2013: The Bests

It's been a busy and eventful year. Lots of changes, transitions and upgrades in my life. And what better content for a blog post than a list of things? That's practically the default post type!

2013: The bests

Best Ride: Mazda CX-5
 

After 10  years and more than 200,000 miles I decided it was time to replace my faithful VW Jetta. Commuting to work continued to be an enjoyable and fuel-efficient proposition, but loading up golf clubs, camera gear, changes of clothes and the dog for weekend adventures was challenging in the size and configuration options presented by the Jetta. After shopping around, test driving a few things and thinking long and hard about priorities I ended up with the Mazda CX-5 Sport, 2.0L All Wheel Drive, and after nearly 6 months of driving it and I'm still an extremely satisfied customer. 

The CX-5 is the perfect one-car solution for the weekend problem I listed above. Ample space for my lifestyle, and even with a more powerful 2.0L engine, AWD and considerably more size than my Jetta it sips the fuel at nearly the same rate. Big props to Skyactiv Technology and the engineering that makes this possible. Also, there's a clear line of demarcation among cars these days. Pre and Post-bluetooth. Once you experience a car with integrated bluetooth for making phone calls and streaming music there's no going back. In a perfect world, I might have opted for the 2.5L engine and the Touring trim level, which boasts rear seats that fold completely flat and back-up sensors among other things. 

Best Connectivity: Apple iPhone 5s

I made the jump to a smart phone in 2011, when I bought an iPhone 4. Much like bluetooth in your car, a smart phone is a one-way inevitability. I knew I would enjoy the texting and web/app potential, but I had no idea what a powerful photography tool a smartphone could be. The tools for taking, processing and sharing photos in a device that's so easy to always have with you is truly incredible. My back thanks me for not lugging around my DSLR as frequently and learning to leverage the clear weaknesses of a cell phone camera has helped me improve my photography overall. 

While the iPhone 5s is larger, brighter and has faster LTE data service more internal horsepower than the 4, the features I enjoy most are related to photography. Improved low light performance, image quality, integrated panorama, high-speed video and 10 frames per second burst. The last two are particularly appreciated when dealing with Hugo. As something that is never more than 10 feet away from me, the iPhone 5s is a major investment that pays major dividends every day. 

Best Bits: Snapseed

After taking copious quantities of photos with my smartphone, the next step in 2013 for 90% of the images was a trip though the Snapseed photo editing app. It seems like I end up in ruts with various editors. I spend a good deal of time in Camera+ before moving to PicFX and now I've settled in Snapseed. All are great apps, all have strengths and weaknesses. But Snapseed seems to allow a Lightroom-esque level of control over levels. With a limited smartphone camera, being able to fill in shadows and adjust exposure settings in post is a big deal. After that you can add some of those hipsteriffic effects that are the bread and butter of some other apps, with the advantage the Snapseed variants give you control to fine tune the effects in more ways than just the intensity of the effect itself. In most cases you can get into brightness, contrast, saturation and a few other key ingredients to the effect recipe as you apply it. 

From fine-tuning reality to a surrealistic creation, Snapseed has you covered.

Best Inspiration: GoPro Hero 3

Just before our family vacation to Maui I picked up a GoPro Hero 3 (Silver edition) because of doubts I was having about the waterproofing of my Pentax Optio WG-2, which turned out to be completely founded when it flooded with water 10 minutes (and 1/5 the reported waterproof depth) into the first dive. The GoPro lived up to every expectation and hope I had. One key to keep in mind is that this camera has an extremely wide angle lens. That means you want to get as close as possible, which is easy to do with the GoPro's small size. Add to that a waterpoof housing that actually works and you'll have access to shots you never thought possible. 

In an era of everything-included technology the GoPro takes what may seem like a frustrating step back for many folks. "There's no screen?!?!?!?" But anyone with more than five minutes of photography training/skill will be able to master it. Again, it's super wide angle. So point the camera roughly in the direction of your subject and it's in frame. The bigger challenge is to always get 2-3' from your subject, so it's not just a dot in the vastness of your scene. If that doesn't cut it you can always download the GoPro app for your ever-present smartphone and have a viewfinder and quick control over your menus and settings. This pocket-sized beauty packs an impressive photo and video punch. Many of my favorite images from our Maui trip were made with this 5 megapixel beauty rather than my two DSLR bodies and compliment of lenses that a lugged halfway around the world.

Best Visuals: The Blacklist/House of Cards

I'm hard pressed to remember movies I watched in 2013. Nothing truly stands out. It's been a full year for television though. I finally broke down and gave Breaking Bad a shot, immediately getting sucked in. Since everyone is thoroughly exposed to that show (and most likely will have already made up their mind about whether or not it's something they'll ever watch) I'll pick a couple other favorites that a little more obscure. 

Obscure is probably not the right word to describe NBC's The Blacklist, since it was one of the most hyped shows of the fall season. After seeming a little too predictable and straightforward to begin with the show has settled nicely into an espionage/intrigue thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously and strikes a nice balance between Grey's Anatomy relationship drama and and the kind of explosion and chase scene driven show that it's ok for men to watch. :P James Spader is outstanding and this show is definitely worth checking out through the first 10 episodes.

For Netflix users: I really wanted to be able to recommend the exclusive fourth season of Arrested Development. But I just can't. By the end, it gets there, somewhat... and I think I second time through will prove more enjoyable than the first pass. But it's nothing like the pure gold of Season 2, which may have truly been game changing television.

Instead I'll recommend House of Cards, a Netflix original that's truly outstanding. Kevin Spacey headlines a cast of Washington DC elites, who spin wheels and pull puppet strings in the back rooms of our nations' capitol. Shaping policy and positioning actions to determine winners and losers in the political arena. Outstanding character drama. And I hear season 2 has recently been announced, so make sure to catch up with this one so you're ready for new episodes. 

That's it for now. May come up with a few most bests to add to this post, or create another one.  

All in a Day's Work

The end of the year is busy time at the hospital. Ok, the whole year is busy, but the last three months are especially frenetic. We have lots of public and employee events/programs going on and everyone has projects that need to be wrapped up before the calendar switches over. It's hectic, but energizing.

In the last few weeks I've seen some stuff. Some things man... I've seen 2,500 people help our hospital raise more than three tons of food for those in need. I've seen our employees make sure children in our community, and our employee family, have the school supplies they need to start the year out right, a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with their family and overflowing sacks (that's plural, and in most cases 4-5) of gifts for Christmas.

I've heard stories about our employees helping patients achieve life dreams, during their final weeks of life. I've seen staff members reunite with families of of patients who died this year, or last year, or many years ago. Families of babies that were never born, or only lived a matter of hours. I've seen these skilled, competent and compassionate caregivers completely heartbroken. Reduced to their most human and authentic form by their own futility in the face of life as we know it. Because sometimes the very best any of us can do just isn't enough. I've heard the names read one by one. I've been flattened by the freight train of realization that we play a key part in what may be at the very least a defining moment and what often is the worst day of someone's life.

And when I say "we" I'm not talking about me. I may help someone find their way to a lab or the doctor's office. But I'm not the one delivering that news. The one clocking in every day and holding human life in my hands. The one living in the world of crisis, pain and fear. Soldiering on day after day, because no matter if the the last battle was a victory or a defeat, there's another to be fought right now.

I've seen families reunite with doctors, nurses, therapists, chaplains and staff members who cared for someone they love and lost. Someone who made that person their whole world, and somehow in that awful and unfair moment they found a way to give a bit more of themselves to help those around them. Because even though they may see this kind of thing every day, even though the circumstance may be emotionless science, an unavoidable algorithm, something more comfortably compartmentalized and dealt with rationally, that's not how the heroes I work with do their job. They don't just give their education, skills and knowledge. They pour their whole heart into the people who honor our hospital with their presence.

They care. They allow what happens to patients to affect them, because they choose to let it matter. It matters beyond an outcome, beyond symptoms, beyond quality measures and reimbursement rates. It matters because this is a person. Someone's child, spouse, parent, sibling, friend.

I've also heard about other deaths. Deaths that never happened. A few lives saved each year by making sure we have zero hospital acquired central line infections. None. A few more by making sure no patients develop pneumonia while in the hospital. More by making sure every patient that is brought to our Cath lab has their arteries reopened within 70 minutes of arriving. The industry standard for excellence is 90 minutes, but is "good enough" good enough when you are pacing nervously in the waiting room? When seconds matter our team springs into action with their hard-wired protocols for addressing stroke symptoms.

Because each person that leaves our campus and goes home is a victory. Each hysterical attempt to to somehow fit the stroller, car seat, diaper bag(s) gift bags and the most overwhelming balloon bouquet into the car for the very first time is a victory for all of us. Every time eyes open and it's easier to breathe, less painful to move or a deadly force is no longer alive within a person's body it's a triumph we all share.

Sometimes my job feels stressful and overwhelming. There are so many things that need to get done, so many conversations to be had, so many meetings to attend, so many events to coordinate and support it seems like an exercise in tedium and futility.

Then I step back for a moment and think about what's going on around me, and what I'm actually doing. I realize that I get to come to work every day with superheroes. A team unmatched in talent and compassion. I get to witness the very best of the human spirit on display. I have the supreme honor to be there for no other reason than to cheer them on each day, and tell their stories to as may people as possible.

So now you know.