Author Archives: tom

Happy Thanksgiving

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I am writing this on Thanksgiving Day, before we head to Nancy’s sister’s home and eat way too much. I’ve always loved Thanksgiving for many reasons. Mostly I like the fact that it’s a civil holiday but most of us think of it in religious terms. I can’t imagine not going to church on Thanksgiving. Last year I included President Lincoln’s 1863 Proclamation. I read this yesterday at my team meeting at work and realized that few of us know that the holiday is only 144 years old. Here’s what he wrote:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October, A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

Thank you, President Lincoln.

Tony and Alicia Gwynn: They're a Class Act

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OK, so this is hardly a surprising headline, especially for us who live here in San Diego, but it’s worth saying again. Nancy and I were able to go to Cooperstown in July to see Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripkin inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. This past Saturday we went to a dinner for the San Diego Foundation where Tony and Alicia were the keynote speakers.

The Foundation is a pool of resources; people who have money they wish to donate can combine with other people. The Foundation provides resources and information so individuals and groups can find good places to donate. It also provides a place where funds can be invested prior to being donated. Nancy’s father has a fund called the Graff Family Foundation (that we will administer when he’s done with it); he was invited to the dinner but given the keynote speakers he gave the tickets to us. It was wonderful.

Tony and Alicia also administer a fund called the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation. After dinner, instead of giving a speech, they answered questions and talked about how they continue to give back to the community. They are both articulate in their belief that they have worked hard, but have also been blessed. Alicia is an ordained minister and talked about how “to whom much is given much is expected” (Luke 12:48). Tony talked about how he is a public figure and he needs to act like one. He spoke about helping children make good decisions by being good role models. He is certainly that.

The funniest part of the evening was before the dinner when I introduced myself to him. I shook his hand and said: “Hello, I’m Tom Allain.” He smiled and said: “Hello, I’m Tony Gwynn.” As if I didn’t know who he is. But somehow the fact that he didn’t assume his fame was refreshing. I’m sure he won’t remember me but I’ll never forget meeting him.

Do They Use Designated Hitters in Federal Prison?

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We’ve been waiting for this for a long time, but word came out that Barry Bonds has been indicted on 4 counts of perjury and 1 count of obstruction of justice related to his testimony before the grand jury in December of 2003. You can read the text of the indictment here. If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat you have to download the reader to read the document.

It was about that time Barry changed his story from “I never took steroids” to “I never knowingly took steroids. The focus of the grand jury investigation was a company called Balco who Justice lawyers believed provided steroids to a number of athletes. Barry was given immunity so that he couldn’t be prosecuted for anything he told the grand jury (this prevents him from taking the Fifth Amendment) as long as he was truthful to the grand jury. Bonds was asked if he received steriods from Greg Anderson, a friend of Bonds who has an affiliate with Balco. He testified that Anderson administered a cream that Bonds believed was flaxseed oil.

This is all pretty dry stuff, but the bottom line is this: the indictment shows he knowingly took steroids and lied to investigators. Now he faces the possibility of prison time, all because he wanted the home run record enough to cheat. This shows not just a lack of respect for himself but also for baseball. I’ve written on this before on March 9, 2006. By the way Sports Illustrated has a terrific slide show on Barry’s growth chart.

Meanwhile, Barry is a free agent and is looking for a team that will pick him up so he can get 3000 hits in the major leagues. It doesn’t look likely now. Speaking only for myself as a baseball fan, I won’t miss him.

Remembering, Celebrating, Honoring (in no particular order)

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These past few weeks since the fires here in San Diego have been emotionally eventful and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve said: “I need to blog about that.” Today’s entry is kind of a catch all, known in the vernacular as the whole megillah.

  1. A few days ago we commemorated Veteran’s Day, originally called “Armistice Day.” It’s always November 11th and it began as a celebration of the end of World War I (called “The Great War” back then). It’s easy to remember: the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. According to legend the peace treaty was signed early in the morning but they held off making it effective until 11AM. Hard to imagine they agreed to continue the war for a few more hours.
  2. The day before, November 10th is the is birthday of the Marines. They were created in 1775 by an act of Congress. They continue to be a strong presence in San Diego and around the world.
  3. In the weeks since the fire I’ve had occasion to drive around to see the damage. I’m amazed at the extent of the burned areas, but more amazed by the homes saved. There are several places where the fire damage has gone right up the edge of someone’s home and stopped. I’m sure some of it is because the owner had the forethought to clear the area around their homes. But I’m also convinced that these homes were save by the heroism of the firefighters. It’s nice to see signs in those neighborhoods thanking the first responders. I couldn’t agree more.
  4. Finally I had occasion to go downtown today and see 1,500 people take the oath to become citizens. They have had to fill out untold forms, wait untold months and years, and learn our history and government, and still want to join us. It was an inspiration. One of our newest citizens is my coworker Paola. Don’t tell her but at our next team meeting we’re going to celebrate her work and decision.

I Always Knew My Father Was Hip

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This past Monday my father went under the knife and had his right hip replaced. It’s been an eventful week for him, and for me as I kept in touch from 3000 miles away. Not to keep you in suspense, the operation was a success and he’s home and happy.

It’s been interesting for me on several levels. I remember a generation ago my grandfather had both hips replaced. I don’t remember the exact year but I think it was 1974; it was much different then. The artificial hips weren’t nearly as good as they are today and at the time they weren’t supposed to last very long. People like my grandfather were told they should wait until the pain was unbearable because they (the doctors) didn’t want to replace the hip more than once in a lifetime. It was a serious enough event that we drove 500 miles to be with him when he had the operation. I remember at the time thinking he was so old. I have to laugh because he was 72: four years younger than my father is now. My mother at the time was 9 years younger than I am now and my younger nephew Chris is 2 years older than I was at the time. I guess this is all the proof I need that the torch has been passed.

Back to my father: he was certainly ready to have the operation because it was really making it difficult to keep up the walking he likes to do. That said I’m not sure he was completely ready to be a patient. He’s not a guy who get sick. I remember only once when I was in high school that he missed work because he was sick. When I got home from school he was in the backyard chopping wood. In one of our conversations this week we agreed that this was probably the longest he’s been in bed since he learned to walk as a child. It certainly wasn’t easy for him to need help with getting out of bed etc. but he did really well. The hospital had horrible food but that’s not a surprise. But the fact that they didn’t have ESPN is, to our minds, a human rights violation. In any case he’s home and on the mend and I’m eager to see him being able to walk again without pain. Love ya Dad.

Digging Through the Ashes, Searching For the New Normal

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It’s now been a week since the fires began in San Diego City and County. Most of the fires are either out or will be soon. In the good news department, it appears all of my patients are back in their homes; the exception is the patient who lost his home but his family was able to move him to a new location where he can receive the care he needs. Two of my teammates were in danger of losing their houses; one is back and safe in her home while the other is still evacuated but her home is still intact.

The toll this week has exacted on all of us will take much longer to determine. The latest information tells us that 1,589 homes have been lost and they are in for a long process of rebuilding. But thousands were also evacuated and spent hours and days unsure if they had a house to go back to. The difficulty is that the first week brings a plethora of attention but the body reacts with a plethora of adrenaline; we’ve been flooded by stories of people who have lost everything and are cheered for their “positive attitude.” My prayer is that if their attitude has taken a few hits in the next few months, they will have resources they need (emotional and spiritual as well as financial).

By and large the politicians did well this week, but it wouldn’t be politics without some boneheaded moves. I’ve collected two:

  • On Wednesday our City Attorney Mike Aguirre suggested that all 1,000,000 residents of San Diego evacuate because of poor air quality. He gave no suggestions on how to evacuate, where to evacuate to, or how to determine the air was once again safe. In fairness he hasn’t been in the way as much as usual, but Mike wouldn’t be Mike if he didn’t have something stupid to say.
  • FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, held a press conference on Tuesday to give out information on how the Agency is responding to the fires. Normal press sources were given 15 minutes notice of the press conference to ensure they wouldn’t show up. The could call in and listen to the press conference but they could not ask questions. If the questions asked of Deputy Director Harvey E. Johnson appeared to be softballs, there was a reason: the “reporters” were actually FEMA employees who were instructed to ask easy questions. You have to give credit to Harvey though: he later admitted this fraud was “an error of judgment” but that the information given was correct. I guess that makes it OK.

San Diego On Fire

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It’s hard to imagine anyone doesn’t know this, but as I write this large parts of San Diego City and County are on fire. Late last week we learned that a Santa Ana was going to blow in on Sunday. Santa Ana’s are a mixed blessing around here; they are winds that blow from east to west (against the prevailing winds) and blow hot and dry air into our area. It’s good for people who like warmer weather (like Nancy) but bad for people who have asthma and/or allergies (like me) because they blow dust from the desert into our area. They also create fire dangers because if a fire starts it has the tools to be really bad (dry air and wind). On Sunday afternoon we noticed clouds of dirty air which are normally a bad sign.

We didn’t know how bad it was. By Monday morning we learned that several places nearby were threatened. My territory with San Diego Hospice includes Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Escondido, Valley Center, and Fallbrook. The first wave was the Witch Creek Fire that started east of Ramona (near San Ysabel) but was heading west with a vengeance; several of my patients were in areas that were under mandatory evacuation. I spent virtually all of Monday on the phone trying to find where the evacuees went; one was not hard because her next door neighbor dropped her off at our headquarters. I spent the next three hours with a few of my coworkers trying to find a place for her to stay with her cartons of cigarettes and her dog. Once the statute of limitations is over I’ll have a great story to tell.

Others took a few days to find. Waking up in the middle of the night and being told that you have 10 minutes to grab what you want to save and evacuate is incredibly stressful. It’s even more stressful if you need a pail of medication and oxygen tanks to survive the day. That’s what several of my patients (and their families) faced. In all the confusion they weren’t able to call us and tell us where they landed.

One of my first jobs entailed tracking them. Sitting in an office talking on the phone doesn’t sound like stressful work but it was. I spent the last three days scrambling to find cell phone numbers for patients whose home phones no longer work or were not being answered. Some are with relatives, others are with hotels, and some are in shelters who are not equipped for hospice needs. At least one has lost his home along with all his books, journals, and correspondence. He’s in his 90’s and I can only imagine what has been lost to the ages, but he’s philosophical and ready to start over. I wish I had his perspective.

A bright spot in this tragedy has been my hospice. I’ve had the chance to talk with and work with people from all levels of management at SDHPC. They’ve been, without exception, overwhelming in their support of the staff and the patients. It makes me more more and more convinced that I work for a good place.

A dark spot has been the impact on the lives my teammates. I live in La Jolla, several miles from any of the evacuations, and am safe. But many of my teammates live in these same areas as the patients. About half the team was evacuated and a few may have suffered the loss of their homes. I ask for prayers for them.

I’ll have more to say in the next few days but I ask for your prayers during this painful and difficult time.

The Diocese of San Diego Wants You (or at least your checkbook)

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Last month I wrote a post on the sex abuse settlement with the Catholic Diocese of San Diego. In the negotiations with the victims Bishop Brom stated that the diocese could only afford to pay out $95 million without hurting the mission of the church. The final settlement was for $198 million and the share of the diocese will be about $107 million (the rest will come from insurance) which means that the diocese needs to close a gap of $12 million.

Most other dioceses have closed this gap by selling property or other assets; some have closed parishes. Bishop Brom doesn’t want to do this and appears to have come up with another solution: shake down your people. Last week he sent a memo to all the priests in the diocese; there is a link in an article in the San Diego Union Tribune. He asks all the priests of the diocese to donate a month’s salary to a campaign called “Embracing Our Mission” (though “Saving Our Mission” would probably be more accurate). This is the excerpt from the memo:

Since we cannot ask of others what we are unwilling to do ourselves, the deans [priests who represent a given geographic grouping of priests in the diocese] accepted the recommendation of the Presbyteral Council [a council of priests who advise the bishop] to invite every priest to contribute one month’s salary toward Embracing Our Mission. Retired priests will be asked to contribute according to their means. In this regard, you will soon hear from your dean.

The memo goes on to say that each pastor will receive a packet that they will mail to their parishioners “inviting them to make a generous contribution.”

The astounding part of this isn’t the fact that Bishop Brom is asking for money. Since we, the faithful, are essentially the only source of income for the church he really has nowhere else to go. The idea that the bishop can strongarm his priests in this manner is what astounds me. I, as a layperson, am asked to make a “generous contribution” but am left to myself to decide what it is. I certainly have no intention of donating a month’s salary because, simply put, I have bills to pay. But so do they. The mood of this letter to priests makes it sound like it’s far from a suggestion.

As for me, I doubt we’ll give the “generous contribution” but not for the reason you may think. It’s not a matter of “I didn’t cause the problem and shouldn’t have to pay for it.” I find that excuse a little thin. My primary concern is that the victims be compensated and that’s already taken care of. This “generous contribution” is to reimburse the diocese and I’m not sure that should happen. Bishop Brom (to my mind) doesn’t seem to “get it” in the sense of understanding why we are so upset with him. Perhaps the diocese should go through some penance and this may entail some selling of property. While I certainly want the mission of the church to go on, it should not necessarily be easy for Bishop Brom.

And by the way, Bishop Brom never states he will donate a month of his salary.

End of the Season

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As the baseball playoffs begin the Padres are home for the first time since 2004. That’s right, they don’t have the opportunity to get trounced in the first round of the playoffs. It’s been nothing if not a turbulent year for the home team. At the beginning of the year the “smart money” said that this would be the year for the Padres or the Dodgers. Many expected that one would win the division and the other would be the wild card; instead the Padres placed 3rd in the NL West. Now the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies are heading toward the World Series.

All season the Padres have relied on their pitching and have suffered from mediocre hitting. Unfortunately toward the end of the season when the arms started to get tired they had nothing to back them up. Jake Peavy was wonderful and is probably the strongest contender for the NL Cy Young award. But the last game against the Rockies was one of his worst outings and he just looked tired. I think Chris Young will be the pitcher who will finally give the Padres their long awaited no hitter. He had a strong start but he just couldn’t bounce back from a strained oblique in late July. Greg Maddux has always been a great pitcher to watch but he’s clearly in the sunset of his career and may have made his best contribution in working with some of the younger pitchers. The saddest part of this season may well be future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman. He had 42 saves this year and holds the Major League record of 524 saves over his career but two of the Padres’ last three defeats were because Trevor blew the save. Unfortunately if you’re the team’s closer you’re either the hero or the goat and nothing in between. Trevor has been crackerjack because he relies on only two pitches: his fastball and his changeup. They are essentially the same pitch but have vastly different speeds; I’m beginning to wonder if he isn’t losing a few miles per hour on his fastball thereby diminishing the difference between the two pitches.

In any case I will chant the baseball fan’s mantra of “wait till next year.” I categorized this as “celebrating” because every baseball season is a celebration and I’m glad I came along for the ride. Pitchers and catchers report in four months.

Dead Sea Scrolls

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Yesterday my friend Ann and I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. The scrolls were found in a cave near Qumran in Israel starting in 1947. They date back 2000 years and several of the scrolls contain passages from the Jewish Scriptures (also called the Tanach or the Old Testament).

Scholars disagree but many think they belonged to a group that was active in the 1st Century of the Common Era (CE) called the Essenes. They were massacred by the Romans in 68 CE and may have hidden these scrolls to prevent them from falling into enemy hands or being destroyed. However it happened, these scrolls are an international treasure and nobody should pass up the opportunity to see them.

The beginning of the exhibit was little more than a travelogue to visit Israel but the second part was incredibly inspiring and moving. You can see a photograph of one of the scroll pieces here. If you have a chance to see these, do it.