The World Today - Thursday, 29 July , 2004 12:25:00
Bad day of violence, as more than 120 are killed
I hope someone at The World Today gets their knickers twisted oh so tightly over this stupid, ill thought out, badly conceived, tasteless title of an article. If 120 people were killed in Australia (or the United States or most other locations on the globe) it would be much more than a 'bad day'.
I want to know who titled this piece - I would think about letting them go unless they could give me an explanation. Either fire their hurtful and idiotic ass, or ship them to the bombing site and insist they clean up body parts and patch together the wounded.
What do I want out of this? I want some decent reportage, some thoughtful, analytical, respectful, objective analysis. I want the emotional impact relayed to me as much as possible so as not to numb us (too late for that I imagine?). I do NOT want pithy, cheeky monkey, smart comments that seemingly trivialize the wounded, the dying and the suffering.
I generally like The World. I listen to them regularly along with the BBC, NPR and a host of other news sources. They offer great coverage but somehow this struck me wrong. When one person is killed it is more than a 'bad day'. A 'bad day' is when you are in an auto accident, when you burn the cookies, when you lack water for a day.
When 120 people are killed it is an abomination. It is a loss that affects each of us, it lessens us (with apologies to John Donne) and lessens our humanity. One hundred and twenty people killed? It enrages me, it is a disaster, it is sadness and horror and is is anything and everything but a 'bad day'.
30.6.04
Suffering and Dying with Heroin
I recently worked a shift in the Emergency Room. After a few years, you certainly assume a patina or shield to protect you from the wear and tear inflicted upon you mentally. Even non-medical personnel have heard of ‘hardened attitudes’ and the incredible sense of humor (dark and otherwise!) that we develop in this business. However, even that is sometimes not enough. At times, I struggle to keep perspective, to remember that all of us make our choices about which path we take, what steps come next. I struggle to remain as nonjudgmental as I humanly can. Yet, I continue to fail and to struggle.
A young man (mid 20’s) came into the ER for an abscess on his foot (gender, names, places have either been omitted or changed to protect confidentiality). Open and honest, he informed us during triage that he is addicted to heroin, has been for three years and is using 3 grams a day. Hence the abscess and his own attempt to lance it having failed, his journey to the hospital. He was one of the nicest patients I have ever dealt with and everyone in the ER took a liking to this guy. He was unfailingly polite, nice, soft-spoken, apologetic and understanding. We caused him considerable pain when we lanced the abscess (despite numbing agents and pain medication), yet he did his best to remain calm. I held his hands during that time and I think it helped – he said it did. Pain medication is a difficult issue with people who are so used to it. A normal dose is anything but normal when dealing with nerve endings that are so saturated.
After draining the abscess, we packed it with sterile gauze. He had an IV established immediately after being admitted to the ER and continued to receive antibiotics (Vancomycin, a real heavy hitter) and any pain meds through the IV. Almost every vein and artery was useless. I told a nurse I would call her goddess for the rest of the day if she got access within two trys (and she is one of the best!). She did it on the second try and we all cheered (and as promised, I called her goddess for the rest of her shift). We also started him on Methadone because he indicated that he would like to try to ‘kick’ the habit once again (having failed previously). Once we had a bed open in Med/Surg, we took him down and got him settled.
This could be any of us. We all have our weaknesses, setbacks, chance encounters with fate and just plain bad luck. This one got to me though, it just broke my heart to see him in that much pain, so young and (looking 40 at least) flirting with death. He has avoided AIDS and Hepatitis by using clean needles and never sharing. He looks like hell, filthy, disheveled and obviously not taking care of himself. The heroin is taking care of itself and cares for nothing. I think that all else falls into nothing, the center cannot hold and this kid, this young man, this human . . . is into that downward spiral from which there is either no return or a very difficult one.
I will never forget this one. I wish the best for him. What I would like is for him to be happy – but he is not and may not ever be. I would like to meet him again some day, to see what he has made of himself and the promise that I told him I thought I could see . . . somewhere, some capacity to know, feel and understand the pain and suffering of others. I told him that I think we, as humans, have a duty and responsibility to lessen the pain and suffering of others in whatever ways we can.
For him though, only one thing is paramount. To feed the monkey, keep it off his back. To survive and try to heal.
I don't want to lose that ability to empathize, to care. But I got angry at myself for the sadness and anger that I felt. I retreated to the 5 x 10 closet we call our 'break' room, sat in a chair and cried. I can be a real tough guy at times, angry and mean when I have to be, but this was not one of those times. Somehow I am finding that balance, be it ever so precarious.
I am grateful.
A young man (mid 20’s) came into the ER for an abscess on his foot (gender, names, places have either been omitted or changed to protect confidentiality). Open and honest, he informed us during triage that he is addicted to heroin, has been for three years and is using 3 grams a day. Hence the abscess and his own attempt to lance it having failed, his journey to the hospital. He was one of the nicest patients I have ever dealt with and everyone in the ER took a liking to this guy. He was unfailingly polite, nice, soft-spoken, apologetic and understanding. We caused him considerable pain when we lanced the abscess (despite numbing agents and pain medication), yet he did his best to remain calm. I held his hands during that time and I think it helped – he said it did. Pain medication is a difficult issue with people who are so used to it. A normal dose is anything but normal when dealing with nerve endings that are so saturated.
After draining the abscess, we packed it with sterile gauze. He had an IV established immediately after being admitted to the ER and continued to receive antibiotics (Vancomycin, a real heavy hitter) and any pain meds through the IV. Almost every vein and artery was useless. I told a nurse I would call her goddess for the rest of the day if she got access within two trys (and she is one of the best!). She did it on the second try and we all cheered (and as promised, I called her goddess for the rest of her shift). We also started him on Methadone because he indicated that he would like to try to ‘kick’ the habit once again (having failed previously). Once we had a bed open in Med/Surg, we took him down and got him settled.
This could be any of us. We all have our weaknesses, setbacks, chance encounters with fate and just plain bad luck. This one got to me though, it just broke my heart to see him in that much pain, so young and (looking 40 at least) flirting with death. He has avoided AIDS and Hepatitis by using clean needles and never sharing. He looks like hell, filthy, disheveled and obviously not taking care of himself. The heroin is taking care of itself and cares for nothing. I think that all else falls into nothing, the center cannot hold and this kid, this young man, this human . . . is into that downward spiral from which there is either no return or a very difficult one.
I will never forget this one. I wish the best for him. What I would like is for him to be happy – but he is not and may not ever be. I would like to meet him again some day, to see what he has made of himself and the promise that I told him I thought I could see . . . somewhere, some capacity to know, feel and understand the pain and suffering of others. I told him that I think we, as humans, have a duty and responsibility to lessen the pain and suffering of others in whatever ways we can.
For him though, only one thing is paramount. To feed the monkey, keep it off his back. To survive and try to heal.
I don't want to lose that ability to empathize, to care. But I got angry at myself for the sadness and anger that I felt. I retreated to the 5 x 10 closet we call our 'break' room, sat in a chair and cried. I can be a real tough guy at times, angry and mean when I have to be, but this was not one of those times. Somehow I am finding that balance, be it ever so precarious.
I am grateful.
22.6.04
Mountain Bikes, lakes and a few of our favorite things . . .

David (left) and Zippy on February 2004 at Plantation Lakes, Northern California
Posted by David
Zippy the Pinhead is also one of my closest friends and we ride regularly up on the North Coast of California. The lake behind us is really called Lake Number One (the originality in that astounds me!) and was actually formed during the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. We ride regularly directly on top of, across and on the San Andreas fault line which is awe inspiring. We both ride Santa Cruz Superlight Mountain bikes and are very happy with them. There is a huge variety of rides around here, single track, some very technical, some on fire roads and you name it, we probably have it somewhere close. We also are on the Timber Cove Volunteer Fire Proection District. He is the Chief, I am an EMT / Firefigher / Rescue guy. I love these guys and the job we do although I am not living here fulltime (it is a 1.5 hour commute each way to Santa Rosa). Riding the bikes is a way to stay in shape and have some damn good fun and comradeship.
D.
21.3.04
Aloha and being grateful for what you have and what one does Not have.
I hate trite but am guilty, guilty, guilty . . .
Aloha on a late night . . . tireness seeps through my bones and reflections resonate through my thoughts. My brother and wife have been together since they were 16 and now have a child. I was married once and even now I remembered that once I began desiring a child . . . that the full bright flame of that desire burned violently within me. Yet now, almost 15 years later, it still is there but also is the acceptance that I cannot have children of my own. There is some pain, burnished with great regret, sadness and love, empathy and desire.
There are far too many humans on this planet, I know this, yet my desire is not borne of logic or quantitative calculations of replacing the dead. My desire is from my heart, the same heart that loves my lovers 13 year daughter. Like my own daughter if I could have had one. My love for her is as unreasonable as a drowning man loving the rain, it exist without question, thought or desire, it is as immutable as the doppler red shift and the vibrating strings of the suspected twenty alternate possible dimensions.
Still, every time I see a baby my yearning washes over me in a cool and blistering tide. Each time I care for a child in the ER I think of my own selfish desires, if only for a brief moment.
This all brings new meaning to that idea of being grateful. I am, for so much of what I have and do not. I treasure my love for the people in my life, the women I have loved and love, the families who have taken me in on whatever continents shores I have washed upon. So be grateful, thank your god(s) for all that you have and do not have.
Wishing you health and happiness - whenever and wherever you are reading this.
Malama pono
David
Aloha on a late night . . . tireness seeps through my bones and reflections resonate through my thoughts. My brother and wife have been together since they were 16 and now have a child. I was married once and even now I remembered that once I began desiring a child . . . that the full bright flame of that desire burned violently within me. Yet now, almost 15 years later, it still is there but also is the acceptance that I cannot have children of my own. There is some pain, burnished with great regret, sadness and love, empathy and desire.
There are far too many humans on this planet, I know this, yet my desire is not borne of logic or quantitative calculations of replacing the dead. My desire is from my heart, the same heart that loves my lovers 13 year daughter. Like my own daughter if I could have had one. My love for her is as unreasonable as a drowning man loving the rain, it exist without question, thought or desire, it is as immutable as the doppler red shift and the vibrating strings of the suspected twenty alternate possible dimensions.
Still, every time I see a baby my yearning washes over me in a cool and blistering tide. Each time I care for a child in the ER I think of my own selfish desires, if only for a brief moment.
This all brings new meaning to that idea of being grateful. I am, for so much of what I have and do not. I treasure my love for the people in my life, the women I have loved and love, the families who have taken me in on whatever continents shores I have washed upon. So be grateful, thank your god(s) for all that you have and do not have.
Wishing you health and happiness - whenever and wherever you are reading this.
Malama pono
David
5.3.04
Robin Williams "Plan"? No it's not, you Idiots!
The following is from an email I sent to a friend.
Please feel free to forward this response to those on your email list so they can correct the idea that Robin Williams sent that crap out! This so called 'plan' seemed way too mean spirited, thoughtless, cruel and unintelligent (did I mention knee-jerk and prejudiced yet?) to have come from someone like Robin Williams. I do not know him personally. However, he does not present himself this way at all and a friend of mine has acted with him and another has done business with him. I have seen this passed around before so as usual I checked it out at: www.snopes.com and specifically at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/williams.asp
Here is part of the text from that site:
Origins: We don't yet know who is responsible for the piece quoted above, but it definitely wasn't actor-comedian Robin Williams (of Mork & Mindy fame). This item's debut appears to have been a 20 March 2003 posting to the USENET newsgroup alt.motorcycles.harley, and from there it was rapidly disseminated via e-mail and blogs, credited to either "author unknown" or no one at all. The Robin Williams attribution wasn't tacked on until several weeks later, apparently because along the way someone appended a genuine Robin Williams quote to the list as an eleventh item: "The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'" - Robin Williams. Obviously the Robin Williams attribution for the final item was interpreted as applying to the list as a whole, so now the entire piece is making the rounds as 'the Robin Williams plan.' Last updated: 24 May 2003
This is David again . . .
As far as the United States total reliance on our oil addiction I recommend and excellent book (I have not finished it yet!) called: Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by David Goodstein.
It is not my area of expertise but educational, readable and fascinating. I agree with your suggestions about gas guzzlers and so forth. Gas in Northern Californa is now over $2.00 a gallon. Keep in mind that in most of the world it has been much more expensive than that for a long time. If we tacked on the price of keeping the Gulf open and safe for shipping 'our' oil, the price would be even higher. Subsidized addiction so to speak. I love to hear Americans complain, the whiners! We simply refuse to recognize how lucky and absolutely spoiled we are.
Personally, I would expect something like that rascist and ignorant rant to come from some ignorant moke on a usenet group like alt.mororcycles.harley. The puzzling thing is that most of the folks I know with Harley's are not knee jerk reactionaries like I am tending to be around this issue! Obviously, I have my own prejudices to contend with in this regard.
A friend just bought one of those Toyota Hybrids. Maybe it is a start . . . I don't know. I think it is too late, the oil economy will gently slide down and eventually crash hard. Pessimism rules, at least at this writng. I don't think people give a damn or care to educate themselves. It is easier to complain, to blame it on the outsider, easier to not think critically and just pass on thoughtful, engaged, well thought out critical thinking.
Look forward to working with you in the ER soon. Meanwhile, I better get back to burning oil in my car . . . I always remember to embrace and celebrate my guilt and the wanton destruction of our environment!
Please feel free to forward this response to those on your email list so they can correct the idea that Robin Williams sent that crap out! This so called 'plan' seemed way too mean spirited, thoughtless, cruel and unintelligent (did I mention knee-jerk and prejudiced yet?) to have come from someone like Robin Williams. I do not know him personally. However, he does not present himself this way at all and a friend of mine has acted with him and another has done business with him. I have seen this passed around before so as usual I checked it out at: www.snopes.com and specifically at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/williams.asp
Here is part of the text from that site:
Origins: We don't yet know who is responsible for the piece quoted above, but it definitely wasn't actor-comedian Robin Williams (of Mork & Mindy fame). This item's debut appears to have been a 20 March 2003 posting to the USENET newsgroup alt.motorcycles.harley, and from there it was rapidly disseminated via e-mail and blogs, credited to either "author unknown" or no one at all. The Robin Williams attribution wasn't tacked on until several weeks later, apparently because along the way someone appended a genuine Robin Williams quote to the list as an eleventh item: "The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying 'Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.' She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'You want a piece of me?'" - Robin Williams. Obviously the Robin Williams attribution for the final item was interpreted as applying to the list as a whole, so now the entire piece is making the rounds as 'the Robin Williams plan.' Last updated: 24 May 2003
This is David again . . .
As far as the United States total reliance on our oil addiction I recommend and excellent book (I have not finished it yet!) called: Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by David Goodstein.
It is not my area of expertise but educational, readable and fascinating. I agree with your suggestions about gas guzzlers and so forth. Gas in Northern Californa is now over $2.00 a gallon. Keep in mind that in most of the world it has been much more expensive than that for a long time. If we tacked on the price of keeping the Gulf open and safe for shipping 'our' oil, the price would be even higher. Subsidized addiction so to speak. I love to hear Americans complain, the whiners! We simply refuse to recognize how lucky and absolutely spoiled we are.
Personally, I would expect something like that rascist and ignorant rant to come from some ignorant moke on a usenet group like alt.mororcycles.harley. The puzzling thing is that most of the folks I know with Harley's are not knee jerk reactionaries like I am tending to be around this issue! Obviously, I have my own prejudices to contend with in this regard.
A friend just bought one of those Toyota Hybrids. Maybe it is a start . . . I don't know. I think it is too late, the oil economy will gently slide down and eventually crash hard. Pessimism rules, at least at this writng. I don't think people give a damn or care to educate themselves. It is easier to complain, to blame it on the outsider, easier to not think critically and just pass on thoughtful, engaged, well thought out critical thinking.
Look forward to working with you in the ER soon. Meanwhile, I better get back to burning oil in my car . . . I always remember to embrace and celebrate my guilt and the wanton destruction of our environment!
2.3.04
Love & Passion wedded to reason has some place in affairs of the heart.
Aloha! The below is a brief response to an acquaintance who is in love and considering a fiance visa to bring their love to the United States.
The fiance visa is no guarantee of smooth sailiing or long term success. However, my ex-wifes twin did it twice with her Australian fiance and it was a great thing for both of them. They still had thier problems/challenges. It will allow you both to evaluate each other in your indigenous environment. To evaluate yourself, your reactions to him in your world. Him to evaluate you, your relationsship, this country. All over time and not in the fresh love smashed haze of fresh love, untrammeld by time and tide (uh oh! here I go!).
I don't know you at all, nor your honey so maybe you have it all wired. You are young though and I advise so much caution in affairs of the heart. At the same time, would I have listened to my advice at the age I was when I was in love and had the boundless confidence that can come heart in heart wtih youthful passion? The confidence that can only come from untested faithful hearts, with endless faith that true love can overcome all?
I wax far too poetic. I offer you this - that one must follow thier passion and love. Yet somehow, in that volatile mix, let passionate reason be wedded with that most noble love that you bear with this man. Caution thrown to the wind is not caution, preservation of one's heart and soul must remain paramount, the guarding of the love you bear for each other is paramount.
So be cautiously in love but passionate. Temper one with the other but nurture both. It is making me sound so old, yet I am not and I remember like yesterday the invincibility. You sound wiser, more grounded, perhaps already wounded in love more than once or twice? I do not know.
So do call if you wish and I invite you too with all my heart. This love of yours, this greatest of journeys, this most perilous and lovely voyage of magnificence must be well thought out so as to be well lived. You are doing so, I commend you.
Though we know each other not a whit (and please forgive me my Shakespeare!) I wish you the best and hope for your happiness. You will find I am much more practical on the phone I think! But one must give voice to all shades and sides of the heart and here you have part of mine.
David
The fiance visa is no guarantee of smooth sailiing or long term success. However, my ex-wifes twin did it twice with her Australian fiance and it was a great thing for both of them. They still had thier problems/challenges. It will allow you both to evaluate each other in your indigenous environment. To evaluate yourself, your reactions to him in your world. Him to evaluate you, your relationsship, this country. All over time and not in the fresh love smashed haze of fresh love, untrammeld by time and tide (uh oh! here I go!).
I don't know you at all, nor your honey so maybe you have it all wired. You are young though and I advise so much caution in affairs of the heart. At the same time, would I have listened to my advice at the age I was when I was in love and had the boundless confidence that can come heart in heart wtih youthful passion? The confidence that can only come from untested faithful hearts, with endless faith that true love can overcome all?
I wax far too poetic. I offer you this - that one must follow thier passion and love. Yet somehow, in that volatile mix, let passionate reason be wedded with that most noble love that you bear with this man. Caution thrown to the wind is not caution, preservation of one's heart and soul must remain paramount, the guarding of the love you bear for each other is paramount.
So be cautiously in love but passionate. Temper one with the other but nurture both. It is making me sound so old, yet I am not and I remember like yesterday the invincibility. You sound wiser, more grounded, perhaps already wounded in love more than once or twice? I do not know.
So do call if you wish and I invite you too with all my heart. This love of yours, this greatest of journeys, this most perilous and lovely voyage of magnificence must be well thought out so as to be well lived. You are doing so, I commend you.
Though we know each other not a whit (and please forgive me my Shakespeare!) I wish you the best and hope for your happiness. You will find I am much more practical on the phone I think! But one must give voice to all shades and sides of the heart and here you have part of mine.
David
22.2.04
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - being torn between worlds.
Aloha,
Many people ask a returned Peace Corps volunteer how they feel and what is it like to return. I am in touch via email with a volunteer who returned from Mongolia and here is a quote from an email. This echos so true to my own experience that it sums up so much in so few words. We are all torn between worlds.
> I'm torn between two worlds I guess. I get bored easily with life here, I see it as just
> working to pay bills. I need to get overseas occasionally to feel alive again.
For some of us lucky few, it is so easy to just get work and pay the bills with not much of challenge. So than what? We all want to feel alive, that frisson of excitement and meaning to wash over us in one unending tide and torrent of life.
David
Many people ask a returned Peace Corps volunteer how they feel and what is it like to return. I am in touch via email with a volunteer who returned from Mongolia and here is a quote from an email. This echos so true to my own experience that it sums up so much in so few words. We are all torn between worlds.
> I'm torn between two worlds I guess. I get bored easily with life here, I see it as just
> working to pay bills. I need to get overseas occasionally to feel alive again.
For some of us lucky few, it is so easy to just get work and pay the bills with not much of challenge. So than what? We all want to feel alive, that frisson of excitement and meaning to wash over us in one unending tide and torrent of life.
David
Any ideas on Summer Medical Work out there? / Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil / Django Reinhardt & Gypsy Jazz
Aloha,
I am looking for summer volunteer medical work from June to August of 2004. If anyone reads this and has some ideas please let me know. I can stay Stateside and work for money but would rather do some refugee work or clinic work somewhere in Vietnam, China, Africa and so on and so forth.
This blog weighs on my mind. Weight, in that I committed to it but do not often utilize it. Most of the time I feel that I don't have enough of a worthwhile thought to burden others with. Yet, yet, yet . . . I receive a reply now and than, an email out of the hiss of cyberspace that makes its way to me. I send my thanks out to anyone who takes the time to write - even if in anger.
The only answer is to be more dedicated, to use material I write for other things such as my medical clinical journal that is ever so anonymous, to use my frustration and sadness at the State of the State/world.
Reading a new book of late that was reviewed in The New York Times. Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by David Goodstein. I am only two chapters into the book but find it very readable and the science 'graspable' by myself (one with little training I assure you!). Still, running out of fuel for the entire world demands involvement from all of us no matter what training or education.
I ride my bike more than years ago. If I get a new car (never have to date!) then it will be a hybrid. I replaced all my light bulbs with energy efficent bulbs. I still continue to think it is too late though . . . but still do what I can to assuage my conscience.
Picked up a five CD set called, Django Reinhardt, The classic early recordings in chronological order. Plays Gypsy Jazz which I heard of recently on National Public Radio. I like this type of Jazz a lot - does not fit into the "great American Songbook" easily but those songs fit into Gypsy Jazz quite easily. Hope that makes sense - I still have a lot to learn about Jazz.
That is about it for now. I am going to study the my ballot to vote here in Northern California which is a challenge to me and going to require some research. Thank god we have the responsibility to vote. Lucky to be able to vote when roughly 2/3 of the worlds population does not have clean drinking water. What a luxury - voting and clean water.
My wishes of health and happieness to all who may encounter this! Aloha,
David
I am looking for summer volunteer medical work from June to August of 2004. If anyone reads this and has some ideas please let me know. I can stay Stateside and work for money but would rather do some refugee work or clinic work somewhere in Vietnam, China, Africa and so on and so forth.
This blog weighs on my mind. Weight, in that I committed to it but do not often utilize it. Most of the time I feel that I don't have enough of a worthwhile thought to burden others with. Yet, yet, yet . . . I receive a reply now and than, an email out of the hiss of cyberspace that makes its way to me. I send my thanks out to anyone who takes the time to write - even if in anger.
The only answer is to be more dedicated, to use material I write for other things such as my medical clinical journal that is ever so anonymous, to use my frustration and sadness at the State of the State/world.
Reading a new book of late that was reviewed in The New York Times. Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by David Goodstein. I am only two chapters into the book but find it very readable and the science 'graspable' by myself (one with little training I assure you!). Still, running out of fuel for the entire world demands involvement from all of us no matter what training or education.
I ride my bike more than years ago. If I get a new car (never have to date!) then it will be a hybrid. I replaced all my light bulbs with energy efficent bulbs. I still continue to think it is too late though . . . but still do what I can to assuage my conscience.
Picked up a five CD set called, Django Reinhardt, The classic early recordings in chronological order. Plays Gypsy Jazz which I heard of recently on National Public Radio. I like this type of Jazz a lot - does not fit into the "great American Songbook" easily but those songs fit into Gypsy Jazz quite easily. Hope that makes sense - I still have a lot to learn about Jazz.
That is about it for now. I am going to study the my ballot to vote here in Northern California which is a challenge to me and going to require some research. Thank god we have the responsibility to vote. Lucky to be able to vote when roughly 2/3 of the worlds population does not have clean drinking water. What a luxury - voting and clean water.
My wishes of health and happieness to all who may encounter this! Aloha,
David
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)

