Congratulations Arnold!! Second Term as Governor of California

I have always admired my fellow countryman Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a matter of fact, we were born in the same town, Graz.
Now, while Graz has withdrawn his 'Eherenbuergerschaft' and taken his name off the prominent soccer stadium in Liebenau, Arnold has won a second term as Governor of California, the most populous, most advanced and wealthiest state of the union. (If California was an independent country, its economy would rank nr 6 or 7 in the world, slightly ahead of Italy.)



Here's a link to Arnold's website with a video presentation of his Inaugural Speech - it's well worth listening to.

http://www.joinarnold.com/site/c.jkIVLdMTJrE/b.1804725/k.BE28/Home.htm

Noodles are fun

There is a ramen shop (Chinese Egg Noodles) near our house and we love going there for kimchi ramen and gyooza. They make their own kimchi and it is just so delicious. A little hot, so not very suitable for the children, but Cyd and I love loading up on this pickled cabbagge which is rich in vitamin C.

MRI

Today we had to go back to Shin Suma Hospital for Cyd's MRI.






Cyd had to change into a gown and take off all jewellry - I was not allowed to come near the MRI machine as it is highly sensitive to metal.













Going over the results with Dr. Iwasaki, we learned a lot about joints and tendons. But it became clear that Cyd needs an operation soon. We are now considering suitable dates in January 2007.

If anything can go wrong, it will!

Just a small reminder of Murphy's Law which states:

If anything can go wrong, it will. Especially when it comes to computers and hard drives. It is a known fact that the average hard drive has a life span of 2.5 years. Considering this it is quite astounding that our civilization entrusts all of our important facts and data to such a fragile medium. (The Romans chiselled important stuff into rocks!)

So please don't forget to make frequent back-ups of your work on your computers.

I just went through a tough time when, beginning last Friday, my computer started to act weird. I tried fixing it with special software over the weekend, but by Monday morning, just minutes after I made another thorough backup (!!) it died completely. Cause of death: hard disk crash.

Storage media have become very cheap and there is no excuse for loosing data.

What to back up?

Basically all your work.
While applications can be reinstalled from their original disks, whatever you create is most valuable as it cannot be found anywhere else.

Also, your preference settings, bookmarks, shortcuts, and key-chained passwords should be backed up on a regular basis.

So after I purchased a new computer, I just brought in my data from my back up and I am up and running!

Installing all the software takes some time, unfortunately.

Please take this advice seriously,

Regards
WSF

The show goes on...

After Cyd's accident, it was Conrad's turn to hit and break his little pinky-toe!



The doctor's visit at Kaisei Hospital took from 9 am till 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But Dr. Shibonuma took good care of Conrad and explained everything exactly on hand of the x-rays.

Children Inc

For a number of years, Cyd and I have sponsored poor children in countries like Thailand and Keniya.

I usually pick girls for my sponsorships because I believe traditionally the family spends more of their resources on the education of their male offspring while girls often times get left behind.

I donate money to an organisation named Children Inc. and if you feel the christmas spirit welling up in your heart or you'd just like to give yourself the rewards that come with being charitable, I suggest you visit Children Inc's website and sign up for a sponsorship.

For less than a can of Coca Cola (1 US Dollar) per day, you can put a child through school and change a life!

Here's an excerpt from Children Inc's website:

At Children Inc., you can sponsor a child for as little as $28 a month, but there are other ways to support our mission. Sponsoring individual children here in the US or overseas is the preferred method. Sponsors make a direct impact in the lives of children and find the experience rewarding, enjoying thank you letters and photos from the children. Others choose to donate directly to our US or overseas programs. You can also help by visiting some of our partner websites. By contributing to these funds or visiting the websites listed, you can give even more children the gift of hope.

Make sure you visit:

http://www.children-inc.org/

Thank you Frieda!

Looking at my blog about Cyd's injury and various hospital visits, I realise that I have omitted one important fact: Frieda's unwavering support. She cancelled her private appointments Sunday to help with the children while Wolfgang brought Cyd to various hospital emergency rooms. And she also helped throughout the week around the clock. Here's a big and loud THANK YOU FRIEDA!

More Cookies!

Das Backvergnuegen geht weiter - am Sonntag backen Conrad und Eva kekse fuer Weihnachten.

Backe backe Kuchen

MMMM... what's going on the kitchen? The whole house smells of baked goods and look at all those busy hands cutting kneading dough and cutting out cookies!

Culprit and Victim

Cyd with Alfredo, her dance partner of last Saturday night. It's good to see them smile.

Zwei Steirer in Japan

Mein lieber Landsmann Edi Herbst, seines Zeichens orthopaedischer Schuhmachermeister, also "Meister Edi", kam kurz vorbei mit einer speziellen Bandage fuer Cyd's Arm.
Wir wuenschen allen Steirern ein frohes Fest und Prosit Neujahr!

The next step

The next step will be an MRI on Dec 20, although I can tell from the interview with Dr. Iwasaki that surgery is a foregone conclusion.

Shin Suma Orthopedic Clinic

Checkin in is never easy. Questionaires ara all in Japanese and staff, though usually very friendly and helpful, do not speak english. How do you explain your medical history in Japanese? Ovarian Cyst was a difficult one...




Dr. Iwasaki was a pleasant surprise. A specialist with humor! Cyd felt she was in good hands. Wolfgang also got on really well with him. During Cyd's consultation, we started talking about all sorts of stuff, going off on tangents such as the misappropriation of public funds by unneccessary road construction till Cyd reminded us of the actual purpose of our consultation....

Broken Wing

So here we are at the second hospital on Sunday. The x-rays are from the 1st hospital, but finally Cyd gets her injection to relieve the pain.

Pain killers in Japan are very weak. Morpheine based pain killers are not allowed in Japan.

Cyd had an accident

Last Saturday, Dec. 2, Cyd dislodged her right shoulder while dancing at a christmas party. 15 years ago she suffered a kick to her shoulder during a Kartate tournament which dislodged her shoulder and since then her arm comes out of her shoulder joint every now and then. Hippocrates has shown us a way to get it back in by pulling down on the arm while putting a fist in the arm pit. Even though, this proceedure is always accompanied by searing pain as the tendons and muscles are stretched and somehow injured.
Curiously, the party went on after Cyd resembled herself and it was only on Sunday morning when Eva tugged on her pyjamas that Cyd started feeling this extraordianry pain. Of course, Sunday. No doctors around, Kaisei hospital, so close to our home, closed for renovations! We spent the whole day seeking help. First at an orthopedic clinic in Motomachi, then in the Central Hospital on Port Island. Cyd in tears all the time; even the vibration in the car too much for her.