Medicine Man Of Seattle

Geocaching

2011-08-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

A new and recent hobby of mine has been Geocaching! Basically it boils down to hunting for Tupperware or ammo cans in the woods and signing a log book. Sometimes there are trinkets left behind. AND sometimes there are Travelbugs and collectibles left for cachers.

Here's a short list of some of the Travelbugs that I have found:

Sheryl's Geico Travel Tag

U.S. Flag Micro Geocoin
Kevin's Subie
Gear Aid Geocoin REI3
Scushy
Hobo Joe

And here's a list of Travelbugs that I own:

Eddy's Hot Rod
Wilma's Hot Rod
Seven Summit Geocoin
GC&P Club August 2011 - Checkmate Geocoin
RHG and the Peacock

One of the caches I found in August of 2011: Broose is Loose had a great description and recommendations for all cachers:

As you search for this cache, a few Broose reminders:
1. Fireworks are illegal
2. Don't talk to strangers
3. Check the front door like 3, or 4, or even 5 times to make sure it's locked before you leave
4. Bring a clipboard for any notes you may need to take along the way
5. If its not right, "Just Start Over"
6. When you are done with each and every cache, wash your hands....twice!
* A bonus tip to any husband that Broose would want to pass along: If you forget something in the car and your wife says "It's okay, I'll go back and get it" Don't let her get it, go yourself...she really doesn't want to.

Heidi and I paddle caching from the Waterfront Activities Center on the 4th of July, 2011.

Geocaching on Jetty Island on my 30th Birthday! July 26, 2011.

My first real geocaching experience - Cincinnati, OH, October 2008

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

A Year in Review - 2010

2011-01-20T00:53:00.000-08:00

With a similar recap of my grand adventures from the year 2009 in picture form,

I'm proud to present:

"How I Spent My 2010!"

I have spent over 1 & 1/2 years living in Seattle, since moving from Norwood, OH and I still find myself getting into new adventures and getting out of mischief.

January 2010

Every good year starts off with the Resolution Run 5K here in Seattle!

For 2010, I wasn't feeling up for the actual run that morning, and for 2011, I'll be at work. :-(

However, I still believe that if you're the first runner and you don't jump in the the water, then you afflictively lost the race.

I did however eat their chili:

Seattle, while not the oldest city in Washington, still does have some interesting cemeteries, and Meetup.com is always good for a last minute random walk/urban hiking group:

Arthur Denny was the leader of the founders of Seattle.

"Things I've Cooked" exploded with the first recipe I made from my New Orleans cookbook: Crayfish Gumbo with Allison.

Sara and I met and had several off and on months, filled with cooking, dancing, fishing (trying to), camping, etc. until ultimately deciding to part ways for good.

"You'll see!" One day we'll get that fishing down!

February 2010

I saw the tallest light house in Seattle!

While the lighthouse wasn't terribly impressive, the walk along beach was lovely!

Taking a break from work, both Anita and I beat Bruder, the Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Seattle Children's Hospital, at bowling during residents' appreciation day!

March 2010

Snuggie Bar Crawl!!! for World Concern and donations for Haiti.

My first and so far, only trip to the Arboretum where I also met my friend Chae whom as been a great friend and a wonderful resource for bouncing relationship ideas off of:

April 2010

Trip to Portland, at the Chinese Garden:

Also, storm trooper at the Top Pot 5K (again a race I avoided, after pigging out on donuts pre-race! Sorry Laura!)

May 2010

Great Urban Race in Washington, DC with my sister, Crystal! We place in the top 10% of the 500 teams competing this year!

After an all day race, Laura, Johna, Crystal, Io, and I decided to climb rocks and admire the Potomac River.

I rounded off the month by volunteering with UW's Digital Media Team for the Seattle Works Day and uploaded tons of photos and conducted interviews at several of the day sites:

June 2010

Who runs a race with a brief case?

WE DO!

It's not all fun and games, as we not forget about helping out in Haiti:

July 2010

I really thought there was going to be fireworks at the Firecracker 5K, midnight race! Sorry to disappoint you, Laura (again) and Michael... :-(

August 2010

I found Northern Exposure! Cle Elem, WA conference:

Learned how to can for the first time too!

I'm also a super volunteer at Rebuilding Together Seattle and President of the Young Professional Society:

September 2010

Trip up through Deception Pass after a horse show:

Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett loves our pediatric hospitalist group so much that we were all invited to the "Doctors Prom!" Thanks for being such great arm candy, Anita!

October 2010

Even Midnight likes to get dressed up too!

"Man being blown away by the wind" and "The US Debt."

November 2010

SPAIN!!!!!

Also the month of Movember and cookie baking!

December 2010

Looking good at the Fred Hutch Gala:

Thanks for helping me put up and decorate my tree Sweetheart!

And lastly, "Have suspenders, will build gingerbread houses."

I hope that next year will be just as great!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Welcome to the Hoard

2011-01-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

Day 1 of Hunting Zombies: Successfully staying clean and alive while the O'Z'es (Original Zombies) were unmarked with their headbands! Escorted Crystal safely across campus twice. Lunch at the UW Club.

Day 2 of Hunting Zombies: Thanks to a misfire/unloaded chamber the Red Square was not my friend today. I fear this may be my last entry as the fever is starting. My skin changing... shiny, becoming a gray wax. The sweat and panting is all I can think about... I feel sick.

Long Live the Hoard!

Dr. Alex

Let the Hunt Begin

2011-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

This coming Monday, January 10th, 2011 marks the start of UW's Winter 2011 quater Humans v. Zombies Tag! (Here's a photo from Fall 2010 quarter.) Yes! This is just as crazy as you think!

This past week, I picked up my orange bandana and asked around and gathered a few clues and recommendations as to the type of air action Nerf guns that are the most versatile and useful.

I'm ready to play one big game of tag!

Want to learn more?

Humans vs. Zombies

Maybe even one day I'll get into mods and hacks:

Steampunked!

I hope my guardian angle is watching over me this week... Long live the Humans!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Flash Mob for Janet Jackson - University Village, Seattle, WA

2010-12-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

This makes, what, my third flash mob? (Second one.)

I was there. Where you were you?

I guess Janet wasn't getting as much attention, as Michael has been.

Thanks for watching,

Dr. Alex

I want to live here one day!

2010-11-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

Other homes that belong in Fairy Tales.

OR here:

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Disney Princesses Never Get Old

2010-11-14T23:44:00.000-08:00

No matter if you think of them as Fallen Princesses, or Princess Zombies (#2) the classical Disney Princesses are never out of style. Now think of this mash up:

AND

You'd get:

THE SITH PRINCESSES!

Darth Jasmine, Darth Belle, and Darth Ariel.

Darth Snow White

Thanks ~JosephB222 for making such awesome art work!

And thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Life's over looked joys

2010-10-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Quick excerpt from The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha:

"The other side of the pillow;

bakery air;

when socks from the dryer match up perfectly;

finding your keys after looking forever;

the friendly nod between strangers out doing the same thing;

celebrating your pet's birthday even though they have no idea what's going on;

when you hear someone's smile over the phone."

Check out more Awesomeness at 1000 Awesome Things.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

"He felt his moustache grip tightly to his face."

2010-10-24T02:28:00.000-07:00

What sort of a moustache man are you?

Fellow Brothers at The University of Pittsburgh Delta Chi chapter have embarked on a journey to raise funds for the fight against prostate cancer. How so?

By growing a "Mo," slang for moustache. Each year the month of November + "Mo" come together for Movember.

With each Movember, the call goes out to all men to change their appearance and the face of men's health by growing a moustache. Instead of a pink ribbon, the moustache is the means that men everywhere will raise awareness and funds for cancers that affect men.

While I love running races to support causes, this Movember's commitment is to grow a moustache for 30 days. Funds raised by all will benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.

In order to rally the troops, a fellow brother, wrote a short story detailing the crisis of prostate cancer and why it is our destiny as Delta Chis to fight it. No, really:

**********************************************************
William Jennings Bryan stood in the airlock as the room depressurized. Long had he fought for the causes espoused in the 10 Basic Expectations, but he had never thought it would lead to this. Traveling to a foreign planet; traveling to a foreign planet, all in the name of Monroe Marsh Sweetland. He calmly removed his space helmet as the depressurization sequence ended, and turned the safety of his ray gun off.

As he cautiously stepped into the broken hallway of the space cruiser he’d boarded, he remembered his final meeting with Sweetland. His brother; no, his father, one of the men who had founded his great fraternity, laid dying. Dying of the menace which was now challenging the fraternity, and perhaps the universe itself.

“Monroe,” Bryan had said, “what has done this to you? What terrible force is destroying our expectations, our oath, the fraternity?”

“Oh, William” Sweetland had replied, with a ghastly cough, “it is far worse than you could imagine. Soon this menace will have broken past our great brotherhood and destroy all of man itself. Only we could stop it- and here I am, succumbing to it just the same!”

William Jennings Bryan paused, looking deeply into his dear friend’s eyes.

“William, today I charge thee. Only you can save our fraternity, and our world. You must gather brothers such as yourself, and travel far to
defeat the menace torturing the galaxy. You shall call yourselves…”

A pause, as Sweetland’s eyes became foggy with the approach of the final, lasting sleep.

“William… You shall call yourselves… the Order of the White Carnation.”

With a last gasp, Sweetland was no more. William Jennings Bryan, clutching his hand, had bowed his head in prayer.

“Brother… Father… I shall gather a great guild of warriors, and we shall found the Order of the White Carnation. And we shall destroy this Prostate Cancer, which has taken your life; and we will banish it to theends of the universe. And they shall know us by our moustaches."

Bryan stepped forward, moustache billowing slowly from the artificial breeze in the spaceship’s corridors. His ray gun warmly pulsed. He had followed the Mother Prostate here, to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. His hope was that the beast was somewhere within the cramped ship, and here, deep in space, he would destroy the disease that had killed his friend once and for all.

He took a step forward; something from deep within the interior of the ship stirred loudly. A grim smile played itself against his face as he quickened its pace. The knowledge that the power to end an affliction that had shattered the brotherhood was within his grasp made him smile. He had always been 2nd place; 2nd best presidential candidate, three times, 2nd best lawyer at the Scopes Monkey Trial, and at best the 2nd most fun at any party, as a staunch prohibitionist. Perhaps this time he would be first. William Jennings Bryan; first man to shoot Prostate Cancer with a ray gun. He liked the sound of it.

His radio crackled.

“BRYAN! Come in Bryan!”

“What is it, Kutcher? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Bryan, just wanted to give you word that the Mother Prostate Cancer is within 100 yards. Best be on your guard. Over.”

“Roger that, Kutcher. Over and out.”

Ashton Kutcher was sort of the communications officer of the Order of the White Carnation, and he took his job seriously. Bryan only hoped that the foul beast, a football field away, hadn’t heard the radio crackle.

Thunderous crashes rang through the air. Bryan lifted the ray gun to his shoulder. The beast was close- close, and moving fast…

“AAAAAAAAAH!”

A scream eminated to Bryan’s left. He ran toward it- surely, it couldn’t be a member of the Order? They were more than up to the match against the beast, weren’t they?

As he approached, he saw his worst fears. The beast was near, and dangerous; it had taken out his First Lieutenant, Sean Salisbury.

Salisbury twitched a little; muscle spasms from the torment he’d just endured. The scene was bloody, covering the immediate 10 feet or so with entrails, fecal matter, and the digested contents of Salisbury’s lunch. Bryan thought he could see some bites of apple in the mess. Most distressing, the beast had apparently torn off Salisbury’s moustache, fearful and resentful of the symbol of power contained within.

He readied his ray gun and turned around quickly, immediately rememberingthat the Mother Prostate Cancer was nearby, and apparently angered. He walked slowly, carefully, and warily down the corridor. The lights blinked menacingly, but mercifully stayed lit.

The noise came suddenly, and from straight behind him. He spun around hastily, seeing the enlarged, evil prostate charging at him through the air, using tentacles apparently grown for transportation to swing through the spaceship. 20 feet away… 15...

“PH‘NGLUI MGLW‘NAFH CTHULHU R‘LYEH WGAH‘NAGL FHTAGN!!!!!!” shouted the angered, menacing prostate gland.

Jennings stood poised. He felt his moustache grip tightly to his face. He raised the gun, and pulled the trigger with a determined glare at the enemy- the one who had killed his friend, and probably also told everyone about evolution. I mean, c’mon, look at it.

***********************************************************
WILL JENNINGS SUCCEED? That depends; did you raise enough money to pay for his ray beam?

Choose your look:

In The Bond,

Dr. Alex

Sometimes it takes an act of congress...

2010-10-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know it, I LOVE mail! Not e-mail, but real, touch it, feel it, smell it, rip it open mail. It can come in the form of a letter, a postcard, a small rectangular package, a stack of magazines, a random shaped package, or even an odd shaped triangular box (thank you FedEx.)

Look at it! It's there in your hand. Now back to me. Now back to the mail. Notice the red circles of ink over the stamp? See the small creases that make your envelope slightly imperfect? Think about it: Someone hand- stamped and carried your mail in their truck or satual along it's journey to get to you. Your mail has truly been enriched both by the sender and by it's honest stewards. No matter how far it has traveled, it's still a wonder to behold.

Letter people have mailed to me!

So, it really did take an act of Congress and the workings of Benjamin Franklin to make the US Postal Service what it is today. Starting it's life cycle in 1775 after a decree by the Second Continental Congress and transforming into The Post Office Department in 1792 (a United States Cabinet position), and then resembling to what we know today in 1983 after the passage of the Postal Reorganization Act.

It's the LARGEST operator of civilian fleet vehicles in the WORLD! How else do you expect the mail to cover all across America and reach every square mile of the US? Plus, what other company has a museum devoted to it?

Yesterday, I received a great letter from my mom:

Letter from my mom.

She sent me an article from Army Times about how the Army has banned Vibram Five Finger toe shoes from PT tests "over worries they might give some soldiers an unfair advantage." I love these shoes and run most of my 5K races in them. The article goes on to describe "What to tell you commander" about these styles of shoes and why they should be cleared for PT tests. What I like best about this article is that my mom wrote me a note on it!

I have this habit as well! Many of my friends and family have received a cutout or random gift with my scribbles on it. I think it's the best way to communicate that you are thinking of someone and that you love them. Hence when my mom writes: "Hi son, you came to mind when I read this article. Since you participate in running events." She really means: "Love you. Mom."

Goodies to be send out soon!

E-mail has nothing on mail mail. :-)

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

5 Lessons

2010-09-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

Upon rediscovering Jess' blog, (Mis)Adventures for Two, her post on Sept 11th touched me and made me think about all those coincidences of people giving of themselves to help others. Whether, it be for our jobs or for those that we love - we can all learn a lot from each other.

Years ago, my mom sent me an e-mail forward of 5 simple life lessons that touch us all in one way or another:

1 – First Important Lesson – The Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:

“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in 50’s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2 – Second Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain.

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway, trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down, and she desperately needed a ride. She decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by, and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home!! A special note was attached…

It Read:

“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits! Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away… God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 – Third Lesson – Always Remember Those Who Serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now much people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

“Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies.

You see, he couldn’t have the sundae because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 – Fourth Important Lesson. – The Obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been.

The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 – Fifth Important lesson – Giving When it Counts.

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.

The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it, if it will save her.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?” Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

“Work like you don’t need the money,

Love like you’ve never been hurt,

and dance like you do when nobody’s watching.”

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Protecting Public Health with a Clean Power Supply

2010-08-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

September 12th is the start of a 5 day meeting in Montreal, Canada for the World Energy Congress. It's expected that 3,500 global leader in the energy field will meet to discuss trends and growth on forms of renewable energy. Currently, the US if far behind the game with only 4% of our energy coming from "alternative sources" as a percentage of total power capacity. Countries such as the UK (8.4%), Brazil (9.8%), and Spain (30.1%!) trounce the US in their ability to adopt and encourage forms of renewable energy throughout their countries.

There is hope, however! The Sierra Club is making big strides across the nation and rallying many universities student groups into becoming a changing force called "Coal Crushers." Cornell University's student group helped bring about a $80 million project to switch from coal fired energy to using bio-fuels, natural gas, and recycled steam energy for their campus' electricity.

A similar push to transition off of coal to renewable and less polluting sources of energy is mounting here in the state of Washington. Interestingly, while Washington generates only a measly 6.3% of it's potential 56,000 gigawatt-hours from wind, it ranks at the top of the Forbes list! With this growing movement there will be big changes ahead for how we power our lives.

You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania

The Pacific Northwest likes to think of itself as clean, green, and progressive with its hard stance on recycling, composting, and encouraging bicycling to work. Being from Pennsylvania, which one of the commonwealth's nicknames is the “the coal state,” I was a little skeptical about the blanket idea of "evergreen" all across Washington state. Here in Washington, it's true that you can freely bathed in the beauty of the mountain vistas, but Washington still has strong roots to an old and becoming outdated industry of coal fired plants for electricity.

The Sierra Club calls its movement to eliminate coal fired plants here in Washington, the Beyond Coal champaign. But what is it exactly about coal that makes it so dirty?

Washington’s only coal plant, located in Centralia is owned by a Canadian corporation named Trans Alta, and is Washington state’s largest point source of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury pollutants.

The global warming pollution emitted annually by TransAlta is equivalent to the annual emissions of 1.8 million cars. Shutting down the TransAlta plant, "would be like taking every car and truck off the road in King County, plus every car and truck in Yakima County, Lincoln County, Columbia County, and Garfield County."

Climate change affects the fundamental requirements for health, clean air, safe drinking water, and sufficient food. Transitioning Washington off coal would significantly reduce the state’s carbon footprint.

The family of nitrogen oxide compounds are known to decrease lung functionality and worsen respiratory diseases in children, such as in children with asthma. The NOx compounds released from TransAlta also contribute to the haze that destroys the clear and beautiful views of Mount Rainer, the Olympics and the North Cascades.

TransAlta emits more than 350 pounds of mercury a year. That's enough mercury to contaminate 3.1 million acres of lake, the equivalent of 145 Lake Washingtons! Exposure to high levels of mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus. Mercury is a devastating neurotoxicant that may result in depression, developmental delays, and mental retardation.

If these facts weren’t mobilizing enough, the toxicity of TransAlta continues. Annually, TransAlta releases 2.3 million tons of toxics coal ash. This post combustion waste contains a significant array of toxic chemicals, including arsenic, chromium, and lead. Arsenic and chromium are known human carcinogens. Children exposed to lead at a young age are more likely to suffer from learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Lead exposure has also been linked to kidney damage and miscarriage.

The good news is Washington often leads the nation on the environment changes and provides a model for the rest of the nation to follow suit. The state's outdated use of coal should be no exception. Washington can become the first coal free state - showing the rest of the nation that that it is possible to accept and prosper with cleaner and healthier sources of energy.

Now is the time to take action! Governor Chris Gregoire is currently negotiating the future of the TransAlta coal plant. October 1 will be a statewide day of action, urging Governor Gregoire to take a stand against dirty and dangerous coal burning techniques and to spreading awareness of the hazards of coal here in Washington.

Fired up? Want to take action? Contact Cara Dolan, the public health organizer for the Coal-Free Washington campaign, and she’ll tell you how you can get involved and help build a coal-free future.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Lessons From the Front Line

2010-07-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

My June 21st - June 29th, 2010 trip to Petionville Country Club - Tent City, Haiti

The groups who sponsored me to work in Haiti

The International Medical Assistance Team (IMAT) was started by a Snohomish County Fire District 1 paramedic and has continued to send teams down to Haiti. IMAT is continuing to build and grow its network of doctors, nurses and paramedics.

J/P HRO was "founded by actor and humanitarian Sean Penn and philanthropist Diana Jenkins, who has since moved on to other philanthropic efforts, J/P HRO began its work just hours after the earthquake hit." To date, J/P HRO took over the management of over 50,000 refugees. There have been more than 100,000 pounds of medical supplies given out since January 12th 2010.

More importantly to me, the camp has a DMAT Category 3 Hospital that is designed to treat all medical illnesses and injuries in the camp. Those cases that are dimmed critical are transported to local area hospitals. On average, during out week long trip, our team treated more than 120 people each day. We also had delivery of newborn babies!

CDC map of malaria in South America

Remember your anti-malaria medicines! I prefer Malarone for my international trips.

Our medical team for the week!

The J/P HRO Hospital where we worked our magic.

We're open for business.

Triage is up and running ~ 120 people per day are seen.

Abscesses to be drained.

The week I was in Haiti, we had a dentist!

His work station.

Here come the babies!

Thanks Mike and Jason!

Yes, we could do x-rays!

Just have the patient lay down on the cot and off we go...

.... to reset that arm and cast it up.

Yes, we had UN protection around the camp. Colorful too!

Triage is all cleared by the end of the day!

And here's what the rest of Tent City looked like:

Goats are every where and forage where they can.

Selling dinner from their homes.

Stop in at the Cyber Cafe!

Or stop in at the Beauty Studio.

If you want to get rich quick, then go ahead and play the lottery.

School is in session.

This is how we lived:

Out kitchen with three bucket cleaning system.

One HUGE tent with several small tents. We still had water leakage problems.

My "home" for the week.

All the extra space I had!

We had showers, b/c water runs down hill.

Filtered water system that the CDC encourages through a complicated mechanism.

Yes, we were at a county club and we had a pool. Sadly, no water. Actually, this was our pharmacy.

Eating well, by eating MREs!

Thanks to our translators for French and Creole.

Relaxing after one very long week!

Both J/P HRO and IMAT are looking for:

•Volunteers – medical and non medial positions
•Funds for care of specific patients
•Funds for on going community projects

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Things I've Cooked!

2010-07-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are a variation of Quaker Oat's classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, but subbing out the raisins for chocolate chips. It's really just that simple!

Next, I'll try making Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies! My cooking bag of flour and sugar is ready to go. Is yous?

This is me "making" tasso.

Which was added to veggies, bacon, and crayfish:

To eventually make a Crayfish Chowder!

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of Whiskey Bread Pudding that we had for dinner.... :-(

This has been a quick and easy recipe that I found from 5 Dollar Dinners.com!

Pita Bread Pizza!

Go ahead and give it a try!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

What's the Medicine Man Reading?

2010-07-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

So... one day I got the bright idea of collecting all the magazines, journals, and newspapers that I received over the course of an entire month. Surprisingly, I found that I read over 3 inches of paper every 4 weeks!

3 inches tall!

Granted, some of those sheets are pure advertisements, or sweet, sweet smelling colognes or perfumes, which I may or may not tear out and rub on myself before hitting the streets of Seattle. No, not really!!! However, I did find that most of those 3 inches are actually material that I care about and glance through on a regular basis.

Come, let's take a journey and explore what I read:

1. LocumLife focuses on the trends of being a locum tenens physician - short term stints or being a "substitute doctor" for clinics and practices all over the US.

2. Infectious Diseases in Children is one of two publications from the Pediatric Super Site. This over-sized news paper focuses on infectious diseases that are common and uncommon in children.

3. American Medical News is the AMA's news publication, which covers general topics and political topics in all fields and aspects of medicine.

4. I'm not even sure how I stumbled across Unique Opportunities, or why I even continue to receive copies of it... Actually, this may have been my only issues I ever received. :-)

5. Pediatric Annals is the other publication from the Pediatric Super Site. It's not a great journal, but it still comes in my mailbox!

6. Contemporary Pediatrics for some reason always has a great editorial on different stamps from around the world, that are somehow loosely tied to the world of pediatrics. I know it's not really a reason to read a journal, but it helps. :-)

7. JAMA or the Journal of the American Medical Association is a great journal, but it often focuses on literature and research from the "adult world" side of medicine, rather then from the "pediatric world."

8. Vindico Medical Education is a small publication that offers free CME (continuing medical education) credits on a variety of topics. Often these articles are longer and the questions really make you think, and make sure you've actually read those articles!

9. Barron's, for the investor hiding inside of me.

10. BusinessWeek, which has recently changed names to Bloomberg Businessweek, has also changed it's spread layout and has taken a turn for the worse. :-(

11. Ok, so I thought, maybe one day I'll have my own business, and I was hoping that Inc. would be marginally helpful. So far it has not.

12. Money is actually a really good personal finance magazine. It's no Kiplinger, but it's close.

13. Fortune is my fantasy magazine, for maybe one day I'll have the time and free funds to invests in stocks and mutual funds again.

14. I to like to stay up to date on the development of the world and the Economist helps me to do so. Plus, yearly, they put out the Big Mac Index!

15. Some people call TIME "liberal," while others call it "conservative." Who really knows? I call it fun to read. TIME covers wide variety of subjects on US and world events - all of which I find interesting.

16. An interesting look at modern live and business is found within the pages of Fast Company. Where else can you take the Declaration of Independence and turn it into a Declaration of INTERdependence.

17. Philanthropy and volunteerism are both an important aspects of my belief, faith, and life. Kiwanis has touched my life since high school and I have continued to volunteer with Kiwanis when living in Cincinnati and Seattle.

18. Phi Beta Kappa is one of those honor societies that I joined in college and I continue to get their quarterly magazine.

19. Town & Country turns out isn't the type of magazine I thought it would be. I was hoping for good recommendations about living on the West Coast and how to adopt to a new climate and living environment.

20. Shape on the other hand, is exactly the type of magazine I thought it would be. :-) New monthly exercises and plenty of good eats ideas to fill my stomach and to feast on the eye candy.

21. This Old House, pretty much follows its name sake. Growing up, my dad and I would watch Bob and Norm work on old houses and give great tips. Such a great father/son experience with my dad.

22. Seattle Met is that zine for giving great updates for local cultural events, hikes around the area, and new restaurant openings.

23. I just read Play for the pictures.... video game picture. :-) It's probably been over 6 years since I've really been serious about playing console games. While the Final Fantasy series will always have a place in my heart, when I became an adult, it was time to put away childish things.

24. Psychology Today is just interesting!

25. Lastly, I used to read Maxim for the articles.... I mean who are these girls anyway? Actually I canceled my membership to Maxim several months back (as this is January's issue) after a heart to heart talk with a young women, whom I was interested in pursuing a relationship with. Do I miss Maxim's artilces? Maybe, but it was worth losing the magazine to keep her.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Zombies never get old

2010-06-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

One day I'm going to find 8 girl friends who like to play dress up....

Watch out next year's MJ Thriller Dance in Seattle!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

That's so Seattle - #5

2010-01-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

Copy cats...

Seen in Seattle:

In the Greenwood area of the city:

I guess everyone wants to be a Medicine Man!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Christmas Through the Ages

2010-01-03T23:06:00.000-08:00

There has been a tradition in my family where each each year my sister and I would receive one Christmas ornament that had some sort of special meaning for the previous year. The thought being, when my sister and I moved away from home we would each have a starter collection for our own Christmas trees.

My Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Now, I've been living alone for a few number of years and still I continue to buy myself a yearly ornament. Without further ado, (from left to right) I present Christmas Through the Ages:

The Early, Early Years.

1981 - Baby's first Christmas and a manger scene from the Lea's (our backyard Merrillville, IN neighbors.)

1982 - Picture of Santa framed in tooth pics and an Angle with symbols from the Lea's.

1983 - Frosty the Snowman and a caroler with a bell from... the Lea's.

1984 - Little boy riding a dove. (a dove?)

1985 - Wooden rocking horse and a red wooden sleigh (Rosebud).

The Christmas Tree Years.

1986 - A wooden tree with glued on stars and tinsel. I probably made this in Kindergarten.

1987 - First grade school portrait photo and a rain dear that I tried to write my name, age, and year.

1988 - Handmade drum made from the top of spray paint can, random Santa, and another Christmas tree

1989 - Skates with paper clips and a present that plays Silver Bells (and has a Christmas tree on top).

1990 - Snowman in double wooden rings and... a Christmas tree (4th grade classroom project?).

The Skiing and Water Skiing Years.

1991 - Another rocking horse? (Found one that belongs to my sister that my mom tried to pawn off on me).

1992 - A little dog with a wreath for the year when I received Muffy as a pet.

1993 - Santa Skiing and a Christmas gerbil running on his wheel (random, I know!)

1994 - Speedy Gonzales skiing... a bear dressed as Santa wind surfing.

1995 - Santa and Mrs. Clause water skiing for the year that I learned how to water ski on Lake Hanska in Minnesota.

I'm not really sure if there is a theme for these years.

1996 - I love model trains, and I love to fish!

1997 - I think my mom slipped this one in b/c I was missing a year (plus it's stamped 2008 in plastic).

1998 - Leaving for college at Penn State, a year whole before graduating from high school.

1999 - Graduating from Franklin Regional High School and routing for Penn State!

2000 - A mouse sleeping in his "new home" for when Kathy welcomed me after my dad passed away that year, plus a computer to symbolize the computer I built from scratch.

The traveling years?

2001 - I must have learned how to ski really well that year. I still like just the easy green circle slopes.

2002 - A plane to symbolize my trip to Japan with Allen, Dave, and Rob.

2003 - A lantern with a Thomas Kinkade painting (the same one hanging in Kathy's Bed and Breakfast), and a penguin with a scarf from my mom.

The Early, Adult Years.

2004 - Missing.... :-(

2005 - A blue ribbon that supports the Red Cross and the Katrina Relief project that I went to support, and a Delta Chi ornament for when I was inducted into University of Pittsburgh chapter.

2006 - Delta Chi for when I helped the University of Cincinnati's colony as their finance advisor, and a blue Santa with a graduation cap for the year I graduated from Temple University School of Medicine.

2007 - Mickey and Minnie from a great trip to WDW with Jamie

2008 - Santa on a turtle for my Caribbean Cruise, a random snowflake that I don't remember buying.

2009 - Amy's "I'm a real doctor now" ornament gift to me and a fat Santa that sings when you press his butt.

And if you ever forget why ornaments are important for children:

It's great to know that all those years and memories fit into a tiny cube!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Bold what you like

2010-01-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

A collection taken from free hugs:

1) Striped socks.
2) Winter vacation.
3) Minty breath.
4) Warm hands.
5) Sublime.
6) Proving people wrong.
7) Sketching.
8) Steel drums.
9) Tampons.
10) The Sims 2.
11) Kissing.
12) Backpacks.
13) Cloudy weather.
14) Picking out presents for people.
15) Kevin Flamme.
16) Boys.
17) Old movies.
18) Reminiscing.
19) Mario Party.
20) Orange juice.
21) Interesting people.
22) Late-night texting.
23) Cool teachers.
24) Levi jeans.
25) The city bus.
26) Cardigans.
27) Sneezing.
28) Drinking cold water.
29) Finding money in my pockets.
30) Making connections.
31) Books.
32) Bolding surveys.
33) A clean bedroom.
34) Collages.
35) Meeting people.
36) Comfortable positions.
37) Headphones.
38) Marathons.
39) Packing to go somewhere.
40) Mascara.
41) Daydreaming.
42) Possibilities.
43) Ramen.
44) Notepads.
45) Burt’s Bees.
46) Babysitting.
47) Actually getting homework done.
48) Feeling good about myself.
49) Complimenting people.
50) PostSecret.
51) Confiding in people.
52) Themed things.
53) T shirts.
54) Gentlemen.
55) Singing harmonies.
56) Being surprised.
57) New clothes.
58) Target.
59) Long eyelashes.
60) Bright Eyes.
61) Naps.
62) Nicely-dressed boys.
63) Barack Obama.
64) Tweezed eyebrows.
65) Inside jokes.
66) Eye-contact.
67) Acronyms.
68) Thinking.
69) Animals.
70) Collecting turtles.
71) Understanding.
72) Friendship bracelets.
73) Meaningful items.
74) Simon & Garfunkel.
75) Silly pictures.
76) Raspberries.
77) Not going to school.
78) Star Trek.
79) Reading blogs.
80) Showering away problems.
81) Worn-in shoes.
82) Paranormal televison shows.
83) Facebook chat.
84) Baked ziti.
85) Visiting my elementary school.
86) Soft blankets.
87) Big words.
88) Staying up late.
89) Second chances.
90) Piggy-back rides.
91) Saying words over and over until they sound really strange.
92) Surrealism.
93) The feeling of relief after going pee.
94) Home videos.
95) Unusual names.
96) Diving boards.
97) Smilies.
98) Cats.
99) Feeling better.
100) Considerate people.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

My Favorite Memories of 2009

2010-01-01T16:43:00.000-08:00

After my friend Courtney was "inspired" by one of my posts for her own version, I became "inspired" by one of hers for this one.

Here are some of my favorite memories from 2009 recapped via photos:

In December 2008, I was able to finish a great Crafternoon project that ushered in the New Year right, and so that I could display my Christmas cards that I received for the Holidays.

In January 2009, I had my first post residency interview in Falmouth, MA, on the Cape!

The Cincinnati Snuggie Bar Crawl debuted in March of 2009, through Mt. Adams. Of course the Medicine Man knew how to doctor up his new snuggie.

The Norwood Community Garden was in initially founded and planted in May!

Residency Graduation at the end of June!!!! Also my first hard thoughts about again entering into another LDR.

July was a month of Farewells. Farewell Norwood. Farewell Wildfell Hall. Farewell Neighbors. Farewell Great Friends. Farewell Burgers! And also a month of Hellos. Hello St. Theodore. Hello Seattle Children's Hospital!

The month of August, I spent exploring Seattle and getting to know Green Lake, as I started my new job.

September, I went on my first trip to CA for Tim Chan wedding and caught up with old high school friends!

October. Back in Cincinnati for the RLH with Laura and Jonah, and also a look back at all the runs I've done over the years.

November was a big month for volunteering.

Who has a second going away party from Cincinnati, after not living there for 5 months? I do!

Here's a new year, where may the best of 2009 be the worst of 2010!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Wallpapers

2010-01-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

Now a days we no long have wallpaper in our house, rather we hang wallpaper on the back of our computer screens and on our cell phones. This is my collection of wallpapers from my laptops (MBA Helper and Blue Monster) and my LG enV2 (sorry no iPhone until Apple wakes up and makes some contracts with Verizon).

Wallpaper on Blue Monster.

All good kids should know how to fight off swarms of attacking zombie children.

Wallpaper on MBA Helper.

Also, the reason I can't win with women. I bring them flowers and they bring me a baseball bat with nails.

Outside screen of my cell phone. The 4 Elemental Fiends from the original Final Fantasy.

Inside screen of my cell phone. The cast of Marvel characters.

As if you didn't know I was a HUGE Marvel fan.

For a short period of time, Jack graced the inside screen of my cell phone.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Seattle > Pittsburgh > Boston > Cincinnati

2009-12-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

Literacy pays off! Who knew?

Seattle topped the list of 75 major cities across the US! Sorry, Crystal, DC came in second, despite a Facebook quiz telling me that DC should have been the city of my choice. :-(

As the Seattle PI tells me, Dr. John W. Miller developed his rankings based on six categories:

1: Number of retail bookstores/1000 people.
2: % of adults with HS diplomas.
3. Total weekday circulation of a city's newspaper.

4: Number of web page views per capita to a city's "internet version" of a newspaper.

5. Magazine and journal distributions per capita.
6. Library staff and library volume per capita.

So, remember that you local library is also important!

Interestingly, smart cities usually ranks well against other quality of life indicators too!

"...Most active singles’ scenes (Boston, Seattle, Washington, and Atlanta), are safer (Minneapolis, Boston, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Cincinnati), more walk-able (Seattle, Washington, DC, Portland, Boston, and Denver), and healthier (Washington, DC and Denver)."

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

My Google Alternates

2009-12-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

Ever try Googleing yourself? Some people find they have hundreds of Google Alternates (GA), while other find they have only very few.

I feel, I'm one of the lucky ones with very few GAs, and I come across myself quite often:

Finding my name in text across the web:

A Temple University School of Medicine 2005 Rebuilding New Orleans Trip that included a Philadelphia PSR write up about our experience, and a Temple Medicine write up and my personal journal entry (check out page #36.)

My IMDB actors page, where I started as "Redsin's Victim" in The Redsin Tower.

Cincinnati Kiwanis Club meeting minutes about my presentation of One Laptop Per Child. Along with more Kiwanis meeting minutes.

When I was first starting to look for information about my family tree.

Alumni Listing of CCHMC residency graduates.

Penn State's NASA 2001 HEDS-UP Project: Mining the Foundation of the Future.

I actually made one meeting to the Fort Thomas Corvette Club!

My Race Times!

Honorable Mention in the Legible Script for Uncle Alex.

Poster presentation as a medical student entitled Linking Physicians To Their Patients: Using a CQI Model To Improve Continuity of Care In a Residency Practice.

Delta Chi Quarterly write up about advising with the University of Cincinnati Colony.

Temple Times write up, along with a Fox Update write up about pursuing and MD/MBA dual degree program.

Don't forget to look through the images after you Google yourself, you might be surprised!

Also, finding yourself in other peoples pictures and videos can be very enlightening. :-)

A Taft with a Twist event with Ari. Ariane, if you're out there - I still miss you! (Yes, that is a giant monkey sticker from Enjoy The Arts on my shirt.)

A Senior Roast video from CCHMC w/o sound.

Hitting up Club Bang! with Diane and Greg.

What's the deal with all the Kiwanis photos? :-)

2009 Hyde Park Blast photo with Emily and Tom.

Finding myself through personal, friends, and networking services:

Is Twitter ever going to learn how to make money?

My Google Profile.

LinkedIn profile.

Who still uses Friendster?

Lastly, random comments on other blogs (#2, #3, #4, #5, #6)

Over the years, I've found my name bring great respect and honor to many communities, my first GAs has been a junior high honor student, a long jumper and a 400 meter relay runner. After finding the wonders of Google Alerts, I've found another GA that is a JHS/HS football champ (#2), also a long jumper and hurdler, a basketball player, and interested in science and soil research (something I did as well in high school! However, I studied the viability of stocking trout along the Turtle Creek through researchers at IUP)!

What has your Google Alternate done today?

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Ohhh.... poor, poor MTC

2009-12-10T12:21:00.001-08:00

This is why the MTC (Midnight The Cat) is so great: She puts up with so much while I'm away... I owe you big Midnight!

You can tell she doesn't like beer either. I'm telling you - it's all the bubbles!

I know, MTC! We'll never speak of this again!

Just a warning for those of you who pet sit, or ask people to pet sit for you!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Volunteering in the Seattle

2009-11-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

Rebuilding Together Seattle has become a regular group that I volunteer with, since moving out to Seattle. Their 15-30 person outdoor, yard cleanup, and repair of homes in need projects remind me a lot of Give Back Cincinnati's Paint the Town annual project (#2).

Here in Seattle, RTS select homes at "no cost to low-income homeowners," and whom are often "elderly, disabled, or are families with children."

Originally named Christmas in April, the Rebuilding Together organization formed affiliates all over the US, and Seattle's chapter this summer celebrated it's one year anniversary of the Young Professionals Society with having close to 40 members volunteer at the RTS - YPS April event.

The YPS was founded in August of 2008 for the purpose of expanding the RTS "mission through community outreach, fundraising, networking, and volunteering on an annual basis to ensure the growth and strength of RTS."

Photos were taken from my second outing with the RTS-YPS group. Funny how I only seem to sign up for the rain day event.s :-)

Did you guys even get wet that day?

Our whole group at the end of the day (minus Margie Thirlby - who's taking the photo).

Seattle Works was the first group I volunteered with after moving to Seattle. SW's goal is is to inform, connect, and inspire people in their 20s and 30s to take action in their community.

SW has a two pronged approached to engage the young minded by either focusing on one time volunteer projects called Hot Topics, or using a several week commitment of 15-16 people who work on 4 projects together called Teams Works. Both are designed to help those connect to their community.

My first event with our Team Works team Blue Steal was for the Lettuce Link. A program geared towards creating "access to fresh, nutritious and organic produce for low-income families in Seattle." Our team stocked envelopes with seeds, that will allow families to start gardening as they "encourage people to grow food for their families."

By the end of the event, even Shannon Murphy was in favor of my carrot cheer:

"We got carrots! We got carrots! Yes we do! Yes we do! How about you?"

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Pittsburgh > Seattle > Cincinnati

2009-11-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

Readers of the Medicine Man's Blog already know that Pittsburgh is much, much better then Boston from a previous post.

Now, Transportation for America ask "How dangerous is your city?" A study was conducted to find and measure the Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 52 US metro areas with populations of greater then 1 million people. "The PDI was developed to allow a fair comparison of metro areas according to their risk to pedestrians, relative to how much an ordinary person walks in that metro area."
Over all Pittsburgh was found to be the 4th safest city (based on PDI), Seattle the 5th, and Cincinnati the 7th. Philadelphia is an abysmal #15 in overall pedestrian safely. The worst city: Orlando (#52).

If you're over 65, the study finds that states such as Hawaii, California, and Florida are all the more dangerous for you! TfA reports that the "the higher fatality rate for older pedestrians can probably be attributed to several factors: 1) older pedestrians have a higher risk of death than young people given the same severity of injury; 2) older pedestrians are more likely to have perceptual, sensory and cognitive impairments that decrease their ability to avoid oncoming traffic; and, 3) existing pedestrian infrastructure, such as the duration of crosswalk signals, ignores the needs of older walkers."

I really think from point #2 that TfA is trying to say that older walkers are slower to cross the street, slower to react if they feel they are in danger, may not see the cars or trucks coming at time, may not hear the roar of the traffic coming at them, and may not know what to do if they feel they are in danger.

Even if you are young and quick, you still have to be lucky. This video just goes to show you that brightly warn crossing guard reflectors don't always avoid close contacts with cars either.

Urban Cincy did a great recap of the findings and expanding upon how pedestrian traffic relates to safety in our fair city.

At least Cincinnati > Cleveland. :-)

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

How's my running coming along?

2009-11-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

After running in the 2009 Run Like Hell 5K, I decided to find/track down my place and race times amongst the dozen or so 5K races I've done in the past (initially in Philadelphia, then to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and now here in Seattle.) I know I'm missing a few bigger runs such as the Koman Race for the Cure and the Reggae Run, but here's what I've been able to find so far:

Run Like Hell 2008!

Dash For Donor Awareness 2.5 Mile Run, April 13, 2003, Philadelphia, PA
167 Alexander Hamling M 25 Philadelphia PA 22:59 9:12 90/152 M

St. Joseph Home 5K - Race for the Stars, August 19th, 2006, Cincinnati, OH:
68 ALEXANDER HAMLING 25 M CINCINNATI OH 30:18 9:47 M

Run for the Hill! - St. Joseph Home 5K

Freestore Foodbank Hunger Walk 5K, May 28th, 2007 at Lytle Park, Cincinnati, OH:
215 ALEX HAMLING 25 M CINCINNATI, OH 33:44 10:53 138/199 M

The Hyde 5 - St. Mary Church, August 16th, 2007 at Cincinnati, OH:
169 ALEXANDER HAMLING 26 M CINCINNATI OH 30:40 9:54 M2529 78/91 M

Emerald Mile 5K, March 15th, 2008 at Newport on the Leave, Newport KY:
198 ALEXANDER HAMLING 26 M CINCINNATI OH 30:55 9:59 112/158 M

Run For Life 5K, May 10th, 2008, at Winton Woods, Cincinnati, OH:
105 ALEXANDER HAMLING 26 M CINCINNATI OH 32:49 10:35 68/89 M

Ariane and I post Great Urban Race, Cincinnati 2008

OK, so a little bit longer then a 5K.

Kilgour Carnival 5K, May 16th, 2008 Cincinnati, OH:
109 ALEX HAMLING 26 M CINCINNATI OH 32:06 10:22 84/125 M

Freestore Foodbank Hunger Walk 5K, May 26th, 2008 at Lytle Park, Cincinnati, OH:
309 ALEX HAMLING 26 M CINCINNATI OH 33:38 10:51 183/772 M

Cincinnati Bar Association - Young Lawyers Section - Run for Kids, 5K, June 6th, 2008, Cincinnati, OH:
269 ALEX HAMLING 26 M CINCINNATI OH 42:16 13:39

Downtown Dash and Block Party, August 1st, 2008 Cincinnati, OH:
134 Alexander Hamling Cincinnati 27 32:01 10:19

Emerald Mile 5K, Newport, KY, March 14th, 2009:
209 ALEXANDER HAMLING 27 M CINCINNATI OH 30:25 9:49 135/218 M

Freestore Foodbank Hunger Walk 5K, May 27th, 2009 at Lytle Park, Cincinnati, OH:
396 ALEX HAMLING 27 M CINCINNATI OH 39:42 12:49 161/490 M

Seattle Union Gospel Mission, One Meal, One Hope 5K, October 3rd, 2009, Seward Park, Seattle, WA
70 Alexander Hamling M 28 32:11

Run Like Hell, October 30th, 2009, Cincinnati, OH
200 ALEXANDER HAMLING Seattle WA 28 32:44 10.34/M

Green Lake Gobble 5K & Mashed Potato Munch Off, November 22, 2009, Seattle, WA.
180 Alexander Hamling 28 M Seattle WA 195/271 29:58
Photo Finish at the end of the race!

Seattle Marathon 5K, November 28, 2009, Seattle WA
188 Alexander Hamling, 28, 28:39

12 Ks of Christmas Holiday Run, December 20, 2009, Kirkland, WA
661 Alexander Hamling, 28, 1:22:43, 11:06

Firecracker 5000, July 4th, 2010, Seattle, WA.
319 Alexander Hamling. 28. 28:30. 9:25

Seattle AIDS Walk & 5K Run Sept, 25th 2010, Seattle, WA - Volunteer Park
88 Alexander Hamling. 29. 25:11. 8:07

AAP NCE 5K Fun Run/Walk, Oct, 4th, 2010, San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate National Recreation Area
52 Alexander Hamling. 29. 26:33. 8:26

In graphical from here's my Run Chart (get it?)

Jenn and I, post race from the St. Joseph Home 5K !

She finished 3rd in her age category!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

500 Days of Summer

2009-11-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

After seeing "500 Days of Summer" on my flight back to Seattle from Cincinnati, I got to thinking.

Just one day, I'd like this to happen to me. Well... I can forgo the animated birds.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

That's So Seattle - #3 and #4

2009-10-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

Just the perfect way to end a wonderful Saturday!

Ahhh yes, my second encounter with a dancing mob of Michael Jackson fans, in just as many months. I guess, I just couldn't get enough from the first flash mob. Or else I must attract friends who are closet MJ fans, and find myself stumbling upon such fun everywhere I go.

Thrill The World of West Seattle helped to host the second annual Michael Jackson Zombie Thriller Dance at Occidental Park in Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA. All part of a much larger Thrill The World idea.

My friend Sarah, a coworker of her's and their third friend became ghastly ghouls of the night and participated in this weekend's outdoors event for charity.

This year's recipients were Seattle Children's Hospital (ahhh.. yes work) and Acts of Kindness Friends.

Also, the goal of year's event was to attempt to break the world record for the "largest simultaneous dance." I'm not sure if they made it or not... Those Filipino inmates are quite amazing and know how to draw a crowd!

From an unsteady and tired hand - here's what I saw from 4 rows back.

Be prepared for next year by joining the Seattle Thrillers group on Meetup.com.

After celebrating in the fun, we three wonders came across another scary site:

Crowds and crowds of absolutely livid fans cheering for the Seattle Sounders, all dressed in their greens scarves and herded towards Quest Field for that evenings match.

Watch for the hidden zombie in the middle:

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Princess Zombies

2009-10-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

From long know Snow White to much awaited Princess Tiana, it's clear to see that the Disney Princesses can be idolized in a variety of manners (#1, #2, #3, #4).

Along slightly different lines then from an earlier post, the Fallen Princesses take a turn for the worst. In Jeffrey Thomas's Twisted Princess, he invokes the Halloween spirit through his frightful compilation.

All in all these aspiring queens are a far cry, yet a far more interesting rendition, of the traditional view of these beauties.

Then again... they could all just have issues with each other.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

That's So Seattle - #2

2009-10-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

Seattleites are all human compasses!

Amazing, No?

While in every other city I've lived in, street parking has always been well defined with signs that state "No Parking Here to Corner" or "No Parking Between Signs" (followed by cute little arrows pointing at each other). Not here in Seattle! For, Seattleites harness their inborn (or derived) compass to know the cardinal directions at all times.

No Parking - West of Here

No Parking - North of Here

No Parking - East of Here

Who's sweet ass truck is that, with their Penn State stickers and paw magnet! I think that sign should really read, "Do Not Block Driveway," but I'm no Seattle Parking planner.

Both sides of the street have the same sign "No Parking - West of Here."

Funny, how they are placed both sings facing the SAME direction. One in the flow of traffic, and the other against it...

Is this really needed?

If I wanted to park "East of Here," I'd be in the grass!

No Parking - South of Here

I almost made the mistake of thinking this guy/gal parked illegally, but then my cardinal sense of direction kicked in and, I realized that South was behind me! I must be feeling the flow from Magnetic North.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Why We Walk

2009-10-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

September 26th, 2009 marked the 23rd year of bringing together the Puget Sound to increase awareness and fight HIV and AIDS. The Lifelong Aids Alliance (#2) was this years proud supporter of the walk and organized a great event through Seattle's Capital Hill, starting at Volunteer Park. Any aptly named park, no?

Course for walk

I joined the University of Washington School of Medicine team, without knowing a sole. From the lengthly list of e-mails, I learned that a group of highly motivated medical students could raise over $1001, including $138.30 from a "clandestine bake sale!"

After a quick breakfast, the morning of, at one of the second year's houses we trekked through her back yard and up the hill to the registration tent. For the day of the race, our team wore UW gear to show our support and cohesiveness. The following Monday, in order to continue to show our support, we planed to wear our red AIDS Walk t-shirts.

Lifelong AIDS Alliance Video

So, why did I walk?

During my month long, medical school rotation in Guyana, South America, I worked with HOPE House Orphanage in Enmore, Guyana. Here, I became known as “Uncle Alex” to 42 boys and girls.

These children were full of life, yet so starved for emotional and physical attention. Over the month, I visited the orphanage, working closely with the children, the orphanage staff, and outside physicians to provide much needed healthcare for these children and the staff that cared for them.

Dr. Alex and Vikash (4 months old)

There is an ever so common story in Guyana and sadly 4 month old Vikash lives it. Vikash was abandoned in a hospital, by this unmarried mother a few days after his birth for being born and infected with HIV. Every year, there are hundreds of children disowned and forgotten because of their inherited infection. Luckily, The Hope House Orphanage in Enmore, Guyana, saved Vikash and provided him with an opportunity to live, a new family of 40 brothers and sisters, and enduring love. Here Vikash and I are sitting and cheering on his brothers and sisters at the 2nd Annual Sports Day, sponsored by the orphanage to teach the children that “by working together we can accomplish so much more.”

Dr. Rebecca and Faith (3 years old)

Just two children out of many at the orphanage that where HIV positive and whom we were able to spend a day with; making their lives a tiny bit brighter. These photos were taken on August 2005 in Enmore, Guyana, South America.

Every child has a right to – Life, a Name, a Family, and to feel Loved (inscription from a monument in the Georgetown National Park, Guyana).

Our UW SOM walking team

And, yes there are manatees in the National Park, that will feed right out of your hand.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

This is why I <3 Google!

2009-10-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

How I spent my Sunday

2009-09-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I had an amazing experience in Discovery Park, Seattle, WA! First introduced to me by Binkle, was concept of MovNat, the brain child of Erwan Le Corre.

With my increased interest and along with others (#1, #2, #3) in Vibram Five Finger training, I came across a natural fitness program geared towards reconnecting with nature and finding a "context" in which to train.

What I, and ten other gentlemen learned from this 6 hour clinic with Erwin enlightening:

First: The philosophy of MovNat depends on finding situations that are adaptable and that require focus. Prior to MovNat, I could be found in the IMA gym working out on Life Fitness Strength training machines while listening to my favorite NPR podcast. With these machines, I could follow my progress and chart my total reps, weight, and the last time I isolated a specific muscle group. However, with this training regiment, I became dependent on the machines, and the machines only helped me to lift more weight in one particular motion. Learning from the MovNat philosophy, if I broadened my mind and the context in which I trained in, I could work more muscle groups, faster, and more efficiency. Plus, I could apply my efforts to a multitude of different situations, and I wouldn't be limited to just the repetitive movements on a pulley system.

Second: It's OK to be lazy. In fact, it's encouraged! Body weight exists because of gravity, but it doesn't have to slow you down. By utilizing the principles of "body weight transfer" and "body weight shift" one can use gravity to improve movement, balance, climbing, and positioning during a training exercise. Our "lazy training session" consisted of learning how to use minimal strength to climb a tree limb by developing a body weight transfer from our two handed grip, to a three point system = adding a leg! Then, using a body weight shift and swinging our free leg and allow the momentum to rotate and propel our body around the tree branch. Success!

Third: Creating context helps focus, increased motivation, and makes training fun! In a jumping exercise, the group focused on limiting our landing and take off points - as if we were jumping from small ledges and avoiding clefts down a mountain side. In our climbing example, it was important to focus on our
"body intelligence" and know when to have our arms tightened, and when to have them relaxed and ready for movement and action.

Lastly: Running is the ultimate training activity. Think about it - you rarely "walk for your life," or "bike for your life," but perhaps to a slightly more extent you can "swim for your life," but you always "RUN FOR YOU LIFE!" With increased focus and attention to running, it's possible (and preferred) to use gravity to propel yourself forward. Using your legs to catch yourself in mid fall. Again, with a body weight shift, minimal muscle movement and energy is needed to run. This concept can be used in other situations as well to increase efficiency.

Other activities we covered in our MovNat clinic included principles of Throwing/Catching, Balancing, and Lifting. Each of these single topics could have been covered exclusivity in just one clinic and by the end, we would have only learned the basics behind each movement.

11 + 1 at the end of MovNat training.

Several of us have expressed a continued interest in training together and have created the Seattle-area barefoot & Five Fingers running group and the Seattle Natural Movement group, both on Facebook. All are welcome and encouraged to join either group and to find out more information if so desired.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Trip over love, you can get up. Fall in love and you fall forever.

2009-09-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

This month has been interesting with 1) two weddings in 4 weeks, 2) the grooms were childhood neighbors from Murrysville, PA (my home town, just outside of Pittsburgh) and 3) I was able to reconnect with an old high school friend at each wedding.

Men always want to be a woman's first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a man's last romance. -Oscar Wilde

Mike Pritts and I at his wedding reception!

"I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,

A church filled with family and friends.
I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for,
He said one that would make me his wife."
- Author Unknown

Reconnecting with Sandip at Mike Pritts and Mandy's wedding!

You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find a handsome prince. - Unknown

So.... at Pittsburgh weddings, everyone and their mother brings in dozens of cookies.

Guest are required to take home a goodie bag.

I think it's a Polish thing...

Marriage is the only war in which you sleep with the enemy. - Unknown

Tim Chan and Julie at their wedding ceremony.

"Marriage is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important" - Lisa Hoffman

Allen Chang, Tim Chan and I at the reception lunch!

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world. - Bill Wilson

A great view in Dana Point, CA from Tim's wedding.

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. ~Robert Browning

For those of you who are as "vexed" as me about the search for your sole mate, thank goodness we don't always look like this guy:

Entitled, "The vexed man."

From the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. - George Sand

Ladies, try not to avoid cupids talent when he come to visit!

"You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person who you cannot live without." - Anonymous

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

That's So Seattle - #1

2009-09-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Food trucks made to look like the pork is sells.

Actually I really miss seeing and eating "street meat" from trucks parked on the side of the road. I was first addicted to the concept in medical school at Temple University, where there would be about a half dozen or so shiny clad trucks lining Broad Street, awaiting the break from lecture.

Lunch was a blessing with choices of burgers, Middle Eastern food, fruit salads, Chinese, etc...

Sadly, both Pittsburgh's West Penn Hospital and Cincinnati's Children Hospital had a void of street meat vendors. :-(

Maybe out here in Seattle, I'll rekindle my love!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

15 minutes... 5 minutes... no 4 seconds of fame!

2009-09-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

Yup! That's how I spend my Thursdays in Seattle. :-)

Thanks Komo!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

The Science Behind "The Way to Hook the Ladies"

2009-09-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

The August 29th, 2009 edition of The Economist had a short, less then two column, blue back grounded article in their Science and Technology section entitled "Mr Muscle." This article explored one possible reason for sexual selection in humans and "the price and privilege of beefcake."

Starting off the article reads: "Why are men's muscles so much bigger than women's?" And then proceeds to jump right into the evolutionary process and historical acceptance that all men are fighters and hunters, and we need to chase after big animals and then wrestle them down to the ground! [OK, the last notion was added by me.]

But, maybe more importantly, "women like men who can do these things well, and thus are attracted to muscular men." Hence why last week I decided to take a look at the Ballard LA Fitness, Signature Gym.

What I really found out was that "Signature Gym" mean a $150 initiation fee followed by a $55 (discount rate b/c I "work at Seattle Children's Hospital") monthly fee. This does get me "all states, all gyms" access, body lotion in the men's shower area, and free towels at the gym. However, as Cat pointed out to me last week over dinner, "The towel bins are always empty in the evening." Sad. :-(

Back to the article. "Resources get piled into [muscles], almost regardless of the consequences," and further goes on to state that "the more muscular a man, the more sexual partners he reported." And offered up a humorous (hopefully) answer to the increase in number of life time and past year sexual partners, that "muscular men [are able] to intimidate 97 lb weaklings."

Overall the trade off for increasing the number of sexual partners comes at a price of a man's immune system which is "less effective than those of women (which was known before), and become[s] worse the more muscular the men are (which was not [known])."

Thankfully, "modern medicine... means the hulk's weakened immune system is less likely to expose him to lethal infection."

Thank goodness! Now I can safely check out the UW Intramural Gym this coming week!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

BTW, did I mention the article had a photo of shirtless man fishing with the tag line "The way to hook the ladies?"

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Is the UW U Pass worth it for me?

2009-09-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

2009-08-12T10:49:00.001-07:00

The Seattle Opera's performance of The Ring has a bog sponsored "Photo-of-the-Day Caption Writing Contest" The grand prize for coming up with the cleverest cation is a limited edition 'Ho Jo To Ho" t-shirt (only available to caption contest winners; not for sale in the gift shop!) starts now with today's new photo' for Tuesday, August the 11th:

It just happens that lawn darts are not a treasure lost to the past and the caption of "Lawn Darts, Version 1.0. A fun time for the whole family!" out witted some other clever lines such as "Okay, the tranquilizer spear works. Now how much will it cost to get you to wake her up?" and "How many times did I tell you not to run while carrying a spear?"

Thanks for reading,

Alex

UPDATE: August 19th 2009. The free t-shirt only comes in XL sizes... :-( Strange for an opera company that charges $20 for standing room only "seats," and for whom the next performance of The Ring costs $129 at the cheapest seats still available.

I would think they would have a little bit more disposable income with prices like that.

The Quest for Blackberries

2009-08-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I found a great recipe for blackberry cobber.

So this afternoon I decided to venture down to:

Pike Place Market

Upon reaching PPM, I was mesmerised by the:

Donuts in a bag!!!

and by the colorful:

Fresh cut flowers for myself.

(Did you know that only one women ever brought me flowers for our date?)

While continuing my search for the ever elusive blackberries I stopped here:

What sort of a name is Taxi Dogs?

For this:

Kielbasa and lemonade!

Interesting, that they didn't have sauerkraut...

I was also serenaded by:

Random singing group out side of the first Starbucks.

(Notice the brown sign with the mermaid that you can still see her nipples, and not the green covered current logo?)

Sadly, the Safeway will have to get my back and save the day for blackberries.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

My Guardian Angel

2009-08-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

I may have found what my Guardian Angel looks like:

Thanks, Amy, for the great birthday gift!!!

Thanks for reading,

Alex

Who is the MTC?

2009-08-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

Midnight's Specialness Meter 2000

(it goes to 12!)

Midnight The Cat is my cute lovable almost 2 y/o cat with a unique personality. She was born on Sept 22nd, 2007 and has now made the trip with me to Seattle.

Midnight resting next to the coat rack

Over the years she has made quite a few number of "friends" and continues to correspond by letters and e-mail behind my back. :-)

The first letter she received was from Ariane's Gordan and Jitterbug, or as they prefer "Thug and Queen of all Kittes."

The letter that started it all...

Jitterbug and Gordan

For a brief period of time, Midnight used to try to communciate with me via her personal e-mail address, Midnight T. Cat, but they were mostly full of meows and silly, i.e: NOTE: MTC's e-mail address is NOT managed by me.

meow i want to live in the pink room meow. meow dont make me live in the basement closet meow. meow meow meow. meow i am so cute meow. meow come home and purr with me meow. meow i want to eat a quatman burger meow. meow you didnt include me in your ad meow. meow i am upset meow. meow going to go drink the blue toilet water meow.

-midnight

AND

mmmmeeeeeeeeeooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww! wake up, im lonely! meeeeeeeooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!

Later, Midnight found friends Jack and Runa and graciously gave them her unused scratching post. Glimpsing through her correspondece over snail mail, I've noticed several references to a "P.o.F" and "P.o.L" which I've deduced is in reference to me (Provider of Food) and to Rachel (Provider of Lap):

Runa tells about her rebellion by "scratching nice things and squatting on laps" and sitting "on the eating platform without cause."

Midnight must have picked up some of her bad habits from Runa and even shares her adventures about "the OUTDOORS!" to add fuel to the rebellion fire:

Jack and Runa – Rulers of the Castle

c/o Rachel – the human and P.o.F.

Meow Jack and Meow Runa,

Thank you so much for your sweet card! It was quite the insightful glimpse into your lives and interactions with your Provider of Food (the human). I was beginning to wonder what happened to that scratching post – not like I ever used it. I much prefer to use the top portion of my human’s butt rest. It’s just so much more satisfying! I would highly recommend it. Lately, my P.o.F. has decided to discourage the use of my claws by placing a pad over the head rest. Little does he know, it makes his butt rest look horrible and I just scoot it around and continue on my merry way.

I feel I should tell you of the world beyond the door. I have experienced it, and I call it the “OUTDOORS!” I’ve been known to spend hours in the “Outdoors” but sometimes it’s frigid and I search for warmth after just a few minutes. It’s great that we have these build in coats that are easily shed, but I would still recommend only a short visit to the “Outdoors” if given the chance.

I’ve noticed that while our Providers of Foods are getting much friendlier with each other they have began to visit more often, and there has been a decrease in the number of hours that should be reserved for lap cuddle time. Have you noticed this trend too?

As the humans say “Merry Christmas” and my your bowels always be filled with food!

In loving paws,

Midnight

Sometime after the start of the new year, I began noticing Midnight walking around with more confidence and in reference to Runa's letter above, I too, have seen a caped crusader around my neck of the woods:

Yes! It is the caped crusaider - Midnight The Cat!

Midnight did eventually adopt more modern technology after abusing my e-mails to Jennifer and kept her longest running dialog with Gideon and Reilly:

Subject: To Midnight from Gideon and Reilly

Dear Midnight,

Hey! Gideon here! I can't stay on too long tonight because my mom says that she has to go to bed soon, and she's the one with the hands, so I guess I have to listen to her. You're a very cute cat, I have to say. I'm a pretty studly guy, myself, but my mom has to get her hands on a digital camera to take a picture of me so that you can appreciate my manly physique.

I hear you like to try to sneak outdoors sometimes. Cool! I'm a little scared to go outside, but I really want to get into the garage. Sometimes, I cry at the door, just begging mom to let me out, but she says it's gross out there. I don't care if it's gross! I'm a boy! I can take it! One night, when she wasn't expecting it and when she didn't close the door all the way to take out the trash, I did it! I saw some dead bugs in there. It was so cool! I also went under the car where my mom couldn't get me! Ha! I knew she would have to offer food to get me to come in, and that was good enough for me. The bad part was that she had to rinse off my paws when I came back in. I HATED that! Still, I got my food, so I guess it was worth it. I absolutely LOVE to eat-- and will eat pretty much anything: candy wrappers (a little hard to swallow and mom quickly takes them from me), plastic bags from wal-mart, but mostly cat food. Do you ever eat people food? My mom tries to keep me from eating it, but I LOVE salt. Have you ever tried it? It is the best! Oh... you haven't tasted anything if you haven't eaten a piece of a potato chip or a little pretzel. It's like heaven.

Okay... mom says she's starting to fall asleep at the keyboard now. Reilly's asleep, so she can't talk to you.

Bye!

Gideon (aka Gid or Gid Kid)

Hey! This is Reilly. Gideon is sometimes a bully to me. I was partly asleep, but I wanted to say a quick hi to you, too. My name sounds like Riley but is spelled Reilly because that is the Irish spelling of it, and my mom thought that was cool. The bad part about that is that the vet is always saying, "He this," "He that." Oh well... I like it well enough, I guess. Your name really fits you well. It's a pretty name, too. I'm glad you like to write. I've never done this before, but it's a lot of fun. I have talked on the phone before, though-- well, mainly just listened. I come up to the phone almost every time my mom is talking to her mom. I just love to hear grandma's voice. Anyway... I am glad that my mom finally met a guy who isn't allergic to cats! I have to go back to sleep now, as does my mom. I love sleeping almost as much as Gideon likes to eat! :) Which do you prefer? Eating or sleeping?

Talk to you later,

Reilly (aka Rye Girl)

"Gid Kid"

"Rye Girl"

And, Midnight's reply back:

Subject: To Gideon and Reilly From Midnight

Meow Gideon, Meow Reilly,

Gideon, really? Your MOM!?!?!? Now, let me tell you how we run things over here at the Midnight The Cat Household. First of all - Bed time is when I want it.

Often my Provider of Food insists on keeping me out of the his human bed, and even goes so far as to close the door ALL the way! Don't be worried, I have him figured out now. As soon as my POF sets foot on the stair case, I make a dash into the green room and hide in my quite spot.

See, POF placed a collar on me with a bell a few months back. Now, how am I to stalk birds, squires, my shadow, other intruders into the homelands with a BELL?!?! POF says its so he can find me when I explore "The Outdoors." (More on "The Outdoors" later). I think he uses to tell if I'm in his green room or not when the lights go out. So, I lay still and wait for 5 rounds of the large pointer to move in round ticky thing on the wall and then I know I'm free to move about.

Back to "The Outdoors:" It's great! New smells, new hiding places, new friends in the yard. I try and explore once a day if not more often. Sometimes though there is whiteness that covers "The Outdoors" and that scares me. You don't want to get lost out there... I've heard some stories from Stray (the stray who wonders into my Homeland. I'm not sure if we're friends or not... yet...)

"The Garage!" Tell me of this "Garage!" Oh how grand! New playmates and new hiding places! The Homeland has a second structure in the back with a small opening in the door, but I haven't ventured to explore there yet. It's often dark and sometimes I hear grumbling from within. Did I mention that one whole wall moves up and down! I'm afraid it might chomp me!

Oh, Gideon, I'm so glad to hear that you share in the same love of plastic crinkle bags!

I have found a liking for something described as popped corn, covered in orange florescent cheese. Sometimes my POF's other human, Steve, (Interlude from Alex: Housemate Steve, rents a room, and works at Children's, and is often gone all weekends to visit his GF in Ft. Wayne) offers me such delicacies when POF is not around. I LOVE it! But often now, I have my feeder which POF keeps well stocked and the water is aways flowing next to it. I can't understand how it keeps running, but I'm glad it does.

Reilly! How could you let Gid-Kid be so mean to you? Show him what you're made of. You know if you're POF is a girl like you then you OWN that house! :-)

I prefer playing and walking over my POF lap when he's not paying enough attention to me, or walking over the POF's face when POF is trying to sleep. To think, my Specialness Meeter is reading at an all time high of 12 tonight! Well I guess the POF is helping to translate and communicate with you. My pur really wouldn't make it more then an hour drive. Hm... Maybe we'll have to try purring over the phone one night. Let your POF think that one over and get back to me. Purrrr!!!!

Yes, POF is great to not be sneezing in my food and water.

In loving, cat solidarity,

>^..^< (That's me!)

Thanks for reading,

Alex

Mom's Helper

2009-08-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

Living in the St. Theodore provides this great sense of community. One evening after parking my truck in our garage, the community message board (which usually just has a smiley face made from thumbtacks) had a great hand made posting for a "Moms Helper."

Now, I wasn't sure what a Mom's Helper was, but Ema did a great job explaining it:

"A moms helper is someone that watches your kid while you are doing something important or just don't want to be bothered (with you in your apartment). "

And at $1.50 per hour it's a great bargain!!!! She even comes with a great personal recommendation:

"Ema is a very responsible, kind and mature 9 year old. She loves to play with babies & young children. Thank you, Nana Cooney"

Better hurry though! She's got limited hours and dates still available!

Thanks for reading,

Alex

My Greenlake

2009-08-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last week during the 100 degree heat wave at Greenlake:

Thanks for reading,

Alex

What's this?

2009-08-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Kate's Random Mussings' post...

Nope, it's not a condom...

But who ever helped me unpack my boxes for my move out to Seattle sure thought they were and placed them in my "personal drawer" in my nightstand!

They are really stethoscope diaphragms!

Just remember, practice safe sound...

Thanks for reading,

Alex

Living in the Roosevelt

2009-07-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

My first adventure, since flying to Seattle, was finding my new apartment in the St. Theodore (#2), in the Roosevelt area of Seattle.

Not too much of a challenge after hopping in my rental car and finding the cargo section of Northwest to pick up Midnight from SEA. With my trusty GPS in hand we made it to I-5 without any trouble, and then down to the St. Theodore. The management here has been super easy going and allowed me entrance to my place late on a Saturday night without issues.

The apartment is great, and now it also has all my stuff! It was a bit strange living with just an inflatable bed, t-shirt like sheets, and no real pillow for about a week. :-(

My movers were slow to get back to me, but I was lucky enough to have my mom come out at the right time to help open boxes and get her opinion on Goodwill furniture and necessities.

So far, I've explored the area around me on foot and found the Safeway and QFC grocery stores, a few bars, and great little coffee shop with wireless (it has a bit too load music to make it a good study location, but the people there are friendly) and then I wondered around downtown after meeting up with some people from Seattle's meetup.com's New In Town Meetup Group.

My next challenge was to spend the day running around changing over the electric meter into my name. I stumbeled upon a branch of the Seattle Public Library with free wifi, and picked up way too much stuff for myself from Best Buy and for Midnight from Petsmart by the time my outing was over and done with.

Also on this trip, I picked up some shade plants from Lowe's. The change of address envelopes from the Post Office, have a 10% off your entire purchase, FYI. I still need to find more/new soil and a larger pot to replant them into and then they will be off and ready to display in front of my door.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

First Post!

2009-07-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Medicine Man of Seattle blog, a sister blog to the Medicine Man of Norwood blog. Both just so happen to be run by me. :-)

On July 18th, 2009 I'm stepping out from Norwood, OH, and venturing out to Seattle, WA for my first position after residency.

I hope to stay active both in Cincinnati and in Seattle.

One of my first adventures I'm hoping to take on in Seattle is the Green Lake garage sales, found by first visiting the My Green Lake blog. I'll keep you all posted on what I found out here in Seattle.

Love, rain, and running,

Alex