Down the Rabbit Hole

Another slow Sunday. Another crisis of activity. After the successful IKEA trip , I had to think up another location that would engage both parties. Anna had suggested a visit to Placerville, and I jumped at the chance because it promised to be a perfect detour on our way home from Lincoln. But could the charm offensive of this gateway to the Gold Rush live up to a grandma's thirst for window shopping and a child's sense of adventure? What is Placerville? Placerville is a city in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Before the Gold Rush , the area was home to the Miwok and Southern Maidu indigenous peoples. When gold was discovered in the area in the late 1840s, multitudes of people from the eastern U.S. settled there, displacing the indigenous people  from the land or decimating them through exposure to pathogens like smallpox . The miners used to carry dry soil to the river to wash out the gold, which gave the city its old name, Dry Diggins. This, along with other mining activities,...

45:09. I checked the timer as I crossed the Solano Turkey Trot finish line, huffing and puffing the last of the chilly, crisp autumn air. It's that anticipation of the sense of accomplishment that got me to the finish line, especially after running too fast during the first mile. Victory was made even sweeter because I just came back from a setback: I didn't finish my first half-marathon attempt in Orangetheory's DriTri Sprint . This year's turkey trot was not just a regular 5K for me; it also held some of my firsts: First turkey trot, ever. Apparently, turkey trots are popular events in the USA. This local event has attracted over 2,000 runners. In fact, I was runner #1911 despite signing up earlier in the year. There were different distance categories (5K, 10K, 21K, and kids' fun run), catering to the various skill levels of the runners (or joggers... or walkers). All along the course, I noticed cheerers carrying banners that said something about "earning y...

Donan enjoys tactile exhibits of a children's museum: climbable, interactive, and colourful. Mommy likes to wander aimlessly through labyrinthine aisles of department stores, scouting items she'd buy during sales events. The problem is simple: when we engage in one activity, the other person is completely bored.  On a slow Sunday, I had difficulty finding a venue that both of them would love to visit. And then it hit me like that flying spanner that punctured the sidewall of one of my tires many years ago: We didn't need to compromise. We're going to IKEA! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rochie Cuevas (@rochiecuevas)   IKEA as a children's museum For Donan, each showroom was an interactive exhibit: an invitation to tinker with the toys, such as the plushy Aftonsparv astronaut bear, open drawers and refrigerators, tap on keyboards, and experience a whole range of different textures. He went round and round on a PS Lömsk chair, cocc...

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)'s  Loyalty Day  is a celebration of volunteerism, honour, and commitment to country. Every October 10th, UPLB commemorates the mobilisation of Filipinos for a war that they ultimately did not fight. On this date in 1918, staff and students of the UP College of Agriculture (now known as UPLB) enlisted in the Philippine National Guard to help fight in  World War I .  The Philippines was a U.S. territory  at the time, and the enlisted personnel were supposed to sail to Europe and be under the command of General John Pershing. However, on the day they were mustered into federal service, the fighting ended (Armistice Day). They never left the Philippines, but their action spoke of their willingness to serve, forever etched into UPLB history. Years after moving to California, I found my link to the UPLB community through the active alumni network  in  Davis, CA . I received an invitation to the Loyalty Day c...

https://www.solanoturkeytrot.org/ I have not learned my lesson. Barely two months ago, I did not finish my treadmill half-marathon . This should have convinced me that I'm not ready for a race, but here I am again, paying and confirming my attendance at another one. I signed up for the Solano Turkey Trot, an outdoor run/walk event to be held at Solano Community College.  I first saw an announcement about it at work, but I dismissed it (I thought that I had to be in a turkey costume for it). Everything changed on a relaxed morning when I wasn't rushing after school drop-off. As I was leaving for a physiotherapy appointment, I bumped into the moms of two of Donan's friends. They had both signed up for the 5K run and invited me to join them. Just like that, my initial decision of no  changed into count me in . I doubled down. From treadmill to the great outdoors Now back to reality: The 5K run/walk lasts for about 90 minutes. I haven't run outdoors for over 10 years, and s...

The problem: data drudgery.  Our solution: business intelligence tools.  Two business intelligence tools are available for use at the Napa-Solano-Yolo-Marin Public Health Laboratory (NSYM PHL): Power BI and R. I described how the laboratory staff use these tools during my presentation to LabAspire Fellows and their mentors. I'm sharing part of it here.  Context The NSYM PHL processes over 10,000 specimens annually, with more than 75% being environmental specimens (i.e., water samples and ticks). The rest are clinical specimens. Once these specimens are in the laboratory, they undergo three phases of testing: Pre-analytical phase Information about the specimen is derived from the requisition form that comes with it: patient information (i.e., unique identifiers, travel history), submitter (oftentimes the medical facility) information, and sample information (i.e., sample source and type, collection date and time, type of test requested). The information is then entered...