Stream of Consciousness ... by Lei and Jaime: 2020

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Pancake before bedtime

Last week, Alexis asked if she can have pancakes. It was 8:50 at night. Yes at night! Since I am happen to feed her any healthy food as long as they are not sweets, I was happy to make some. It's been 5 days and they have been having pancakes every night around 8:30pm. A new tradition! Jealous of their metabolism. Look at these happy face. See photo.

It’s a good day for democracy and decency

I am relieved. I can finally breathe again and have hope for our nation.

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

My wise Alexis.

I don't know about you but I have been in quite an emotional rollercoaster since last night watching the elections. Alexis just gave me this to help me cope. See photo. She is so wise and sweet!

Isabel is taller than me

Ahhhhhh. It's nov 4 2020. Isabel is growing tall fast. 12.5 year old and 5 feet 2 I think. Still size 5 shoes but that will change as well.

Sunday, October 18, 2020

My new desk set up

Finally upgraded from my balcony foldable table that was tiny to this beautiful wooden table.

It is also foldable so I can break down the set up every night. This room is my bedroom at night, my office during the day, in my workout room early in the morning. Here is to tiny living :-)

Make time to vote

Alexis, isabel and I made time to volunteer for a grassroots effort to write post cards remotely to swing state citizens for various senate and house races this election. Gotta do something to fight for democracy.

This is a card Alexis wrote. All the verbiage are provided by the movement. We just had to hand write the words and mail it to the address provided.

Don't know if it makes a difference but at least we are doing something and my kids are learning about our political system early ;-)

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Isabel the chef

Isabel just made the most amazing dinner rolls. I am trying to be low carb and I still ate a whole one after I already had dinner. We had 7 rolls already among the 5 of us all AFTER already eating dinner. I am still thinking Of having another one. It's that good. 😋

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Alexis and her Littlest Pet Shop performs a song

Here is Alexis performing a song with her three LPS

via https://youtu.be/KPI87079rDI

Singing performance by Littlest pet shop

Isabel and Alexis came up with this highly entertaining and clever way to play with their Little pet shop. Each choose a song to play. They alternate turns and set up staging for their favorite to perform the song. So creative and hilarious. They can go on for hours. Awesome as it’s only a little screen time and so much imagination!

via https://youtu.be/NZyzB14osHE

Alexis does masterful lip sync

https://youtu.be/jqKus9VC19Q

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Isabel drew this yesterday

This one was based purely on her imagination. She is really getting the details of face and you can feel an inner depth with this one. What do you think?

Friday, June 26, 2020

Our drawing session - AirPod shopkins

Tonight's drawing session led by Alexis.

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Custom made Father’s Day card by isabel and Alexis

This year the kids went all out with their creativity on custom made Father's Day cards for Jaime, Bito (Jaime dad), Laoye (my dad), and uncle Roy.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing fathers and grandfathers today! This article is inspired by my dad who is brilliant, fearless, and my hero.

My dad is 76 years old and takes long walks with my mom every morning and works out regularly. Thankfully both of my parents are healthy and safe during the current craziness. He still works full time even though he is “retired” and he loves it. He is a world renowned physicist and before COVID, travelled all over the world sharing his research with large oil consortiums. Now he does it via Zoom!

He has instilled in me long ago that “I can do anything!” as well the fact that “he can do anything at any age.” :-). I love the kid nature of my dad. He is forever young because of this.

He shared this 90 second video on our family wechat. This video is hilarious and inspiring. The Chinese are always direct and this is no exception. The title written in Chinese says “Why the heck should I be careful? If I don’t 'go crazy and have fun now' I will be in the dirt soon” – Enjoy! You can read the rest of this article on my blog - https://bemycareercoach.com/soft-skills/growth-mindset/never-too-old.html

Saturday, June 20, 2020

Never too old to ...

Take risks, have fun, learn something new

via https://youtu.be/TMhe2F-HBnM

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Kids project today - a shopkins concert event ;-)

I was working non stop today and then walked out at end of day to see this elaborate set up with stage back stage and a whole program of each shopkins performing key songs they like. So cute.

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Alexis and isabel so happy for summer break

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Egg tart made from scratch

We made egg tart today from scratch. Pretty easy and delicious. Too bad it's not that healthy 😬 better than some other desserts

Saturday, May 2, 2020

A fun day at home to celebrate isabel turning 12

Complete with a super duper lunch, turkey taco dinner, and home made s’more cheesecake pops plus a zoom party with her school friends, a house party with her cousins, Isabel had a super fun day. On top of that, she loved her surprise video, her new backpack, and new wireless headset. Birthday party success :-)

A very happy 12th birthday for isabel

We had an amazing virtual birthday party for isabel today with her school friends on zoom. That was so much fun! It was great to see all the kids happy faces and seeing them naturally hanging out and playing games virtually.

The highlight was definitely the surprise video everyone made for isabel. She was so surprised and we cannot stop watching it. One of the parents, Amy put it together quickly and masterfully and all her friends send in clips It is hands down the most memorable birthday gift for Isabel.

This is a video of Isabel being surprised by this video. Love her reactions. ;-)

Such a wonderful birthday! Happy 12th birthday, Isabel.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

A little humor - my top 5

I wrote this on my soft skills blog. Enjoy!

https://bemycareercoach.com/soft-skills/emotion-regulation/a-little-humor-here-are-my-top-5.html

Lei

Saturday, April 18, 2020

A little limbo fun on sat afternoon

Impromptu game with our jump rope. Isabel was the winner. I failed miserably. 🤪

via https://youtu.be/aumRQvk5BaM

Monday, April 13, 2020

Isabels new elearning schedule

Isabel wanted to rewrite it. I am so proud how organized and independent she has been in managing her learning. She stressed a bit a few weeks back and now she is on top of it. Wow she is growing up fast.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Celebrating my coming to America

Today marks my 36th years in coming to America. Surprising especially since I am only 32. Haha! My kids were so sweet and drew me these. 🥰

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Zombie 2 - flesh and bones.

via https://youtu.be/AwCGSWBj6P0

Wii is still so fun

We got this for our wedding almost 13 year ago. Haven’t played in two years but it’s so fun. Especially Wii fit

via https://youtu.be/lv0ZWiK_u0c

Isabel on her first zoom call for aptos for math

She looks nice and cozy. Amazing how quickly our kids are adapting to the "new normal"

Alexis writing assignment today

So heart warming and special. I wanted to smile and cry at the same time.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Zombie 2 - like the zombies do

Omg the girls love all the music from zombie 2. This is for the song Like the Zombies do

via https://youtu.be/u2OUqz9INC8

Zombie 2 - we are winning

Blessed to be entertained by my two creative kids. They love the zombie movie series. This is from zombie 2. Very catchy music and also good message for kids

via https://youtu.be/vMkYaWqaapw

Saturday, March 14, 2020

CoronaVirus Information from John Hopkins and Our actions to cope

A good friend send this to us. Very useful, although serious info about the coronavirus. Life as we know it will change dramatically to fight this invisible global but serious threat to our health. We are now thinking about not only our own strategy for self quarantine but how to also help our neighbors.

I cannot help my parents who are in Texas as I cannot fly there and they are being super cautious. But perhaps just in our building we can help others who are older and at risk and living alone - like help them buy groceries or get stuff vs them going to places on their own and risking potentially getting infected. Will think more as it's already time to think as a community.

Take care everyone. See you on FaceTime or We Chat video for now. Let's fight this together!

Lei

University of California, San Francisco BioHub Panel on COVID-19
March 10, 2020

Panelists
Joe DeRisi: UCSF's top infectious disease researcher. Co-president of ChanZuckerberg BioHub (a JV involving UCSF / Berkeley / Stanford). Co-inventor of the chip used in SARS epidemic.
Emily Crawford: COVID task force director. Focused on diagnostics
Cristina Tato: Rapid Response Director. Immunologist.
Patrick Ayescue: Leading outbreak response and surveillance. Epidemiologist.
Chaz Langelier: UCSF Infectious Disease doc

What's below are essentially direct quotes from the panelists. I bracketed the few things that are not quotes.
Top takeaways
At this point, we are past containment. Containment is basically futile. Our containment efforts won't reduce the number who get infected in the US.
Now we're just trying to slow the spread, to help healthcare providers deal with the demand peak. In other words, the goal of containment is to "flatten the curve", to lower the peak of the surge of demand that will hit healthcare providers. And to buy time, in hopes a drug can be developed.
How many in the community already have the virus? No one knows.
We are moving from containment to care.
We in the US are currently where at where Italy was a week ago. We see nothing to say we will be substantially different.
40-70% of the US population will be infected over the next 12-18 months. After that level you can start to get herd immunity. Unlike flu this is entirely novel to humans, so there is no latent immunity in the global population.
[We used their numbers to work out a guesstimate of deaths— indicating about 1.5 million Americans may die. The panelists did not disagree with our estimate. This compares to seasonal flu's average of 50K Americans per year. Assume 50% of US population, that's 160M people infected. With 1% mortality rate that's 1.6M Americans die over the next 12-18 months.]
The fatality rate is in the range of 10X flu.
This assumes no drug is found effective and made available.
The death rate varies hugely by age. Over age 80 the mortality rate could be 10-15%. [See chart by age Signe found online, attached at bottom.]
Don't know whether COVID-19 is seasonal but if is and subsides over the summer, it is likely to roar back in fall as the 1918 flu did
I can only tell you two things definitively. Definitively it's going to get worse before it gets better. And we'll be dealing with this for the next year at least. Our lives are going to look different for the next year.

What should we do now? What are you doing for your family?
Appears one can be infectious before being symptomatic. We don't know how infectious before symptomatic, but know that highest level of virus prevalence coincides with symptoms. We currently think folks are infectious 2 days before through 14 days after onset of symptoms (T-2 to T+14 onset).
How long does the virus last?
On surfaces, best guess is 4-20 hours depending on surface type (maybe a few days) but still no consensus on this
The virus is very susceptible to common anti-bacterial cleaning agents: bleach, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol-based.
Avoid concerts, movies, crowded places.
We have cancelled business travel.
Do the basic hygiene, eg hand washing and avoiding touching face.
Stockpile your critical prescription medications. Many pharma supply chains run through China. Pharma companies usually hold 2-3 months of raw materials, so may run out given the disruption in China's manufacturing.
Pneumonia shot might be helpful. Not preventative of COVID-19, but reduces your chance of being weakened, which makes COVID-19 more dangerous.
Get a flu shot next fall. Not preventative of COVID-19, but reduces your chance of being weakened, which makes COVID-19 more dangerous.
We would say "Anyone over 60 stay at home unless it's critical". CDC toyed with idea of saying anyone over 60 not travel on commercial airlines.
We at UCSF are moving our "at-risk" parents back from nursing homes, etc. to their own homes. Then are not letting them out of the house. The other members of the family are washing hands the moment they come in.
Three routes of infection
Hand to mouth / face
Aerosol transmission
Fecal oral route
What if someone is sick?
If someone gets sick, have them stay home and socially isolate. There is very little you can do at a hospital that you couldn't do at home. Most cases are mild. But if they are old or have lung or cardio-vascular problems, read on.
If someone gets quite sick who is old (70+) or with lung or cardio-vascular problems, take them to the ER.
There is no accepted treatment for COVID-19. The hospital will give supportive care (eg IV fluids, oxygen) to help you stay alive while your body fights the disease. ie to prevent sepsis.
If someone gets sick who is high risk (eg is both old and has lung/cardio-vascular problems), you can try to get them enrolled for "compassionate use" of Remdesivir, a drug that is in clinical trial at San Francisco General and UCSF, and in China. Need to find a doc there in order to ask to enroll. Remdesivir is an anti-viral from Gilead that showed effectiveness against MERS in primates and is being tried against COVID-19. If the trials succeed it might be available for next winter as production scales up far faster for drugs than for vaccines. [More I found online.]
Why is the fatality rate much higher for older adults?
Your immune system declines past age 50
Fatality rate tracks closely with "co-morbidity", ie the presence of other conditions that compromise the patient's hearth, especially respiratory or cardio-vascular illness. These conditions are higher in older adults.
Risk of pneumonia is higher in older adults.
What about testing to know if someone has COVID-19?
Bottom line, there is not enough testing capacity to be broadly useful. Here's why.
Currently, there is no way to determine what a person has other than a PCR test. No other test can yet distinguish "COVID-19 from flu or from the other dozen respiratory bugs that are circulating".
A Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test can detect COVID-19's RNA. However they still don't have confidence in the test's specificity, ie they don't know the rate of false negatives.
The PCR test requires kits with reagents and requires clinical labs to process the kits.
While the kits are becoming available, the lab capacity is not growing.
The leading clinical lab firms, Quest and Labcore have capacity to process 1000 kits per day. For the nation.
Expanding processing capacity takes "time, space, and equipment." And certification. ie it won't happen soon.
UCSF and UCBerkeley have donated their research labs to process kits. But each has capacity to process only 20-40 kits per day. And are not clinically certified.
Novel test methods are on the horizon, but not here now and won't be at any scale to be useful for the present danger.

How well is society preparing for the impact?
Local hospitals are adding capacity as we speak. UCSF's Parnassus campus has erected "triage tents" in a parking lot. They have converted a ward to "negative pressure" which is needed to contain the virus. They are considering re-opening the shuttered Mt Zion facility.
If COVID-19 affected children then we would be seeing mass departures of families from cities. But thankfully now we know that kids are not affected.
School closures are one the biggest societal impacts. We need to be thoughtful before we close schools, especially elementary schools because of the knock-on effects. If elementary kids are not in school then some hospital staff can't come to work, which decreases hospital capacity at a time of surging demand for hospital services.
Public Health systems are prepared to deal with short-term outbreaks that last for weeks, like an outbreak of meningitis. They do not have the capacity to sustain for outbreaks that last for months. Other solutions will have to be found.
What will we do to handle behavior changes that can last for months?
Many employees will need to make accommodations for elderly parents and those with underlying conditions and immune-suppressed.
Kids home due to school closures
[Dr. DeRisi had to leave the meeting for a call with the governor's office. When he returned we asked what the call covered.] The epidemiological models the state is using to track and trigger action. The state is planning at what point they will take certain actions. ie what will trigger an order to cease any gatherings of over 1000 people.
Where do you find reliable news?
The John Hopkins Center for Health Security site. Which posts daily updates. The site says you can sign up to receive a daily newsletter on COVID-19 by email. [I tried and the page times out due to high demand. After three more tries I was successful in registering for the newsletter.]
The New York Times is good on scientific accuracy.
Observations on China
Unlike during SARS, China's scientists are publishing openly and accurately on COVID-19.
While China's early reports on incidence were clearly low, that seems to trace to their data management systems being overwhelmed, not to any bad intent.
Wuhan has 4.3 beds per thousand while US has 2.8 beds per thousand. Wuhan built 2 additional hospitals in 2 weeks. Even so, most patients were sent to gymnasiums to sleep on cots.
Early on no one had info on COVID-19. So China reacted in a way unique modern history, except in wartime.
Every few years there seems another: SARS, Ebola, MERS, H1N1, COVID-19. Growing strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Are we in the twilight of a century of medicine's great triumph over infectious disease?
"We've been in a back and forth battle against viruses for a million years."
But it would sure help if every country would shut down their wet markets.
As with many things, the worst impact of COVID-19 will likely be in the countries with the least resources, eg Africa. See article on Wired magazine on sequencing of virus from Cambodia.

Daddy eats pancake made by isabel

Enjoying the present - family time.

Self quarantine day 2

Kids and Jaime started staying home since March 10. I started on Friday 13th. So now it's day 2. We are making the most of it.

Isabel and I are making breakfast for the family. Will have so much family time. That's something.