They both appear to have been in the womb of my BabyMama MommyMD. With much hesitancy (not from my standpoint), I am proud to announce that MommyMD finally ate one peanut too many! It seems one has lodged inside her womb.
Ultrasound almost 10 weeks
It’s scary to think that it was about over 2 years ago when this process first started with the ViviBear.
ViviBear 2010
I first found out about the Peanut when I came back from my brother’s bachelor party in Las Vegas in early Feb. For those that know me, tt has been difficult to keep it on the DL. Of course it did let slip to one or two people.
I remember when I first found out the ViviBear journey was underway, which was an exciting and frightening. I… was going to be a dad! Again, I get to repeat those those feelings of excitement and apprehension, but I am already a dad. now… I will be a dad with a 2.5 year old and a newborn, going through the crying and poop diapers again. I must say I miss the neonate/baby days where they are so tiny that they cant crawl yet. All they do is lay there. Then start to roll around. Then start to crawl… It’s exciting to see each developmental milestone met. Then I think about how ViviBear can be such a bear at times… I will have two of them crawling on me, yelling, crying at me and wanting to play… as exhausting as I know it will be, it is putting a smile on my face as I type this.
Now the next question is whether ViviBear will have a baby brother or baby sister.
I have been trying to migrate away from freeNAS for the past 2 years now since the advent of Open Media Vault. I’ve come across the issue of accessing data from my UFS filesystem drives ( freeNAS uses has the option to use UFS being based on BSD platform). Suffice it to say it was difficult to access the drive since I did not have any computers loaded with BSD. I had windows/mac and Linux (ubuntu). Scouring the web, there were many options, but I did not have the free time or spare computers to fully explore how to do this. I remember last year I found some info how to do this but did not have the time to follow through. Today I was determined to do it.
Basically, I needed to access and transfer files from an UFS drive and back it up to either an NTFS or EXT-4 drive, then I could re-purpose the old UFS drive.
Simplest way for me was to mount the UFS drive on my Ubuntu computer, and then move the files. Ubuntu does not support UFS out of box, but with the help of this post, I was able to get things working in a Jiffy.
Mounting UFS file systems in Ubuntu should be straight forward. Follow these simple steps to make sure that your are mounting your FreeNAS disks properly in Ubuntu:
Load the UFS module (or make sure its loaded)
sudo modprobe ufs
Make a directory where to mount the files on
mkdir ~/ufs_mount
To find out which device holds your UFS file system use the command fdisk -l, note which device you intend to mount.
Mount the file system to the directory your previously created
sudo mount -r -t ufs -o ufstype=ufs2 /dev/sdb1 /home/<your_username>/ufs_mount
(where: sdb1 is the UFS partition you want to mount and <your_username> is the your current username where the intended mounting point was created previously.
(Credits to Bruno Pereira user on AskUbuntu.com)
The “fdisk -l” did not seem to output what I was looking for, but I just used Gparted to figure out the partition name in question.
In my dreams of having an indoor pond, I started out with goldfish in a large bowl. Not just a fish bowl, but one of this water garden bowls. I started out with two that got rather large in a course of a year, but they met their untimely death by an ill fated water change. You really should not change more than 25% of the water at a time. It was either that, or the fact that was spraying Seven (insecticide) outside prior to doing a water change. After giving up on the indoor pond, I tried yet again with the mini-pond/gold fish. My replacement fish, Pebble and Pierre lived and thrived.
At this time I did have an outdoor Koi pond as well, but with the colder weather, I needed to over winter them indoors, so I built that large indoor pond in the basement. I figured it was time to consolidate ponds, so I plunked the fancy Ryukin gold fish (Pebble and Pierre) into the large koi pond. Little did I know that this was not advised. Prior to starting my new career, I had a bit more time on my hand and tended to the fish more often (fed them). Actually I think it was because my mother was here that the fish were fed more often. I started to notice Pierre was floating weird (still alive). His posterior would be constantly floating up. I figured his air bladder had to be damaged some how (no signs of trauma though). This went on a few weeks, then one day I noticed he had most of his fins bitten off: tail, dorsal, lateral what have you. Not sure what to do, euthanize or try to heal/save (hanks to ChunJaegirl for the link to Kevorkian-ing fish). I went on Dr. Google and found that #1. do not put koi with fancy gold fish. #2. feed the fish.
I think one problem was my first koi (Fat Boy) may be getting a bit large for the pond. Supposedly they get more aggressive if they are much larger than the others. I decided to try to save the poor fish, as I could not bare ending his existence (I assume my fish are males). I separated him and used my pond salt tonic to try to help heal him. He seemed to do well the first 3 days, but he did not seem like he was eating. I did notice the pond water overall was evaporating/getting low, so I started to add more (of course airing it out overnight). Unfortunately I may have added too much at a time to the isolation tank, as Pierre (instead of floating) was non-mobile at the bottom… he had passed.
Now Pierre (named because he looked like he had a mustache, so of course I correlate that with a french name) was laid to rest in the flower bed near the outdoor pond. He will probably be dug up next time MommyMD gardens, or if the coyotes or even combo decide to dig him up.
Alas, farewell my fancy fish friend.
Background image was adapted from the creation found on this site:
By special request, Clement has been asking side by side comparisons throughout the years. From what I could dig up, here you go. I tell you what I hate calculating backwards to figure out ages based on dates. Too much brain power for me. (always makes it tedious to input immunization data and make sure people are up to date/on schedule with shots.
So do you think VviBear will grow up to be as pretty as her daddy?:)
It has been a while since I have made any posts of late, but I am back. Aside from being busy doctoring, changing out my outdoor pond pump, setting up a new home media server, and setting up our new ViviBear Cam… well this is not 100% accurate. I’ve been doing these things over the course of the past 1-2 months, so I guess I really do not have an excuse as to why I have not been posting. Then again, do I really need an excuse? It’s not like I have dedicated viewers awaiting my every word.
Back to the point: It’s amazing to see such fervor over this Korean Pop/rapper star Psy and his song Gangname Style. Aside from being very amusing, there is some very interesting social commentary embedded in the video/song which is explained in this article here.
Sow now ViviBear is about 17 mo going on 18mo. It is amazing how much development and progress happens over the course of a month. It may be due to her starting daycare, and the socialization process. Not sure, but she is starting to copy more of my words and actions. I decided to take advantage of this and see if I can get her to do the “Gangnam Style” dance. Almost there. Video is posted below
It is unfortunate she falls on the ground crying, but I can not help myself from watching this repeatedly without laughing. One day she will hate me for this, especially when I play this video and all the others at her wedding:)
Knowing she is absorbing everything she sees and hears, I really have to be careful about watching TV these days (I probably should have been more careful about 6 months ago when I was watching Spartacus on Stars (with all the blood, breasts and violence). I was watching some SouthPark, and MommyMD reminded/scolded me for watching it with ViviBear. I didnt realize how engrossed in the show she was… and I realized… hmm bad parenting here.
You wonder why some children run around insane, destroying things and hurt other kids. Likely they are watching their parents behavior and mimicking That stated, I really hope ViviBear doesnt end up biting people’s ears off, cause then people may think they learned that from us. (well at least combo). It is funny to watch her poke MommyMD’s bum with her finger and say “butt butt”. ~sense of pride~ she’s learning so much so fast.
Maybe this means I need to neater as well. I want to set a good example. Don’t want a slob of a child.
I really hope I dont scar her for life with all these videos and posts:)
In GIMP exporting multiple layers to one pdf file is surprisingly difficult. I found two solution, both require additional software besides GIMP, but are fairly easy to implement.One solution is given here. It requires a plug-in or script to export individual layers to separate tiff files (something which perhaps surprisingly is not possible out-of-the-box in GIMP). The before-mentioned site suggest the script “Save Layers as Individual Files”, which can be downloaded from Panotools. Next step is to useImageMagick to convert the tiff files into a single pdf file.
I’ve never really liked running. When I was wrestling in high school, I hated the running part. I never could run far, and I always felt nauseated after running. I figured, who wants to spend their time making themselves feeling like they cant breath and are dying… while slowly destroying your joints. Well somehow this changed when during college when I figured running was a good way to stay in shape, and that you were working out hard enough unless you felt like you were dying. “No pain no gain” right?
Me crossing the finish line with the super speedy 2:26:10
Well some how DP convinced me to train and run the Capital City half marathon back in April of 2005. I figured it was one of those things that I wanted to force myself to do. During my off and on training, the most I was ever able to run in one sitting was 5 miles. I was usually accustomed to running only 1-2 miles in a day. Then my buddy Clement created his “clement two and a half”. This just meant he would run 2.5 miles, but he did refer to it as the “Clement two and a half”. So of course I felt i needed to up my game. I did try my best to follow the suggested training schedule on the Capital City Half Marathon website, but I only try did I do. The most I actually ran ever prior to the actual half marathon was 5 miles during training. Some people would say: “you’re an idiot” for deciding to run a full 13.1 miles while only ever going 5 miles… EVER. Well I was an idiot for that.
I remember on race day that their was a huge snow fall, nay a Blizzard! I was going to use that as an excuse not to attend, but somehow I was able to psyche myself up into going. I also couldn’t let DP do it, and have me wuss out.
Chunks of snow was falling as I painfully pushed my way through all 13.1 miles. After the race, I remember digging my fingers into the available Donatos Pizza to warm my hands up. I could barely walk back to my car because my knees were hurting so bad, and I was exhausted. Then when I actually got in my car, I couldn’t even drive. I sat and laid down in my car for about 1 hr. I somehow mustered the energy to drive home (in the snow storm mind you) and then laid around the rest of the weekend. Painful.
Using Endomondo to spell my name
Back to the topic at hand. So now I do enjoy running more than I used to. I enjoy the challenge, and the exhausting feeling that I equate to accomplishment. I do hate the difficulty breathing aspect (maybe I have exercise induced asthma…), but running is a great time to get alone time, to think and reflect on anything, and also just to enjoy the outdoors. I’m not one of those trail runners (not yet), since I don’t really go farther than 2 miles at a time usually. I enjoy running in the neighborhood and seeing my neighbors and what not.
Now with the smart phone APPs and GPS tracking, it is easier to log runs, and make things more interesting, by trying to beat prior lap times, or tracking where you were. The other day I had this great idea, why not try to write/draw something with the GPS tracking? Am I the first to come up with this idea? Probably not, but I just havent bothered googling this yet. I am sure others have thought of this, but now I am challenging all those other runners out there to do the same. Write something creative, draw something cool. Whatever. Obviously my first attempt to write my name was in vain, but I think my attempt today was pretty good.
Compare that to the one I did the other day
Runwriting, as good as my handwriting!
I want to see what you guys come up with!
Also check out Endomondo. They have an app for the iPhone and Android (the one I use)
Here is a follow up on my mango growing activities. I figure they are easy enough to sprout, might as well do as many as I can. They do make great gifts, but unfortunately they do require some care.
After about 3-4 weeks
Sprouting Roots
After 6 weeks
seeing leaves
About 7-8 Weeks
7-8 Weeks of growth
They need to be transplanted into a pot now. I have been putting this off, really not sure why.
Eating a mango always seems to be messy business. They are very tasty, but they have a huge seed in the middle, and they are very juicy. I have tried mango pitters before, but if your mango is too ripe, it will just get squashed. Even if you do pit the seed out, you still have mango juice all over the place now.
Growing up I would watch my mom cut mangoes. She would do what I refer to as the “flower technique,” or inversion technique.
Flower/Inversion Technique for eating Mangoes
She slices the Mango vertically, (lateral to each side of the seed). Then she will slice cross hatches in the mango. Then invert the mango, pushing on the skin of the mango. It makes eating the meat of the mango easier. [image to the left obtained via a google search which led me to http://soupbelly.com/]
*disclaimer, I have not tried this on the big mangoes, just the mini Mexican Atulfo Mangoes*
Somehow I never seen these mini mangoes before until I went to Beijing, China. Odd thing is once I came back from China, I noticed that we should the mini mangoes here in Ohio. Eitherway, I saw someone there eating what seemed to be an oddly shaped banana, but on closer examination, this lady was eating a mango. She had peeled the skin off like a banana. Interestingly it works well with these Mini Mangoes, and is better if the mango is ripe. So here is my take on peeling mangoes. The benefits are great: 1. you dont waste any of the mango, 2. it is less laborious to peel and eat a mango. Unfortunately it does not solve the problem of the mess after.
Step: 1. Cut the mango skin superficially at 90 deg angles all the way down. Makes it easier to peel (without the skin breaking off mid peel)
Step 2. Peel the mango gently.
Step 3. Eat the mango.
Obviously if you are out and about, and do not happen to carry knives with you, you can easily enough just peel the mango without cutting. This is just a tad messier, but better than not eating a mango at all.
With an attention span of a goldfish , I always found myself making calendars and to do lists during lectures. I would try to plan out major events or tasks, i.e. finishing medical school, papers due, boards, vacations, rotations, finishing residency. I remember the last time I made the calender task list was probably last summer, prior to starting 3rd year residency.
It was the home stretch. Job was lined up (link), baby on board… Just had to pass boards and get to July 2012. Well, despite a few unexpected kicks in the nuts, which I won’t get in to here, I secured a great job, better than I could have imagined mind you, passed boards, and graduated residency.
Now I am about to reach the end point of my last calander/planner. once I start work I know there are always tasks to plan for, but as for those life events… What do you do when you reached your foreseeable goals? Obviously you make new goals.
I never thought this day would actually come.
It’s funny, I didnt realize this until just now… I will obviously be planning for events that far more important from now on. These events will make all those past milestones seem like mere fluff… I will be marking down/dreading events such as April 20th, 2022 and 2027… When ViviBear becomes a teenager and wants to start driving!
I know many people have had this thought regarding me… my god, Alex is a dad…
Back to the point at hand… new era starts July 16th. Can not wait.
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