Technology and the holidays

So Alli and I are out shopping together for an adopt-a-family gift she and Nika are contributing to in religious education class. The family creates a short wish list for Christmas, including essentials and special gifts they can't provide for themselves.

After we settle on some gifts, Alli mentions that she has her own wish list for the holidays. Her list is detailed enough that I can't commit it to memory, so she mentions she has it written on her iPod Touch. So I'm thinking it would be great if she emails it to me. Since her iPod requires a WiFi connection, and the store we're at doesn't offer one, I enable the WiFi hotspot on my smart phone. Her iPod connects, she emails the document, and voila her list is now on my phone.

Sure, the geek in me appreciates the technology. Not only was the solution quick (less than 30 seconds), it worked as designed. And yes, while it might appear my daughter is spoiled (I suppose she is to a degree), it's worth mentioning she bought her iPod with her own, hard-earned money.

That said, it still hit me ... my, how fortunate we are to have such luxuries.

Short (but great) visits

A wise brother once told me, and I've always agreed, that a short visit is better than none. This week we had three of them.

First, a visit with my surgeon, Dr. Cameron. The reason? We wanted to determine if the size of my aortic root, which is where the aortic artery attaches to the heart, hadn't changed in the last six months. It had dilated somewhat between my 2008 surgery and a June 2009 checkup, and after fooling a few since then, hadn't actually changed since. The result? No measurable change in over 1 year. Great! The more determinations like this, the better. We'll see him, and his great office staff, again next autumn. Hopefully it'll be another 10 minute conversation like this one!

Second this week was a fun get-together among the four youngest in my immediate family. I have to say I truly appreciate the humor each one weaves into everyday life -- I think I'm guilty of being the serious one too often! Here's a picture of the four of us.

Third, Eddie and I visited Johns Hopkins University on Saturday morning for an engineering and sciences open house. Eddie's only a high school sophomore and far from thinking seriously about what to study in college and where, so it was a relaxed, exploratory visit. Many nice Hopkins students answered our questions, and by skipping the afternoon what-it's-like-to-live-here sessions, we were back in time for him to attend his homecoming game. Perfect!

Short times, but great times, indeed.

Looking for a good used car

I'm looking for a well-maintained small sedan or hatch for a good friend. Must be automatic trans and $3000 or less. Know a car like this?

A spring in my step

I had a most excellent checkup with Dr. Cameron today. Two other doctors, and some tests which proved misleading, had raised some concerns recently. But now with the right data and some good perspective, I have a fresh start to the spring season. Wow, what a great feeling.

Background, if it interests you, goes something like this. Last July, when researching my pulmonary issue, we had noticed some dilation (aka widening) of the aortic root, the part of the artery near the heart. This dilation wasn't there before my September 2008 Ross Procedure, and it wasn't there immediately afterward, but had progressed in the 9 months afterward. Dilation isn't uncommon after the Ross, because the pulmonary tissue moved there isn't accustomed to the higher pressures on the right side of the heart. Continued dilation can ultimately lead to tears or ruptures (aka dissection), which isn't a good thing. But fortunately in most Ross patients the dilation stops, never causing a problem again.

In November and February I had tests that seemed to suggest the dilation was continuing, but it turns out they weren't the right tests for the job. The tests were echocardiograms, and are generally useful for measuring things like ventricle size and valve insufficiencies (leaks). But in an adult it turns out that measuring the aorta with an echo can mislead. In my case the numbers in a single test bounced between "the high 4's and 5.5" centimeters. This misled one doctor who too quickly commented surgery might be necessary to redo all the work that had been done in 2008. Yikes, that was a wake up call.

So, today we learn from Dr. Cameron that a CT scan instead is the best way to monitor the aorta size in an adult. My CT, done back in February, shows my aorta hasn't measurably changed since last July! That is awesome, and completely dismisses the notion that a procedure of any kind is needed. This is something we simply keep an eye on, measuring again with another CTA in October, and hoping no further changes occur. No medications are needed since my blood pressure is fairly low already, and I'm great with that!

One change I do have to follow is in lifting weights. From here out it's suggested that I don't lift anything more than 50 lbs. Basically I'm treated like someone with an aortic aneurysm, even though it's technically my pulmonary tissue that's dilated. Since there's no data on this for people like me, we play it safe. So, a few changes at the gym and less moving furniture and such, but I think I can get used to that!

All in all, a great day, and a huge relief. On to springtime fun!

It comes down to tires

I have to admit, I love good tires on our cars. Not 'good' as in long-lasting, necessarily, but in qualities that enhance performance and safety in all types of weather.

Consider the winter. I much prefer four modern snow and ice tires over all-wheel drive. Remember, you must do 3 things with any car -- accelerate, turn, and stop. All-wheel drive helps only with one of those -- acceleration -- and actually degrades the other two.

As this ABC News story my sister shared reminded me, though, it's also the age of your tires that matters. In short, tires age start to age the day they're made, and old tires can fail in ugly ways. I checked our cars and the tires were all less than 6 months old when we bought them, with the oldest set now almost 5 years old.

The Tire Rack, where I've bought most of our tires, has a good article on tire aging. The article has some good points about how tire inflation, speed rating, and where the car is stored can all affect a tire's lifetime. You'll also find a complete description on determining the age of your tires.

When will we have live street view?

I've been thinking. Today we can use the Internet to look at street-level view in Google, see photos on a map taken by Flickr users, immerse ourselves in photos stitched together by Microsoft Photosynth, and even walk indoors with EveryScape. And of course we can look at live webcams, like this high quality camera in Amsterdam.

So when will we bring all of this together, so we have the best of everything in one place? Heck, imagine adding in the video from webcams mounted on street lamps, city buses, light rail, garbage trucks, UPS trucks, and the like. And then imagine bringing in photos and video streaming from smart phones, cameras, and other personal items like Rovio.

Ultimately, we'll have live street view for the world. Sure, it will bring a host of privacy issues. But mostly, it'll just be cool.