A Postmodern Desi

It's never an easy thing to start a new car company - there are many fits and starts. The latest twist happened yesterday when tight-lipped Aptera came out and said that they'd be delayed till 2010, as opposed to shipping vehicles this year. There's a lot of management shakeup going on there and the press release has a lot of spin to it.

So while I *want* an Aptera, and I'm still keeping my deposit going, that Nissan LEAF is looking increasingly attractive...

Next week, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States.

I already know what I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for my health, for my friends, for the small comforts I have in my life that I take for granted day-to-day. I am thankful for the opportunity to volunteer to do really cool things. This time, it was with The Order of Malta.



So after a one day layover in Miami (where I got to finally meet lythandrel, I met up with the team in the Miami airport and we all flew down together. While my Spanish-literacy is nonexistent, I was quite happy to realize most everyone else was fluent. So just hang with the group!

There were 33 of us - about a dozen doctors (internal medicine, cardiology, urology, pediatrics, etc), and support staff of RNs, myself, and some other volunteers to act as translators or to do misc work.

The first night, we waited at the airport while all 25 gigantic duffel bags of medications went through customs (they were looking for expired meds - they didn't find any, because we were good about making sure we brought good meds ... if they'd found any, the whole bag would have been discarded!) Get on a bus for a dark nighttime ride to the mission, about twenty minutes away. Chats with various people to get to know them.

The first thing we did upon our arrival was unpack and sort those bags of medications - and then to bed!

One of the most humbling things about this whole trip was the fact that people would travel up to eight or nine hours to come see us... they'd arrive at 6 AM to wait for the clinic to open at 8AM. Compare this to an American emergency room where if you wait for thirty minutes, most are upset!

So by breakfast the next morning, there were hundreds of people at the hospital, patiently waiting for things to open.

I worked triage, and our primary job was to do the initial intake of adult patients - assess vitals, get a history, and then pass them off to the doctors for their visit. In the three days I was there, I probably saw about 250-300 patients. Mostly adults, and then occasionally I'd pop into pediatrics to help them out as well. We saw the poorest of people in the Dominican Republic, and we saw refugees from Haiti too.

In the several days we were there, we saw 947 patients in the clinic, and since many of these patients had multiple problems (it's easier to ask who didn't have high blood pressure and diabetes, for example!), this translated to roughly 1500 doctor contacts. When it was known that I was a Cisco engineer, I became the designated tech support guy for networks and PCs too - so I'd bounce between doing medicine and doing tech stuff, which amused me greatly.

It's hard to put into words how amazingly good this trip was. There were great people that worked hard during the day, and then we'd go dancing or something at night, and then go back and do it all over again. It was heartbreaking (the photo set on flickr has photos of a couple of very sick kids that might be disturbing to some...), and yet it was good when you *know* you're making a difference in the lives of a thousand people, in a real quality-of-life impacting way.

In case you were wondering, even though the Order of Malta is affiliated with the Catholic Church, I never felt put out about it -- I was always welcome (about 1/3 of our team were not Catholics, and some were even very adamant atheists...), and we treated everyone regardless of race, class, religion, etc. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I had an amazing experience, and made many new friends. I want to go back next year when this same team heads back to Santiago. Unfortunately, I took a small handful of pictures since I was so busy. I did take a Flip HD camera with me, and I need to stitch some of those clips together and post them but in the interim, I asked Katrina if I could post her photos up on flickr in proxy so people could get a feel for what it was we were about...her photos have lots of kids in them because she was working in pediatrics...

All 100+ photos are available here. Most of the photos are of the patients, the team after-hours, etc. As I said before, there's a couple of photos of very young, sick kids in there, so be warned.

For those of you on facebook, there's more details about my trip (like Katrina's collection of photographs that I linked to), and I'll write something more detailed here in the next day or so. Suffice to say it was an awesome, hard, heartbreaking, fun, humbling time.

Sleep now!

It is an incredibly humbling thing when hundreds of rural poor people will travel up to eight hours to arrive at 6am to get in line for the clinic which opens at 8am.

I feel blessed that my life allows me to do this.


I've started a flickr collection with photos and video that I'm shooting here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/densaer/sets/72157622672832041/

Hey folks - I'll be hosting an "orphan" Thanksgiving for those of you who aren't travelling or otherwise stuck here in San Jose. If you're interested, please RSVP below. We'll do it potluck style, so please indicate what you might be bringing. Feel free to bring others along!

Hurricane Watches issued across the Gulf Coast as Ida comes north

I can't remember who I've told and who I haven't, but I think I've not posted this to LJ yet, so...

A few months ago, I was invited by a friend to be a part of a medical team sponsored by a Catholic charity in Miami that goes every year to the Dominican Republic to provide medical care for people who would not otherwise have access to care.

I've never been to the DR before, never even really considered it. But I said "Yes" almost immediately when the offer presented itself. I *like* helping people, whether they're in this country or some other... and while I get *paid* to be an emergency techie, I love doing hands-on medical work too...

So I'm part of a team of MDs, RNs, pharmacists, and a few others who will be flying down to Santiago this upcoming Thursday. The trip is five days long (six for me - I'm spending one night in Miami on the 11th), and should be a blast. I'm told by the doctor leading the team that the clinic will see about 1,200 people in those few short days.

And I'll be working triage, so I'm going to get a chance to interact with many, perhaps most (all?) of them.

I've got my Flip Mino HD video camera that just came this week so I should be able to capture *something* about it. I don't know if I want to lug the HUGE FREAKING camera kit though ... still debating that one.

I should be paying my bills and doing laundry this Saturday, because next week will be quite busy but I can't quite seem to find the motivation.

Sgt. Kimberly Munley, Ft. Hood Police Dept.

Yay for Washington voters, boo for Maine.

If civil rights had been put to the popular vote in the South in the 1960s, it wouldn't have passed. If Loving v. Virginia had been argued at the ballot box, interracial couples would still be prohibited by law.

Guaranteed legal rights and protections exist to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.

Any time a group is singled out and their rights taken away should alarm every right-thinking person.

Schubert/Flint are now 2-0 in their campaign. First CA Prop 8, and now Question 1 in Maine.

What are we going to do about it?

What am I?

Support Leviticus 11:10 - Boycott Maine Lobster

For those of you who crave the next big thing, Verizon and Motorola today took the wraps off Droid, a Google Android 2.0-based smart phone.

First impressions are pretty positive, though I will put money down that when people get frustrated with their phones, they will refer to them as "Roids"

I just got a page saying there was a vehicle fire at work in the parking lot. A certain part of me is sad that I'm on vacation and home and not there to participate in the CAR-B-QUE.

So sailing school ended yesterday, and I'm kind of being somewhat lazy today and packing for my trip to Quebec City tomorrow morning. I'll be presenting at the DSI 2009: Science and Technology for Emergency Management conference there next week. Many cool things are happening this weekend locally, and I won't be here for any of 'em.

C'est la vie. I have never been to Quebec City before, but I heard it's a charming place -- if you have any tips on things to see or do while there, please drop a comment or few.

Well, after an eight day sailing intensive, I now have all of my written and practical exams completed and passed. I really should do something to celebrate tonight, but I'm out of ideas. I'm going to go crash on the couch for a bit and ponder this...

So about every month or two, I hear a new song and I am compelled to listen to it over and over and OVER again until I suddenly don't need to and the tune can just go into my normal ipod rotation. I've called these tunes my OCD songs for the simple reason that I can listen to one of these for hours and hours before becoming bored with it - which is unnatural, no?

Anyway, I've got a new one now ... enjoy. Silversun Pickups, "Panic Switch"

I have used Windows 7, and generally like it. I'm certainly looking forward to the upgrade from Vista (maybe 7 is just a BIG SERVICE PACK for Vista, eh?)

But this chart shows that Microsoft still does not get how to do userbase transitions. Look at the numerous scenarios where a complete erase of the hard drive (aka "custom install") is required ... If you stuck with XP and avoided vista in the hopes of something better, Windows 7 (which has gotten good reviews, and as I said, I like) requires you to erase your hard drive and reinstall all your applications after the OS upgrade.

I can see why XP users may just stick with their machines and say thanks but no to 7, at least until they upgrade hardware.

If you are an XP user seriously considering upgrading to 7, you might very well consider an alternative OS - the Macintosh or Linux or something else, and see whether they might make more sense for you now. The transition from XP requires you to leave legacy behind, regardless. You might find that you do better with something different that doesn't come from Redmond.

I'm sorry, I think I have a tear in my eye...



Ann 86-year-old WWII veteran from a public meeting on Maine's marriage equality bill on April 22, 2009.

The woman at my polling place asked me do I believe in equality for gay and lesbian people. I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her: what do you think I fought for in Omaha Beach?

Get these for Kimmie!

Geek maternity t-shirts