Thoughts

FIRE
So, in addition to all the news on fires throughout the Southland including the one in Calabasas, I was word that a fire hit home . . . almost literally.
My mom told me today that a generator went haywire yesterday and started a fire behind our neighbors house just over the hill in the backyward. All of a sudden, the power and the water went out. My mom smelled smoke and asked my dad to call 911. My mom remained very calm and even in her condition, gathered up a flashlight, a jacket, all our important paperwork like passports, and had my dad manually undo the garage door opener. In the event they had to evacuate, she was ready. But luckily, the fire department was quick to put it out and no houses were in danger.
I also hear that there is a fire in Burbank near the Castaway restaurant. That's pretty close to our house. What is going on here?
Please be in prayer for all these individuals and for the firefighters.

THE STORY OF THE ACCIDENT
Imagine you go to the dentist. You park your car and go inside. Everything is fine until *crash*. You run outside to find your car has been smashed by another car! This is exactly what happened to my sister-in-law last week. I think Raymond described their phone conversation something like this:

R: Hello?
S: I got into a car accident.
R: Are you okay?
S: I'm fine. I wasn't even in the car.
R: What happened?
S: The car got hit in the parking lot.
R: Did you get the other driver's insurance?
S:No, but the police did.
R: The police? Why did you need the police?
S: She hit another car too.
R: How's the car?
S: I'm driving it now.
R: So the car is fine?
S: Well, it's okay now that the firemen cut off the bumper.
R: What?!?
S: Yeah, firetrucks came to help out.
R: What?!?
S: Apparently, she lost control of her car, hopped the curb, ran over a sprinkler and blew out her tire. She spun around the parking lot and hit our car and another car.

Obviously, this story went from bad to worse. They weren't able to drive the car back up since it was later deemed unsuitable for such a long trip. They had to rent a car and get the car fixed down here. Now, they'll have to make a special trip back down here just to pick it up. What a mess!

THE LAST TUESDAY
Becuase I accepted a new position at work as one of the four senior therapists there, I had to switch my off-day during the week.
For the last two-plus years, Karena and I have been very fortunate to have the same off-day (Tuesdays) to run our errands or go to the gym or just relax together. It gave us both the same day to sleep in. It allowed us to spend some time with our families together on the same day.
Those days are coming to an end. Starting next week, my off-day will move to Mondays for six months out of the year (Oct-Mar) and to Thursdays for the other six months (Apr-Sept).
This means, today will be the last time we both have a day off together. How will we spend it? I'm not sure yet, as Karena is still sleeping while I write this. But I'm hopeful we can do something special . . . like go to Costco for some pizza and a hot dog! =)

HOUSEGUESTS (PART II)
Today, Karena took them to the Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade, Wally's (a place to get good wine for cheap) and UCLA. They also each had an ice cream sandwich from Diddy Reese. Now, does that cover all the L.A. hotspots?

HOUSEGUESTS
We welcomes Karena's Cornell classmate Nelson and his wife Michelle into our home Friday night. They were scheduled to fly out of Houston on Friday night for a conference she had in Beverly Hills. But Hurricane Rita changed those plans and before they knew it, they were on a quick flight to Las Vegas on Wednesday. After spending two days in Sin City, they rented a car and drove out to our place.
This brought up the question of where we'd take them to show them around LA. Karena and I had the toughest time coming up with just the right places to take them (since time was short and amusement parks were out). But I think we did well, considering the time constraints (we didn't meet up with them until 8:30pm Friday night).
In one 24 hour period, we took them to Universal Citywalk and had dinner at Buca DiBeppo. Afterward we drove them around Hollywood to show them the Kodak Theater and Grauman's Chinese Theater. Today, Karena treated them to some In 'N Out and then took them around Beverly Hills and showed them some points of interest on the westside. Nelson joined us for dinner at Lucille's in Long Beach to celebrate Reuel's 29th birthday.
How do you think we did? Did we leave anything out?

PRAYER REQUEST (PART II)
Thanks for your prayers on behalf of my mom. After seeing her last night, she seems to be doing better, but is still shaken up. Plus, I worry because she has difficulty using the crutches and not putting any weight on that leg. But I know she's a fighter and will pull out of this just fine. But please keep praying! Thanks.

SHEN 24
When I was in the 5th grade, I made the La Merced basketball team. One of the perks was that I get my last name and number imprinted on the back of my PE uniform. To this day, I think back fondly upon that uniform and remember how it looked.
When I was in Emmanuel, I did a stupid thing. I saw Grace Han wearing a Cubs jersey of Mark Grace. He was one of my favorite players so I rushed right up to her and asked if she was a Cubs fan or a Mark Grace fan too. But she replied, "No, I just like his name." So, stupid me, just figured she liked his name. It wasn't until days later that I realized she liked his name because it was HER name. She bought the jersey because it said "GRACE" on the back. Duhhhh!!!
Since I came to that realization, I've always wanted a jersey that has MY name on the back. It's highly unlikely that somebody named Shen will ever make it big in any American sport, but I'm hopeful that somebody might one day have "Victor" for a last name so I can wear his jersey, like Grace Han did. So far, the closest I've come is Falcons' quarterback Michael Vick.

PRAYER REQUEST
Please be in prayer for my mom, who fell yesterday and broke a bone in her leg. She's currently not supposed to put any weight on her leg and is trying to hobble around with crutches. But she's in a great deal of pain.
I'm going to see her tonight so I'll find out more details then.
Thanks.

BASEBALL
Can you believe the way the American League races are going? As it stands right now, all the races (including the wild card) are up for grabs. Perennial postseason teams like the A's and Yankees may find themselves on the outside looking in.
As scary as this sounds for the two AL teams that I love (the Angels and Red Sox), I have to admit that it's very exciting and good for baseball. Plus, I feel confidnt that both the Angels and Red Sox will win their divisions and make a strong showing in the playoffs.
Still, Karena is going to hate me over the next week or so because I'll be watching a lot of baseball!

FAMOUS CHURCH
I was IMing with Melanie the other day and discovered that Karena was right. The church used in "Wedding Crashers" was the same Pasadena church that Melanie and Bob got married in. Apparently, it was also used in J. Lo's "The Wedding Planner."
Hmm . . . how would you feel is CEFC was used in a movie like "Wedding Crashers?" Somehow, I can't see Rev. Sam Lo going for that one. (But it would have brought Rachel McAdams in!) =)

EVENTFUL SATURDAY
We had 4 things scheduled for Saturday, and we nearly made all of them.
After getting up early for work, I was relieved to see that the day would be shorter than expected so I could go home and catch some of UCLA's victory over Oklahoma.
Afterward, we were off to Woodland Hills for Karena's co-worker's birthday party. The house was amazingly designed, but the interesting part was what happened across the street. Apparently, a father and son were having a shouting match after the dad threw the son out of the house for using drugs. The son returned and chased the father around with a golf club, threatening to kill him. Finally, some people from the birthday party intervened while others called the cops. While all that was going on, another neighbor came out dressed like a pimp in a fur coat and demanded that all the yelling stop. It was pretty interesting.
Afterward, we rushed to Monterey Park to have dinner with my family for Chinese Moon Festival. It was nice because even though we were pressed for time (we came late and left early), it was good to be able to see my cousins and my family.
We rushed out of there to head down to Reuel's place where we played Scene It? We played both the regular and the Sports edition. The regular version wasn't very fun, but the Sports one was a lot more fun. I learned that Olympic speedskater Dan Jansen set a record of 35 seconds for the 500m. And that Helen Willis won Wimbledon in 1927. I love trivia! Too bad my team came in last place for both games.

WAR OF THE WORLDS
If any of you have ever wondered what is the absolute WORST movie ever, look no further than "War of the Worlds." Sure, "Glitter" and "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!" and "The Last Action Hero" put up a good fight for WORST movie, but this one takes the cake.
As I've mentioned before I almost always love Tom Cruise movies. In fact, some of his movies (Top Gun, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire) are my all-time favorites.
But Worlds just didn't have a good script, didn't have a strong enough cast, and didn't even come close to having a good plot. Plus, the ending was so terrible, I barely even understood it. Can somebody please clarify what happened?
I appreciate my uncle for getting us this movie from Hong Kong. But, sadly, this movie was a big disappointment. In fact, the best part about it was the strange english subtitles that accompany this Russian VCD. The subtitles would say something completely different from whatever was actually being said. When Tom Cruise would call out for Rachel, for example, it'd say: "Lighting strikes the timber of." Every time! Can you believe that! That was the most entertaining part of the whole movie.

THE END OF THE INNOCENCE
While growing up, people always used to tell me that I had a lot of patience. And I think most people attriubted that not just to my attitude, but also to my age and innocence. It makes sense to me that the fewer pre-conceived notions and prejudicies you have, the easier it is to be patient and kind to people.
But as I've grown older, I'm read over and over our greatest commandment to "Love the Lord" and "love your neighbor as yourself." (On a side note, I LOVE that Jesus intertwined these two commandments into one so you can't have one without the other). And that commandment has become increasing more difficult as my work schedule gets busier and the people get less patient and less loving with me. Maybe this is the end of my innocence.
I've found myself getting frustrated at patients lately. But I'm trying to love them as I would love myself. But it's so hard.

BLACKOUT
Yesterday's blackout was crazy because I never expected a hospital to go completely pitch black. But that's exactly what happened in our department for about a full minute. I kept thinking, I'm glad I wasn't in the bathroom when it happened. Or in the elevator. Our generators kicked in emergency power for about a half hour before the lights officially came back on. So, I treated two people in near darkness, but it worked out okay.
Then, I figured most of the afternoon patients would cancel since all the traffic lights were out and there was mass confusion everywhere. But none of them did. Unlucky for me.
One of my co-workers thought it was definitely the work of al Queda. He kept saying they were "back and better than ever!" Hmmm . . . =)

UCLA GAME
There were so many stream-of-consciousness thoughts running through my head during the UCLA football game:
It's okay to go to a blowout (UCLA 63, Rice 21) as long as your team is on the right side.
This past Saturday's game featured a lot of good folks (Enoch, Judy, Aaron, Michelle, Edwin, and Jennifer L.), good food (thanks to Enoch for heading up the tailgate party by BBQing his famous Chung burgers and chicken to go along with chips and salsa), and good football.
Plus, there's nothing quite like walking into a stadium and seeing the green grass and marveling at just how big and wide it is. And as the Bruins were scoring touchdown after touchdown, I kept thinking, "Wow, and I was fortunate enough to have been on that field multiple times (including the endzones and 50 yard line) during last November's Billy Graham Crusade.
I love being a Bruin.

CRASH

We just finished watching the movie "Crash." I've heard a lot of good things about it so I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype.

As expected, Karena didn't care of it much since there's too much unhappiness in it. But I enjoyed how many of the story lines were woven together. Plus, it was interesting to see how certain decisions and actions based on stereotypes or misconceptions later came back to haunt them.

I enjoyed the movie, but I definitely wouldn't go out and purchase it. But I do like how it has allowed a lot of different type of people to sit down and talk about race relations in LA and how our preceived notions can lead us down the wrong path.

DUDE, WE ALL GOT DELLS
This is how crazy/stupid Kaiser is. They are in the process of going to a paperless system where all our notes will be typed into our computer system. In theory, it's good because we won't ever have to deal with doctor's notes we can't read or charts we can't find. However, their idea of getting everybody a PDA or a laptop was scraped because they were afraid of theft.
So intead, they got everybody a computer on their desk and one in every treatment room/booth.
But as you can see by the pictures, that leaves NO ROOM for writing, charting, or anything. Just take a look at my desk and my treatment booth! Theres absolutely no room! We're having to chart on our laps or just stand up. Plus, our desks aren't even made for computers so 0ur set-up is terrible. And worse yet, we don't even have enough phones or phone lines. We have to share phones and voice mail boxes . . . and yet we each have our own Dell computers?!? What's up with that?
Now, our back office is noticeably hotter because of all the hot air the computers let out. I'm sure we'll all eventually grow a third eye or arm because we're surrounded by computers everywhere and when we sit at our desk, the computer is literally inches from our heads.
To me, all this does is give the entire physical therapy department an increased chance for carpal tunneland radiation poisioning. How ironic is that?

OLD PHOTOS
I stumbled upon our old Koinonia website (which was created and maintained by Nathan S, but hasn't been updated in nearly 4 years). I started clicking on some of the links to some old photos and ended up looking at them for almost an hour.

Check out some old photos from 1999-2002 that we used for our 2002 Sisters' Appreciation. They sure do bring back some fond memories.

GIZOOGLE
During the long weekend, Sandra showed us there is a website like Google which translates any text on any internet site into ebonics. This site is called Gazoogle (similar to way Snoop Dogg talks). So, you go to http://www.gizoogle.com and put in whatever URL you want and hit "Translate Page" and it pulls up that site with the new text. (Tyrone and Simon, you're going to love this!)
For example, here is the text from yesterday's entry on my blog translated into ebonics (please note, there may be an "s-word" here or there). It's off the hezzy, fo' sheezy!!!

Tuesday, Septemba 06, 2005
Fizzle WEEKEND

1. We wizzle out all day Saturday -- from `bout 10 am until around 2am if you gots a paper stack. We first drove out ta tha Westside ta celebrate tha fizzay birthday of Gabriel, Mizzay n Gina's son . You gotta check dis shit out yo. There were mizzle hustla kids there, whizzich I assume, all our future parties will be like fo` tha nizzy 15 years. But it was bootylicious ta see tizzy n London n Summa too (along wit they son Nolan). K n I knew we wizzle in trouble becuase we fizzle exhausted just watch'n tha kids run n jizzump around non-stop. Good news fo` bizzle Mark n Gizzy n London n Poser is that they're each expect'n they second child so jus' chill. Congrats!

2 n we out. We drove completely across ghetto ta visit Karena's PT schoo` classmate at her home in Glendora. It was sad coz they jiznust put in thousands of $$ cash-money n countless hours at Hizzy Depot gett'n they hizouse jizzle right so i can get mah pimp on. And nizzle brotha only own'n it fo` less tizzle a year, they're blingin' ta siznell it ta mizzle motherfucka ta wizzle and my money on my mind. Thiznat stinks! We also met a homey who has a 70" TV n si really into "CSI" n similar shows on cable like Court TV's "Forensic Files." Tizzle perked Karena's interest n now she's bizzle watch'n as many of those shows as she can so jus' chill.

3 fo' sheezy. We ended tha even'n hang'n out wit Sandra n Gabe n Liz n Steven. It was mellow n relax'n, but stizzay funky ass ta see everybody.

4. Sunday's worship service was S-M-to-tha-izzall coz of Gangsta Retreat n it was a skeleton C-R-to-tha-izzew sippin' in tha mutha fuckin club. I had ta lead worship wit Jesse's guitar n stand at tha pulpit since there were no otha mics ta use wit da big Bo$$ Dogg. T-H-to-tha-izzat was awkard! But blingin' went smoothly fo' sheezy.

5 . It's your homie snoop dogg from the dpg. We've also bizzle given free Showtime n HBO fo` tha weekend so we've bizzle watch'n a lot of movies includ'n S.W.A.T., New York Minute (K's choice), The Terminal (we love this movie), Glory, etc. We also saw 40 Year-Old Virgin wit Sanj & Gabe, n Liz n Steven, but I thought it was pretty bad like a tru playa'. 6. T-H-to-tha-izzank God I hizzy a 4 day weekend ta pusha friznom all this!

FULL WEEKEND
1. We were out all day Saturday -- from about 10 am until around 2am. We first drove out to the Westside to celebrate the first birthday of Gabriel, Mark and Gina's son. There were many other kids there, which I assume, all our future parties will be like for the next 15 years. But it was great to see them and London and Summer too (along with their son Nolan). K and I knew we were in trouble becuase we felt exhausted just watching the kids run and jump around non-stop. Good news for both Mark and Gina and London and Summer is that they're each expecting their second child. Congrats!
2. We drove completely across town to visit Karena's PT school classmate at her home in Glendora. It was sad because they just put in thousands of dollars and countless hours at Home Depot getting their house just right. And now, after only owning it for less than a year, they're having to sell it to move closer to work. That stinks! We also met a guy who has a 70" TV and si really into "CSI" and similar shows on cable like Court TV's "Forensic Files." That perked Karena's interest and now she's been watching as many of those shows as she can.
3. We ended the evening hanging out with Sandra and Gabe and Liz and Steven. It was mellow and relaxing, but still nice to see everybody.
4. Sunday's worship service was small because of Summer Retreat and it was a skeleton crew serving. I had to lead worship with Jesse's guitar and stand at the pulpit since there were no other mics to use. That was awkard! But things went smoothly.
5. We've also been given free Showtime and HBO for the weekend so we've been watching a lot of movies including S.W.A.T., New York Minute (K's choice), The Terminal (we love this movie), Glory, etc. We also saw 40 Year-Old Virgin with Sanj & Gabe, and Liz and Steven, but I thought it was pretty bad.
6. Thank God I have a 4 day weekend to recover from all this!

DINNER WITH THE COUSINS
I was excited on Friday, and not just because it signaled the start of a 4-day weekend. No, I couldn't wait to have dinner at my parent's place with cousins Joyce and Mike, Shirley and Gerald, and Jonathan. Plus, with Raymond and Sandra and Sandra and Gabe coming back home, it would definitely be a huge family affair.
My mom cooked up a storm and by the time we got there, everybody was finishing up their first plate . . . and the food on the dining room table still looked like it hadn't been touched. We had a great time talking about old times -- me sitting on Joyce head in our swimming pool when we were kids and other childhood stories like that. Those were some good times. And of course, we had to talk about how the Shens do things, especially the way they talk loud and dominate conversation. Frankly, I don't know what they're talking about. =)

AFTERMATH (PART II)
1. I look at some of these images and it's hard to believe that this is actually happening in the US. It looks more like images we saw from Somalia a few years back.
2. Bush has been taking a lot of heat for his apparent lack of leadership and slow action. I'm usually a Bush guy myself, but find the actions of the federal government embrassing. Supplies, aid, and troops should have been there the very next day, not three days later. Of course, Karena disagrees and thinks the state and the local government should have done more also instead of relying solely on the feds to step up. Either way, I'm glad now some of the badly needed supplies have finally arrived and the evacuation efforts have stepped up the pace.

THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA
1. It's crazy to think that 90% of New Orleans' homes are submerged.
2. A patient said today, "I've always wanted to go visit New Orleans -- check out Bourbon Street, the world-famous jazz clubs, experience the night life. Now I'll probably never get the chance to. All those famous clubs are gone, and the night life and Bourbon Street will never be the same. New Orleans as we knew it is gone."
3. I wonder what Katrina things of having the same name as such a devastating Hurricane.
4. What is going on in the Superdome? People looting, shooting at the police, getting raped?!? It's already bad enough that all these people have to deal with the thought of having lost their homes and/or loved ones, but also having limited supplies and no sanitation. Now, they have to worry about their own safety too?
5. Events like this bring out the best and worst in people. It's great to see so many people giving their time, their energy, their finances, etc. But, it's terrible to see/hear about all the things I mentioned above.
6. The jump in gas prices is unbelieveable.
6. My PT school classmate lives in New Orleans. Her parents are alive, although her dad had to be rescued from his rooftop by motorboat. Their home and their business are gone. Now, she's lending her PT knowledge to help in rescue efforts. She says things are ten times worse than what we are seeing on TV. Amazing.