Birthday free coupon

Playing catch up. Used my 5th birthday freebie, and got to have a special dinner together with Kristan too! No more whining, dang it. — at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers.

Launched AFSPC-4!

Finally! Liftoff of DV-368 carrying the AFSPC-4 payload (and two others), from Cape Canaveral SLC-37. Loooooong mission, will run into the wee hours... Happy Birthday to me.

Quip - love it

I don't remember how I found out about the Quip "collaboration" app and website, but we have been trying it out, and so far, it feels like a wondertool. It came into our lives none too soon. So helpful for coordinating between me, K, and three others who have smartphones.

New catheter not working

K missed dialysis last night, so I dragged her out of bed, and dropped her off at DaVita Dialysis Center, early this morning for a makeup session, on my way to work. I just found out her leg catheter isn't working, so they can't put her on. She'll need to go to the Renal Access Center, as soon as they have an opening, but her caregiver doesn't arrive until 10am. Yet another heavy sigh...

The good news, is that Lorene came early, and she got into the Renal Access Center. They replaced her catheter. We'll see how it works, on Friday evening in Dialysis.

Gravity. Wow.

Whew. We just finished watching the movie "Gravity", with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. I've heard it had some technical gaps, so I promised myself I'd suspend my disbelief, and unfortunately that worked all too well. I got so caught up in it, that when we paused it, halfway in, to deal with some real world interruptions, I had some difficulty pushing the Play button later, because of all the knots in my stomach. But I'm glad I did.

Wave, Freddie and Amelia!

I just figured out how to follow two flights at the same time on FlightAware... Very fun! Hey Freddie and Ken on Southwest 1472, in the B-737, wave at Amelia in N58NG, the PC-12! She's passing you, going the other way, 10,000 feet below you, and (way, way) off your left wing!

Amelia heading home

Amelia Rose Earhart is starting the last leg of her adventure, a positioning flight to get themselves and the Pilatus back to Denver.

Earthrounders

Amelia Rose Earhart said: "We did it! We are earthrounders, Shane Jordan!"

Amelia has landed!

Here's Amelia Rose Earhart's flight track into Oakland International Airport, completing her 'round the world flight. She landed at 5:32pm Pacific time.  I was listening to Oakland Tower and Ground frequencies and heard her landing and fnal taxi instructions ... "welcome back!" ... "thank you VERY much!" And so it ends... the actual flight, that is. I'm sure she'll be busy with related activities for some time.

Congratulations, Amelia and Shane, on a completely successful around the world flight!

Amelia to Oakland!

Amelia Rose Earhart has departed Honolulu for Oakland! The final leg to complete her amazing recreation of Amelia Mary Earhart's round the world flight. Way to go, Amelia and Shane! And everyone who supported you! That Pilatus PC-12 NG is a beautiful, fast, capable airplane!

Nice Pacific pic

Amelia posted this really nice view of the Sun over the Pacific Ocean, from her cruising altitude of about 28,000 feet ... pretty spectacular. I'm sure my Dad saw thousands of these views, from his many DC-6, B-707, B-720, B-727, and B-747 flights around the world with Pan American. But it looks pretty unique and special to me.

Amelia over Hawaii

Amelia Rose Earhart is minutes from crossing over the Big Island, enroute to Honolulu! It looks like they'll get a nice view of most of the Hawaiian islands, as they descend toward their landing.

Update: Listening to Honolulu Tower at LiveATC...I just heard them clear her to land on Runway 4 Right - direct to the numbers! Amelia sounds so professional, clear and concise over the radio. Safe landing!

Amelia heading to HNL

Amelia is on her way from Kiritimati, Kiribati, to Honolulu, Hawaii! They just left Kiritimati Island, and are climbing out through 8000 feet, undoubtedly heading for their usual 28,000 foot cruising altitude. I hope that nasty looking storm in front of them, dissipates before they get to it!

Amelia Circling?

Presumably, they've spotted Howland Island, and are circling, since the Honeywell GDC page shows them heading back the other way. This must be a very exciting moment for her. 

Amelia approaching Howland Island

Amelia Rose Earhart is just a few minutes away from passing over Howland Island! She's on her way from Tarawa, Kiribati, to Kiritimati, Kiribati. Her namesake, Amelia Mary Earhart, with her navigator Fred Noonan, were on their way to Howland Island, and having trouble finding it, when they disappeared. The likelihood is that they ran out of gas, after wandering North and South for too long, and failing to find it. There were of course no Global Positioning Satellites in those days, so finding things out in the ocean required a lot of navigation skill, and luck too. Howland Island was pretty much abandoned, after being attacked during WWII, so there's no place for her to land there, these days. She'll have to be content with seeing it, as they go by.

Amelia to Australia

Amelia Rose Earhart is on her way from Seletar, Singapore to Darwin, Australia! They've got some interesting weather ahead, including two volcanic eruption ash clouds, to deal with. It sounds like their preflight planning has it all covered, so I'm beaming them good luck wishes, for the stuff that planning can't cover.

Catheter working

It appears that K's leg catheter is working normally. She got through her first dialysis at DaVita with no problems.

Home safe!

She's home safe! She finally came to bed about the time I was waking up.

Doing better

Better news: K's doing very well, alert, interactive, and chipper, and we just heard they plan to send her home today after another dialysis!

Amelia at Kilimanjaro

Amelia has arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport, after flying from Sao Tome and Principe across the Congo!

She said they were contemplating the fact, that while cruising at 27,000 feet, they were still more than 2,000 feet BELOW the peak of Mt. Everest, which tops out at 29,029 ft. So, if you're in the right (or wrong depending on how you look at it) part of the world, you could be cruising at Flight Level 270, and still be at risk of crashing into the ground.

Admitted to Rose Hospital

She's been admitted to a room here at Rose Hospital, and is fast asleep. I waited to talk to her attending doctor before leaving. She is wonderful. I gave her the lowdown on management of her glucose, pain, sleep, diet, and she listened to all of it. It's good to know that there is a plan, to get her catheter exchanged, and get her dialyzed, tomorrow (today).

Update 9am: I overslept after last night's fun. I just talked to her nurse. She's still swollen, still sleeping, BG was ok at 7:30. Caregiver will get there in an hour. I'll try to grab some breakfast and head into work for the day.

Update 10am: It sounds like they're giving up on the jugular PermCath in her neck, since it's competing with her pacemaker leads for space in the jugular vein going to the heart. The new plan is to put a catheter in her thigh. Hopefully, it will work much better there.

Update 12:15: K is out of the procedure and sleeping in her room. It sounds like the procedure went well.They removed the jugular catheter and installed a catheter in her leg.

Update 2:40pm: L says K is already looking better, even without dialysis. This may be the result of better blood flow with the jugular catheter removed.

Update 3:20pm: They are taking her to dialysis.

Update 10:25pm: Well, the good news is, the new catheter in her leg seems to have worked just fine for dialysis today at the hospital. And, the edema is clearly getting better, even if it still has a ways to go.

Sudden Edema onset

Kristan developed a huge amount of edema and nausea in just a few hours, after getting home from surgery. By the time I got home from work, it looked awful. I called the Nephrology office, and the vascular surgeon who did this morning's procedure. Both agreed: take her to Rose Hospital ER, and let them figure it out. — at Rose Medical Center Emergency Dept.

Update 8pm: ER Doc has ordered X-rays, to look for fluid on the lungs, and blood draw for labs, to look for anything out of balance. Considering that she hasn't had a good dialysis since Wednesday, it seems likely that she will have several things heading for or past their acceptable limits.

Amelia in Sao Tome

Amelia's arrived in São Tomé and Principe, an island nation off the West coast of Africa! Today she flew from Dakar, Senegal.

New Fistula in work

Kristan is in surgery, having a new fistula graft installed in her upper arm. Should be another hour. It took surprisingly little effort to get her here (5 minutes early!) at 6:25am. We just had to start everything an hour early. Ugh. My biggest adventure so far, has been finding a nice big breakfast in the cafeteria on the Ground floor (not the First floor!), which feels a little like an underground lair. Her caregiver Lorene just arrived, so I can leave for work soon. Recovery nurse says another hour or so. BG is good. Yay. — at Rose Hospital Medical Center.