August has been a grueling month. My colleague finally followed through on his long threat to retire, which landed me 3 weeks of retina call. My cell phone also died suddenly at the start of my call week, necessitating a frantic visit to the Verizon store to revive my old Galaxy S5 while I waited for a replacement.  I had suspected bad mojo when our house cleaner had to cancel twice this month due to car and childcare issues. To eradicate our front yard bermuda grass infestation, we’ve also had to wake up early each weekend to shovel lava rocks and tear up weed fabric to exterminate each metastatic tentacle. The manual labor left our arms and quads wobbly, with little energy to spend with Westley to promote his new biking skills or enjoy the newly renovated playground across the street. Our couch rest did give us a chance to finish watching the visually-stunning first season of His Dark Materials and a strangely-entertaining second season of the Umbrella Academy. Unfortunately, the bizarre dry lightening storms and ensuing wildfires this week led to suffocating smoke and ashen dust to befall upon us. We were glad that we had at least completed the weeding and even enjoyed some outdoor Korean BBQ before the air quality downturn.  Today, I scrambled to finish clinic early to pick up my new Google Pixel 4a from Best Buy ahead of our weekend trip. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get away for some fresh air (literally) amidst the heatwave, wildfires, and pandemic.

What better time to tinker with instant noodles than during quarantine? Since watching Parasite, I’ve longed for ramdon. Paired with a well-marbled ribeye from KP, the Neoguri-Chapagetti fusion definitely did not disappoint. I also drew inspiration from a Korean Youtuber for Shin Ramyun hacks with milk or as fried noodles, and from Serious Eats for cup noodle fried rice.  Nissin’s curry-flavored cup noodles was a particularly good option, but the unexpected peanut powder might have contributed to our toddler’s mild wheezing at bedtime. My post-doc Sook brought us authentic Shin ramyun from Korea, although my comparison taste test with the American version found the difference to be more subtle than previously reported. On weekends, we continue our quest to entertain Westley at home. He was very excited with the Labo VR blaster, but the gadget didn’t quite fit his proportions. He also liked swallowing shy guys and shooting piranha plants in Yoshi’s Crafted World, although he’s still working on his eye-hand coordination. Fortunately for us, he liked Todo Math enough for us to pay the subscription fee, so at least we could sneak in some education between his alphabet work books from Dollar Tree. The tablet also keeps him entertained during times when my wife and I were both occupied with Zoom meetings. Last weekend, I attended the virtual ASRS meeting, and the experience was less than satisfactory without the usual fanfare and networking of in-person meetings, as I alluded to in my op-ed piece. I hope to find better ways to adapt to this new normal.

The continuing pandemic necessitated a change in our summer vacation plans to some place closer. In lieu of zoos and theme parks, we searched for last minute Airbnb availabilities and landed a 3-night stay at a secluded waterfront property on Tomales Bay in Marshall. To prepare for our trip, I hit up my work colleague Ala for fishing advice and gear, purchased a 1-day sports fishing license, then scrutinized fishing tutorials and videos online in between adding finishing touches to my grant resubmission. We smartly avoided traffic by heading out late Monday morning, stopping briefly in Vacaville for Costco gas and RH outlet shopping, then masked up for AYCE BBQ at Hot Stone Korean Kitchen for lunch. We stopped by Petaluma for tackle advice, and left with sturgeon rigs, snap swivels, and frozen squid to prepare for shark fishing. After settling in, we opted for a 30-second drive over the 10-minute walk to Hog Island Oyster Co. for take-out Sweetwater and Kumamoto oysters, mussels, and a Dexter knife. Our cabin came with its own deck and dock, which provided the perfect waterfront setting for grilling seafood in our new portable grill before we drifted asleep to a view of the moonlit bay and the sound of gentle waves. We started Tuesday with a short hike through towering redwoods at the Samuel P Taylor State Park, clam linguine, fish & chips, and chowder for lunch at Station House Cafe, and H20-buffalo gelato from Palace Market. In the afternoon, I failed to catch any fish from our dock, but took advantage of low tide to collect crabs and snails with Westley from below deck. We lounged around Wednesday morning to views of jellyfish and bat rays swimming by the house, then returned to Point Reyes Station for wood-fired pizza and more gelato. We spent the afternoon at Shell Beach, where the cold water and lack of swim gear did not preclude sandcastle-building. On our last day, we collected Cowgirl Creamery cheese and baked goods from Brickmaiden and Bovine Bakery,  then headed to Tomales Point to hike the Tule Elk Reserve. Westley was able to spot a few elks with binoculars, but a missing cross piece shattered our kiting dreams for the strong winds.  We were more prepared for water play at the Heart’s Desire Beach, where water gun wielding and tube riding was enough to knock Westley out for the drive back home as we listened to our backlog of Wait Wait episodes. We spent our long weekend at home, watching the Disney fireworks via online streaming and listening to neighborhood firecrackers during another backyard camping adventure. By Monday, the rising COVID cases had forced dine-in venues in Marshall to re-close, and we were glad to have seized the short, yet refreshing summer retreat for our family.

With recent riots spreading across the country, we tried to distract our 4-year-old from the civil unrest and specter of racism looming over our nation. Westley was too disturbed by the boss fights to watch the conclusion of our Spiderman game, so we switched over to the Nintendo Labo robot kit, which gave him the chance to punch and smash through digital buildings on TV. For more physical exercise, we tried to remove his bike’s training wheels, but found it easier to have him learn on a balance bike by also removing the pedals. I had little time to spend with him, however, as my R01 resubmission consumed my evenings and caused significant sleep deprivation. Melody also lost some sleep to the BTS Bang Bang Con livestream concert that went virtual from the other side of the globe. The grant writing had cut off Kassandra’s quests through the Elysium Fields, Hades, and Atlantis in the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey expansion. Fortunately, news of the score on my other R01 proposal helped reinvigorate my confidence as I raced to the grant-writing finish line ahead of our family trip to Marshall.

We kept ourselves busy over Memorial Day weekend with yard work. Taking advantage of the cooler weather, we plucked Bermuda grass, pruned maple trees, trimmed back lavender, and dug out stubborn oak plants. I also tried to shape our weeping blue cedar and train my ficus bonsai. Several plants like our azalea and winter creeper needed replacements, which we found at Green Acres Nursery. They didn’t have the ukigomo “floating clouds” Japanese maple that we wanted, but I still set up a new Kichler spot light to mark the future location. Despite working mostly from home, I remain busy with several grant deadlines this month. Fortunately, the BrightFocus Foundation finally came through to fund my research, although COVID cut the actual amount, and several projects remain on hold amidst the pandemic. At home, I took up learning Spanish again with Duolingo. I appreciate the game-like format which pushes me to practice each day, but the educational value remains unclear. I also got Westley a new aquatic-themed Lego set to complement the Hot Wheels that we’re using to bribe his way to staying dry at night. I lost this past weekend to troubleshooting my home network, which was intermittently dropping connections. I finally found our TV soundbar to be the culprit, but not before tracking every MAC address and having to disconnect and reconnect each smart device. I did manage to put together a backyard camping trip last night, with a Coleman instant cabin and sleeping bags for all three of us. A sterno in a planting pot with river stones was perfect for roasting marshmallows for s’mores, while Turkish tea lights, USB string lights, and glow-sticks provided the mood lighting. Hearing the sounds from our water fountain gave us the illusion of camping near a mountain stream as we slept under the stars. Although the whole family awoke with mosquito bites having neglected bug protection, we all enjoyed the experience and hope to do it again.   

As the quarantine continued to drag on, I’ve been keeping myself busy with tech projects at home, such as installing an LED case fan for my PC and a Raspberry Pi-Hole for my home network. Our buggy Wink smarthome service suddenly decided to charge a subscription fee, which was the last straw that prompted me to jump ship for a more reliable Lutron Smart Bridge and Chamberlain MyQ garage opener. Bad luck kept me busy as well, with a nail that necessitated a car tow and a pricey tire replacement. Who knew that run-flats could not be patched? Meanwhile, the pandemic reminded us of the risks we take as healthcare workers, which helped get us off our butts to finally complete the estate planning we have been putting off with the help of Melody’s high school classmate as the lawyer and a traveling notary in our backyard to sign the papers. At work, our clinics have been ramping up and my lab members have begun resuming experiments. We are increasing our use of video visits, but my patient demographic are not so comfortable with technology so uptake has been poor. Back at Tupper Hall, we celebrated our two med students who spent the year in the lab over vegan chocolate cake in fully-masked socially-distanced fashion. The gathering reminded us of the weird times we live in, and gave us a chance to laugh about it.

Working from home this past month has given us interesting opportunities for eating in and exploring outside. We tried new recipes like French onion beef noodle soup, gochujang roast chicken, and soondubu jjigae in my new dolsot. We also ran blinded taste tests for hot chocolate and kimchi, which placed Godiva over Ghiradelli and Starbucks, and YD Tofu House over KP and Sinto. McDonald’s offered “thank you” meals for healthcare workers, which provided the occasional egg mcmuffins for breakfast, and chicken mcnuggets for Westley’s dinners. We also ordered T-Kumi and Ming Dynasty from DoorDash, and Uniboil and Chengdu Style from UberEats, thanks to coupons from our employer. Even Google stepped up and offered a free battery replacement for my Pixel, although UBreakIFix couldn’t get it right the first time, necessitating a second trip to Citrus Heights. Back home, we tried to keep Westley occupied with letter-writing practice and iPad games like Khan Academy Kids and Teach Your Monster to Read. We tried our hands at building 3D wooden puzzles, but our solar-powered rover failed to function. We also handcrafted some cardboard rifles together, but combined with our recent uptick in video gaming, led to some disturbing Westley doodling at daycare. To maintain our physical activity and sun exposure, we visited nearby playgrounds for badminton, frisbee, basketball, and kiting. It has not been windy enough for our Daiso kite to really take flight, but we’ve gotten some good mileage with our bikes. We’re also exploring more of our neighborhood on foot, including a corn field trail with an adjacent waterway that turned out to be home to an otter. Turkeys have been roaming our neighborhood as well, with two confirmed sightings in our own backyard. Feeling the isolation from social distancing, I’ve also taken to reconnecting with old friends from med school, college, and high school through Zoom. It’s hard to imagine what our new normal will be like after all this, but these past weeks have at least encouraged me to spend more time with family and friends.

With VBS, NIH study section, and ad board meetings all canceled last month, we’ve been practicing social distancing by sheltering in place amidst the COVID19 pandemic. Just days before our lab shut down, a turkey crashed through the next door lab window, further accentuating the apocalyptic atmosphere. Despite Merryhill shutting down, our employer secured back-up childcare for healthcare workers at the Hutchison CDC, which at least gave us some reprieve from having to home school Westley. With our time at home, we finally completed our tax returns, and began exploring tax loss harvesting strategies to soften the blow from the market downturn. I also tried to catch up on home projects like adding a GFCI outlet to Westley’s bathroom and waxing all the sinks and glass showers. In the evenings, we finished a refreshing Season 1 of Picard, which had our favorite Star Trek captain chasing Data’s daughter aboard a small freighter with a ragtag crew. I also checked out Gears 5 and Westworld Season 3, which both featured exciting new tech and kick-ass female protagonists to keep my adrenaline pumping. With our Yosemite family trip canceled this weekend, we celebrated Melody’s birthday over take-outs from Uniboil and Tasty Kitchen, along with Chocolate Nougat, Esterhazy, and Gloria cake slices from Konditorei. Fortunately, despite missing the run for toilet paper and other household essentials, we remain well-stocked for the quarantine. Now, we just need to stave off the cabin fever…

I embarked on NIH grant reviews earlier this month, only to find out in the meantime that my first R01 submission was not discussed, which led me to finally break out my new copy of Modern Warfare to start shooting at stuff. As expected, the new Call of Duty entry brought bigger explosions and better graphics, which helped show off my new computer hardware. This was also an opportune time to get back into gaming as continued expansion of the COVID-19 outbreak has led to cancellations of events and meetings, requiring frantic flight and hotel cancellations while the stock market plunged into bear market territory. With stores and restaurants likely to shutter their doors soon, we did manage to squeeze in a visit to Kevin Johnson’s Fixins Soul Kitchen for fried chicken, oxtail, and fried green tomatoes, as well as a massive meal at Tasty Kitchen with enough leftovers to feed us for the weekend. To avoid cabin fever amidst all the social distancing, I installed The Outer Worlds as part of a free Xbox Game Pass trial. The first-person RPG instantly reminded us of Fallout: New Vegas which was created by the same studio. Complete with a retro-futuristic aesthetic, sarcastic dark humor, and a Tactical Time Dilation (TTD) system reminiscent of VATS, the game promises to keep us entertained as we plan to hunker down at home to avoid the growing pandemic. 

We celebrated Westley’s birthday weekend by taking advantage of our new Sac Zoo membership, where Westley backed out of the giraffe encounter, but Melody finally got to see the anteater in action. Per his request, we celebrated Westley’s 4th birthday with Korean BBQ and a homemade chocolate cake, although he was more excited by the new Lego kits from grandma and grandpa including a space shuttle, dinosaur, and police van sets. The following week, we took advantage of our parents’ day out for some Uniboil action, then shared more spicy hot pot at home with my friend Ala’s family. We spent the remainder of February conferencing, with me attending Macula Society in San Diego and Melody attending APGO in Orlando afterwards. Still catching up on work I had put off for my recent R01 submission, I spent my entire meeting at the conference hotel, with only a quick ramen stop at Menya Ultra and seolleongtang at Woomiok on the way to and from the hotel. I would’ve liked to scout out the city ahead of our family trip this summer, but I was glad to also relax a little by the pool between working and networking. With Melody away this week, I tried to carry out daddy duty by taking Westley to his new swim lessons, neighborhood bike rides, Spiderman gaming, and Lego building, while also building a shiny white PC for my wife to accompany her new white desk. The patio at Taqueria Guadelajara was perfect for the spring weather, although fears of coronavirus meant sparse crowds at 99 Ranch. Melody returned on Leap Day to partake in Westley’s first official experience with Vietnamese pho, followed by a play date with a friend over Italian ice.  It’ll be interesting watching Westley’s social life develop, as we keep losing our own.