February 2009

2/1/09 - you are so amazing. Your mom and I are constantly amazed at how lucky we are that you are in our lives. We enjoyed our life together before we were parents. We had fun, hung out, went out with friends, took some amazing vacations. But when I look back now I wonder, 'what was it allfor?' 'What was the point?'
2/4/09 - you're in New York with your mom and grandma. I miss you. Feb. 6, 2009I often wonder what the world will be like as you grow into it. Politics, technology, culture. I just read about new advances in wireless electricity. This is something I've been waiting for for a long time. When I was a kid, our phones all had cords. Then they came out with cordless phones, which was pretty cool, but you could often hear other conversations. Then came wireless, cellular phones, that freed people, getting them out of the house. They weren't particularly "mobile" because they were so huge, and came attached to a big box, so they were mostly just used in cars. Then they got smaller and started doing all kinds of cool stuff - ie. the Blackberry. But they still have tons of limitations. For example, in order to download music into the phone, you have to sync the phone to your computer. you can't wirelessly download music to a phone yet, as far as I know. That will probably change this year. Wireless printers just started getting popular. We just got our first one a couple of weeks ago. It's plugged into the wall for power, but you can print from your computer over a wireless lan. I dig that. But I've been waiting, impatiently, for wireless electricity. Now it looks like it's coming. Electrical power through induction has been around for a while. In fact, I saw a special on TV about a Volkswagen factory in Munich that almost entirely uses induction. Now a new cell phone is coming out in the next few weeks that gets charged through induction on a base unit. That's all well and good, and a step in the right direction. But I want true wireless electricity - eliminating all these cords from everything. extension cords. Freeing ourselves from the wall. I want walls in the house to be free from electrical sockets. I just read an article about a guy named, Marin Soljacic, and his company WiTricity. He turned a TV on from five feet away. I'm excited.How about cars. The vast, vast majority of cars on the road are combustion. There's growing popularity in Hybrid (gas/electricity), electric, and also Hydrogen powered cars. Hawaii has announced that we intend to be a leader in the Hydrogen (I think) car movement by putting power stations all over the place before any other state. We'll see how that goes. When I was a kid, we assumed cars would be hovering by 2010. I want my hover car!I think a big step in technology will be connectivity. Right now, we have several devices that do a variety of different things. People have MP3 players for their music, computers for computing, phones for calling, etc. There's already a lot of movement toward bringing these things together, but I think it will become seamless in the very near future. Fewer and fewer people are reading paper media anymore. I think books and even newspapers will become more and more electronic in the not too distant future. I don't think paper books will go away for a long long time, if ever; but I think phones (or whatever these all-in-one devices are that we will be using) will become the media that we use for nearly everything. 2/7/09 - you, mom, and grandma came home from New York today. I picked you up from the airport. I was so happy to see you. Mom was holding you, and when you saw me, you got a big happy smile on your face and reached your arms out for me to take you. Which I did, immediately. It's good to have you all home. I missed you.
2/8/09 - we took you to your first swimming lesson today at the YMCA in Mililani. You were pretty sleepy, so you weren't exactly thrilled with the experience. But it's getting you used to the water. I want to take you into our pol more often, but it's pretty chilly. At least their pool is heated. I'm sure it will just take a little time. A lot of the babies were crying. You're a tough little dude.
2/15/09 - (sun) we had a busy day today. You had your second swimming lesson. It went much better today. Then we went to Kynslie Limebrook's 3rd birthday party in Hawaii Kai. You got excited to spend some time with their labradors. The big one, Bo, have you a big luck from chin to forehead. I think that kind of surprised you. Then we went to a baby shower in Waikiki for Lauren Burney.
2/16/09 - this is president's day weekend so I had three days off, so we got to spend a lot of time together. You crack me up; one of your favorite things is to have me chase you. Then I'll grab you and tickle you and you laugh and laugh and laugh.
2/17/09 - Happy Birthday! I can't believe you're already a year old. I remember a year ago today, how your mom woke up early on Sunday morning feeling contractions, then we spent the next couple of days at the hospital, and then we brought home this amazing little person, and our lives changed forever. You can't possibly imagine how grateful we are to have you in our lives. Your first birthday started out as most weekdays do, you were asleep when I left for work this morning. I peeked in on you in your crib, and spread your blanket out over you. Mom also had to go to work, so your grandma took care of you during the day. I got home in the afternoon, and you and I went to office depot to get labels to use at your birthday party, then we went to the park and you ran around in the grass a little, then we went home and played with your toys until mom got home. There was also political news today. President Obama signed into law a $787 billion stimulus package (‘The Reinvestment and Recovery Act’) designed to kick-start the economy due to the recession. They’re saying we’re in the worst economy since the Great Depression of the 1920’s. It’s being called the new ‘New Deal.’ The package includes new projects that will create jobs, grants for kids to go to college, and tax cuts to allow people to keep more of their money. The idea is to save and create jobs to build and improve infrastructure, education, technology, and clean renewable energy. This is in combination with an $800 billion bail-out package given to several financial institutions recently. The problem is that banks are afraid to loan money, so credit is hard to get for companies and individuals. It has affected my company quite drastically. We can’t build or buy more resorts like we want to, so we’ve had to close down sales offices. We’ve also had to raise our credit standards, making it more difficult for customers to buy our products. The president wants banks to feel comfortable to lend money again so people can buy homes, and cars, businesses can grow, and kids can get student loans to go to college. Republicans are arguing that it won’t work. They say that it will only dig a deeper hole, and create a massive debt for our kids and grand-kids to pay back. They feel that more emphasis should be placed on tax cuts for individuals and businesses. This will give people more money in their pockets, and give businesses more money to grow. Obama says that he has budget plans to prevent us from passing on this debt to future generations, but we’ll see; I hope, for your sake, that it works. Philosophical differences between democrats and republicans. Democrats feel that the best way to strengthen the country is by empowering the government by creating federal programs and intervention. Republicans feel that the best way to strengthen the country is by empowering the people and small businesses, and allowing capitalism and free enterprise to build the economy.
Feb. 22, 2009 So, your 1st birthday party went great. You had about 92 guests show up to see you and celebrate with you! You’re a popular little dude. The theme was “Around the World” and we had food and kid-friendly activities from Italy, Spain, France, China, Japan, Philippines, and the United States. We also had Hawaii-specific stuff in the USA section.
Feb. 22, 2009 So, your 1st birthday party went great. You had about 92 guests show up to see you and celebrate with you! You’re a popular little dude. The theme was “Around the World” and we had food and kid-friendly activities from Italy, Spain, France, China, Japan, Philippines, and the United States. We also had Hawaii-specific stuff in the USA section. Mom made a really cool cake that looked like a globe with a little airplane flying around it! Everyone was very impressed. We had a big bouncy castle as well as a little bouncy castle – which you played on. Adam and Jacob played ukulele on stage. Adam played a song, and then the two of them played Happy Birthday and everyone sang along. The party took place at the Bishop museum, and then all the guests had the ability to explore the museum after the party ended at 1pm. They really appreciated it because many people hadn’t been there for years, and some had never been there at all. We got a lot of help, and it would not have been successful without Linda Rico, Auntie Shannon, her cousin Marcie, and a few other folks. We’re really grateful to them. It was a really big job. Mom and I didn’t sleep much over the weekend in preparation for it. In fact, only about four hours on Friday night and less than three hours on Saturday night. It was worth it though. Don’t expect, however, any other birthdays as big as that one. We would rather apply all the money it costs towards taking you on a trip somewhere. We’ll celebrate your 21st birthday in style (and we have 20 years to plan for it.) Feb. 25, 2009 I’ve been in Kona training a class for the last couple of days. I always feel bad leaving you and your mom when I have to stay away over night. It’s hard to take care of a baby by yourself. T’s definitely a team effort. Even simple things like going to the bathroom become a complication. Babies must be watched every waking moment. Every moment. You are quick little due. We take our eyes off you for three seconds and you are into something that you know you shouldn’t be doing. Never fails. You’re so funny, because sometimes you do naughty things just to get attention. For example, we have a tall bookshelf by the kitchen that’s loaded up with books. You love getting into the books on the bottom shelf, so we block it by putting an ottoman in front of it. So, to get into the books, you simply push the ottoman out of the way, and start grabbing books and tossing them off the shelf. Every time you do that, we run over to you, tell you “no,” then pick you up, and pull you away from the books. Well, sometimes, you have no interest in the books at all. You go over there, push the ottoman out of the way, then look back at us and smile. Silly monkey. So, I was sitting in my condo at the Kona Hawaiian Resort this evening, talking to your mom on the phone, and she was telling me about your doctor’s appointment today. She felt bad for you because you had to get three different shots, plus a TB test. It was uncomfortable for you, but on the positive side, you quickly bounced back as you always do. You’re tough that way. One of the shots was for the chicken pox. She’s really busy with work lately so she’s been feeling guilty. She feels guilty about being a working mom. She feels like she doesn’t give enough of her time or attention to either work or to you, and that you’re both suffering as a result. I try to assure her that she excels at both, because she definitely does. The Kidney Foundation is stronger for having her run the Programs Department, and I couldn’t possibly ask for a better partner to raise an amazing little boy. She makes sure that you have everything you need at all times, that you’re comfortable, safe, warm, fed, and happy. Without her, you and I would be shivering in a ditch somewhere. I’d be lost. I am so grateful to have her as my wife and your mother. We want nothing more in the world than for you to grow up to be a strong, intelligent, independent, and healthy man.