HeyJude

True sense of camaraderie here

posted on 10/23/2006 1:10:19 PM in (1) Comments

Just a short note to say that I find people here very friendly and sincere, and so welcoming! How long has NewBlog been around?!

aloha from sunny Silicon Valley!

Good health is precious

posted on 10/20/2006 8:59:43 PM in (1) Comments

Don't take it for granted no matter what your age! I've always considered myself healthy and fit, never catching the flu and rarely a cold. Yet for the last 7 days I have been confined to bed due to postural (standing) headaches, nausea and stiffening of the neck. Lost 10 pounds, underwent several doctor's visits, familiarized myself with the logistical nightmare of dealing with my HMO for authorization for this test or a neurologist. It's taken me a week just to get an MRI, which I had done and it looks like I'm fine and what's causing my headaches is a mystery, but I don't have an aneurysm in the works, nor a brain tumor, nor meningitis so I'm OK. I'll live!

Thank God I am employed and have medical insurance because the first question any doctor will ask is, "do you have insurance?"

All in all, I know not to take my good health for granted and think of myself as immune from illness just because I'm active physically!!

Wishing all of you the best of health now and always.....

send your aloha spirit to Baghdad

posted on 10/10/2006 6:00:27 PM in (2) Comments

I served in the Hawaii Air National Guards back from '76 to '84 (yes, I'm that "old!"). I belonged to a combat communications squadron - picture a communications unit like the old show on "M*A*S*H!" I'm really dating myself now :).

Anyway, one of my former fellow airmen back in Hawaii has made the Air Guard his career - he is serving in Iraq at the moment. He sent me the following email (feel free to email him if you'd like, he would welcome a friendly email!).

Regardless of your political views on whether we should be there or not, Iraqi children are the innocent victims touched by the war. Can you imagine what they've witnessed in the last several years and the ongoing violence they live under? Yet it doesn't take much to make these children happy, a soccer ball, a piece of candy, a nice backpack to carry their books to school in, they don't need high tech toys like a Playstation or Xbox!!

If you can donate any of the items that Nolan mentions below in his email, just think how happy your gesture will make an Iraqi child! Your gesture will truly demonstrate the "spirit of aloha" that lives within us all no matter where we are from.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nolan
Date: Oct 10, 2006 5:00 AM
Subject: CMOC Medical Clinic
To: nolan.kanekuni@bdab.centaf.af.mil


Many of you have been asking for more information on the CMOC Medical Clinic that we have been volunteering at. Here is more information on this effort.

The Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC) medical clinic is a small medical clinic opened on 20 Sept 2005 by the Army and is located inside the wire on the Army Special Forces camp. In January 2006, the 447 EMEDS (located here at Sather AB) began to support this program and now provides medical and dental support on Thursdays and Saturdays each week. The clinic operates from 1300 – 1600 hrs on each of these days and treats Iraqi men, women and children of all ages.

When we go out to visit the clinic on Thursdays and Saturdays we play soccer with the children, swing on the swing sets with them or just talk and play with them.


Along with medical support from the 447 EMEDS, there is a need for donations. If you, your loved ones or a church back home would like to donate items. Please have them mail it to:

447 AEG/EMEDS
ATTN: CMOC
APO, AE 09321

Items such as clothing, blankets, school supplies, toiletries, toys and soccer ball pumps have been donated in the past. The kids really want things such as flashlights and backpacks to carry their school books.

This is a great program and any support that we can generate to help out will be greatly appreciated.

Nolan

"A friend will come and bail you out of jail, a true friend would be sitting next to you saying "what the heck happened?"







CMOC crew



Iraqi "keikis" (children in Hawaiian) playing

wired in silicon valley....

posted on 9/20/2006 12:46:44 PM in (0) Comments

OK, so I'll be honest and admit my motivation to create my blog was the increased bandwidth that ripway.com was enticing its users with... hopefully, I can add something worth reading :-).

I work as a meeting planner for the chip industry (NOT potato chips, but semiconductor chips!) here in San Jose, so I have a deep appreciation for high tech.

Sometimes I think I have too much appreciation for how technology has "improved" my life! I'm constantly "wired" via my Treo 24/7 (minus 5 hours for sleep). When I have my laptop I am compelled to search for a free wireless signal wherever I am. If I don't respond to an email within 30 minutes I feel neglectful! The only break I get to really get away from it all is when I go on a hike up in the mountains and even then on occasion my husband or I will try our cellphones to see if we can get a signal and to call home.

The one blessing of technology's advances is that it's made our world a true community -- we're wired globally. And for this I shall not complain!