Oahu

So, I just got back from vacation in Oahu with Becca and her family. It was great. We rented a condo up on a hill outside of Honolulu, with a great view of the city and ocean. To the far left in the picture is Diamond Head State Monument, a crater that formed following a volcanic eruption. We walked up to the peak on Friday morning (our first full day there).

That afternoon the guys went golfing at Kahuku Municipal Golf Course, up near the northern tip of the island. The golf course was right on the coast, so we had great views of the ocean the whole time. Also, it had huge, forgiving fairways so it was just about the right level of difficulty for me. While we were out golfing the girls stayed back and went to a spa for manicures or massages.

On Saturday we went to Hanauma Bay where we went snorkeling and saw lots of coral, some beautiful fish, and a sea turtle. Then to top it off Becca's brother Matt proposed to his girlfriend Tina before we left, so we then had an engagement to celebrate!

For the engagement celebration we went to a Luau that evening. They had lots of fun activities, including a spear throw for which I am simply grateful there isn't a video of my throw attempt. :) Let's just say it's not quite as easy to do as it looks.

So that takes us through Saturday. On Sunday we went to the Swap Meet, which really was a huge number of vendors in tents surrounding Aloha Stadium. They did have pretty good prices; Becca and I bought 8 T-shirts from one vendor for $20. Can't complain too much about that. After the Swap Meet, we went to Chinatown and ate Dim sum for lunch. After lunch we walked around Chinatown some more. There was a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who I hadn't heard before. He played a large role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and was the first president of the Republic of China as we know it today. I hadn't expected to learn about Chinese history in Hawai'i, but was pleasantly surprised.

On Monday we went to Pearl Harbor. We first went to the USS Arizona, which was one of the battleships sunk in the attack. It suffered enough structural damage so that they were unable to pull it up. The picture to the left is of the memorial that was built over top of the Arizona and the nearly 1000 U.S. servicemen who died and could not be recovered. Additionally some of the surviving members of the Arizona's crew have been interred in the ship when their times passed as well.

We also went to the USS Missouri, which is the retired battleship best known for being the location of the signing for the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII. It is a pretty impressive ship. You can also see the USS Bowfin, one of the submarines from that time.

On Tuesday it was a raining, and we'd planned on going for a hike. Instead we drove up the North Coast, stopping frequently for photo opportunities. One of the times we stopped there was a coconut tree that had a few coconuts down low enough that I could knock one down with a stick. So I did. Here's a pic of me proudly holding my well earned coconut. How many of you knew what a coconut looks like coming right off the tree? I sure didn't. Unfortunately it wasn't ripe yet, so there probably is good reason no one else had picked it yet.

Then on Wednesday the weather was cooperating so we went on our hike, up to Manoa Falls. It was a fairly short hike, around 1.5 miles round trip. Then just after leaving the falls we came across a group of nearly 100 elementary school students on their way up to the falls, so we figured we'd left just in time. That afternoon we went to Lanikai Beach, where we went kayaking, as well as some more snorkeling.

On Thursday when we went to the airport. Becca, her dad and I got on our plane and waited there for 3 hours. Then they gave up on the maintenance issues for the plane and canceled the flight. So we left the plane and got our checked luggage back. They put us up in the Marriott downtown in Waikiki, up on the 30th floor. We had an amazing view of the ocean and Diamond Head Crater. We spent the remainder of the day walking around Waikiki, then got some sleep before heading back to the airport where we got on our new flight. They told us that instead of canceling the flight, they had simply delayed it for 20 hours. I prefer to think of it as a whole new flight. This time the flight went as scheduled/delayed, and we got back to California with no additional issues.

Well, that's the story of my week in Oahu. Like I said, we had a great time.

Baldness Retreating, 2 weeks post

So, as I don't have anything all that exciting to post on here, I'd thought I'd chronicle my hair regrowth. It's coming along, but still pretty short. I think somewhere around 3/16 of an inch. The question as it grows back will be where the optimal length is, and how long I want to keep it.

Baldness Arrived

Yes, I went through with it. I went and got my head shaved for St. Baldrick's Day. There were around 110 people getting their heads shaved in Albany today. At the start of the day they had raised over $38,000, and expected to raise nearly that same amount more today. I had raised $195. Thanks to all those who donated!

So, as promised, here are a couple pictures. They didn't shave us quite this close at the event. However, I wanted to see what it would look like really clean-shaven, so I finished it up from there. Let me know what you think.

Baldness Incoming

Yes, I'm getting my head shaved in 2 weeks. How exiting! :) I've shaved my head once before, but that was really just for fun. This time is for a purpose.

It's for St. Baldrick's Day. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a national national organization that shaves people's heads to raise money for childhood cancer research. They do events in different cities around the country, and Albany's St. Baldrick's Day event this year is March 22. I went last year to observe and provide moral support, but this year I decided to participate myself.

Here's the link to my page on their website.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.php?ParticipantKey=2009-336996

You can follow my donations, or even make a donation if you are feeling generous. :) I'll post an after-picture up there later too.

Boards

We just found out our board scores today, and both Becca and I passed our pediatric boards! Yippee!! Now we are board certified in pediatrics and don't have to worry about it again until 2015.

Brain Power

Today Becca and I went to the Schenectady Museum and Planetarium. Thomas Edison set up his factory in the Schenectady area, so much of the museum is about the history of Electricity and some fun kids stuff to go along with it. In the Planetarium we saw a show about astronomy and how it has contributed to our Christmas traditions.

After that we continued walking around the museum. There was a section on DNA, which was really quite basic and not too interesting to either of us. The last thing we did in the museum was to go back to a game that was in use when we went by the first time.

Set-up for the game included each of us putting on a head band which was connected to a computer. The head bands measured brain activity. The games were based on the amount of brain activity in each person. In the first game we played we were trying to stay calm, relaxed and produce as little brain activity as possible.....Becca won that game. Then we switched the rules and competed to have the most brain wave activity. So, while I had a hard time being relaxed, I didn't have much trouble putting my brain into overdrive and proceeded to win that one. All I had to do was take my overactive ADHD brain, turn off all controls, and go crazy. Admittedly I couldn't achieve anything in the form of functional activity in that state, but for the purpose of the game it worked out well.

The Joy of Ice

As you know, we in the Northeast have recently been hit with a pretty big ice storm. So, as a result, we've been dealing with many of the consequences of this weather. One of my interns had a tree fall down on her driveway, blocking her in and making her late to work. Not so bad..... Another intern, not to be outdone, had the poor fortune of a tree falling on her car and in her words, "smashing it all up." I don't know for certain how bad it is, but I wont be surprised if it is totaled.

Of course, the impacts on my residents is only a small part of what is going on. Approximately 300,000 people in New York alone are without power, and it will take quite a few days to get most of the power back on.

One additional consequence of all the power outages is that many of the traffic signals are not working. So, this bears a question: What are the traffic laws for intersections in which the power is lost? Well, the laws are that the intersection turns into 4 way stop signs. That law works great if it is followed. So I was out doing some shopping and got to see what was actually happening. People aren't treating them as 4 way stops. Instead, what is happening is that people are going through the intersections as if they have green lights. And this is happening from any directions. I am just surprised I was out for a couple hours and didn't see any accidents. Subsequently when I got home I told Becca that the roads were clean but I felt they were more dangerous than during immediate bad weather as there seems to be no good sense of order to the roads.

Well, that's the most recent news from here. Hope everyone is having a good week. I, at least, have power and can play on Facebook or Everquest II all weekend. Actually, Becca and I are about to go watch a musical comedy called Nuncrackers. It should be interesting.