Browse Category: outta here

Eight Months of SIP

It’s November 13, 2020 and Election Day happened last week. Interestingly, we still don’t know who will be our president. Biden/Harris look like they’re in the lead but Trump/Pence are hanging on and fighting back. This year really is a mess and isn’t getting better.

Halloween was in SoCal for Alice’s Birthday. We went to Jia and Jason’s house to do a distanced scavenger hunt around their neighborhood. The kids still managed to come home with buckets of candy.

Right after, we all got into our Honda Odysseys and drove down to Carlsbad. We stayed in a hotel across from the beach, which provided a free shuttle ride to the beach along with umbrellas and chairs. The kids had a blast and the grown ups were able to sit and relax. The hotel was pretty quiet and the kids also ended up with the pool to themselves.

I guess we are all adapting to life with all the circumstances around us and the kids are resilient.

Four Months of SIP

It’s July 14, 2020 and we just finished our 4th month of SIP.

The kids and Jes are still in SoCal and it’s been good for everyone. The kids are enjoying the extra company and I think Jes and my brother are relieved to have a little extra help in planning/cooking/sharing meals.

I got to fly down for the long July 4th weekend. It was fun to play with fireworks on the driveway like we used to as kids. Jason and Jia’s neighbors were really into it too so there was plenty of entertainment that evening.

Here’s the airport and what the plane looks like when I fly. There are usually only about 50-something passengers and we are all spread out.

Here is my usual garb at work now. It’s standard to everyone to be walking around with a surgical mask and face shield.

If I’m doing a procedure in Radiology, I have to up my game and wear an N95 mask, faceshield, gown, gloves, AND the lead apron. Fun times.

KP also sent us all masks and a red sticker that we are supposed to put on our badges in case we are called to work during a lockdown of the city. Hopefully things will not come to that but it was a nice gesture.

All the elevators have stickers on the floor to cue people to keep their distance and limit the number of people inside to no more than 3 at a time.

What’s nice is that I still have one of my very good friends by my side in all this. Teresa still works with me and we are going through another crazy disease together.

We have been through scabies, H1N1 (photo above from 2009), Zika, and now SARS-COV-2.  It’s been good to have someone to hang out with now that I am home alone without the family. Gets kinda lonely after a while.

What’s been helpful in passing the time is playing Animal Crossing New Horizons. It’s fun to just hang out on an island building stuff, catching fish, growing flowers, and making friends with villagers.

On the to the next month!

 

OTAC Conference

As Supervisor, I was asked to attend the Annual OT Association of California (OTAC) Conference in Pasadena. It was an all-expense trip paid for by the department that pays for recruitment and marketing. So, I flew up on Thursday afternoon and checked in a the Hilton Pasadena.

On Thursday evening, I took an Lyft to DTLA to meet up with Brother and Joy. We went to Tender Greens and then Library Bar for a quick drink.

I love attending these conferences because of the new things I get to learn and it’s also a great way to catch up with old friends/colleagues. I bumped into Allison who I worked with at PTN over 17 years ago!

I also hung out with current co-worker who was attending to help with OTAC membership recruitment.

The main reason I was sent to the conference was to be present at the KP booth. We are hiring and Ken (middle) is the recruiter who sometimes does this on his own without actual OTs present to answer clinical/day-to-day questions. It was fun chatting with people and giving away KP swag.

On Friday, Brother drove the parents up so we could have a birthday lunch to celebrate my mommy’s birthday.

We went to Houston’s, an old favorite of ours.

She got her steak and I got my tuna platter that was very different from what I was used to.

The nice thing about having so many people is that we can share all the favorites. Brother got the ribs and I was so happy.

I also got a prosecco that came in this cool glass.

Later that evening, I went out for dinner with Holly, who lives in South Pasadena. It was so fun to catch up with her “after work”.

Overall, it was a productive trip with a good sprinkling of personal time. I flew back on Sunday morning with enough time to take the kids to kung fu that day.

My 44th Birthday

My birthday celebration started early the week before when Ranee invited us to the winery at Jack London Square last Friday evening. It was a gorgeous evening with lots of sparkling wine to sip and taste.

Ranee also got us a bottle of sparkling rose to share. The kids played on the lawn all evening and we got to sit and unwind.

If that wasn’t fun enough already, we got to hang out AGAIN the following night!

We dropped the kids off at Jimmy and Eleen’s house (thanks guys!) and took an Uber to the city. We had tickets to see JANET!!!

We had purchased these tickets months ago and the Chase Center just opened a few weeks ago.

It was so nice to see Ishya smiling after the passing of her mom (my aunt).

Janet was awesome and sang what seemed like ALL HER SONGS.

The Chase Center was on their feet and he had such a good time.

The following week, we flew down to Cerritos to celebrate the actual birthday with Brother who turned 40!!

We had a family dinner at Lawry’s and then went out for dessert at David Chang’s milk bar.

The following night, we went to see Ali Wong at The Wiltern.

Interestingly, she had a strict no-device rule. We had to go through security at the entrance and lock our phones and smart watches in a bag that we carry around with us but can’t unlock until the show is done. It was a fun experiment and reminder of how things used to be when we were younger and didn’t have cell phones.

Ali was really funny and so was the guy that opened for her! Good show.

My last bit of birthday fun was the day after when we arrived back in Alameda. Just the 4 of us went out for Korean BBQ and stuffed ourselves silly.

New Orleans: Day 4

On our last morning before checking out and hopping on a plane back to Oakland, we went to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.

It was most fun to watch the trainer handling the giant crocodile who wasn’t in the mood to do his tests this morning.

For lunch, we went to Mother’s Restaurant and tried the Famous Ferdi Special.

I also had a side of gumbo that was oh so satisfying.

I also had my first bloody mary and it was SPICY! We had a good last meal before heading home. We had such a fun time in New Orleans and probably gained 10 pounds over the past 4 days. Good times…

New Orleans: Day 3

Today we had brunch at Commander’s Palace. It was all decked out for brunch and they also had a live band that went around to play music for you at your table.

I had the gumbo and Jesse opted of the pulled pork benedict that was huge.

For dessert, we had the peach cobbler and pecan pie, of course!!

After such a tasty brunch, we went back to the hotel to change and then headed over to the river to walk it all off.

We also walked to dinner at Gus’s Fried Chicken.

A trip to New Orleans wouldn’t be complete without some beignets from Cafe Du Monde.

Look at that powdered sugar!!

It was so messy but oh so good!! They come to you warm and crispy with a chewy center and covered in the white stuff. Their cafe au lait with chicory is pretty good too.

We walked back to the hotel through Bourbon Street again and now that it was Saturday night, it was down right gross. You couldn’t walk down the street without kicking or stepping on trash and people were falling all over the place. It was still entertaining but we didn’t stay long. A third night in a row there was enough.