After meeting at the base camp, we packed our bags and headed out fully stocked. Again we detoured at the little market, and I got to see Avocado Lady again. It’s my morning ritual. Today was a strange day. I was initially told that our group would be heading back to the static point clinic that we operated on Tuesday,…
I go through phases where I don’t think about the movie Harold and Maude very much, and then I become obsessed with it again. It’s my favorite movie; I find the humorous bits hilarious and the philosophical bits poignant and uplifting, and whenever there’s some kind of crisis (like 9-11 or the current corona pandemic), I find myself immersed in…
Amongst the many news stories about the Coronavirus and how it has changed and affected everyone’s lives, there is no shortage of financial news. The economy is effectively shut down. Most white collar workers have comfortably shifted to working from home. Blue collar workers and gig workers, however, are feeling the financial strain. They’re waiting for their government checks while…
Harold & Maude is my all-time favorite movie. Every ten years or so, I get nostalgic for the film and I watch it again and obsess over it. (I have it on Blu-Ray, of course.) I knew the movie was based on a screenplay written by Colin Higgins, a UCLA film student. Higgins sold the screenplay, and then wrote a…
Everyone is affected by this pandemic in one way or another. As I mentioned in my last post, I am fortunate that the impact on my life has so far been minimal. As a retiree, I was already used to being home most of the time. I have been the author of the veterinary advice column for Catster magazine for…
Today we went out to a very remote area today, a village called Adagya, and set up a static point clinic at another community maternity center. Our team was me and Adusei, Charlotte, and a new Community Health Officer (CHO) named Naomi. And our driver, Moses, of course. We all met up at the base, loaded our bags, and headed…
I debated about writing some clichéd blog post about the coronavirus pandemic, given that we’re all rapidly reaching the saturation point. But this is a lifestyle blog, and everyone’s lifestyle has been altered by it. Plus, like everyone stuck at home, I’m bored as hell and I might as well write. I am fortunate. So far, the impact of this…
Here is one of those simple feline experiments that I have always been curious about. What size hole before a cat decides not to squeeze through it? Subscribe to CatPusic on YouTube and check out many of their other kitty experiments.
A well-written and detailed account of the intertwined lives of four prominent, larger-than-life fixtures of the folk music scene of the early 60s. The book very effectively transports you back to those heady, exciting days of the Greenwich Village music clubs and cafes. I really knew nothing about Joan Baez’s sister Mimi, nor anything about her enigmatic, fascinating husband, Richard…
Cats and Dominoes
Day 2 started out well; excellent breakfast, then, off we went to the Mission Rabies Ghana Health Center, to load up our bags, meet with our teams, and hit the road. I saw Jo there testing out one of the megaphones, and I asked her if she could do her very realistic impression of how a dog with rabies barks.…
Today was our last day in Africa, and it was a long one. It started out with a very interesting tour. This tour was called Nai Nami: Nairobi Storytelling Tour with Street Children. It’s a tour conducted by five residents of Nairobi who have had very difficult lives as street kids. They share their story of their former lives, and…
After reading a dense, information-packed science book about the immune system, I hit the other end of the spectrum and read this mindless, trashy gay novel. Into? is a satirical (I hope) look at a subset of shallow, superficial gay men who never find love. The main character, Konrad, obsesses over straight “bros” at the gym, goes from party to…
When Peggy Lee sang “Fever isn’t such a new thing, fever started long time ago”, she wasn’t kidding. Since the beginning of recorded history, fever has been a hallmark of disease. Body temperature is regulated by a structure in the brain called the hypothalamus. It controls the body’s “thermal set point” in very similar fashion to a thermostat. When body…
Today’s safari was, for me, the highlight of the trip. Our driver met us early at our hotel (6:00 a.m.) Much to my surprise (and delight), Mark and I were the only participants on the safari. No one else had signed up. It can be fun meeting people on tours, but I was really glad that it was just the…