I normally do not advocate for any company or organization because I believe people are capable of making their own choices. But this time, I’d like to bring to everyone’s attention this simple method of supporting good causes of your choice by just being alive.  This can be done through Plus 3 Network. All you need to do is logging your daily activities there. The idea is, Plus 3 has secured a set of beneficiaries (causes) that people can choose to support as well as a corresponding set of sponsors (one-to-one relationship). Once you choose your cause to support, any activity you log (by hand typing or using your GPS) through their site will help raise money for that cause, which will be donated by the corresponding sponsor.

To be honest, in the beginning, I was a bit thrown off by the fact that Plus 3 was not a non-profit organization, so when I had trouble uploading my GPS data first time I tried a year ago, I did not try again. But I’ve come to terms with that grudge since. After all, it’s a great idea. We do these activities anyway, and this is a simple way to make them count. The people who came up with the idea and the platform deserve to be awarded. So, here I am, giving a shout out on their behalf. BTW, last night when I tried, uploading data from my GPS was extremely easy.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with Plus 3 at all other than being a member

Below is a list of the activities that can be logged as of today. Now, do you see what I mean by raising money by just being alive?

Updates:

March 11, 2010. This update is in response to Alison’s comment on my original post:

Call me cynical, but the Plus 3 network strikes me as too much of a waste of time. I’m happy to just plain donate the small amount of money they raise instead of bothering with their silly web site. How do you know if they really make the donation? Do you ever get confirmation from the group you elect?

Alison, I hear you. For a long time, I remained suspicious of the gig. And even today, I can’t say that I have found the answers to many of my questions. However, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Here are the reasons:

• I will not pretend that I do my sports such as road riding, mountain biking, and rock climbing, etc. because I want to help some charity. I sometimes push myself and suffer pain while doing these activities, but that’s only because I get some satisfaction out of it eventually.  (Alison, I’m sure you understand this all too well). So, you will never find me soliciting to friends and family “fund my miles, or climbs, and I’ll kill myself to go further because I have a higher purpose that goes beyond my own desires.” Yeah, call me cynical. However, looking at the Rates table on their FAQ page, I realize that pretty much any exercise I do can help raise some money. Since I’m doing these things anyway (for my own satisfaction) on a fairly regular basis, why don’t I make them count for something else as an extra, especially when that “something else” can help someone else.
• I know I will not be logging every thing I do. For example, I rode my mountain bike for 4 miles today, and it does seem a waste of my time to log that activty for a pathetic $0.12. I’ll be more motivated to log my time consuming activities. But, even if I’m disciplined enough (I doubt I will be) to log every single activity I do every day, I know that by the end of the day, or even the month, the total amount will still be pretty small. But I’ve been receiving their newsletter every since I signed up. I wish they had some accounting as to how much each organization (cause) has received funding. At the beginning of the their last newsletter, they did state, “we’ve raised over $97,000 for our Causes!” If it’s true, I guess that’s the cumulative effect. At this point, I’ll just give them the benefit of the doubt, believe that it’s a noble thing to do, and be happy to be a tiny part of it.
• I do have some questions for them just like you do, Alison. The information disclosure on their website has been limited or vague. But again, they are not a non-profit organization, so I can’t hold it against them. On the other hand, I don’t think they are hiding from anyone either. A couple of their founders have been very active in the Low Key Hillclimb series. So, maybe someday when I go, I’ll summon enough courage to ask them the questions face-to-face. Until then, I’m open to any genuine information anyone is able to share with us. I see this as a healthy discussion. If any reader who stumbles upon this post and has some thoughts to share, please leave a comment.

Again, until something changes my mind, I’ll remain a supporter of this fund raising mechanism…if only I’m more disciplined about logging my activities…

We had four audio books in the car. Erik got those from the library and had been listening to some of them. One was a Mandarin Lesson; one was on China history; and two were on American history. All except the Mandarin lesson would have been nice to listen to, but right before we got out of the house, we opened a Christmas present Erik’s sister sent us. It was a book, The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition. Although both of us had read/listened to this book before, neither of us could remember the details; however, we both remembered it was a great book. I couldn’t help opening the first page, but I also couldn’t keep the pleasure of reading that book to myself, so I read it out aloud. I did it on the entire 16 hour drive and the subsequent nights before we went to sleep.

We took a break when we drove through LA. We met up with my friend Vivian from college when we stopped for lunch. She took great interests in Erik’s braces because she was going through some serious debates (with herself) about that. It was good to see her again. Now I can say, I read Erik bed time stories. Actually, when we get back, I will try to find other good books so we can read them together. It’s really fun this way.

When we pulled in the drive way at the rental house in Tucson, it was near midnight. Our friend Tom who arrived a day early was still up and about. Our vacation had officially started.

Why does it bug me? Can’t believe you have to ask –  Don’t you see what’s wrong here? It’s asymmetric! Can that be even legal???

I even paused on my Henry Coe ride just so I can fix this messy situation:

There! This is better!

Haha… Just my rambling when it’s raining outside.

I think the rheumatologist likes me to think not, but he has asked me to go back to see him in four weeks so he can run some blood tests on me. See, he can’t know for sure!

The ankle so far has been getting better everyday. Last Thursday (4th day), it was still swollen like this (inserting the link instead of the actual picture to protect the foot-phobics). But on Monday, I was already able to walk slowly on my own without the crutches. By now (about 10 days after the onset), I can walk like a normal person. That’s good because I didn’t like the attention I got when I was walking like a 90 year old grandma. But of course, if you know me well, you know I’m not my normal self yet because I usually walk twice as fast as a normal person. The swelling has gone down substantially, but it looks purple now around the ankle and there is still discomfort in it when I move. But at least, I can walk now.

The doctor says having abnormal blood test results such as a high RA factor does not necessarily mean that I do have RA. After examining me up and down, he concludes I’m in a good shape. Most likely, the episode is just my body’s over reaction to a subtle injury I had that was not picked up in either the X-Ray or the MRI. I have been accused of being melodramatic occasionally by the hubby and now a doctor confirms it! Good grief!

When he told me, “Don’t worry. Go home and enjoy yourself!” I almost felt a little disappointed. To me, something had to be wrong when something as debilitating as that happened to a person. If the doctor could confirm what was wrong, it might sound awful or frightening  (e.g. RA), but at least we can start acting on that — diet, medicine, or anything — so it does not happen again. But now, nothing will be done or can be done, then how do I know that it won’t suddenly happen again and maybe even be worse next time? (The thought of that just sent a chill down my spine.) All right… I guess I’ll have to trust my doctor at this point. After all, he seems like a super nice guy, and he shares an office with Christine Thorburn, who came in 5th in the 2008 Beijing Olympics Women’s Individual Cycling Time Trial. (BTW, my doctor’s name is Andrew Rozelle and he asked me to call him Andrew. See, I told you he was super nice!)

- So, can I get back on my bike now?
- I’d rather you give it at least another week.
- But this is Bohlman-On Orbit, the only Low Key Hillclimb I had wanted to participate in badly! (Omitted here are some lengthy explanations on how painful this hillclimb is, which obviously sounded pretty convincing to the doctor.)
- Okay, if you really want to do it, fine. The worst case is it will swell up again…

Wow, so I might actually do it? Only a week after when I thought I might be disabled for life? Ha, that’s a twisty turn on my life’s path! Well, we’ll see what happens on Saturday!

Update (2 hours after I wrote the post): Erik just remembered to tell me that the rheumatologist called home in the evening. (I was not home because I went to watch Michael Jack’s This Is It by myself.) After I left the doctor’s office, he talked to the radiologist who took my MRI and got a hold of my MRI. (The MRI images in the CD I brought him were not very clear.) It turned out that the situation was worse than he had thought. He mentioned that there was lot of fluid and swelling around the tendons and ligaments. So, he did not think me riding on Saturday would be a good idea because pushing hard could have a good chance of tearing the Achilles Tendon or other ligaments. Oops, shut down! That’s okay though because in this case, ignorance probably would not be bliss.

Hmmm…First time using the crutches. First time wearing a cast boot. Will be getting an MRI the first time. I think the horizon of my life has just expanded.

Let’s see… what happened? NOTHING happened, literally. Here is what I wrote to a friend in email last night:

Okay, so I came to work. Got busy. Then I felt that I wanted a shower to clear my head, so I went to the gym and did a 20 minute light run on the tread mill just to break a sweat.  Then I went to lunch. Came back to my desk and started working. So far, nothing abnormal at all. An hour later, all of a sudden, boom! Some severe pain just flared up in my left ankle and it bent me over. I was just typing at that time and didn’t even wiggle my feet! Anyway, I hopped to the breakroom and grabbed an ice pack. No relief. It got worse. For two hours, I tried to ice it, massage it, gently bend it. Nothing worked. It just got worse and worse. So bad that I was shaking and sweating, and feeling nauseous. I hopped to my manager’s office and told him that I needed to go to the Urgent Care. I was going to drive myself because Erik just called me earlier saying that he was feeling sick (again) and was on his way home to rest. But I wasn’t sure if I could go the whole way without passing out because it was just that painful.  Luckily, our administrative assistance lives in Palo Alto and offered to give me a ride.

After I got dropped off at the Urgent Care, it was the usual story — endless wait at the waiting area, in the little room for the nurse to come, then for the doctor, then for the X-Ray technician, etc. etc. I was on the verge of tears the whole time and might even have shed some. The doctor could not see anything wrong from the X-Ray and told me I need to see a podiatrist tomorrow.  She sent me home with crutches (I needed them because I couldn’t put any weight on the foot) and pain pills.

While I was waiting, I had my iPhone and a book. I managed to glance at my emails quickly, but other than that, I was in such pain that I could not function as in reading a book or typing emails. I think now the pain pill has kicked in, and I’m in a comfortable position in the couch, so I feel better now.

Yep, that was it. The pain just came out nowhere and it was debilitating. It woke me up in the middle of the night last night and I had to pop a pain pill to get back to sleep. This morning, I was going to toughen it out so I postponed taking the pain pill. Boy, did I pay for that one! The pain just intensified so much that nothing I did (elevating the foot, laying still, etc.) could help until I gave in and pop in another pill. Now, I start counting the minutes after three hours or so because the instruction says one pill every four hours.

I  went to see a podiatrist this afternoon. He looked at my ankle and pressed here and there and then suspected stress fracture(s) in the navicular (a little bone near the top of the ankle).  The damage was accumulative and it just happened that the chemical and biological reactions finally pushed it over the edge. Hmmm… sounded plausible.

He has ordered MRI for me so he can know for sure and know the extent of the damage. The only appointment with the lab I can get for tomorrow is at 6am. Early! Ouch, that’s even more painful than the ankle! Now, I got the cast boot on the foot to keep the ankle stable. It’s still 25 minutes till my next pain pill and it’s already hurting excruciatingly now.

The doctor emphasized again and again that I need to let it heal fully before doing any exercises on it, which means 8-12 weeks of rest. Argh! But he just did surgery on a girl who did not follow his advice and ended up having to have the bones fused. I definitely don’t want that to happen! Okay, maybe I should pick up some knitting books from the library?

Update on Oct 28 (two days after onset): The doctor called and said that the radiologist from the MRI lab did not see stress fracture. He would like to see the MRI result (I have the CD) himself tomorrow when I go see him and run some blood test on me. I told him when I first saw him yesterday that I had a Dr. House case for him. I think I did.

Update on Oct 29 (three days after onset): I went to see the podiatrist today. The pain level has subsided a bit — I no longer live for the next pain killer pill now, but still I cannot put any weight on the foot. So I’m not off crutches yet. The redness and swelling have gone worse. The doctor ordered an array of blood tests for me, which I did in the lab next door.  He’ll call me tomorrow about the results.

Update on Oct 30 (4th day): The doctor called with the blood test results. A few factors were high pointing to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). I need to see a rheumatologist right away. Called around and it doesn’t look like I can get in until next week. The doctor assured me that I wouldn’t die while waiting. In the mean time, I’m off pain meds now, but still I can’t walk on the foot yet. The redness and swelling have stayed at the same level as of yesterday.

Update On Oct 31 (5th day):  The pain is still slowly subsiding. That’s good. The swelling has not gone down much but it hasn’t gotten worse either. Good too. With the help of the cast boot, I was able to take a few steps here and there (limping style). Next update probably will be on Thursday, Nov 5 when I go see a rheumatologist. That’s the earliest appointment I can get after calling around for a couple of hours on Friday. I guess that’s an indicator that RA is not immediately life threatening.

Update on Nov 2: I’m off the crutches now. They are so annoying because I cannot carry anything in hand while using those crutches. Walking hurts, but not too bad. I walk very slowly. Big improvement from last week. The ankle is still purple, but not too bad either.

Update On Nov 5: Okay, I guess I’ll die, someday. (See this new post for a full update.)

The weekend before the last one, I worked hard in the house and cleaned four bikes, and Mud worked hard in the yard and hauled twenty loads of cleared tree branches and bushes to the dump yard.

Last weekend, we worked on replacing our stove. It was a learning process. We made one trip into town on Saturday to get the gaps pipe adapter (had a hard time finding the right ones).  Hooked it up. The flames were spectacular, but the bottoms of the kettle and the pans got all covered in soot. Turned out that the stove was set up for natural gas, but we run LP gas (propane) and we made another trip into town to get the adapter for that. In the mean time, we did cellphone shopping and saw James.

Those weekends were productive, but I can get a trip report out of them! I’ll have to see if this weekend follows the same pattern or not.

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About Britain and England… well, the political entity is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK for short). That’s what’s on my passport. Britain (sometimes pronounced Great Britain) is the geographical entity: the land mass that’s divided into England, Wales, and Scotland. Though these three are sometimes called countries, they aren’t really. But they’re becoming more so, as Scotland (and so far not Wales) has got its own parliament.

Normally, no-one who lives there calls themselves British. And certainly not “Brit”. That’s an Americanism. Over there, we’re just English, Welsh, and so on.

British has yet another meaning. It’s the name of the indigenous inhabitants who were there before the Romans, the Vikings, and then the French invaded. But at least we ended up with a rich language as a result of all those foreign influences.

 Later, he added…

More on “British”… Generally speaking, passport-issuing entities have simple names (or at least simple nicknames) and simply derived terms for their citizens. Nigerian is to Nigeria (nickname for the Federal Republic of Nigeria) as Japanese is to Japan and Chinese is to China (nickname for the People’s republic of China), and so on. Both the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and the United States (of America) are different. You never hear of Yewkayish — and “British” is a kind of unofficial substitute. That annoys people from Northern Ireland. Nor do you hear of Yewessian — and “American” is a kind of unofficial substitute. That annoys people from Canada and Mexico! Silly really. But definitely stay clear of “Brit”. Over here, it’s rarely heard stand-alone; more often, it’s “Crazybrit” (one word).

Just to give you some idea what my taste (or lack of it) is like, I can tell you that I also enjoyed watching comedies like About A Boy and Waking Ned Devine.

When I was little (maybe twenty something years ag0), materials were not abundant. The New Year celebration had its extreme significance back then. That was the time when each of us might get one piece of new clothing, which most likely was made with needle and thread by my mom. The beginning of the new year always invariantly falls into the winter. That dinner on the eve was always something we looked forward to because for the most of the winter, we fed on cabbages, potatoes, and preserved tomatoes — green vegetables were scarce in the northern part of China. My dad would put a feast on the table after a few days of preparation. And the days before the new year were the days when people do extensive cleaning of their houses too.

The annual New Year’s Gala on TV was not missed by anybody. It was always broadcast on New Year’s Eve. It gathered the top talents in China to put together a non-stop breathtaking performance. That’s where you would see all the top singers, dancers, comedians, acrobats, magicians within the few hours. The performance would be something people kept talking about for days and weeks. But by midnight, everyone went outside with fire crackers. The entire city would explode with non-stop fireworks.

We went to bed knowing that next morning there would be a little red envelope under our pillows. A few RMBs made a little girl very happy in those early years. Although we stayed up late at night, everyone would try to get up early the next morning — the first morning in the new year. Kids ran outside to show off their new clothes to friends. Adults would also put on their best clothing and go door to door to greet each other and wish each other the best in the new year. Everyone smiled at everyone else. It was a time of abundant happiness.

So many years have passed. I have moved across the globe to another country. Busy with work and other things, I have not made any plans to do anything special to celebrate the New Year. But that’s okay. Remembering the celebrations in the old days brought a smile to my face.

Wish everyone a prosperous new year!

新年快乐！身体健康！恭喜发财！