Filed under: Travel, World Events
I’m sure that all of you have seen this on the news in one form or another. This reminds me of the fear which passed through Asia when SARS and the Avian Flu spread. This time, it looks like this flu is more aggressive than other forms which have existed previously. One of the emails I received had the following statistics:
As of 18:00 GMT, 29 April 2009, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 91 laboratory confirmed human cases, with one death. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.
There are a couple of recommenations going around to prevent the spread of the flu.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Throw tissue in the trash after use.
Wash your hands often with warm soap and water frequently
Use alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective. Most stores sell little bottles of these which you can carry around and then refull later
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
Get enough rest to keep your immune system healthy
Avoid crowded places if possible
Eat healthy meals and exercise
Use some common sense when it comes to going to work when you’re feeling under the weather. Either call in work from home, or in extreme cases, call in sick for the day. There’s no use in infecting your coworkers and I’m sure they won’t appreciate receiving the flu either. If you must go into the office, wear a mask. Coworkers, make sure you have disinfectant sprays and wipes at the ready.
Filed under: Personal, World Events
On December 6th 2008, I will be joining my wife and other supporters in the 8th Annual Houston Buddy Walk supporting children and adults with Down syndrome. Down syndrome is one of the most serious and frequently reported birth defects among live-born infants due to an untreatable genetic disorder. Medical facilities and researchers worldwide are leading the efforts to understand the causes behind Down syndrome occurs and how to prevent it.
Here are some facts about Down Syndrome:
- Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring genetic condition with an incidence of 1 in every 733 births.
- There are currently over 400,000 individuals living with Down syndrome in the United States
- There are approximately 5000 babies born with Down syndrome each year in the United States.
- Down syndrome is one of the leading clinical causes of cognitive delay in the world – it is not related to race, nationality, religion or socio-economic status.
- Recent advances in our understanding of Down syndrome have resulted in dramatic improvements in the life span and the potential of those who are affected.
- With appropriate support, individuals with Down syndrome can lead fulfilling lives and be contributing members of society
- October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month!
The National Down Syndrome Society is non-profit organization with a single goal of building a brighter future for children and adults with Down syndrome. The funds raised from this walk will be used to ensure that support can be provided to families and individuals affected. The support groups sponsored by this society and other associations are essential to learning about and seeing how others are living with the condition. For any of you that have seen or know someone affected by Down syndrome, you will understand that even performing daily chores is not the easiest for them.
My participating team has set a goal of raising $2000 for this non-profit organization. If you would like to support us, learn more about Down Syndrome or want to find other ways to help, please visit to the links below.
Make a Donation
Register to Participate in the 8th Annual Houston Buddy Walk
Medical Information on Down Syndrome
If you know of anyone else who would like to donate or participate, please direct them to this site. Thank you for your time and together we can help those in our communities who really need our support.
Filed under: Travel, World Events
Last night I finally decided to board a flight out of Houston to meet up with my wife in California where she is attending a conference. Taking a warm shower after nearly a week of cold showers and staying in a room which had no air conditioning really makes a big difference. I just hope that power is restored by the time I get back… So I leave you with a view from the area here. Can you guess where I am?
Filed under: World Events
The cold front has finally arrived! Temperatures are really cooling down around here which is helping since my home doesn’t feel like a sauna anymore. Let’s hope that the weather keeps this way until electricity is restored to most of the city. The “cool” in the fridge finally ran out and I trashed pretty much everything that was in there. Trust me, it wasn’t a pleasant experience and it looks like my meal choices if I stay home will be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, nutrigrain bars, or canned congee. Around the city, it looks like the people who have been cooped up at home have finally decided to escape and go roam the malls, supermarkets and other public venues. The Galleria Mall was pretty packed today.
Today I went over to one of the FEMA point of distribution sites following a call for volunteers which was broadcasted on the news websites and on the radio. I will tell you that everyone that was in that line was really appreciative for the supplies that were distributed. We had water, food and ice available. For those curious about the food, they are basically meal packets which are precooked and sealed. I assume that they were previously frozen since each box is marked with a statement about handling contents when frozen. Some of the boxes were marked “Heaters included” which I would assume implies that the recipients of the food could have a hot meal. There were a variety of Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) available, but we basically just dumped whatever was in the pallete into each vehicle. I haven’t tried the MREs, nor have I asked anyone what they tasted like. If there’s any around tomorrow, I might ask if I can sneak a packet away to try at a later date and time.
It looks like the power is slowly coming around to my neighborhood. The street lights are back on but there is no power inside my home yet. Today I once again heard the sound of the power coming back online via radios and TVs in the neighborhood followed shortly by a boom outside and everything going dead again…*sigh*. I know the repair crews are working really hard to get the city back and running again so I definitely commend them for their efforts. Keep up the good work! Centerpoint Energy did release a statement today indicating their timelines to get 80% of the power back up for communities impacted by Ike. The prospects for my neighborhood in zip code 77006 do not look too good right now. We are scheduled for some point beyond Monday of next week. Without power, life and education still go on. I am continuing to study by candlelight (sounds romantic but it really isn’t) and run my internet connection off of UPS supply which I charge in an area which does have power.
Filed under: World Events
At home, we still do not have power but it looks like Centerpoint Energy is getting really close. There is power to the homes just half a block north of us. FEMA came through yesterday with the delivery of supply trucks and resources to those that really need them. However, there was some mention that kinks in the supply chain which left some points of distribution (POD) sites without resources. I don’t know if that is absolutely true.
There are some amazing stories on the radio of the help that is going out to assist the elderly and other people in the surrounding communities. Some neighbors are going to these POD sites on behalf of their neighbors to collect food, water and ice. If anyone in Houston is reading this blog and wants to help out. There is a post on the KHOU blog indicating that they need volunteers to help out. If you want to help, just go to one of the POD sites and ask what you can do to help.
Today I needed to gas up one of the cars. The gas prices have definitely increased. Before the hurricane, we could get regular gas for $3.49 a gallon. Now it is $3.89 a gallon, but this appears to be normal throughout Houston and I’m sure across the US. The lines to get gas are very long. This morning I was fortunate and it only took an hour to get gas for the car. Some areas are reporting waits of 2-3 hours to get gas. The gas station I went to also imposed a limit to the amount of gas that a person could buy. $50 does go quite a long way in a sedan or a small SUV, but I guess the signs stating the limit did not stop the guys at the next pump station over from filling up five of their ten gallon cans (thanks guys!).
The Houston police are enforcing many of the safety laws pretty strictly and I’m glad that there are doing so. This morning I nearly got into an accident since some vehicles are going through four way intersections without stopping. Remember that an unlit four way intersection is just like a four way stop. Last night, just before curfew the police were hiding in the Memorial Park area under the cloak of darkness watching for those who did not bother to stop at the intersection. I assume they got ticketed and were sent on their way.
Lastly, I would like to send out a request to those reading this blog. As you I have highlighted in my previous blog entries, there are a lot of people out there that need assistance. The Red Cross and other organizations are doing a great job in aiding people on the ground. Unfortunately the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies are running out of funds. Please consider donating what you can to the Red Cross to help with the recovery efforts of Hurricane Gustav and Ike, but also any future events. Check with your company as well since many of them may also have an employee charity match program where they will match dollar-for-dollar or a percentage of the donation.
Red Cross Donation Site
Posted on April 29th, 2009 by Andy Yiu
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