Quarantined

Monday morning, I was walking from one class to another when I first felt it. Deep in my nasal passages, where they connect with the back of my throat, a tiny little itch caught my attention. It wasn't a blatant itch, that says "Haha sucker...got ya!" No, it was a minute little tug, almost like a small piece of rice tried to escape my stomach via my nose, only to get lodged along the way.

"Naaaaah," I thought, "I can't be getting sick. It's probably just chalk dust or pollen." That was around 8:40am.

By my last class, I knew I was toast. I felt tired and had a periodic cold sweat coursing through my body. My body was now diverting its resources to fight off whatever pesky foreign invaders that were laying seige.

After class, I called Tina to let her know the bad news, "Mommy, I think I'm sick." (Now, please don't think I'm calling Tina Mommy just cuz I was sick...when Isaac came along, "Mommy" and "Daddy" became our new pet names for each mother. Yah, I know, how pinoy)

I got home and as Tina had suggested over the phone, Daddy was gonna have to sleep in the other room tonight. Tina had already set-up our futon in the other room with pillows and a sheet. So I took a nap.

Fast forward to Tuesday: At 5:10am, I made the decision to go to work. Nasal drip and slight fatigue didn't seem heavy enough for me to call in sick. So I went through the motions of my Tuesday schedule. By the end of my day, I was still going, but more tired, more nasal drip, cold sweats returned, and now I had some dizziness while lecturing.

I rushed home and took a nap in the other room. It turned out to be a 4 hour nap.

Fast forward to Wednesday: At 5:10am, I made the decision not to go to work.

It's now 9pm. I no longer feel the itch in my nasal passage. The itch has found better housing in my chest. I now have a slight cough, with slight bronchial discharge, and a runny nose.


I can handle being sick on my own. I can just lock my door, curl up in a fetal position, and sweat it out for a few days!

But it's harder being sick around Tina and Isaac. I wear a medical mask around the baby and have to be careful of what I touch if my hands haven't been disinfected. This also means no kissing Mommy!

Laurie Laxa told me to go ahead and get them sick. A few books I've read say that babies/kids who get sick early develop a stronger immune system later on. I generally agree with this when it comes to common colds etc. But I don't want to take that risk with something as dangerous as the flu. I guess it's all the hullabaloo over the flu vaccine shortage. The flu can be fatal to the young, to the old, and to others with depressed immune systems.

So for now, I don't mind sleeping in the other room and wearing a mask.

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We be clubbin!

On Saturday night, Tina and I asked my sister and her husband Mikey to watch Isaac. Tina and I wanted to go celebrate Tin Nepacena's 25th BDay at Loft 11, a club in the SOMA district of San Francisco.

It was nice to get out and hang out with friends outside of our normal Likha social gatherings (after practice dinners, rehearsals at the chateau, after gig dinners, etc). Plus, it was nice for Tina and I to get some more mommy and daddy alone time!

The club itself was cool. The DJ spun a good mix of newer to old school hip hop beats. In one set, he threw in Eazy E, Justin Timberlake, Black Eyed Peas, and House of Pain. I didn't get myself too liquored up, sticking to a two scotch limit for the night. Being a parent makes me want to be a little more responsible and reserved. Gone are the days of throwing caution to the wind and going balls out nuts. Well, they're gone at least until the kids are finally away to college!

The club scene is the same as when I last visited, which is both a good and a bad thing! It's still a single scene with people checking each other out, drinking, etc. One thing that was different for me was going to a club with my wife. Every once in awhile, there would be some young kid checking Tina out. I don't think I'm possessive at all, but when someone leers at your wife, it's pretty easy to get into the angry browed, muggin look that says to the guy "What the f**k do you think you're looking at punk ass b**tch??"

One thing that I can still do without is drunk guys on the dance floor bumping you out of your space (usually they're drunk puti guys). When that happens, I still like to get into plant my feet and bump back mode, while still having fun of course! Shiiiiit, the DJ's playing old school Too Short, so I'm too busy getting my groove on to get pissed 8) !

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Working on the farm...continued

The moment has passed. That's what I get for postponing the rest of that blog. New events have commandeered my ever shortening attention span. So, here's the Reader's Digest version of working on the farm.

My water heater broke. I thought I could fix it in one work day. But, after buying one of a different size, having to demolish the old built in pedestal, cracking one of the flexible copper pipes, calling a plumber to fix it, and then finally attaching the gas to the water heater, I found myself needing to take two days off of work.

I tried to save a lot of money ($500), but in the end, I saved about $300-$400. BUT the experience was invaluable. If I had to do it again, I would. Working on your own domicile is gratifying work.

If you read Tina's blog lately, then you've heard that we finally got our new jogging stroller. Today, we took Isaac out for a little run. He loved it! Although he was awake the whole time, he didn't fuss once during the hour session. He just stared to and fro, enjoying the scenery. The only problem was the sun getting in his eyes every so often. We tried to remedy this with one of his burp cloths, but to no avail. I'm gonna have to rig some thing up for next time.



I'm not strongly political, but I have been eagerly following the debates between Bush and Kerry. I consider myself more of a Democrat/Green party mix. I'm eager to see W. go.

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Working on the farm...

On Tuesday night, I went through our garage to throw out the kitchen trash. Near the side door to the backyard, I noticed a small puddle of water on the garage floor. I followed the puddle's path as it climbed up some drywall to a ledge supporting our water heater. On the ledge was a larger puddle, centered around one of the legs on our water heater. There you could see a little trickle snaking it's way down from the water heater, feeding the puddles below.

Damn! I had heard stories about busted water heaters flooding and wreaking havoc on a home. If our water heater broke, water would get into the walls and into our floors. Add to that cost of clean-up the cost of getting emergency plumbing and water heater replacement. That alone would probably cost us about $1000.

So, I went online right away to confirm my plan on shutting down the water to the water heater. I hurried back into the garage, got my step ladder, and climbed up to the cob-webbed ceiling to reach the water valve into the water heater. "Hmmm...right-tighty, lefty-loosey right? I hope I'm turning this the right way" I thought to myself.

Water into the heater was now shut-off, but there was still water leaking from the appliance. If you don't know much about water heaters, they come in different sizes. Ours was a 50-gallon tank. So if the leak decided to expand to a rupture, we would have fifty gallons of water all over the place. Imagine a gallon of milk spilling...now imagine 50 of em!?

I had to decide whether or not to drain the remaining water, or let it sit for tomorrow (it was already close to midnight).

So I gambled and decided to wait until the next day.

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My condolences...

I've mentioned before how I like to look at life with a "the glass is half-full" mentality. This is fine when it comes to me in my own little world, but I've had to learn how to apply it to my day-to-day relationships. I mean, what happens when you come across somebody who is just not feeling your "glass is half-full" attitude? I wouldn't want that dark cloud to affect me, yet I don't want to totally ignore it as well.

A few years ago, I came across a few sentences which put it all into perspective for me. I was reading a book on personal relationships. One chapter dealt with the fear of crashing and burning in the dating scene. According to the book, the best way to handle this fear was to take to heart the following:

Wow, her cat must have died today. I hope she feels better soon.

I had to laugh when I read this. I imagined trying to strike up a conversation with a girl at a club, only to get flatly rejected in a manner that would make normal guys crumble, then walking off, jovially thinking, "Wow, her cat must have died today. I hope she feels better."

Anyway, I'm no longer in the dating scene, but I've found that this concept extends well into other areas of my life. If I'm at a store and come across a grouchy, caustic sales person, I immediately think, "Wow, his cat must have died today. Poor guy. Hope he feels better soon." Then, I'll work on getting what I need.

It's tongue-in-cheek, but I like it. It's basically, "I'm rubber and you're glue, everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you!" Yet, you're not shutting out the person, but instead wishing them well.

Hey as I long as I got my shit together and am not the one at fault, then "sorry about your cat" is a great way to get through the day.

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Growing like a weed

It's been good to have Mommy and Isaac home. Isaac has grown since he left! He had his 2nd month boosters last Thursday and our pediatrician said that he was 14lbs 6 oz. For weight, Isaac is at the 50th percentile. For length, he was also at the 50th percentile.

The doc said that for his weight/length/age, Isaac migth grow up to be about 5'10". Whoa! If this is true, then Mommy and Daddy are gonna have to look up to scold him! I think that the Doc was looking at the chart for puti people. Where's the chart for Pilipinos?

If you know me, then you know that I have a big head...literally. My fitted hats usually run a size about 15 3/8. Very few of the headpieces in our Likha costumes fit me. When I try 'em on, most of 'em look like skull caps on me.

Anyway, Isaac's headsize...75th percentile! No wonder he had to come out C-section :)

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