Another Senseless Shooting

We only get a few days, or if we're lucky a few weeks, before the news of another senseless shooting takes over our airwaves. I get alerts on my phone of major events from the LA Times. Obviously those alerts were going off all day today, especially since this happened in my little corner of the world. I watched all the early coverage on the live feed on my computer at work. I spent most of that time wondering how the family and friends of the victim will find the strength to go on. How do you deal with sending your loved one off to work, and not having them ever come home again? Do you struggle to remember their last words, the last thing you said to them, the last touch, the last kiss? How do you accept that finality? How do you wake up tomorrow? Especially when it happens at the hands of an unstable element with access to guns: high-powered unnecessary assault weapons. I know that, in a society unwilling to give up guns, or even agree to stricter gun controls, this event will occur again and again and again--in another workplace, another school, another mall. I can accept illness, car accidents, plane crashes, and the wrath of Mother Nature. I don't like any of those things, and some have affected me personally, but I understand them. What I have a very hard time with is dealing with man's inhumanity to man. How is it possible to point a gun at another human being and pull the trigger? It is completely unfathomable to me. I realize I've probably written these same exact words in an earlier blog post commenting on another shooting. And I wonder how many more times I'll have to write them again.

Automation Dependency

In light of the Asiana Airlines crash at SFO, many articles and newscasts are discussing the dependency of pilots to use automated systems to fly and land an airplane, instead of an 'old-fashioned' visual/manual method. In this fully automated world, that applies to far more than just flying an airplane. It is getting to the point where we have to ask ourselves: Are we better off with technology, or not? Who writes a letter anymore? Blogger.com is blocked on my computer at work, so I'd hand write out a blog post, but due to not writing for years, my penmanship sucked! So now I just type my blog in an email to myself, and copy and paste it to my blog page when I get home. When you go to a meeting at work, does anyone takes notes with a pen and paper? I'm sure it's few and far between since most people type notes on their iPad or laptop. I used to know hundreds of phone numbers by heart. People were impressed with how many numbers I knew. But I only know a few now because I simply pick up my phone and tell it who to call. I don't even have to dial the number. We're losing our ability to do things on our own. We need to find a happy medium between manual processes and technological evolution. If we allow machines to think for us, how long will it be before we can no longer think on our own? Are we making ourselves irrelevant? Maybe this is how the world ends--no huge cataclysmic disaster, no new ice age or dinosaurs--we just simply phase ourselves out. In evolution theories, we came from animals with tails, but since we didn't use them, they became unnecessary and disappeared. What's next?

My Garden

Every year I plant a few different types of vegetables in my patio garden. Last year I tried potatoes for the first time. Red potatoes. I made potato salad, potatoes sautéed with peppers and onions, potatoes boiled with the skins on, then fork-mashed and drizzled with butter, salt and pepper. Each dish was awesome, if I say so myself! Last October I went to Italy and discovered I actually like eggplant--especially when it's smothered in sauce and cheese! So, this year, I planted eggplant in my garden. Can't wait to try them, but it'll still be at least a month or two. I'll let you know how they turn out. I also planted basil from seed for the first time. It only got so big, then stopped. It's not dead, but I have to figure what I can do to boost it up. Maybe I'll Google that later. I always plant tomatoes and tried the grafted tomato this year--which means extra yield. There are already a ton of tomatoes on my plant. Today, I harvested the first one of the season. Wow, was it good! There is nothing like a home-grown tomato! Store-bought, or even those bought at a farmer's can't begin to compare with the incredible taste, juiciness and freshness of a home-grown tomato. Sometimes, it's hard to believe they're even the same plant. I can't wait to harvest the next tasty batch!

I Run for Boston

As many of you know, I run in the mornings before work--but only in the spring and summer when it's warm and light enough outside. Today, I rolled over to look at the clock. Crap--I forgot to turn my alarm on! I should have already been out there. I jumped out of bed, threw on my running clothes (which I always set out the night before), brushed my teeth, and flew out the door. Because I'm motivated: I run for Boston. I run for Martin, and Krystle, and the Chinese grad student. I run for the 170 injured people whose lives will never be the same, many of whom now have bodies that will forever bear the scars of what the worst of human nature is capable of doing. I run for the thousands who were denied their dream of finishing that race because I know there is no feeling quite like crossing the finish line of a marathon. I run for everyone who set out for a day of celebration and had it turn into a tragedy no one will ever forget. I run because I never want the bad guys to win. So I forgot to turn my alarm clock on and might have been a little late for work, but I ran for Boston.

An $8 Cup of Foam

As per my yearly tradition, I went to the Angels home opener last night. They raised ticket prices, so it was nowhere near a sell out, and they didn't even announce attendance. I was happy to see that parking and beer prices were the same as last year. Still too expensive, but way better than any other local sports venue. There was just one problem, other than the fact that we lost: I didn't think it was possible to make the concession stand experience any more painful than it was--but they have succeeded! I ordered a beer. That's it--one beer. Shouldn't be that hard. The girl held the cup upright, directly under the tap. Anyone who has ever drank a beer, poured a beer, or watched a beer being poured knows that this particular technique will succeed only in filling the cup with foam. Her first try, the glass was 3/4 foam. She set it aside and collected my money. Then she tried again. This time it was 1/2 foam. AND SHE HANDED IT TO ME!!!!!! $7.75 for a cup of foam??? I was incredulous!! I said "You seriously aren't going to give it to me like that, are you?" She didn't really say anything, but I knew the answer was yes. Maybe she thought the foam turns into beer once it settles. And we all know that doesn't happen. So, I start to explain to her how to pour a beer: 'hold the cup against the tap at an angle'. At that point, another worker obviously overheard me, came up and showed her how to do it. And I finally got a full cup of beer! I would think they would train new employees on how to work the equipment PRIOR to opening night, but I guess that's not the way it works at Angel Stadium. On our 2nd foray to the concession stand, they were out of hot dogs. Really?? It's a baseball game, for God's sake! Who runs out of hot dogs at a baseball game? At least I got a full beer that time!

Meditation Class

I finally signed up for a meditation course. I've been wanting to try it for a while now, and a new class was offered through my city's recreation program. Like most people who do meditation, I was looking for peace, stillness, purpose. The first session was last night. Jessie, the instructor, was very welcoming--she hugged everyone! We started with 20 minutes of easy yoga. Then we closed our eyes, focused on our breathing, and allowed her to guide us through our practice. She has a soothing voice, uses a lot of positive reinforcement, and gave us various ways to focus on the internal and block out the stresses of daily life. It was so relaxing! I don't think I have ever sat that still for that long! If I'm at home, I get up about every 2 minutes--I'm always thinking of something else that I need to do. If I'm at work, I cross my legs back and forth about every 30 seconds. To sit still and completely relax for 45 minutes was amazing! I can't wait for next week's session.

The 'Good Guy' with the Gun

I was a waitress in a pizza place during the summers when I was in college. I became friends with my co-workers, particularily with a sister and brother who worked there. Their brother used to come in for free pizza, as would mine--don't tell the boss! Their brother, like me, was a sophomore in college. He was looking forward to going back to school as he was going to be an RA that year. He loved his college, as I loved mine, and we both couldn't wait to get back to our "other" lives at school. Anyhow, we all became friends and used to hang out when we weren't working. We had a lot of fun together. I'll never forget the phone call one morning from the boss asking if I could come in to work. My co-workers were scheduled to work but were at the hospital with their brother, my friend. He had gone out dancing the night before--his favorite thing to do. On the way home he stopped at a bar where his buddy was a bartender. Near closing time, a robber came into the bar demanding the money in the cash register. The 'good guy' with a gun, an off-duty cop, pulled out his pistol and started shooting. My friend was caught in the crossfire. He wasn't killed, but that 19-year old who loved to dance was paralyzed for life. If the 'good guy with a gun' hadn't been in that bar, the terrified employees would have emptied the cash register for the robber. It's likely the bad guy would have taken the money and run. If the 'good guy with a gun' hadn't been in that bar, my friend might still be dancing today. A 'good guy' with a gun is simply another person with a gun.