I started my first blog, on a hobby topic, back in 1995. Considering the HTML-based web was all shiny and new in 1994, this was an early start on blogging! I shut down that blog in the early 2000s.
A blog is a bit of a personal diary. For some, it is a way of selling something – their product or service or establishing a personal brand.
For me it is a personal diary of items I found interesting. As I explore topics, I jot down notes – which often turn into blog posts. By posting it here, I can go back and find information on something I’ve learned about in the past. Consequently, this blog is more personal notes about topics than anything else. This, then, becomes a searchable database of items – I often search my own blog for references to something I wrote about, previously.
One of my other blogs, on 3D and photography, is a place for me to keep notes on, and possibly promote an interest in 3D photography and video.
In 2020, at the start of Covid, I unknowingly fractured a bone in my foot (yes, it hurt). The day I decided I needed to see a doctor, my state shut down non-life threatening healthcare. It would be 2 1/2 months before I was permitted to see a doctor and was diagnosed with having fractured a bone, but seemingly too late to do anything. Consequently, I spent about 7 months mostly sitting. Later, this lack of exercise led to a collapse in fitness and exposed unknown osteoarthritis in my knee, and later, more problems with that foot, including torn tendons in that foot and ankle, which in turn led to hip problems (all these parts are connected). I spent a lot of time sitting – and being online and reading and making notes. That’s how much of this content was created during this down time.
About Me
I am recently retired from the computer industry.
I never graduated from high school. It’s a long story … but I did go on to college – and paid for 100% of my college tuition, fees, books, etc, myself.
I have a BS in computer science from the University of California, an MS in software engineering from Regis University (earned at age 54), and an MBA from Gonzaga University (age 41). I have additional graduate course work in medical informatics (Oregon Health and Science University) and computer security (University of Idaho). In addition to working in industry (Silicon Valley startup, later Microsoft, Agilent Technologies, Vivato wireless and other firms), I did consulting work for small businesses, a native American tribal business development group, and taught dozens of university courses as an adjunct instructor. I am the author of a dozen books, mostly on computer topics.
On my Twitter bio, I show flags representing my family history/ancestry.
Fun Hobby Things
I have interests in aviation, RC model aircraft, ham radio, and amateur astronomy. I have a home built 14-foot hovercraft and a home built 10″ reflector telescope. I have an FAA private pilot’s certificate but no longer pilot aircraft.
Not Fun Things
Things I have done that were not fun include half a dozen traumatic brain injuries ranging from
- skull fracture/moderate TBI
- fall from a tree/concussion and subsequent speech problems (1.5 years of speech therapy)
- two bike crashes that broke my helmet and other bones, concussion, mild TBI. Led to sleep disorders, anxiety, visual migraines, 5 or 6 different kinds of headaches – about 18 effects in all.
- fall on ice, concussion, mild TBI
- head impact, no knockout but left me with slow brain, slow speech and heart arrhythmia for weeks. Led to tinnitus.
- Due to incompetent health care, I was not diagnosed with these traumatic brain injuries until age 58, when I finally received care. I struggled unnecessarily through life with headaches, visual migraines, brain disorders, sleep problems and anxiety for decades.
- Missed almost 2 years of K-12 education due to illness and injuries (skull fracture). I missed one third of my 9th grade year due to having a systemic Staph A infection, culminating simultaneously with influenza and pneumonia. I had seen the family doctor many times, but he missed the Staph A infection all year. I missed my 12th grade year due to being encouraged to leave high school one year early and go direct to college. Dumbest thing I did in my life.
- I earned my MBA at age 41 and my MS in software engineering at age 54. FYI most graduate degrees earned past age 30-35 do not yield a positive financial return on investment, and those earned over age 40 – while personally beneficial, will not provide job benefits. I earned these degrees because at every job I held – every one of them– I was denied job opportunities and even denied input into projects because, I was told, I lacked a graduate degree. Now I have two graduate degrees.
- Additionally, issues related to untreated brain injuries kept me from achieving at my maximum. I so wish I had been properly diagnosed and treated, at least by my 20s.
- I had my first job starting at age 10 and paid for 100% of my own undergraduate and graduate tuition, fees, books, etc. from my own savings and earnings. I also bought my own bicycle in 5th grade. At age 19, I bought a used Toyota for my first car. Needless to say, I worked at lot from age 10 onward and did not have the world handed to me. I paid for the above myself.
- Silent heart attack. Only symptom was sudden onset of fatigue. Didn’t have the classic risk factors either, 10 years of lip panels were fine, don’t smoke, drink, am not pre-diabetic or diabetic, and had been exercising. Risk factors may have been inflammation caused by Vitamin B deficiencies (the mistake of having become an “accidental vegetarian”) and that caused by long public health which had prevent care for my broken foot and torn tendon.
Brain Injuries
Brain injuries are a serious health problem across the country and around the world. Most go un-diagnosed and untreated and may have lifelong effects.
When I fractured my skull, I was seen by a family doctor. I was not x-rayed until 5 days after the bike crash and not informed of the fracture until day 6; I have no idea why this delay.
I had a long linear fracture from left temple to behind my left ear – about 5″ long. I was sent home, and proceeded to lie in bed, throwing up for 2 weeks. I am told I did not recognize family members by name and was not able to take care of myself or walk by myself. I was out of school for more than a month, and then half time in school for many months. During my time back at school, a kid threw a football that hit me in my head, right over the fracture. I was out of school again for another week mostly for protection. I have no idea why I was not referred to a hospital originally or treated properly.
Basically, I fractured my skull, didn’t get x-rayed until 5 days later, and was sent home to lie in bed, throwing up.
Today I would have been seen in an ER, received imaging of my head, would likely have been hospitalized, treated for nausea, and then have had follow up with therapists (speech, physical, occupational, possibly mental health). Today, a skull fracture is recognized by default with an assumption that there is internal brain bleeding. But alas, I had no treatment until almost 50 years later.
Incredibly, no one mentioned the letters “TBI” to me and I spent my entire life dealing with TBI-related gremlins (about 18 of them). In the spring of 2018, I was searching online for something unrelated to TBI when I stumbled on an ebook about traumatic brain injuries. I started reading and there, on every paragraph of many pages was a description of what I had been dealing with. I was stunned. This was followed weeks later by a chance meeting of a friend of a friend who made a joke about brain injuries (it’s okay, it was funny). I joked he was probably referring to me as I’d had a few. He asked me to briefly describe them, which I did. His response was “I cannot believe you are standing in front of me on two feet and speaking coherently“. Unknown to me, the late Eric Ming had a PhD in neuropsychology. That brief conversation changed my life and was likely the most important conversation I have had in my entire life.
I then made an appointment to discuss this with my doctor. In all my life, I had never been asked about my head injuries and had never had a discussion about them with a health care professional. I was diagnosed with post-TBI issues and referred to a neuropsychologist (a specialist in the cognitive effects of brain injuries). I was also put on medication for a while.
All things considered, I view myself as one of the luckiest people on earth. I now know people who had far less injuries than I yet far worse outcomes. I also know people who had devastating head injuries with very difficult and partial recoveries, and some who have made incredible recoveries. Several years ago a physician said it was remarkable how well I had done. In the summer of 2022, another physician called me a “miracle” for having done so well. Especially considering no one ever told me I had TBI nor provided any care for TBI.
Under the advice of my doctors, I now avoid activities that might lead to further head injuries (like bicycling). The effects of TBI may be cumulative – that means a mild injury now could have worse effects than would normally occur from a mild injury.
I often refer to myself as a brain injured idiot – seems pretty accurate and gets that out of the way up front. I mean, what’s your excuse? Hah hah.