 UTC 3 comments
My son has a new pet.
satchmo14 years ago2009-05-21 00:37:09 UTC 2 comments
I translated my grandmother's biography from Chinese to English last night:
A Brief Biography of Chang Yu-Ming Yuan

Mrs. Chang Yu-Ming Yuan was born on July 24th, 1919 in the district of Yong Nan, in the city of Wu Hu, in the province of An Hui. She was the third child in the family. Both of her older brothers died from measles, so her mother went back to her hometown and the entire family focused their attention on her during the birth and postnatal period. Being the center of attention of her doting family, she thrived and grew up to be a healthy child. She had three younger brother and two younger sisters.

Her maternal grandfather was a high-ranking official in the court, and her grandmother was the matriarch of a large and prominent family. Influenced by the compassion and fairness of her grandmother's attitude, the family became a role model household.

As she grew older, she returned to her parents, who owned the Heng Tai Sheng bakery with seven satellite stores in town. She learned respect for the elders in this large family.

She demonstrated her quick wit and physical fitness early in her academic career. She was the girl scout leader in high school. She was the foundation of the human pyramid during the scout convention, and she also carried the heavy camping equipment for her troop. Such tough training during the school years allowed her to tolerate the difficulties of the war-torn China.

When the Japanese invaded, she left her hometown with her cousins and became refugees. As she parted with her grief-stricken mother, she comforted her mother by saying "I will study hard, and I will return to take care of you." Her mother told her "Wherever you go, you must treat everyone with respect. When people praise your character, I would feel comforted."

Unexpectedly, this farewell was forever. She never saw her mother again. Her mother's parting words became her mantra. She excelled academically and later received her degree in education.

As the war continued, General Sun Li Ren recruited her to become the teacher for the troop's family. It was there where she met her future husband, Mr. Yuan Zi Lin, who was the general's personal secretary. They were married on March 10th, 1941 in the city of Dou Yun. The general himself officiated the wedding.

Beside teaching, she handled all the house chores. As the battle front swept through the city of Kung Ming, Cheng Dou, Chang Chun, and Song Hua Jian, she migrated with her family cross country, until the family moved to Taiwan in the winter of 1947.

To better focus on parenting her four children, she quit her job as a teacher. A few years later, she gave birth to two more daughters. The hectic family life was made harder by the harsh living condition of early Taiwan. Life without refrigeration and natural gas for cooking meant waking up before dawn to prepare the day's meals for the entire family. While taking care of the infants, dropping off older children at school, and shopping for groceries, she never complained and she raised her children into successful adults.

In 1985, she immigrated to the United States to be with her children, most of whom already reside in Southern California. Her favorite job was taking care of her grandchildren. Her greatest reward was seeing her grandchildren becoming adults and starting their own families.

Even in her senior years, her drive for self-improvement continued to motivate her. Despite her advanced age, her memory remained sharp. In 2004, when she was already 85 years old, she passed the citizenship exam and became an American citizen.

In her golden years, she continued to have a busy social life at her senior apartment complex. She attended Christian fellowship twice a week, and she helped countless new immigrants to ease their transition into their new country.

She returned to God's embrace on May 10th, 2009, Mother's Day. She awaits another family reunion and enjoys eternal bliss.
satchmo14 years ago2009-05-20 01:11:14 UTC 2 comments
What he needs . . . is a gravity gun.

Ball fight.
satchmo14 years ago2009-05-15 00:39:51 UTC 8 comments
My son was accepted by the University daycare.

His first school teachers will be professors in child education and development.

The goal is that he'll be reading before age three.
satchmo14 years ago2009-05-14 10:45:20 UTC 19 comments
Topical treatment with fluoroquinolone drops (eg, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin) has been found to be as effective as systemic therapy for perforated otitis media.
satchmo14 years ago2009-05-07 11:02:56 UTC 26 comments
My son already recognizes all the main characters in Half-Life 2.

He was playing with my game boxes the other day, and when he found the Half-Life 2 one, he pointed to it and said "Alyx".
satchmo15 years ago2009-04-30 01:14:58 UTC 17 comments
satchmo15 years ago2009-04-27 00:48:31 UTC 28 comments
I set up my old computer for my son this afternoon. I was teaching him how to type.

Eventually, it'll be his computer exclusively, and he'll learn how to play simple games on the computer and learn how to use the mouse and write his first novel.

I wrote my first book on that computer.
satchmo15 years ago2009-04-18 16:22:41 UTC 4 comments
My cousin is visiting from New York.

He's a lawyer, and his work is busy, so I see him about once every ten years.

He's staying with us, and I found out last night that he plays Half-Life 2 also. I watched him play my single-player maps for the first time.

It was one of those things I've been waiting for all my life--to watch someone who had already played Half-Life 2 to play my map for the first time. I get to see his reaction as he tried to avoid my traps.

I've been waiting all my life for this moment, and it happened so unexpectedly. I had no idea that he is a gamer before.

The best things in life are unexpected.
satchmo15 years ago2009-04-10 16:08:29 UTC 12 comments
We went to several open houses for daycare centers this morning.

There's this one that's very tough to get in. The application process is almost like getting into an university. My wife and I dressed up in our best business attire to the interview.
satchmo15 years ago2009-04-04 11:34:22 UTC 5 comments
satchmo15 years ago2009-03-31 14:11:17 UTC 9 comments
Had a really busy on-call night last night.

I worked for 30 hours straight, and I am pretty damn tired now.

I even missed breakfast this morning because I was rounding on the patients.

Just have to wait for lunch then.
satchmo15 years ago2009-03-30 00:22:09 UTC 19 comments
My son's first typed document:
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satchmo15 years ago2009-03-27 18:21:44 UTC 15 comments
A mother brings in her 4-year-old boy because she is concerned about his increasing clumsiness. He has been previously healthy and achieved developmental milestones on time. His growth parameters are normal. On physical examination, his mental status is normal, as are results of cranial nerve and sensory examinations and reflexes. However, he cannot rise from the floor without using his hands, and his running looks clumsy.
Of the following, the MOST appropriate next test to assess the cause of this child's symptoms is

electromyography

lumbar puncture

measurement of serum creatine kinase

muscle biopsy

spine magnetic resonance imaging
satchmo15 years ago2009-03-17 14:36:10 UTC 2 comments
As I toured the city of Taipei, I realized that I was touring the personal computer capital of the world.

I saw the headquarter of ASUS and Gigabyte, among other highly recognizable companies for hardware enthusiasts.

It was like a kid in the candy store.

Too bad that I didn't get a chance to get off the car and visit those companies.