Residential Space

I just finished the brief book/monograph, True Green Home: 100 Inspirational Ideas for Creating a Green Environment at Home. It included some interesting points about how to conserve environmental resources (ie, energy, water) at home in daily life. Some points I had not previously considered:

• The concept of “gray water” and reusing it around the home. The idea is to take water that has been “used” (ie, shower or bath water) that should not be used for drinking water, but can potentially be reused for purposes where perfect water is not required, such as watering a garden or yard, or recirculating it to the toilet for flushing. Redirecting this water seems reasonable from a conservation standpoint.
• Unplugging electronic devices when leaving for a prolonged period – ie, unplugging digital clocks, computers that may be in standby mode, etc. The authors go further to say that, when leaving for a vacation, empty the fridge, unplug it and leave the door slightly ajar. I don’t think they are implying that we should throw away perfectly good food to do this, but perhaps over a 1-2 week period prior to leaving for a trip, consuming the food in the fridge such that it would become empty as one is leaving town. It is quoted in the book that a fridge with a freezer uses ~1,800 kWh/year (an average family uses ~11,000 kWh/year – so the fridge consumes a significant amount of a family’s household energy). Other tips for reducing the fridge’s energy use include keeping the coils behind it clear of dust and debris for more efficient cooling, making sure the temperature setting in the fridge is not so cold that temperatures are near-freezing, and ensuring that the door seals properly when shut.
• According to the authors, a typical bath uses ~70 gallons of water, versus 20 gallons for a shower. Just thinking about these numbers, if one switches from a daily bath to a daily shower, the amount of water saved totals 18,250 gallons.

Anyway, an interesting and quick read with many bullet points about being a better environmental steward in the home.

Last night, I graduated from the University of Washington’s neurology residency program. After four years of being on call, running back and forth from the ICU to the ER, giving talks, and honestly – having fun (did I just say that?) – residency is over. Well, unless one includes working next week and taking three more calls before June 30th.

It’s hard to believe that, after a twelve year road, I’ve reached the end of my training. I’m thrilled to be staying on for the next year at Harborview as the stroke neurology fellow, to continue treating patients while devoting more time to reading, working on various projects, giving talks, writing papers, and transitioning further into that independent role as a practitioner.

Here’s to the next 30 years!

Having lived near Charlotte, NC for many years prior to becoming a Pacific Northwesterner, I flew on US Air flights not infrequently. Evan was even one of their preferred (I don’t recall the specific title) Dividend Miles customers because he flew with them so frequently on business trips out of Charlotte. When Gabriel and I recently were trying to get back to Seattle from Charlotte after a trip East, US Air and I experienced a painful break up.

I initially flew to Charlotte on a Continental flight as we got a great fare (of course, I later realized why – the connection was through Newark). In any case, the return flight was cancelled, and Continental placed us on a US Air flight from Charlotte to Houston, followed by a Continental flight from Houston to Seattle. After being booked, we walked to the US Air counter, where no one was available to assist us with getting boarding passes (the automated kiosks did not recognize our information). Finally I called a woman over to help us, and she rudely informed me that I needed to use the kiosk. When I explained that our information was not in there because we had been re-routed, she then told us Continental should have dealt with this. I explained to her that the flight from Charlotte to Houston was a US Air flight and we needed boarding passes from US Air.

Then came the baggage check. Gabriel and I were both fully ticketed passengers – we paid for two tickets. However, for ease of travel, we consolidated our items into one large suitcase. The suitcase weighed 57 pounds, seven pounds over what they allow for the $15 charge for a single checked bag. I asked how much I owed per pound over, and she informed me it was a $50 fee for any amount over 50 pounds, be it an extra half of a pound or 20 pounds. I wondered if this was an issue with workers not having to lift bags that are too heavy, but no – if you’re first class, your bag can weigh up to 70 pounds, free of charge.

Next came the obvious question – since we paid for two tickets, but were only checking one bag, could she just charge me $15 as if we were checking a second bag that weighed seven pounds? No, she told me. The rules clearly state that I had to move seven pounds from one suitcase into another bag. But why, I asked? It’s easier to have it in one bag, and I’ll just pay you $30. No, she replied, it’s our policy that any amount over 50 pounds for cabin passengers is an additional $50 charge. At this point, my mother, bless her heart, lit into her, and an impressive verbal exchange took place between the two of them. Eventually, we took seven pounds worth of stuff out of the suitcase and left it with my mother in Charlotte. Then, to find that US Air did not carry milk on their flight from Charlotte to Houston was absurd! With all of the children flying, and not being able to bring extra milk through security, how can they get away with not providing it on the planes, even at a charge? Continental had it and was happy to share it.

Flying used to be fairly simple, and fun at times. It has gotten to be so miserable. Between this episode, having to leave a secured area in Houston to travel between terminals and then re-endure security with a toddler for the second time in a single day, getting to Houston and realizing that every single food service place had closed by 6PM and food was nowhere to be found (fortunately my cousin, a flight attendant, was able to buy food for us and bring it to us), and having my son’s little plush puppy taken from him in Seattle to be examined by security while he cried helplessly, I was ready to be finished with air travel. However, because we live 3000 miles from my family, air travel will remain part of our lives, despite my disdain for it.

This is a short composition by Jean-Dominique Bauby (although I’m sure writing it was intensive) from his rehabilitation hospital in France after he became locked-in from a pontine stroke. Bauby gives a remarkable account of how active the mind remains after the body stops working. He “dictated” the work to his assistant through eye blinking, letter by letter, until he had nearly 140 pages relaying the details of his daily life as one unable to “speak” or move. A beautiful work, and a must-read for all neurologists and stroke victims.

This biography by Kendall Taylor marks my second book read of 2009, and it was a very fascinating and entertaining adventure. The book is well-researched, and I came away from it feeling like I understood so much more about why these two people basically self-destructed. Both intelligent, beautiful, with the world at their feet, they blew opportunity after opportunity, making their lives quite tragic.

My experiences in studying F. Scott Fitzgerald taught me that he was this brilliant author who drank too much, and that his wife, who was crazy and reckless, really dampened many of his chances at further success. This biography argues (effectively, I think) that Scott would not have been the writer he was had he not known Zelda, as he used many of her journals to create the heroines that made him famous. I do think Zelda inspired his writing in his early career (even later, when he wrote about mental illness).

Overall, a great read – highly recommended!

I posted this blog commentary in September 2008, venting my frustration that the war in Iraq and the economy in crisis had been separated by the media and politicians as separate issues. Estimates indicate that anywhere from $1-3 billion (maybe I should write it as $1,000,000,000.00 to $3,000,000,000.00 for emphasis on how many zeros are present in these numbers) is being spent per month on the war in Iraq.

A member of my family forwarded an email that is circulating currently, which is currently sparking a familial discussion about whether the stimulus package is too expensive, whether it will work, etc. The focus of this forwarded message goes something like this: A billion is a huge number. A billion seconds ago it was 1959. A billlion minutes ago Jesus was alive. A billion hours ago no creatures walked upright on this planet. It then went on to outline how unfair this person thought it was that, of the 400,000-plus residents of New Orleans, the region is requesting so many billions of dollars, which works out to over $1 million per household when divided evenly. Then, at the end, there a not-so-poignant remark about how irritated the author is that he/she still has to dial “1” for English. I’m not sure that adding the issue of immigration into the message helped to illustrate the main point (it’s not the fault of immigrants that a billion is a large number, right?), but in any case, it was there.

My first reaction to this is – this is being circulated by someone out there critical of the stimulus package who thinks the government is spending too much. Does this same person recognize that he/she was (likely) in support of an overseas conflict costing $12-36 billion yearly? Many estimate the total cost of the war will near $1 trillion ($1,000,000,000,000.00) when factoring in disability payments for veterans, healthcare and psychiatric costs, rebuilding efforts, interest on the loans we have taken to pay for the war in the first place, etc.

At least the stimulus package gives us infrastructure we desperately need. It makes our buildings more energy efficient. It funds education. As someone in Washington state, I’m pleased that it replaces our volcanic monitoring equipment, despite how Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal may feel. My point is – we get something from the use of this money. Tangible things in the U.S., built by people living here. We’re investing in children who will make the country better. The $1 trillion to be spent on Iraq when all is said and done does what? Demolishes and then rebuilds a foreign nation that was never a threat to us? Pays to rehabilitate and care for returning veterans who should not have been sent into harm’s way in the first place? People who support the latter and don’t support the former are using a line of thinking which I cannot understand (unless the one arguing in favor of spending in Iraq is a stockholder in an energy company enjoying a no-bid contract over there).

My son, despite being 18 months old, was able to enjoy Obama’s inauguration as millions of his fellow Americans did on January 20th. He will not remember it, but I hope he appreciates the photos we took.

Please excuse the bump on the forehead. He is, after all, a toddler, and sometimes walls and the floor can be nuisances for him.

Last week, I finished reading Tender is the Night by: F. Scott Fitzgerald. I was supposed to have read it during my Fitzgerald and Hemingway seminar as an undergraduate, but I confess, I did not finish it at that time. After my professor from that course, Dr. Matthew Bruccoli, passed away last year, I vowed to revisit the book soon to pay proper respect both to Dr. Bruccoli and to Fitzgerald.

It is the story of Dick Diver, a physician (psychiatrist) with a bright future who falls in love with a beautiful, mentally ill, wealthy young woman. The book recounts ten years of marriage. I will not elaborate too much for fear of spoiling the story for those intending to read the book, but I came away from this one with mixed opinions. It is interesting how autobiographical Fitzgerald’s novels are, and based on when they are written, they each account for a specific period in his life. By the time Tender is the Night was being composed, his wife, Zelda, had declared herself as mentally ill, and thus this is a strong theme in the book. When he wrote The Beautiful and Damned in the early 1920’s, his main characters were non-stop partier/flapper types, as that is what he as experiencing at the time. The book was a worthwhile read to better understand Fitzgerald’s emotions and perspective about his own life.

However, the story itself began slowly, and really did not pick up speed until the second half to last one-third. There were so many friendships and outings with these friends enjoyed by the Divers, but in the end they seemed a bit irrelevant. Too many players were incorporated without having a specific function. Additionally, Dr. Diver’s alcoholism seemed to stem heavily from the burden of being married to a rich girl and from bearing the stress of her mental illness. It was as if Fitzgerald was attributing his own failures to his having married Zelda. While Zelda was a wild and difficult person with whom to share a life, Fitzgerald was a heavy drinker from very early in his life. Blame only goes so far.

I have heard some Fitzgerald scholars (including Dr. Bruccoli) mention that Tender is the Night was Fitzgerald’s true masterpiece, unrecognized as such by most and overshadowed by the popularity of The Great Gatsby. This is the third of the five Fitzgerald novels I have read (the others being Gatsby and The Love of the Last Tycoon: A Western), and I do still believe The Great Gatsby is his masterpiece. It captures the essence of an era, the characters are all memorable and present with a purpose, and it begins and ends concisely, but not abruptly. While it defines the roaring 1920’s, it is also timeless.

A friend emailed me this morning, stating his surprise that I had not blogged about the inauguration. I suppose there was such extensive coverage of the event that I did not feel I could add much. I will comment that the most common theme from the media was how wonderful it was that an African-American man could be elected president in a country where, as he stated in his speech, his father may not have been served at a restaurant in D.C. 60 years earlier. I agree – that is very cool.

While I am glad the racial barrier to the presidency has been broken, I have a confession to make: I did not vote for Obama because of his race. Oops, there. I said it. I looked at the candidate, his views, his plans for the nation, the articulate way in which he expresses himself. I believe he could restore some of the good will we have lost over the past eight years, and I relished the idea of valuing science over ideology. I think he will be an excellent president, and that is why I am happy he is now the commander-in-chief. To have voted for him purely because of his race could be a form of racism, could it not? No – I believe it transcends race altogether for this country to have truly selected the best candidate, and to have judged him, in the words of Dr. King, not on the color of his skin, but the content of his character.

This is the third of my recent diatribes on conservation recently, and it pertains to something about which we all care: food. In a society where we can easily find desired food items at our local supermarkets, at times we may forget what is required to raise the food, harvest/slaughter it, package it, and transport it for sale. The environmental impact can be huge. Again, if millions of people began to make small changes, the impact could be enormous.

• Try planting a small garden: One of my fondest memories from my childhood is of growing vegetables with my family out of buckets, followed by an upgrade to a garden in the backyard. Bucket tomatoes evolved into a garden rich with carrots, radishes, cucumbers, more tomatoes, and even corn (before the raccoons ate most of it). We all hear arguments about “buying locally” in an effort to avoid the high energy costs of shipping food long distances. While this is a good first step (and I love local farmers’ markets), food grown in your backyard does not require ANY oil to transport. Honestly, this is one reason I am so psyched to move from a condo to a house in the near future – so that I can plant a garden and teach my son the wonders of seeds germinating, flowering, and producing fruits and vegetables. What a fantastic way to teach children about nature and science while producing some locally grown food of your own! In addition, it baffles me that we have millions of acres of land in this country used only for “lawn” purposes – using a lot of water to keep grass growing on land while producing nothing other than an ascetic pleasantness. I’m not advising for people to defy their homeowners’ associations, but considering a small backyard garden is a way to make this land more productive.
• Use the entire chicken: Gabriel’s nanny, Rachel, introduced me to the concept of this, something previously foreign to me. Basically, after roasting a chicken or a turkey, and picking the meat from it, boil down the carcass in some broth, and this produces a chicken or turkey stock. This stock can then be used to make other meals, so it’s double the use. Animals require energy and resources to raise as food sources, so we should probably be using each one to the greatest degree possible.

This may be it for a while regarding conservation posts. As other points arise, I will add them in future writings, but I hope people will feel free to tack on comments with other suggestions. Thanks!