Christmas Trees & Not Ice Skating

Español

Forrest y yo nos dormimos en un hotel bastante lujoso, el Fairmont de San Jose. Forrest encontró un descuento en línea, y por sólo una noche él querría quedarse en un hotel bonito.

Lo mejor es que afuera del hotel había una pista de patinaje temporaria, una miniferia, y una muestra de árboles de navidad que se decoraron varios grupos sociales y cívicos. Una pasillo entera fue poblado por árboles de tropas de Girl Scouts — con números de tropa de más de 60,000, cuando mi número de tripa era menos que 1,000. No sé si es el mismo sistema de números o no.

También fue un árbol que lucía muy triste, con sólo un hilo de luces de Navidad, como si el grupo se hubiera olvidado sobre la muestra hasta el propio día.

Caminábamos por los árboles y las atracciones cerradas de la feria de la calle, cuando descubrimos una verdadera máquina de Rube Goldberg en frente del Museo de Tecnología de San Jose.

La miramos por diez minutes, esperando el momento en cuando esas tres pelotas volaran en el aire, regresaran, y aterrizaran en una canasta de metal. Sólo un niño la miró con nosotros; los otros adultos no tenían interés.

Al final de la noche, fuimos a la pista de patinaje. Había patinado una vez antes y me divirtió. Pero esta vez, al instante que me deslicé por la primera vez, solamente pude pensar en la ocasión cuando me rompió el pie y tenía un miedo bastante irracional, pero no pude evitarlo. Ahora no estoy segura de si todavía me gustaría patinar con patines en línea, como solía gustarme...

Corrected by mauerhase.

English

Forrest and I stayed at a rather fancy hotel, the Fairmont of San Jose. Forrest found a discount online, and for just one night he wanted to stay in a nice hotel.

Better, outside the hotel there was a temporary ice skating rink, a mini-carnival, and a Christmas tree display decorated by various social and civic groups. An entire row was filled with trees from Girl Scout troops — with troop numbers higher than 60,000, when my troop number was less than 1,000. I don't know if it's the same numbering system or not.

There was also a very sad tree, with just a single strand of Christmas lights, as though the group had forgotten about the display until that day.

We walked through the trees and the closed street-carnival rides, when we discovered a Rube Goldberg machine in front of the San Jose Technology Museum.

We watched it for ten minutes, waiting for the moment when these three balls would fly through the air, make a U-turn in the air, and land in a metal basket. Only a little boy watched it with us; the other adults weren't interested.

At the end of the night, we went to the ice skating rink. I'd ice skated once before and I'd enjoyed it. But this time, as soon as I slipped for the first time, all I could think about was when I broke my foot. I had this irrational fear, but I couldn't avoid it. Now I'm not so sure if I'd still enjoy rollerblading, like I used to like...

Signing My Legal Powers Away

Español

Durante el año que estaré viajando es bastante posible que mi marido necesitaría hacer algo financial que requería una firma mía. Por esta razón, pensábamos que sería una buena idea que yo le confiera un poder notario duradero.

El plan fue que firmamos los papeles legales antes de salir de Seattle para las fiestas. Pero una emergencia familiar — eso es otra historia para otro momento, basta que ahora todo está bien — me hizo cambiar las fechas de mi vuelo a California por unos días más temprano, y salí sin firmar nada.

Afortunadamente, busqué y encontré a una notoria pública que podra pudo venir a la casa de mis padres, así que al final sería facil para todos nosotros firmamos los papeles. Nombro a mis padres como mandatarios alternativos, y por eso deben firmar también.)

Pero no fue tan fácil.

No he leído la letra pequeña del contrato que dice que los testigos no se permiten que ser parientes de mi. La notaria pública podría ser uno de los testigos, pero necesitábamos dos testigos. Mi mamá llamó a una amiga y a dos vecinas hasta que alguien contestó el teléfono. La vecina de la esquina fue muy amable y fue a nuestra casa para firmar los papeles como testigo.

Un mini desastre, evitado. :)

Corrected by Cristina & Carmenauer.

English

During the year that I'll be traveling, it's quite possible that my husband will need to do something financial that will require my signature. For this reason, we thought it would be a good idea for me to sign a durable power of attorney to him.

The plan was for us to sign the legal papers before leaving Seattle for the holidays. But a family emergency — that's another story for another time, but suffice it to say everything's okay — made me change the dates of my flight to California to a few days earlier, and I left without signing anything.

Luckily, I searched for and found a notary public who could come to my parents' house, so that it would be easy for all of us to sign the papers. (I name my parents as alternate agents, so they have to sign too.)

But it wasn't that easy.

I hadn't read the fine print that said the witnesses couldn't be blood relatives. The notary could be one of the witnesses, but we needed two witnesses. My mom called a friend and two neighbors before someone answered the phone. The neighbor in the corner was very nice and walked over to my parents' house to sign the papers as a witness.

Mini-disaster, averted. :)

CEFR Spanish Language Levels

CEFR Spanish Language Levels

Just to document where I'm starting out in my Spanish abilities, I took a guided "quiz" of the CEFR rubric, which placed me where I expected for my level of Spanish in the various language skills: C2/C1 reading/writing & B2/B1 listening/speaking.

What I'm hoping to get out of my time in Mexico is bumping my verbal skills up into the C-level too.

En California con la familia, preparándome

Español

Solo quedan dos semanas hasta que viaje a León, para empezar mi año en México. Ya tengo todas las cosas que necesito para el viaje — y, de hecho, un poquito demasiado, porque quiero que mi mochila pese como 5 libras menos que su peso actual de 26 lb.

Estoy en California ahora, para pasar el tiempo aquí con mi familia aquí. Y también estoy preparando todo el contenido digital de mi celular y mi portátil. No voy a leer ni mirar entretenimiento en inglés, así que he buscado libros y películas en español (nativo o doblado).

¡Quizás leeré o escucharé Harry Potter (los libros) por fin! :)

Corrected by An1.

English

There's only two weeks left until I travel to León to start my year in Mexico. I already have all the things that I need for the trip — and, in fact, a bit too much stuff, because I want my backpack to weigh like 5 pounds less than its current weight of 26 lbs.

I'm in California now, to spend time with my family here. And I'm also preparing all the digital content on my cell phone and laptop. I'm not going to read or watch entertainment in English, so I've search for books and movies in Spanish (native or dubbed).

Perhaps I'll finally read or listen to Harry Potter (the books)! :)

Guanajuato, donde empezará mi aventura

Español

Cuando le digo a alguien sobre mis planes de viajar por México en el 2015 siempre me preguntan a dónde viajaré y a qué me dedicaré durante el año. Preguntas razonables.

Y a la mayoría de la gente, después de que les digo que no tengo un horario detallado — ni aún cuál ciudad en cuál mes específico — expresa sorpresa. Solo en algunas ocasiones, me encuentro a una persona que entiende la idea de viajar como mochilero, sin planes fijos, mudándome a cualquier lugar que me interesa.

Pero esta falta de horario me encanta. La llamada de una aventura inesperada. No entiendo por qué esta idea es algo tan increíble. Es una narrativa tan común como la del "road trip" americano, ¿no?

Sin embargo. Lo único que yo sé por cierto es que quiero empezar mi aventura en la ciudad de Guanajuato, en el estado central del mismo nombre. Forrest y yo fuimos allí en julio — sólo por 2 días, pero la ciudad nos parece encantadora.

He leído mucho sobre Guanajuato antes de nuestras vacaciones cortas, y fue todo lo que he esperado. (Casi nos dejamos de San Miguel de Allende, la ciudad tan popular con los expatriados americanos, para regresar a Guanajuato por 2 días más, nos gusta tanto.)

Es una ciudad vieja, construida por los españoles por sus minas de plata. Geográficamente, está ubicado en un cañón. Existen túneles debajo de todo el centro histórico, donde va la mayoría del tráfico de los coches. Por esa razón, la zona histórica es sorprendentemente seguro para los caminantes. En el área más central, el zócalo que se llama El Jardín, no se permite ningún coche.

En espíritu mexicano verdadero, los superficies de los edificios son un caos de colores vibrantes. A mí no me parece muy bonito, pero sí me da algo de ánima por la energía de tantos colores. :) Las calles estrechas son empedradas, y por todos lados hay callejones aún más estrechas que serpentean entre las casas antiguas.

Una tradición turística y divertida es la "callejoneada," un paseo por los callejones guiado por una banda con guitarras y otros instrumentos musicales. Entretienen a los clientes con canciones y chistes procaces. :P Este dura por más de una hora, y creo que ocurre cada noche del año; no sé cómo se adapta la gente de la ciudad al ruido constante! Pero es muy divertido y te la recomiendo. :)

Hay una universidad en el centro, así que la edad mediana es un poco más joven, por causa de todos los estudiantes que viven allí. También es popular la ciudad con los turistas mexicanos (pero no tanto con los americanos). Así que hay mucho que hacer, y las cosas son baratos también.

Es casi ideal (para mí) para el comienzo de mi aventura.

Corrected by Aldebaran.

English

When I tell people about my plans to travel in Mexico in 2015, they always ask me where I plan to go and what I'll do during the year. Reasonable questions.

And most people, after I tell them that I have no detailed schedule - not even which cities in which specific months - they're surprised. Only occasionally do I find someone who understands the idea of backpacking without fixed plans, going to any place that interests me.

But I love this lack of schedule. The call of an unexpected adventure. I don't understand why this idea is so incredible. It's as common as the American "road trip" narrative, isn't it?

Anyway. All I know for certain is that I want to start my adventure in the city of Guanajuato, in the central state of the same name. Forrest and I went there in July - only for 2 days, but the city was enchanting.

I'd read a lot about Guanajuato before our short vacation, and it was everything I expected. (We almost left San Miguel de Allende, the city so popular with American expatriates, to return to Guanajuato for 2 days, we loved it so much.)

It's an old city, built by the Spanish for its silver mines. Geographically, it's located in a canyon. There are tunnels beneath the historic center of town, where most of the traffic goes. For that reason, the historic area is surprisingly safe for pedestrians. In the central area, the plaza is called The Garden, no cars are allowed.

In true Mexican spirit, building surfaces are a riot of vibrant colors. I do not think it looks very pretty, but so many colors are energizing. :) The narrow streets are cobbled, and everywhere there are even narrower alleys that wind between the old houses.

A touristy and fun tradition is the "callejoneada," a stroll through the alleys led by a band with guitars and other musical instruments. They regale guests with songs and ribald jokes. :P This lasts for over an hour, and I think it happens every night of the year; I don't know how people in the city adapt to the constant noise! But it's great fun and I recommend it. :)

There's a university downtown, so the average age is a bit younger, because of all the students living there. The city is also popular with Mexican tourists (but not so much with American tourists). So there's a lot to do, and things are cheap too.

It's almost perfect (for me) for the beginning of my adventure.

2015: My Year Abroad

Since my first trip abroad, to Spain one summer with my high school class, I've longed to live abroad for a substantial time period. I've wanted the adventure, the thrill of being in a different environment, the mental challenge of being immersed in a foreign language and foreign culture.

I made one more short trip to Spain with my mom, and I spent three weeks in Oaxaca (in southern Mexico), attending a language school and participating in the life of a homestay family there. I wanted to take a half year — an entire year — and really live somewhere else.

But I graduated college without doing any study abroad. It just never fit with the class schedule for my major. I started working full time. I got married, bought a house. Although I still wanted to have that adventure, it seemed increasingly likely that it just wasn't ever going to actually work out. The timing never seemed right, and I saw no reason why the timing would get any easier.

Yet I would still wistfully mention it to Forrest. To his credit, he consistently told me I should do it. I just felt like it wasn't something that could reasonably happen in reality.

When I started describing such a trip as something I'd regret never doing, Forrest finally told me that while he didn't have the same live-abroad wanderlust that I did, I shouldn't let that stop me. He told me I should just make it happen already. At which point, I started talking to people about when I would spend a year abroad, rather than if. It's amazing how much difference a single word can make, even just in my own mind.

So after spending almost half my life (damn! I make myself feel simultaneously old and young!) wanting this, and spending the past year seriously turning to the practical and logistical side of things, I am finally going to make it happen.

Many of my friends and family — and any strangers foolish enough to express any interest ;) — have already heard some portion of my plans. It's been over a year since my last blog post; this seems like a suitable "announcement" to break that silence:

I will be spending 2015 in Mexico!

I'm going to be rather busy up until I actually leave. I'm no longer at Google, and Forrest gave his notice earlier this month, so we're planning to do some traveling together before I go off on my own adventure.

In September, I'm spending the weekly camping at Lake Wenatchee State Park with friends, attending CatalystCon West (a sexuality/sex-positive/education/activism con) in LA, and meeting up with the old Jambool gang to go wine tasting 4 years post-acquisition. Then, mid-October, we're going to Disneyland with Jambool-Ben and his friends.

On either side of the Disneyland trip, Forrest and I will visit family in California At the very end of October, we're then heading to Baja with my parents. They'll road-trip with us for ~2 weeks then head back while Forrest and I continue wandering around the peninsula. We'll will return to California in time for Thanksgiving, and also spend Christmas and New Year's with family.

Once January 2015 rolls around, I'll be heading for the city of Guanajuato and the start of my one-year Mexico adventure!

Livescribe 3 Smartpen

First use of Livescribe 3 smartpen

I've rediscovered how much I enjoy writing things out long-hand, and I'd like to get back into journaling regularly. But I've also noticed that I tend not to transcribe things into blog posts. It's been over a year since I blogged!

Then I suddenly remembered that "smart pens" were a thing. So I googled what the current state of the world was for smart pens and ended up convincing myself to buy a Livescribe 3.

(I just paused to see what the OCR software made of my natural, unaltered handwriting. Holy shit! Those first two paragraphs above it made zero errors into transcription! It didn't catch the paragraph-break the way I would have typed it manually, but I'll forgive it. It even correctly placed a comma I had gone back in and added after I'd kept on writing. It did miss an apostrophe, but I suppose that one was nearly non- existent. As for underlined words, it just ignored it entirely. Which seems fair. Smileys confuse it, though.)

The docs also say it can be multi-lingual...

Y ahora he cambiado el idioma. Me parece que no es posible escribir en dos idiomas a la vez — debes cambiar los ajustes, que se aplican a una parte? página? cuaderno? Sí es posible re-transcribir algo en otro idioma. Pero no se puede mezclarlos.

Und kann ich auf Deutsch schreiben auch! Sehr toll. :)

Perhaps there shall be more blogging in the future...

Broken Foot

X-ray of fractured metatarsal

One Accident-Recounting to Rule Them All

Many have heard by now about my foot, but I've been inconsistent in how much I felt like retelling the story when various people have asked. So I'm going to write it up here, and refer people here for the details.

One-Stop Pub Crawl

The in-laws visited last week. On Wednesday night, Forrest's brother, Ari, stayed over at our house so we could do a "pub crawl" with our friends Jerry and Aaron. We ended up staying at the first bar we went to: Ballard Smoke Shop, my favorite locals' bar in Seattle. They pour cheap but strong drinks, and are always friendly in a down-to-earth, no-nonsense sort of way.

Walking Without Rhythm

After several drinks, we started walking the 1.5 miles back to our house. We were definitely buzzed, but no one was weaving or stumbling or talking funny or anything like that.

I forget how the subject came up, but I started talking about the funny dance/walk thing that Christopher Walken does in the music video Weapon of Choice. The lyric goes, "Walk without rhythm, and you won't attract the worm" (which is a Dune reference). I started to demonstrate the silly walk.

Unfortunately, I happened to start walking in this exaggerated, unstable manner right at the corner, where the sidewalk slopes down for wheelchair ramp access. My bad right ankle, which I have twisted before, rolled on the uneven ground. I fell onto my left side. Somehow, I skinned my left elbow and knee without tearing my jacket or pants — luckily, this means I got more of a "rug burn" than dirt and gravel dug into my skin.

Bruising at my ankle and toes

I'm pretty sure I would have twisted my ankle regardless of whether I'd been drinking before; this is the ankle I've rolled several times over the years, and it's prone to injury these days. But maybe I would have tried to catch myself while falling. But then maybe I would have hurt my wrist too? Or gone down harder on the knee cap itself, rather than distributing my weight over my entire side? Being tipsy might have actually been a blessing in disguise. (I absolutely am willing to "walk silly" in public without any alcohol, so that wasn't a factor in the inciting incident. ;))

Painful Foot

I knew right away that I'd hurt my ankle pretty bad. I didn't even try to get up on it. Instead, I asked my friends to pull my fully onto the sidewalk and out of the street I'd half fallen into. (I'm grateful this was past midnight, so traffic was very light.)

In an encouraging note for humanity, no less than 3 separate strangers stopped and asked if I was okay. I looked up at each of them and calmly told them I'd just twisted my ankle, my friends could help me get home, but thanks for the concern.

They helped me stand up, and I thought I could still hobble on it. So Forrest helped me cross the street, continuing toward home. But we didn't even get halfway across the street before I realized my foot was hurt much more than the "usual" twists and sprains I'd had before. I really couldn't put any weight at all on the foot. So we ordered up an Uber taxi, even though we were less than a mile from home. (I learned that Uber has a $12 minimum. Worth it.)

Only 3 or 4 people could fit in the Uber car, so Jerry and Aaron graciously offered to walk home, leaving enough space for me, Forrest, and his brother to get back to our house. I'm really grateful that everyone was chill about me "ruining" the evening and having to cut the night a little short. Good friends.

Swollen foot, the day after

Dealing With the Injury That Night (smart)

At home, Forrest had the unenviable task of bandaging my skinned elbow and knee. Damn did that sting. (And, unfortunately, we didn't get the larger knee scrape cleaned enough. It's still sore a week later, so I suspect it might be mildly infected.) He helped me to bed, got me a bag of ice to get the swelling down, and gave me some ibuprofen. Once we'd done everything we could, I stayed lying down while he went back out to the living room to spend some more time with his brother.

In the half hour or so that it took for the combination of ice and ibuprofen to kick in, I was very uncomfortable and distraught with the pain of it. But finally the pain subsided to more manageable levels, and I fell asleep.

Ignoring the Injury the Next Day (not smart)

In the morning, I figured out a funky way of moving on my left foot, sort of a "twist and shout" dance maneuver to get enough momentum to slide on my sock while only on one foot. I also used the wood trim of the house to pull myself along; it made surprising good handholds. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to go in to work that Thursday, so I stayed home.

Between my semi-mobility and Forrest still visiting with his family, I didn't think I needed to take the time to go to a doctor. I figured it would heal up and be fine, just like the previous times I'd twisted the ankle. We went to dinner at The Met to celebrate his parents' 30th anniversary. I hobbled around, often with help from someone, definitely in pain, but I was determined to be as normally-mobile as possible. (Dinner was fantastic, as always.)

But everyone at dinner expressed concern about my hobbling, and insisted that I have a doctor look at my foot. So I agreed that I'd take a taxi to a walk-in clinic the next day.

We also stopped at the drugstore on the way home and bought me some crutches, so I could stop doing the twist and shout around the house. ;)

Diagnosis: Fractured Metatarsal, Undisplaced

And I'm glad I did have a doctor look at it. Because, as it turns out, I actually broke the damn foot.

The doctor gently poked at my foot in various places. Based on where it hurt (the ankle, a little; and especially mid-foot on the outside) and where it didn't hurt (anywhere along the inside of the foot), he said that pattern of pain was normally seen with a fractured metatarsal.

How does twisting an ankle break the foot bone, you ask? Read Dancer’s Fracture (5th Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture) for details. But basically, there's a ligament that goes between your ankle and the outside metatarsal. When you twist your ankle, sometimes that tears. But other times, it holds, and instead pulls on the base of the metatarsal it's attached to so strongly that it actually fractures the bone. That latter scenario is what happened to me.

Boot for my broken foot

I took a wheelchair ride down the hall to get x-rayed, then was wheelchaired back. The doctor came back in and told me the x-rays confirmed the fracture. As far as broken bones go, mine was relatively minor: it's not "displaced," meaning it didn't completely break of a chunk of bone; and it didn't even go all the way through the bone, either.

I asked him to scare me with what would happen if I ignore his recommendation to keep my weight off the foot; he laughed and said, "Oh, you're one of those personalities." :P The potential Bad Stuff was sufficiently bad that I have not tried to walk on the foot since my doctor's appointment. Surgery and pins in my foot are things I'd like to avoid!

The doctor offered a prescription for vicodin, but last time I had it (for my wisdom teeth) it made me nauseous, so I declined. He told me to be wary of talking any NSAIDs like ibuprofen, because it might interfere with bone healing. He instead recommended acetaminophen, although you have to be careful with the dosage and avoid drinking while taking it.

Finally, he got me a "walking boot" to semi-immobilize my foot and told me to follow up with my regular doctor in a week.

I'll know more about how it's been healing up, and how long to expect complete healing to take, this Friday at that follow-up appointment.

¿Otro Viaje a México?

Español

Hace algunos años — creo que fue en 2008 — mi mamá y yo planeamos un viaje a San Miguel de Allende, donde asistiríamos en una escuela de idiomas y viviríamos con una familia mexicana allí.

Pero teníamos que posponer nuestro viaje. Así es la vida, algunas veces.

Ahora, cuando estoy pensando otra vez en una de mis metas de la vida — hablar español fluido — recordé estes planes olvidados. Llamé a mi mamá y la pregunté si todavía viajaría ella conmigo. Tiene que pensarlo más, pensar en el precio y el horario... ¡pero quizás me dirá sí! :)

English

A few years ago — I think it was 2008 — my mom and I planned a trip to San Miguel de Allende, where we would attend a language school and live with a Mexican family there.

But we had to postpone our trip. Such is life sometimes.

Now, when I'm thinking again about one of my life goals — to speak Spanish fluently — I remembered these forgotten plans. I called my mom and asked her if she would still go with me. She has to think about it more, think about the cost and the schedule... but maybe she will say yes! :)

Treadmill Desk, Two Weeks Later

On April 11th, after months of toying with the idea of setting up a permanent treadmill at my work desk and asking my coworkers if they'd be bothered if I did so, I bought a (relatively cheap) treadmill off of Amazon. On April 16th, the treadmill was delivered. (Shout out to the amazing facilities crew at work, whose only questions were "when would it be convenient to you for us to bring the treadmill to your desk?" and "let us know if you need any help putting it in a vehicle later!")

Treadmill desk setup

It's been a little over two weeks of using the treadmill at work now, and I have to say: treadmill desks are awesome!

I had been using a standing desk for months, listening to my body: sitting when I was tired, standing when I was restless. I'd gotten to the point that I was standing most of the time. I think this has helped in my quick transition to the treadmill desk, which obviously doesn't allow for a chair at all. And anyway, I think walking is easier on your feet than standing still, at least for long periods of time.

When my feet really do want a rest, I just take my laptop over to the couch that's just 50 feet away and take a short break.

I am "allowed" the treadmill in an open office floor plan only at my coworkers' good graces. So the first thing I did to the treadmill after turning it on was disable its super-annoying, constant beeping.

Thankfully, the treadmill itself is only minimally noisy. Honestly, I think the tiny fan I bought is noisier than the treadmill. The important point is that no one at work has complained about the treadmill yet. On the contrary, even strangers have wandered over to ask variations on "what the heck is that?" and "how did you get it?" and "can you really type on that thing?" (Answers: a treadmill! with money! and yes, just as fast as before.)

Treadmill "desk" — a $6 shelf from Lowe's

The treadmill's computer console does not disconnect entirely, but its cords are long enough that I can set it down on my old standing desk and get it out of the way. The handlebars are welded to the base frame, and as such are not (easily ;)) removed. But they are horizontal enough that a $6 wooden shelf from Lowe's is extremely stable plopped across them. I thought I would have to somehow secure the plank to the handlebars, but so far it's shown no inclination to move and I haven't bothered.

From the photo of the treadmill's console hiding on the old standing desk, you might think that it's really inconvenient to use. Luckily, this treadmill model also has redundant controls at the ends of the handlebars, which stick out well beyond my shelf "desk". So I only need to reach across the desk to push the console buttons when I want to reset the statistics mid-day (which I almost never care enough to do; my Fitbit tracks all the stats I want).

Treadmill console sitting on the standing desk

As for the health benefits... Make no mistake, walking at a speed that doesn't interfere with creative computer work (ie, 1–1.5 mph) is not an aerobic workout. I barely break a sweat when I walk for an hour straight. But what it is better than is sitting my butt in a chair 8 hours a day, only to come home and sit on the couch until bedtime.

The treadmill does not replace my actual workout/gym time. But it does replace a large chunk of my 100% sedentary time that I otherwise couldn't get away from, given my job as a programmer.

Ask me how I feel about my treaddesk setup in two months... But after two weeks, I'm just mad I didn't decide to do this sooner!