Smash Room!
Last month we went to a smash room in Oakland. We smashed things good!
Me like smash room.
Archive for 2026
I found the last Easter egg!
I did it! I found the last Easter egg!
The Easter Bunny left lots of eggs around the house and one was not accounted for until now! It was a blue egg sitting in almost plain sight underneath a blue, wire table. Hidden in plain sight.
Thank you Easter Bunny!
SOTA Caduceus vs Asclepius
When I was in grad school, I found a card from SOTA, the Student Occupational Therapy Association with the Caduceus on it sitting on a table. I wondered about the symbol and a month later I brought my concern to a SOTA meeting. Here’s my report. I’ve written more about this but this document is still valid.
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Updating the SOTA Emblem
This was presented by Lee Sonko to the SJSU SOTA meeting on 9-17-15
The takeaway from the meeting was positive. Lee was asked to
* form a committee that supports it
* have something concrete to talk about
* have an emblem drawing contest
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In brief, SOTA’s emblem is the Caduceus. This is the symbol of Hermes. That is probably the wrong god to associate with. The symbol might possibly be the Rod of Asclepius, which looks very similar and is the symbol of Asclepius, the god of medicine. But I’m not sure that’s right for OT either.
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Alternate
Look on the back of your membership card. SOTA’s emblem is the Caduceus. This is the symbol of Hermes, the god of messengers, travellers, business, smooth talking, and ferrying the dead to the underworld. The original author was probably shooting for the Rod of Asclepius, the symbol of Asclepius, the greek god of medicine. This is a common mistake in America. But OT’s focus isn’t “medicine” so neither symbol is right. Let’s come up with a new one!
The Caduceus, a winged staff with 2 snakes is the staff carried by Hermes the messenger. It a symbol of trades, commerce, negotiation. Hermes is known for transitions, being a messenger, speaking well, moving freely between the mortal and divine worlds, being a conductor of souls to the afterlife, poetry, and travelling, among other things.
The Rod of Asclepius (Uh sclee pee-us) is a non-winged staff with 1 snake is the symbol Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine.
In the US, you’ll see both the Caduceus and the Rod of Asclepius used in connection to medicine. The Caduceus hadn’t ever been used for medicine until in about 1902 when it was made the symbol of the US Army Medical Corps. (it still is)
The vast majority of people believe it is a mistake to use the Caduceus as a symbol of medicine. There are many long, well researched treatices about it online in places ranging from Wikipedia to the September 2015 edition of the Journal of Pharmacy & BioAllied Sciences. It is the butt of jokes. “As conductor of the dead to their subterranean abode, his emblem would seem more appropriate on a hearse than on a physician’s car.”
Tyson, Stuart L (1932). “The Caduceus”. Scientific Monthly 34 (6): 495. via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus
But none of this is important because neither of these symbols speaks to occupational therapy. One says “medicine”, the other says… I don’t know, “medicine?” Since we’ve all taken OT History, it’s obvious that while we work intimately with the medical community, we are -not- part of the medical model.
Neither the Caduceus nor the Rod of Asclepius should be our symbol. The worst part is that I come to you without a solution to this problem.
The World Health Organization has a rod of Asclepius in their emblem
http://www.who.int/about/licensing/emblem/en/
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_as_a_symbol_of_medicine
Journal of Pharmacy & BioAllied Sciences, Things you don’t learn in medical school: Caduceus, http://www.jpbsonline.org/article.asp?issn=0975-7406;year=2015;volume=7;issue=5;spage=49;epage=50;aulast=Prakash
Finn, R., Orlans,D. A., Davenport, G. (1999). A much misunderstood caduceus and the case for an aesculapion. The Lancet, 353 (9168), 1978. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)77199-3
Wilcox, R. A., & Whitham, E. M. (2003). The Symbol of Modern Medicine: Why One Snake Is More Than Two. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 138(8), 673.
Caduceus and Asclepius
Asclepius
Hermes
Daddy-Daughter Spring Break
Abigail’s spring break happened last week. I am blessed and fortunate enough to have spent the week with my daughter!
Saturday April 4
We hard boiled and colored eggs for Easter
Abigail had a sleepover with our neighbor Ana
Sunday April 5
Easter with Family – egg hunt at home! The easter bunny hid a LOT of eggs in the back and front yard. One magical moment for me was finding one of those eggs buried deep in the flowers of my wildflower garden
Monday April 6
We spent the day in San Francisco. Took the Richmond Ferry (the absolute best way to travel!), went to Chinatown, saw supa-cool art and the time capsule they opened in the downstairs of the Transamerica Building, had a brief but bad experience at a tea-house in Chinatown, had lucious and amazing food
Yes, those are CDs, AOL is rolling over in its grave
Tuesday April 7
We did an Escape Room in the morning, had handrolls at the new Japanese supermarket in Emeryville, Tokyo Central, then got a wild 40 minute demo at the Apple Store for the Vision Pro!
Wednesday April 8
Wednesday was do nothing day. It was glorious! We did nothing!
But for dinner, Megan and Abigail made Rib-eye, slightly smashed potatoes, and beans. They came out great!
(It was originally going to be “Make every meal from scratch” day. I got excited, suggesting we make a peanut and butter and jelly sandwich from scratch: grinding peanuts, making jelly, and making bread. I honestly love that idea! But Abigail was turned off by that same idea.)
Thursday April 9
Thursday was Driving Without GPS Day!
We took off, driving down San Pablo, delivering some packages to post office-like places, including the Lucky’s supermarket, for an Amazon return. At Lucky’s we found a Pokemon vending machine but were disappointed that it was all sold out. In the 5 minutes we were there, 2 people came up to it, checking to see if it had cards. Apparently, the machine ISN’T sold out, it only makes cards available every half-hour or so! I feel like I could SEE the poke-addiction in the one guy’s eyes who told us the Target down the street had cards. He whipped out his phone and, in 2 taps showed us a photo of the display. 2 taps! That display was close to his heart!
After that, we were off again and found ourselves at Happy Donuts!
Then down the road and we wandered into Fenton MacLaren furniture. We had a blast trying out the couches, oogling their fabulous (and pricey but worth it!) cabinets, dressers, and whatnots. We left with smiles on our faces.
Then, continuing down San Pablo, we found ourselves at Oakland Ice Skating Ring! We got excited about maybe skating but found out the public skate session was about to end. So Abigail thought, “Ooo! They have a fancy cotton candy making machine!” And I thought, “Ooo! Let’s have some real food instead!” and we walked the neighborhood until we found sushi!
That gave us the energy to go back to the Oakland Skate Center. So we wandered around, looking at the skaters. But when we got near the rink…. oooo!! It was cold! We asked the staff if they had winter clothes we could borrow, putting them on over our shorts and T-Shirts, but no! So it was time to go home, promising to return some day soon.
Friday April 10
Stuff happened on Friday, I just don’t remember what!
Saturday April 11
Saturday had Megan and Abigail visit Costco, some chill time in our new RV in the rain, and a sleepover with Leia! The sleepover had it all: a great dinner, microwave chocolate cake, hot tubbing, making with Abigail’s new Cricut, staying up late, and everything!
Swipe-back in Obsidian.md
On my Mac, I just figured out how to make it so you can swipe-back to a previous page, or swipe-forward to the next page using the trackpad. Here’s how:
On your Mac, go to System Settings | Trackpad | More Gestures.
Set “Swipe between pages” to “Swipe with Three Fingers” (no, “Swipe with Two or Three Fingers” doesn’t work. Nor does “Scroll Left or Right with Two Fingers”)
By setting this, you may have broken some other trackpad gestures on the same page. Fix ’em and move on and now you’ll be able to swipe-back and swipe-forward in Obsidian, as well as other apps (I’ve only tested Chrome so far)!
For me, now I’ll have to use 3 fingers instead of 2, and it reverses the motion of what I am used to for swipe-right and swipe-left. And now I have to do a 4-finger swipe instead of a 3-finger swipe to slide my virtual windows. I certainly hope I’ll be able to get used to these changes!
Screenshot
BuzzKill Notification Manager: Make Android Google Calendar Alarms Louder
I’ve been struggling with this one for a while but I finally have a solid solution!
I found an app that makes my Google Calendar alarms more prominent! The problem being that the standard Google Calendar Alarm on my android phone is a simple “Ding”. Changing that sound to be longer isn’t any good because then I’ve got a long-playing alarm that I can’t turn off! What I needed was a loud, dismissable alarm-style notification.
The beautiful Buzzkill Notification Manager app does it! It uses very few permissions, is as crazy-straightforward as it can be, and, most importantly, it works!
It keys off of Google Calendar Notifications. So you’ve got to make your notifications correct. Here’s an example:
Screenshot
Before Buzzkill, I had been using Calendar Alarm Clock Reminder by zzappbros for several years. A while back, it started misbehaving, I could tell the app “ring n minutes before every event”. But I couldn’t tell it “ring when the Calendar notification rings” (like what I do just above). This mostly worked for me, but not really.
I recently tried the ZenLendar app but there was a snafu with permissions (that’s been resolved), but in the meantime, I found Buzzkill and I’m happy with it!!
Two pluses is that Buzzkill requires few Android permissions and it is made by a reputable presence on the internets, Sam Ruston. Thanks, Sam!
The next adventure is to make it so Google Calendar Alarms can be created from within Obsidian. I know it’s possible with some plugins but I’m not there yet. (I’ve become a big fan of Obsidian!!)
Played Splendor Duel and Flip 7
At Games Night at Juku Co-Working Space, I played some games. Joel and I did a warm-up with “Flip 7”, which everyone knows is the greatest card game of all time. I mean, it’s right there on the box.
Flip 7
Actually, it plays a lot like “War”, good for the 8-year-old set. But hey, it was a nice start for the gaming night.
Then we tried Erik’s copy of Splendor Duel
It was nice. A little different from regular Splendor. Our game took a while… 1 1/2 hrs or so. That might be because I play slow and run at the mouth. But it was fun and a release from my daily thoughts. Thanks.
Terrible Experience at Routes Car Rental in Fort Lauderdale
Here is my letter to Expedia, trying to get a refund on my $150 car rental.
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Thanks for looking at my case!
In brief, my car rental experience with Routes Car Rental wasn’t “good” or “bad”, it was “fraudulent”! That company shouldn’t operate with Expedia! I suggest Expedia end its relationship with Routes. And, I believe, I should get a refund on my attempted rental.
Summary: I booked a car rental through Expedia, Confirmation: #EAPPG883451, Expedia itinerary: 73386200632053
When I arrived at the car rental location, I waited a full hour for the 1 other customer ahead of me to be served. When I finally spoke to an agent, they tried to more than double the price of the rental AND they sucked up 2 hours of my time.
The Financial Problem: The Routes agent said she needed to charge me $60/day ($240 total) extra because I showed up 1 hour after my rental was reserved, but the only reason I was “late” is because I had been standing in the Routes Car Rental line for the car for an hour! Moreso, there was only 1 person in front of me in line! The Routes agent also wanted to charge me $10.99 a day for me to decline the collision damage waiver. In their insanely long terms and conditions, that wasn’t described. In fact, it says quite the opposite. Read it here: (https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/CarRulesAndRestrictions?tripid=8bbf3973-145f-5d45-919c-b31ecf23b3a6) the closest it comes is, at the VERY bottom of the “Insurance” section” it reads:
“Collision Damage Waiver – $3000 Deductible (CDW1):10 USD/Per Day, Supplementary Liability Insurance:14.99 USD/Per Day, COLLISION DAMAGE WAIVER (CDW):24.99 USD/Per Day”
(notice it doesn’t mention a charge if I decline the CDW)
I waited an hour (yes, 60 minutes!) for the customer ahead of me. I listened to their interaction. First, it was remarkably slow service (it took 20 minutes for the agent to get to the end of the booking process). Then the customer in front of me was told their price had doubled because they were late. Then they argued for 20 minutes and the customer left, in a huff, without a car!
When I approached the agent, I had the same experience. Note that the agent was actually on a video screen, not in person. There are two video-agent terminals at FLL. It took 20 minutes for the agent and I to get through booking, even though I had already booked with Expedia. Then she told me about the extra fees. Then I disagreed, and finally left.
Moreso, I am certain that no one took the car that I was trying to rent because, in the 2 hours I was at their (crappy) facility, their 2 video-agents only served 4 customers, and only 1 of those customers successfully got a car from this (fraudulent) organization.
While I was waiting, and after, I witnessed 3 other potential customers get dicked around in the same way! I watched a family with kids have to endure this malfeasance.
For reference, when I was done with Routes Car Rental, I went back to Enterprise Car Rental at the Airport and spent a total of 10 minutes waiting for an agent and being served, and was charged $435 for a fine car. Their Expedia price was $350 but I had no interest in nickel-and-diming them!
I made a 41 minute audio recording of my arduous, fraudulent interteraction with Routes Car rental. At 30 minutes into the recording, the agent admits that I had been waiting in her line but “the system” said I was a no-show. I welcome you to listen to this recording here. It’s a torturous listen.
The rental agent told me that she worked for Routes Car Rental, NextCar Car Rental, America Car Rental, and Mex. If you consider cancelling the Routes contract with Expedia, you might also consider cancelling the other companies. Though I don’t have personal experience with them.
Ernestine McCarren, My Aunt, Passed Away
My beloved aunt, Ernestine McCarrent passed away on Tuesday.
She was on this earth May 5, 1941 to March 10, 2026
Ernestine Diane McCarren (née Ferranti), of Jupiter, FL, formerly of Secaucus, NJ and Jessup, PA, passed away peacefully on March 10, 2026. She was the beloved daughter of the late Ernest and Ida Ferranti.
Ernestine enjoyed a long and successful career in pharmaceutical advertising in New York, where she was known for her professionalism, creativity, and dedication. A lifelong runner, she also loved the opera, enjoyed playing golf, and was a devoted New York Yankees fan.
She is survived by her sisters, Dorothy Howard of Nashville, Tennessee, and Marlene Sonko of Hackettstown, New Jersey, as well as her loving nieces and nephews.
Family burial services to be held in New Jersey at a later date.
Madera Pancake Breakfast
This weekend, Abigail’s school had a Pancake Breakfast. I showed up early, and stayed late volunteering for it. Here’s a fun vid that Mike Senese made of the event. He also championed the event. Thanks Mike!