China Musings

I just received a new 1.83Ghz Macbook Pro from my new empoloyer. I am in HK right now, and this is soooo nice. I’m still in the store, writing this about 2 minutes after opening.

Finally, after 3 years of waiting and 2.5 years after officially filing the petition for Alison’s Visa, it was approved friday afternoon.

We have already booked tickets for Jan 21 (in 2 weeks AHHH)

Maybe we’ll see you then!

Maybe this is a sign of the times, yesterday morning i had 50 new blog comments. Wow, I thought, I finally hit the big time. Then I checked and found out there were all complete and utter SPAM. Nonsensical spam at that. Carefully crafted non-sense to get through the baysian filters packed with completely unrelated links. All I have to say is “WHY?”

I have turned off comments temporarily while I figure out how to stop them while still alowing my friends and family to leave messages here. You can always reach me at adeh -at- desandies, if you need.

Boy, I make myself sound a lot more important than I really am. No one even reads this…

I realized that I could include a lot of content in this feed that I have collected but not really let anybody listen to. This was recorded for the magazine Crazy English. They have a magazine for english learners. It is printed bilingually and comes with a CD so you can listen and follow along. This was my first recording with them, about 5 months ago. Since then I have had about 6 sessions for various things. Most recenly it was a entry level English book for 3-4 year olds. A lot or Mr. Dog and Hungry Wolf voices. That was actually kind of fun.

CM #5.5 The Little Prince Chap. 21

I just finished watching Hitch, with Will Smith. I enjoyed it, up untill the last 5 minutes when my 5RMB DVD decided to FREEZE! Grrr.. Oh well, I can’t complain when paying ~$0.75USD for a movie. The ending looked really cheesy anyway, so I don’t think I missed much. The scene that really made me laugh was near the beginning, when Will’s character succumbs to an allergy. It’s really not nice to laugh at others’ misfortune, but in this case, I am just laughing at myself. It is certianly one of those “You’ll laugh about this later…” things, because I was not very amused at the time.

While living in Huanggang, maybe early spring, Alison and I went to the big supermarket to get some groceries. The big supermarket in Huanggang was not just a shop, but as it is in town all across China, an event. There were staged promotional fashion shows, kids’ bouncy rides, women selling shoes on a foldout table, and of course the ubiquitous food stalls. We picked up something that advertised Malaysian style barbecue. I remember some beef satay, maybe some chicken too, and some spices I certianly had never had before. They were tasty and we continued on our way to shop and return home.

About an hour after I had eaten the satay, (to be fair I think i ate some other street food that day as well) I started to feel an itching at the back of my throat. Since I actually am generally allergic to a lot of things, I am used to this sensation, and it usually passes quickly. This time however, the sensation seemed to continue to grow, spreading to my toungue, and further around my throat. About 2 hours later, I realized that the actual tissue in my throat was swelling, my face and neck were itchy, and my lips were getting thicker. And it was getting worse.

Ok, this part wasn’t very funny. I realized that if this phenomenon did not begin to reverse itself I would soon be unable to breath. Stupidly I held on for another 20 minutes or so hoping it would go down by itself, but instead, I found myself straining to take breaths. (I am also asthmatic, so I am fairly used to this sensation as well) Since I was fairly sure the cause of the inflammation was allergy, I knew I needed help, and could not combat this with my asthma medication. So I told Alison, “I’ll go.”

You may have been wondering why I didn’t get up and head right for the hospital as soon as I started to feel bad. Well, the answer to that is I had seen the hospital. I had accompanied Alison as well as some of my colleauges there on before, and to me it was not a welcoming place.

We arrived in a rush piling out of the taxi, and I shuffled to the emergency window. By this time my throat was pretty swollen. I could only take slow, shallow breaths, and I couldn’t really talk. Alison rather frantically tried to explain what was going on, and it seemed that they understood that I was not getting enough air. So, they produced a bag. It reminded me of the free pillow that comes with an an air matress. They proceded to blow into the valve to inflate the bag, and then shoved the attached hose into my nose. She gave me the bag to hold under my arm, and motioned for me to squeeze it, apparently to push the air into my lungs. There was only one problem, my nose was stuffed shut. Full of snot. The hose wouldn’t even stay in after she tried to tape it. At this point, I was really wondering how they were planning on helping me.

It seems that they were wondering as well. I sat in the waiting area for a while, breathing slowly, while they ran around looking for someone who might be able to handle my situation. At this point my Chinese wasn’t very good, and to me they were just running around yapin incoherently while was slowly suffocating. It was starting to get to me. Then finally, a nurse said, “Come with me.”

The room I was assigned to was in the back building, on the 7th floor. The elevator was out of service. Now, remember that I can’t breathe, I’m significantly worse than my average asthma attack, actually, problably near the worst, and now I have to climb 7 flights of stairs with an infalted air pillow under my arm. Looking back I realize that I am just a really easygoing guy, cause I just went right up. The nurse looked sorry for me, as I shuffled up the steps at an alarmingly slow pace. I could feel my breath getting shallower with each step, but I just kept on, determined to get to my room where they would finally DO something.

When I finally arrived, I sat on the bed, and rested. By this time, my chest was gettin sore…pushing air in and out or my constricted throat. I couldn’t talk, and all I wanted to do was start breathing normally again. Alison translated for me and the doctor asked me some questions. I could only nod or shake my head. Finally, they announced that they were going to medicate me - with penicillin. Now, I am going to have to give the doctors the benefit of the doubt here, because I refuse to believe that they wanted to give me penicillin, an antibiotic, to treat a clear case of allergy, which requires anti-histamines. I maintain that it is just some quirk of the chinese-english dictionary that translates “strong medicine” into penicillin, or something like that.

By this time, my breathing had actually gotten much better as I relaxed from the exercise, and although I was far from 100%, I could feel myself un-constricting. So after an emphatic NO, I fell asleep.

I guess I woke up something like 3 hours later, feeling terriffic. Alison was worried sick, because she wasn’t sure if I had passed out from lack of oxygen or something like that. There was a huge tank of oxygen, finally, and a nurse ready with an injection kit. I was completely disoriented and actually quite happy to be breathing and being able to move my tongue. The doctors were really surprised that I didn’t want anything, in fact I think it took about an hour just to get out of there.

I stayed away from malaysian kabobs after that litle experience. But actually, even in Malaysia I never got that flavor or subsequent reaction again. Thank goodness. I am also happy that now I am in Guangzhou they have quite adequate medical care if I need it.

Now I think back on that day and chuckle. Not cause of the whole not breathing thing, but just the comedy of errors that led me up 7 flights of stairs just to fall asleep!

I have been listening to a lot of news lately, via Podcasting and iTunes 5. In fact, I almost never listen to music anymore on my daily commute, unless it is lpayed by a podcaster.

Anyway, I listen to ABS nightly news and have other sources such as NPR’s Science Friday. All I have to say is that ABC news sometimes makes me cry. What on earth is happening to my country? For whatever reason, decisions are being made in government with regards to science that defy rational thought. This is not limited to one or two small items, this ranges across all areas of Science, including medicine, and is affecting people’s lives.

Three issues in particular:
1. Teaching Creationism in schools as a scientific theory (WTF!?!)
2. Hindering the study of medical technology from stem cells
3. refusing to realease the Plan B emergency contraceptive as an over the counter drug.

This last one is comparitively small, but I just heard it this morning from ABC news while on the train to Hong Kong. In this case, it is patently clear that the science and medicine backs the release of the drug, a sort of “super pill”, that can greatly help to reduce the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy if taken within hours. However, the pill has been blocked from release over the counter, where it can do the most help (often one is not able to schedule a doctor’s appointment in order to get a prescription in time) due to “political pressure.”

This is so wrong on so many levels I can not even describe how angry and disappointed I am. This decision made by the FDA not only defies logic and their own mandate to protect people’s health, but it also is unconstitutional. The panel of scientists and doctors assigned to evaluate the drug approved it with a vote of 24-4. The drug itself is already available in prescription form, and is proven to be safe and effective. The goal of this drug is to prevent unwanted pregnancy, therefore, logically it should be made available to people why are at risk of unwanted pregnancy. However, despite the proven effectiveness, despite the doctor’s endorsement, the FDA denied the application for OTC status, thereby effectively reducing the effectiveness of the drug, and endangering patient health unnecessarily. Some might argue that pregnancy is not a health risk, but I would counter that in fact it is a serious health risk physically, but more importantly it is a huge psycological threat. If a woman does not wat to give birth, for whatever reason, when she does give birth it creates myriad problems for her, for the child, for society. In many cases, specifically non-concentual sex, having a way to avoid the long term physical effects of the crime must be made availble if it is technologically possible. But the FDA ignors this, ignores the health of the american public, and continues to keep Plan B a presciption-only drug.

To examine the other aspect of my argument, the constitutionality of it, one has to look into the reasons the drug has been withheld. I am not sure why, but on ABC news, no one was willing to take the step and say where this “political pressure” comes from. The pressure can only come from 2 areas, competition, or ideological resistance. As far as I know, Plan B has no competition except for RU485. Now, it is possible that lobbyists from RU485 are pushing hard to make sure that if they can not be sold over-counter, than no one else can. However, I am more willing to bet that this kind of pressure comes from people who have an ideological problem with what Plan B represents. Plan B works by preventing the egg from leaving the ovary, or preventing the eg from embedding itself in the uterine lining. This is the same effect that the normal contraceptive pill has. The difference is that Plan B is taken after intercourse. In some people’s minds, this equates it with Abortion. The topic of abortion, especially at the single-celled stage, is finally a religious issue. Some people believe that abortions are immoral and against the will of God. Therefore, for the US Government to force me (if I were a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy) to allow the a baby to come to term basically amounts to stripping me of my right to religous freedom. I have to follow their religion even if I don’t believe in it. This is unconstitutional.

Granted, calling PlanB abortion is a stretch, but there is an argument that the drug will cause people to treat sex more casually if this emergency contraceptive is available. Still, this idea is not based on science, studies have shown that access to contraceptives does not alter behavior. In addition, this is still an impression of someone’s idea of how a woman should act beign forced upon everyone. And even if we are in agreement that casual sex is not a good thing, we still have the ever-present danger of non-consentual intercourse. Rape. Incest. Pressure from people in power or abusers of trust. What can these victims do if they become pregnant? The fact that someone thinks that the risk of casual sex is greater than the emotional anguish of a rape victim is simply reprehensible.

Google has posted sattelite images of most of the world. I was really suprised to find guangzhou on the map. We live approximately in the middle of this photo.

I used to live here, at my parent’s house.

Lots of fun with google maps!

A lot has been said about Steve Jobs’ (founder and CEO of Apple) commencement speech, given last weekend at Stanford. I have read it and indeed find it quite inspiring. Steve Jobs is someone who has really done amazing things in his life. He started one of the largest, and certianly most influential computer companies in the world. He started the most successful digital animation company in the world. But more impressive to me is the level of quality in the products his companies produce.

From the speech:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Anyway, you can find the speech in it’s entirety here.

Fellow blogger Photo Matt, and by fellow I mean someone who actually writes things, has ben collecting quotes from Jazz Musicians. It’s a great collection. I like this one from Miles Davis, about how he was always creating new kinds of music.

“Those songs to me don’t exist, you know? “So What” or Kind of Blue, I’m not going to play that shit, those things are there. They were done in that era, the right hour, the right day, and it happened. It’s over; it’s on the record.”

From Coltrane, about what a musician is trying to do:
“Over all, I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe. . . That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life and we all try to do it in some way. The musician’s is through his music.”

Here’s the link.

http://www.emilyhambidge.com/blog/emily/66/

This is a funny blog post about dating a programmer. Well, funny for me anyway. I’m not sure if Alison will see the humor.