My Parents are NINJAS

Ever since I was a little kid, I thought it would be the super cool to be a ninja.  It was never an obsession – I don’t collect ninja weapons, ninja clothing, or even ninja movies – but I always thought it’d be pretty cool.  Their speed, their ability to conquer difficult challenges, their wisdom, and their stealth was always extremely appealing to me.  The first ninja I had ever seen was “Snake Eyes” from GI Joe, and I was drawn to how he always went about his work in a quiet, unassuming way while simultaneously wreaking utter havoc on Cobra Commander and his minions.

Now I realize why I like ninjas so much.

My parents are ninjas.

Ninjas are masters of stealth and secrecy, and it is said that the best ninjas are able to hide in plain sight.  Since it took me 30 years to figure out that my parents are ninjas, I suspect that they are ninjas of the highest order.  Allow me to explain.

I decided to purchase my first laptop when I moved to Seattle in 2003.  Thinkpads were renowned for their solid construction and reliability, but having just moved 2000 miles from home, a Thinkpad simply wasn’t in my budget.  So, I purchased a Dell 600m complete with the first Intel Centrino chip in September of ’03 and satisfied my basic computing needs.  The only time laptop envy would arise would be when I visited my brother or my father and used their Thinkpads…the superior construction was perceptible through the solid feel of the Thinkpad keyboards versus my flimsier, lighter 600m.

My 600m finally decided to go to laptop heaven in March of 2008.  I thought about getting another laptop since I had access to discounts for Thinkpads, but my wife and I are trying to save for a house and we have an adequate desktop at home, so I decided to forgo the purchase and make do with what we had.

While this was occurring, my father was getting a new Thinkpad of his own through work, though he would have to return it once he retired in a few years.  I told him that I could potentially get him better pricing than his work, but his employers decided to get a lower-tiered Thinkpad through their connections instead.  Bah asked me why I hadn’t gotten a new laptop yet, so I explained to him that at that point a laptop was a “want” and not a “need” and we were trying to save money for more important things.

My manager at work, however, was in the market for a new laptop, so I helped him to get a Thinkpad at discount and had it delivered to the office.  I had heard that build quality had declined since IBM sold their laptop division to Lenovo, but I was quite impressed with the computer that arrived at the office.  He had never owned a laptop before, so I helped him get his laptop and wireless network set up at home.

After a few short weeks had passed, Bah started asking me about what kind of Thinkpad he should get.  I was a bit confused as to why he was asking since he had just gotten one from work, but I assumed he was asking because he wanted to order a better laptop for himself that he could keep once he retired.  I told him I could look more into it when he was closer to retirement since the current technology would be outdated by the time he was ready to buy.

To my surprise, I got an e-mail a few days later from him with information on a laptop he had built off of the Lenovo website, asking me if the specs and components he had selected were good.  I told him that I didn’t realize that he was ready to buy something that quickly and told him to ask my brother about it since he’s more tech savvy than I.  I told him that I could send the info to some friends of mine if he wanted to get a more qualified opinion and he told me to do so.  My friends were slow in replying to my e-mail, and my dad asked me almost daily if I had heard from them.  After several days, I told him again that I didn’t realize that he was that ready to buy something since he had just gotten a new laptop from work.  He eventually got all the feedback he needed from my friends and brother and I didn’t hear anything more of it.

One night I was chatting online with my dad and the conversation touched briefly on politics.  My dad has never been heavily into politics and neither have I, but we bantered back and forth about the importance of the primaries in Pennsylvania for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  We chatted until about 11:30, when my dad said he was headed off to bed.  He told me I should pay attention tomorrow to what happened and that it would be a “big day”.  After we signed off, I thought to myself, “Wow…I guess this competition between Obama & Clinton really is drawing people in – even Bah is into it!”

The next morning, our administrative assistant brought a box from Lenovo back to my office.  I was on the phone with a client and was rather confused as to why it had come.  The thought ran through my head that Lenovo had made some sort of mistake and sent another laptop for my manager and I mentioned this to the admin, but he replied, “No…it’s addressed to you.”  I looked at the shipping label and confirmed it was addressed to me…and then the truth hit me like a ton of bricks.

“BAH!!!!!!!!”

I had been had.  The entire time my dad had been asking me about laptop configuration and having me e-mail my friends, he had not been asking for himself - he was having me build my dream laptop.  It was then that I realized that I had been raised by ninjas.  Not only had I been duped by my parents, but they had used me to dupe myself!!!  If that isn’t evidence of high-level ninjanicity, I don’t know what is.

When I talked to Bah later that day, he professed with childlike glee that he had been following the UPS tracking information to know when the gift would be delivered.

My fascination with ninjas now makes perfect sense.  Being the progeny of ninjas made me biologically predisposed to be fascinated with them.  It has now become patently clear, however, that my parents are ninjas of the highest order, capable of unleashing unpredictable, overwhelming sneak attacks of affection for which one has no possible defense.  So, if you happen to see Bah & Mom roaming around your neighborhood, be forewarned…you could find yourself overwhelmed as well. 

Thanks Bah & Mom…words cannot hope to express how grateful I am that God has blessed me with parents…er, ninjas, like you…but I figured I’d give it my best shot. ;)

An Introduction to Inverse Mochi

After we lost Mochi, the house was incredibly quiet.  The air was thick with grief, and Carolyn and I would be awash in tears intermittently throughout the day.  After tidying up the house, we decided to donate Mochi's leftover food and treats to the local animal shelter in Seattle.  While we were there, we decided to go inside and look at the dogs.  Though there were quite a few cute ones, we weren't ready to bring any of them home with us.  Over the course of the week, however, Carolyn and I began looking at dogs from the local shelters online, but nothing caught our eye.  Though we weren't sure we were ready to get another dog, we figured it wouldn't hurt to look.

I had the day off on Good Friday, and Carolyn doesn't work on Fridays, so we went to check out the local shelters again.  After running some errands in the morning, we headed down to the shelter in Kent, where the Sakodas found Mochi some 13 years prior.  Carolyn and I went to the back of the shelter where all of the dog kennels were and walked slowly down the aisle.  Two particular black dogs caught Carolyn's eye, so we decided to take them out one by one to play in the yard outside.

The first, named Ray, was a jet black year-old lab/chow mix.  He was in a kennel with a far more aggressive dog and was extremely quiet and docile.  While Carolyn was filling out the paperwork to allow us to play with him, I went back to the kennel to see him again.  He was lying down in the middle of the kennel while the aggressive dog was sitting right at the entrance near the fence, so I beckoned for him to come forward to take a closer look at him.  As he made his way forward, the other dog pounced on him and bit him hard enough to induce several yelps of pain.  After a few yelps, the more aggressive dog let go and Ray stopped trying to make his way to the entrance.  The aggressive dog stood over him, drool from his jaws dripping on Ray's back.  I felt horrible. 

Once we got Ray out of the kennel, he was very friendly and mild-mannered, and Carolyn immediately took to him.  He wandered around the yard adjacent to the shelter, sniffing around, his curious eyes taking everything in like a child seeing the world for the first time.  We had a ball and tried a game of fetch, but Ray would only chase after the ball until something else captured his attention. 

We then took out the second dog, Suzy, a black lab/retriever mix with a white spot on her chest.  As soon as she got out of her kennel, Carolyn found her tough to handle.  She refused to sit, strained against her leash, and tired Carolyn out before we were even able to get outside.  So, our decision was quickly made - either take Ray home with us, or go check out other kennels.

I'm not partial to black dogs for some reason, so I wasn't particularly fond of Ray.  He did have a great personality, but my hand smelled after petting him, and I figured since he was part chow (and chows are typically fragrant dogs due to more oil on their skin) he'd leave an odor around the house and on anything he rubbed up against.  Nevertheless, Carolyn was insistent that this was the dog we should get, so I figured I should probably pray for some wisdom.  Now I know this is not the most theologically proper way to go about doing this, but I told God that if Car said she wanted Ray at an "8" or better on a scale of 1-10 then we would bring him home with us.

After my brief prayer, I asked Car how badly she wanted Ray, and she paused, then said, "...well, I guess a 7 1/2..." (relief flooded my heart and I mentally prepared to leave the shelter)..."...or 8."  At this point I thought to myself, "well, she DID say 7 1/2 first..." and "...she doesn't know about what I had prayed about anyway!"  Nevertheless, she did say 8, and we decided that we would take Ray home with us.

Once we got Ray home, our next step was to give him a proper name.  After all, the only reason he was named Ray was because he didn't actually have a name on his paperwork at the shelter.  Since he was a stray, the animal control officers named him by crossing out the letters "s" and "t" on his information page.  After referring to him as "Inverse Mochi" for a little while due him having the opposite coloring from Mochi, Carolyn chose "Kuma" as a perfect name for him.  He has HUGE paws from his chow roots, and his mouth droops in the corners just like a bear, so Kuma fits him perfectly since it means "bear" in Japanese.

It's now been a few weeks since we adopted him from the shelter, and he has been a huge blessing to us.  We got him not to replace Mochi, but to help us through the grieving process, and God has used him to do so much more than that.  It is remarkable how many similarities he shares with Mochi - both were from the same shelter in Kent, both were adopted as 1 year old pups, both were strays, both were 35 lbs, and both are the friendliest dogs you could ever meet.  Kuma seems to share many of Mochi's idiosyncracies, and Mochi remains alive in our memories because Kuma reminds us of some of the things that he used to do.  However, since he's a much younger and far more agile, I need to take him for runs every day...and he's also able to jump up on Car when she's asleep on the couch!  Not only does he bring joy to our home, but he's also helping to keep me in shape!

Carolyn and I consider ourselves incredibly blessed.  Not only does Kuma have a terrific personality, but he's already housebroken as well!  He rings a bell on the door any time he needs to go out, and aside from an accident the first morning after we brought him home, he hasn't gone to the bathroom indoors since.  And as far as him having oily skin and smelling up the house, it turns out it was just the drool from the other dog on his back that made him smell - I actually like the way he smells!  You could chalk it up to "luck" that we would find such a terrific dog after losing Mochi, but we believe it is yet another example of God showing us how deeply involved He is in our lives, providing us just what would help us most in our time of need, on Good Friday no less.  Hopefully you'll get to meet Kuma sometime soon!

Currently Listening The Best of the Mighty Clouds of Joy By The Mighty Clouds of Joy We're Blessed see related

Not just man's best friend...

We had to put Mochi down on Sunday night.  He was 14, and had fought a good fight.  He was my first dog, and it will be virtually impossible for another dog to live up to the standard he set. 

We first found out Mochi was sick nine months ago when we took him to the vet after he was acting lethargic at home.  The first vet at Petsmart took an x-ray and told us that he had two tumors in his stomach, and the outlook was grave.  So, we gathered the Sakodas and Fengs at the Beacon Hill house and prayed for a miracle.  We figured the recovery from surgery would be far too hard on him since he was 13 years old, so we prayed the tumors would go away...for something...anything...to happen.

We took him to a 24 hour vet for an ultrasound, and they told us they didn't find any tumors, but Mochi was suffering from immune mediated hemolytic anemia.  Basically his body was attacking its own red blood cells, so the vet prescribed a couple different medications, gave Mochi a transfusion, and sent him home with us.  Mochi was almost immediately his old self again, running around the house, greeting us at the door, eating everything in sight.  And so it was for the next nine months...blissful times with Mochi reigned in the Beacon Hill house.

Last Friday, Carolyn noticed that Mochi wasn't himself again.  An electrician came to the house to do some work, and Mochi didn't move at all.  Normally he would greet everyone at the door and bark endlessly until he had been thoroughly greeted himself.  He would always feign an initial gruff assertiveness, but it didn't take long for him to show his true colors - he was a lover, not a fighter.  In fact, one time when Carolyn was growing up, the Sakodas had locked Mochi in her room when they left for a little while.  While they were gone, a thief broke into the house though Carolyn's window and ended up taking quite a bit of stuff.  I'm sure Mochi gave that thief quite a start, but his loving nature must've come shining through pretty quickly.  Not the greatest of guard dogs, but definitely the best of companions.

As the weekend wore on, we noticed that Mochi wasn't eating again, nor was he moving all that much.  We had guests over, though, so I assumed it was because the regular "rhythm" of the house had changed and that he'd be back to normal once our routine was back in good order.  On Sunday, however, Mochi still hadn't eaten, and I noticed his paws were quite cold.  Carolyn checked his gums and they were pale and white, so we knew something was terribly wrong.

Carolyn ended up taking Mochi to the vet while the rest of us played in a rec-league volleyball game.  I returned to the house shortly after to set things up for a birthday party for a good friend of ours when the phone rang.  Carolyn had called earlier saying that they were still running some tests on Mochi so it'd be a while before they heard anything, but as soon as I answered the phone, Carolyn's sniffle told me otherwise.  I asked another of our friends to take care of the party for me while I was gone and raced off to the vet.

Numbness set in on the drive over.  Carolyn had said that the vet ran an ultrasound and found a tumor on Mochi's spleen, another on his stomach, some internal bleeding, and fluid collecting in a sac around his heart that would eventually have led to cardiac arrest.  She said they had some options, but things didn't look good.  I tried to hope beyond hope...

When I stepped into the office, Mochi greeted me with his ever-expressive eyes and the familiar, rhythmic thumpety-thump of his tail.  He wasn't whining, so I figured he wasn't in pain, but I could see he wasn't feeling himself either.  The vet came in and said that there were things that could be done...but we realized it wouldn't be fair to Mochi.  They could've drained the fluid from his heart, performed surgery to remove the tumors...but the vet said we'd just be racing the clock until everything came back again.  Putting Mochi through the rigors of surgery and the difficulties of recovery would have been hard on him, and it would have been selfish of us to choose to make him go through all of that for our benefit.  The vet said that he probably wasn't in very much pain right now, so we regretfully decided to let him go while he was still comfortable.  Carolyn's parents arrived before the vet came to administer the injection, and we had a little "goodbye" ceremony for our beloved friend. 

The vet warned us that following the injection, sometimes a dog will become disoriented and stand up or twitch a little, but the dog will have passed away after 15 seconds.  Mochi lay on the table the way I had seen him many times at the house - heads between his paws, expressive eyes taking it all in.  The vet said, "It's done"...I saw Mochi's eyes slowly close...and he was gone.  It still seemed like he was still there, though, just taking a nap, ready to wake up whenever something roused his interest, but not before.

It's been two days now since Mochi left, and I swear I hear him snoring when I lie awake at night.  I still expect to hear him shuffle to his feet when I come to do the door or get out of bed in the morning.  I still turn the corner from our bedroom, expecting to see him laying on his back next to the couch, legs in the air and belly exposed.  Sometimes I miss him so much I can barely breathe, nor do I want to take in another painful breath.

Mochi was more than just a best friend.  Aside from my family and my wife, he was one of the most tangible expressions of God's unconditional love that I've experienced in my lifetime.  He always came running, was always happy, and always wanted to be where we were, whether it be taking a nap or going for a walk.  The world would certainly be a better place if I could love like he did, and I will be eternally grateful for the time that God gave me to hang out with him.

Grief is a strange thing.  Some people try to avoid it at all costs, some people seem to bathe in it.  I think it's healthy to grieve since it's a natural part of the ebb and flow of life.  Feeling the ache down to my very core is at times unbearable, but it reminds me just how deep Mochi's love was, and in turn, how much deeper God's love is for us. 

I miss you, Mochi-san.  Thanks for taking such good care of us.

Currently Listening Holding Nothing Back By Tim Hughes Clinging to the Cross see related

SOOOPERCHARGERS!!!! My MVP for the game is...

The Bolts hung tough with the Colts despite playing with a hobbled Gates (who left the stadium in a walking boot, from what I hear), losing LT early on, and losing Rivers in the third quarter.  Thankfully Michael Turner is a stud and a half as a backup running back who could start for just about any other team and Billy Volek is an above-average backup QB.  When McNair was out for the Titans, Volek would come in and absolutely light it up through the air.  Consider this impressive stat:

"Since 1970, Billy leads all NFL quarterbacks in passing yards (2,789) in his first 10 starts. During a two-game stretch in 2004, Volek passed for 426 yards against Kansas City and 492 yards at Oakland, becoming only the fourth player in NFL history to record back-to-back 400-yard passing games and just the second player in NFL history to record 900 or more passing yards over a two-game span."

You don't get that many yards through the air unless you know what you're doing.  Were it not for Air McNair's abilities, I think Billy Volek could've been the Titan's starting QB for years.  So, when the Bolts signed him and when he came in to play after Rivers was hurt, I was concerned because of potential rust but not worried cause I knew about his previous accomplishments.  He did a great job coming in and winning the game, but he's not my MVP.

I hadn't totally been on board the Rivers bandwagon throughout the past few years because I'm a HUGE Drew Brees fan, and I thought the Bolts made a huge mistake in letting him go.  Unfortunately, a similar situation has risen in Cleveland with Derek Anderson bringing excitement back to the Dawg Pound while Brady Quinn waits in the wings.  It'll be interesting to see how that plays out...but that's off topic for now.  To this point, Rivers just seemed to get it done but didn't particularly impress me.  These past two weeks, however, Rivers has shown me his mettle and demonstrated he can get it done when the game falls on his shoulders.  He throws harder than Brees, can make the pinpoint throws deep (as evidenced by his TD pass to Chambers-that was as close to perfect as you're going to get!), and doesn't wilt under pressure (as evidenced by his numerous third-and-long conversions).  So, I'm on the bandwagon...Rivers is my hero...but not my MVP.

I was worried after the Colts first drive that our defense would be lit up ALL DAY with Peyton hitting receiver after receiver.  And, considering Peyton threw for 402 yards, the defense was.  The D came up with just enough stops to win the game, though, and I think the Colts had to feel that it was over when Marlon McRee absolutely blew up Reggie Wayne after he caught a pass over the middle near the end of the game.  That was one of the hardest hits I've seen in a LONG time, and it came at the perfect time.  A second earlier and it would have been pass interference...a second later, and Wayne probably would have hung on to the pass for the first and a fresh set of downs.  But McRee and the D were not my MVP either.

Darren Sproles came up HUGE when he had to.  You gotta love a small guy with wheels and moves, and he made the defense look like it was standing still on his touchdown reception.  By the time the Colts D knew what was going on, Sproles was 15 yards past them & headed towards the end zone.  But Sproles is not my MVP.

There is one person whom has gotten very little press since the game, and it's hard to believe that he hasn't gotten more credit for what he did.  With the game on the line and the Bolts backed up DEEP in their own territory, this guy came through time and time again.  They must need heat lamps on the sideline just to keep him alive with the  ice water running through his veins.  Consider the following:

With 6:00 left in the third quarter and the Bolts backed up just about as far as you can go:

4-6-SD6

(6:07) M.Scifres punts 56 yards to IND 38, Center-D.Binn. T.Rushing to SD 50 for 12 yards (J.Tucker).

With 10:55 left in the 4th quarter and the Bolts backed up to their own 23:

4-7-SD23

(11:03) M.Scifres punts 55 yards to IND 22, Center-D.Binn. T.Rushing to IND 44 for 22 yards (L.Naanee).

And finally, with 1:00 left to go, the Bolts backed up to the 14 yard line...Scifres unleashed this beauty...

4-3-SD14

(1:42) M.Scifres punts 66 (???!!!!) yards to IND 20, Center-D.Binn. T.Rushing to IND 32 for 12 yards (D.Binn, M.Harris).

True...offense scores points and defense prevents them, but field position was a HUGE part of the Bolts hanging on to win.  If you give Peyton Manning a short field to work with every time he gets the ball, you're probably going to have a pretty quite plane flight home.  Every time he punted the ball, the commentators were gasping for air.  His punts not only traveled far, but he had some incredible hang time, allowing the coverage unit to get down the field and maintain good field position.

His final punt, though, was a work of perfection.  With the game on the line and the Chargers backed up in their own real estate, Scifres unleashed a BEAST of a kick...a 66 yarder that hung up in the air FOREVER.  It wasn't one of these punts that hit the ground after 40 yards and rolled forward another 26 yards...it was 66 yards through the air.  For those of you who remember, Darren Bennett was good...but Scifres is an absolute BEAST, and I'm convinced his work allowed us to hang on and win the game.

A 66 yard punt in crunch time with the game on the line??!!!  Get that man a heat lamp, ladies and gentlemen, cause his internal organs have GOT to be getting frostbite!!!

Encanto jugar el American Futbol!!!!

Playing football on Thursday (5 TD receptions, 4 sacks): 1 Advil

Playing football on Friday (2 TD receptions, 3 sacks): 2 Advil

Playing football on Sunday (2 TD receptions, 4 sacks) w/ my wife (2 receptions, 1 pick): PRICELESS

...running home in the freezing rain after work on Monday on ridiculously sore legs: 2 Advil

BRING ON THE FOOTBALL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!!!!