Never Forget

No, I'm not talking about September 11th. I'm talking about Pearl Harbor. In a surprise attack by the Japanese, on December 7, 1941, we lost 2,402 U.S. service men and women. This led directly to the United States entry into World War II. From a military strategy perspective, this was brilliant on the part of Japan - their goal was to disable the Pacific Fleet to keep them from interfering in the actions they were going to be taking in Southeast Asia. It is speculated that a third wave of planes was called off and that the third wave would have been completely crippling to the United States.
I was able to visit Pearl Harbor when I was a lot younger... even as a child it was something that left a very lasting impression on me. To this day, when I hear the air raid signal (like in movies for tornado warnings) I get goosebumps.

Battleship Row Being Bombed At Pearl Harbor

CNN published a really cool story this morning of Pearl Harbor told by a survivor. The link is here: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/07/pearl-harbor-survivor-90-still-on-mission-to-tell-story/?hpt=hp_c1

Both of my grandfathers fought in World War II, although on opposite sides. My dad's father served for the United States in Iwo Jima, while my mom's father served for Germany on the Russian front. Over the years, both of them told their stories of war and it's just really heartbreaking.

This tragic loss of life makes me wish that there was no such thing as war and that we could use our words to fix problems. I know, too idealistic, but it's a wish.

Ten Years Later

Never Forget. 9/11/01

I honestly can't believe it's been ten years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It seems like just yesterday I was storming out of my bedroom, angry because the phone was ringing so early in the morning only to see a stricken look on my college roommate's face. The phone call was from relatives from back East, calling to tell her they were ok but that something had gone horribly wrong. We spent the rest of that Tuesday in front of the TV; horrified by what we were seeing. The thought of going to class never even crossed our minds.

Twin Towers Burning

There are only a few events in my life that I can look back on and remember with crystal clarity where I was, what I was thinking and how I felt. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was probably the first real disaster that impacted my life. September 11 is also one of those events. As Alan Jackson put it, "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)"? That's really what it did feel like for a while - like life was going to stop.

I think the September 11th attacks were so scary to me because they were unlike anything I'd ever known before... the 1989 earthquake was Mother Nature doing all the damage and destruction. This was real people hurting other real people. It's still very hard for me to believe that that kind of evil exists, but it does.

So much has happened in the last 10 years. That college roommate is now married and has a beautiful baby girl. I moved back to Northern California, got a new job, fell in love, bought a house and got engaged. I even picked up my EMT certification. I often wonder if 9/11 in some way inspired me to join the CERT program and to become an EMT. While it wasn't first and foremost on my mind, I do have to say that I continue to be inspired every day by the brave responders on that day. Not just those who died, but those who travelled from all over the country, just to do what they do. The image of three firefighters raising the flag at Ground Zero (reminiscent of the flag raising at Iwo Jima) is haunting to me.

Finally, I want to wish my parents a fantastic 35th wedding anniversary. While I think it's so important to never forget the tragic events of September 11, 2001, plenty of other wonderful and amazing things happened on that day. We shouldn't forget, but we also can't dwell forever and life goes on. Mom and Dad, I hope you guys have a wonderful anniversary today - here's to 35 more!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Earthquake in Japan

By now, you've probably heard about the earthquake that happened in Japan on Friday. For those of you who don't know the details, at around 2:30pm local time, Japan was struck by an 8.9 earthquake. The quake itself was enough to do serious damage, but it also created tsunami waves up to 30 feet in height. This is the largest earthquake to hit Japan (ever!) and estimated to be the 4th or 5th largest in recorded history. To put it mildly, this was a bad one. The aftershocks are ranging from 6.5 to 7.1 (to give you some perspective, the 1989 San Francisco earthquake itself was a 7.1 magnitude). The death toll is currently at about 2,000 people, but they've been unable to reach some of the harder hit areas where tens of thousands are feared to be dead. The USGS said that if they were able to harness the energy from this earthquake, it would be enough to power the city of Los Angeles for an entire year. The calculation is approximately 600 million times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb.

The earthquake lasted for about 20 seconds and there are reports that say it shifted the entire island of Japan EIGHT FEET. That blows me away!

The pictures of the destruction are heartbreaking. It's hard to tell, but from what the media coverage is showing, it looks like the tsunami itself did the bulk of the destruction. Entire communities were washed away. Now it appears that they are having problems with some of the nuclear plants that are located in the hard hit areas - multiple explosions have happened and they've had to cool the reactors with sea water.

I pray and hope over the next several days that we start to hear the stories of heroism and survival come out of Japan.

Click here for CNN's coverage.
Click here to see before and after the tsunami satellite pictures.

Rejoining the Living

Well, I lost the battle to yet another sinus infection. What started as a little sinus pressure after scuba diving class turned into full on sinus headache and later, infection. Definitely no fun. First round of antibiotics didn't work and the second round, while scary, does seem to be doing the trick. I wish there was some magical way to keep these things at bay! I've tried everything - my allergy meds, allergy shots, steam, neti pots, decongestants... the list goes on and on. If anyone has some suggestion that I haven't already tried, let me know!

In other absolutely amazing news, the Chilean miners were finally rescued the other day! For those of you not up to speed, on August 5th, a gold mine in Chile collapsed, trapping 33 miners underground. They survived and amazing 69 days underground! The rescuers were able to drill a small hole down to them (7 football fields down!) and passed things like food, water, cameras, etc down. They spent the rest of the time working on creating a larger hole that they could send a rescue capsule down to bring them up. This just completely blows me away. Seeing that first miner come out of the ground was amazing... if you think even 10 years back, they probably all would have been dead. Technology is absolutely amazing!

iPhone Wonders and a Movie Review

Two things for today:

First, a fantastic story out of the Haiti earthquake. As you know, I got an iPhone for Christmas and have done nothing but sing it's praises since then... I can't believe everything this phone does! Ok, so picture this... you're a husband and father of two, working as an aid worker in Haiti. A massive earthquake hits and you are trapped in your collapsed hotel, bleeding from your head and leg. You can't remember what to do, but then you remember "There's an app for that". The man used his iPhone to figure out how to treat his wounds, look up what to do for shock and then as an alarm to keep him awake. How freaking crazy is that?! Technology rocks!

Here's the story in full at CNN.com: There's an app for that

Secondly, a movie review. This weekend I went with my parents to see "Crazy Heart", starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Jeff Bridges plays Bad Blake, a middle aged country singer with a major drinking problem and a string of bad marriages. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Jean, a journalist and mother of a young son who wants to write an article about Bad. Obviously, a love story follows, but a very sad one. Yes, I was a little grossed out by him being so much older than her, but all in all, it was an excellent movie. Jeff Bridges does all of his own singing (as does Colin Farrell, who plays Tommy Sweet, a young country singer who performs the songs Bad writes). Bridges has an excellent voice, especially for country!

Earthquake In Haiti

If you haven't heard, a massive 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday. For those of you who don't know, the big earthquake in San Francisco back in 1989 was a 6.1... and each 0.1 that you add increases the strength 10 fold. We saw what the 6.1 strength did to a built-up city like San Francisco. I can only imagine what kind of damage a much stronger earthquake could cause to a city like Haiti. Geophysicists are saying the quake packed the power of several nuclear bombs.

Here's what we know now:

• The Haitian president just announced that Haiti lacks the capacity to hospitalize earthquake victims and is asking for medical aid... meaning many of the injured people are not currently getting care.
• Entire neighborhoods are gone. Completely flattened. People are just wandering the streets because they're scared to go back into their homes due to the aftershocks.
• The national prison collapsed and surviving inmates have escaped.

It's so scary to me that we've seen so many earthquakes happening lately... first the Bay Area last week, then Eureka, now Haiti!

As always, there are heartbreaking stories of rescue, bravery and loss coming from the region. It always amazes me how wonderful and how terrible people can be after a disaster.

In case you're wanting to keep up, here's the link to CNN: Haiti Earthquake Coverage

The State Fair

So today we went to the state fair. It was definitely a lot of fun, although I was a little disappointed compared to recent years. I think it might have had to do with the heat and all, but still...

This year was a "Let's Go To the Beach" year, so the theme was surfer. Very cool. We went to the hall that showed all of the beach and surf history, and took some cute pictures.

Anyways, there was lots of neat stuff to see. We went to the horses (of course) and got to see a couple of trick riding shows. Let me tell you, they do some cool stuff... I would be very afraid to be hanging upside down on a horse while it's trotting! Then we watched a show where they showed off a couple of the different breeds of horse. Mom LOVED the Lipizzaners and I loved the Arabian (see picture below). Seriously, I really want a horse. It's now second on my list, with a house being first, but trust me, I will definitely have one in my lifetime.

One of the coolest things that we saw was the Motocross freestyle jumping. OMG. Amazing. We were actually attracted to it on our way out - we were walking past some bleachers when we heard an engine rev, looked up and saw a guy ABOVE the bleachers almost letting go of his bike. It was amazing... they were doing these tricks with 250 pound bikes and it always looked like they weren't going to land it, yet somehow they did!

It was a long HOT day, and we ended up staying for just over 7 hours, which is a family record. The best part of the day (besides the horses)? The cinnamon rolls. Oh my God. Yum. Kati, I don't care what they have back east, it doesn't beat the State Fair cinnamon rolls. SO GOOD. Lots of cream cheese frosting. Mmmm. That was after my lunch of BBQ'd corn on the cob and a sausage sandwich. I swear, it seems like I go to the fair to eat... if it hadn't been so hot, I probably would have had a hurricane and a funnel cake.

Speaking of hurricanes, I'd like to insert a brief moment of silence here for the people of New Orleans.

*one minute of silence*

 

I can't believe that in just 6 hours or so, New Orleans will probably be in some serious trouble. For those of you not following, the city sits 6 feet below sea level and is about to take a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. That adds up to about 12-15 feet of water throughout the entire city. Not to mention the winds... I hate to see such a beautiful place destroyed... we had a fantastic time there a few years ago and I'm glad I had the chance to see it. I guess we'll all see how things went when we wake up tomorrow morning!

 

Well, that's it for now. See below for some cool pictures from the fair!