Thursday, November 30, 2017

Hiding place

Kakurega

Seen at Starbucks:

A woman slightly younger than me wearing the exact same coat I was wearing (last year's version of this coat) studying for some kind of certification exam

A woman much younger than me studying for the same certification exam I took over two decades ago (good luck! You have so much more to remember than I do, but that's progress, I guess...)

Slightly older man poring over a book about kaiseki (traditional formal Japanese cuisine) while nursing a hot beverage of some kind in this year's holiday cup and also checking his phone for...something

I love hiding from work and family, if only for a short time.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Unrequited love

Kataomoi 

The man I consider my work mentor passed away after a long illness. The disease was generous at first, letting him work full time with reasonable interruptions for therapy. Then the disease decided it was done being the nice guy.

I went to Yoda's memorial service.

(I've decided to call him Yoda for purposes of this entry. I should clarify that this is a Star Wars reference, not his real name, even though"Yoda" is an actual family name in this country.)

I thought about what I'd learned from him, and how much I loved and respected him, and how I'd thought I wanted to have a family with someone like him someday (I didn't) and how I'd wanted to have something like a family with him someday (I didn't).

My co-worker showed up later than I did. She was guided to one of the seats in the front of the room, where the important people got to sit. I turned green with envy. Surely I'd loved him more than she had? Was I not important to him?

Then I looked around the room and it was full of people who loved and respected him, and the room was so full it overflowed into another room set up with a big monitor that showed the ceremony going on in the room I was in.

My love for him was greater than his love for me. A selfish thought, but still genuine. A very common tale, really. It was probably that way for pretty much everyone in the room, save his wife and children and grandchild.

He was one of those people who was everyone's favorite teacher. I guess that's his legacy. Us. His intellectual descendants who will do the work that he still wanted to do but can't anymore.

Yoda, I love you and miss you. You are in every work task I undertake. I will try to live up to the honor of being one of yours.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Recent News

Saikin no nyuusu

This is another kind of funny, kind of sad story about my dad.

If you've ever been to see a neurologist (or taken someone there), you know there are a couple standard questions. The most common are "what is your name?" "what is today's date?" and "do you know where you are? Where?"  These are to assess the patient's orientation for person, place, and time.

There are other questions, like "subtract 7 from 100, then again, and again, and again." 7 is a good number because it is a large prime number and there will be no pattern to the first digit of each answer until 30, and no neurologist goes that far.

Another common question is "anything in the news catch your attention recently?" This assess the patient's ability to acquire and retain new information. Most people can recall something they saw on TV or read on Yahoo! or someplace (like a recent natural disaster or an arrest of a terrorist or a serial killer), but others haven't been able to remember anything new for a while.

When my dad was first asked this question in February of this year, his answer was "President Trump. He makes me angry." The neurologist nodded and wrote it in the chart.

When my dad was asked this question at his last appointment the other day, his answer was "President Trump. He makes me angry." The neurologist nodded and wrote it in the chart.

No matter your political views, I am sure you will agree that since his election, Donald Trump has consistently been in the news. I can see how some of it might be misunderstanding, but no other president in recent memory has been able to produce negative press so effectively and so constantly. Based on the premise of the recent news question and how it is assessed, my dad's memory issues are not too bad. But in reality, he can't remember what month it is. Donald Trump is inhibiting adequate neurological assessment by being in the news so heavily as he is.

So Donald Trump needs to avoid negative press for a while, so my dad can get an accurate assessment of his neurological status. Oh, and to form a more perfect union. Or something.

(Disclaimer: I did not vote for Donald Trump. I did not vote for Hilary Clinton, either. Something about residency and citizenship :P)