Mountain Home VA

Well, it has been a leisurely 2 weeks here at the VA in Johnson City TN. The town itself is very nice and has everything you would need. Technically there are only around 55,000 people here, but with all the surrounding towns it seems like were in the big city sometimes.

The VA is pretty nice. The first buildings were built in the early 1900's. Most of the buildings are pretty old, although there are several fairly new ones (the main hospital being one of them). The eye clinic is not actually in the main hospital but will be moving there this summer. We are currently in a smaller building with orthopaedics and....somebody else....can't remember. Not nearly as important as eye's I'm sure.

There are 3 full-time doctors here, 2 Residents, 2 ophthalmologists, and 2 interns (me and a girl from the school in Pennsylvania). Every week I work off the schedule of one of the full-time doctors. Ninety-nine percent of the patients are geriatric Caucasians. One hundred percent are very nice. I guess they ought to be since they're getting free (or close to free) health care, but there are plenty of things here much worse than what the average person complains about.

So far all the doctors I've worked with have been really nice. They of course have they're own way of doing things but you learn as you go and you recalibrate.

It's been great living so close to work again. Not quite as close as we did in Whiteville, but it's only a 5 min ride on my bike. The hours are nice too. I'm actually working about the same amount of hours as I did in Whiteville except I get an hour lunch and I start earlier (and thus get home much earlier)!

There are some pretty mountains / foothills nearby which I'm excited to explore either with the van or the bike. I need to see if there's a good bike shop in the area that could steer me toward any trails.

Some mountains near by...


Some more mountains near by

Johnson City and ETSU at night

Our Library!

New Computers and Old Cars

Well, the polls are in for the computer and car survey. It appears that there are two times of computer owners: Most of you have computers that are only 1 year or less old, the rest of you have really old computers.

Only 2 people have cars with fewer than 50,000 miles. The rest of you have old cars, the majority having between 100,000 and 150,000 miles.

Another Battle Scar Presented by:

Cal!


Here's a picture of Cal's little 3-day-old shiner, a result of falling down the stairs here at Grandma and Grandpa's.

...two days later his eye had a much more vibrant green, violet, and black appearance.

...four days later it is finally starting to look better instead of worse.

Off to Johnson City TN

Well, we've committed to an apartment in Johnson City. It was the only one we could find with a with a short lease. We were able to get ahold of the bishop there and ask him about the area. He was very familiar with the apartment complex and surounding neighborhood. He said it was nice and that he couldn't think of any reason why we wouldn't want to live there.

Tomorrow is Ruth's Birthday! We'll be having a lot of yummy food and hopefully playing some games. Next week we'll need to go through our things and figure out what excatly we can and can't take. We've decided to just take our van and whatever we can get in it. Should be interesting.

Some More Time Saving Tips!

1. Don't punch 30 seconds into the microwave, try 33 and taking it out with 3 seconds left. That way your finger doesn't have to go all the way from the 3 to the 1.

2. Don't type a whole blog for the "First Set of Saving Tips".

3. Always run where ever you have to go and always skip steps when going up stairs.

4. Live next door to where you work

If I save enough time using these tips, I'll try and type another entry to this interesting blog.

Back in Memphis!

I'm here in Memphis taking part II of my national boards. I was supposed to fly out of Raleigh at 3:00ish Tuesday morning. Ruth decided to help me out by checking me in online so I wouldn't have to do it at the airport. Well, she was doing it just as I was getting ready to go to the office, as I was going to work half the day. Just as I got my shoes on and was ready to go she said, "Lee! We need to go now or we're going to miss your plane!!" They had changed the time of the flight and moved it up to 12:30! It was 9:30 and it would probably take us 2 1/2 hours to get to the airport. Luckily I had packed up the van earlier that morning. Ruth just needed to get her stuff together really fast and put the kids in the car.

We were off the the airport in good time and had no setbacks on the way there. No bad traffic, no flat tires, and no cattle stampedes. When I got to the airport I didn't have to wait for anything. There was virtually no line to get through security. I actually got to the gate half an hour early. So, after all that rush, I ended up waiting anyway. I had a 3 hour lay-over in Atlanta. When I got to the airport Ben Winters for school picked me up. I didn't have to wait since Ruth emailed him about the time change.

Ruth and the boys spent the day at Amy's and Grandma's. The boys had a good time playing with Ila, Lizzy, Anthon, and Rachel. I assume Shanna and Haley had a great time playing with each other like always.

The Winters have been super nice. They've let me stay in their parent's house just 2 houses down the street and they've fed yummy meals.

Our test today was one of three sessions. Each session is around 3 hours long - depending on how long it takes you to take a test. I think they're actually scheduled to last 4 hours, but I can't imagine anybody spending that much time on them. I finished before Ben did so it was fun talking to everybody that I haven't seen for so long. Tomorrow we have the other 2 sessions. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. After that I signed up to go to a dinner/presentation on private practice and running a small business. Should be pretty good - especially the food.

I miss my family. Last night on the phone Clark asked "Why are you far away?" "Will you come home tomorrow?" I wish I could have told him "yes".

A Few Words of Wisdom

Those who understand interest earn it;

Those that don't, pay it.

The first step to saving money over the holidays is to not buy a Thanksgiving day paper.

Oh, and the BYU / Utah football game had a slow start with a very favorable ending.

A Few Comments on the Polls

The current polls have been up for about a month now and the votes were very interesting. This was especially true regarding the first poll: What is the best state for mountain biking? Therefore I thought I would enlighten the many voters (10) and non-voters (6.5 billion -10) alike on this very important issue.

The results were: Utah (5), Nevada and Hawaii (2 each), Colorado (1???), and Arizona (0????)

I am aware that many of you voted with your hearts and not your heads; nevertheless, these polls are extremely important and should not be taken lightly!

I am very surprised that only one person voted for Colorado. It has to be in the top two or three as far as mountain biking is concerned. Hawaii was of course a distracter! It is a fine place to mountain bike and does have a bike company that named all its bikes after Hawaiian indigenous kings; however, it is very far away and most people would rather visit it's beaches than its trails.

The most surprising of all was Arizona's lack of votes. In my personal experience I would have also placed it in the top three. The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) ranks it #1: http://www.imba.com/news/news_releases/10_03/10_07_report_card.html

Utah is a great state for mountain biking, but number 1? I think not. I do agree that it also should be in the top three; nevertheless, it's most popular places are too overcrowded to qualify as good biking spots.

Nevada for me is a great state in which to mountain bike because there are hundreds of miles and trails and mountain ranges. In fact, Nevada is the most mountainous state in the country ( http://www.blurtit.com/q689713.html ). Best of all, very few people know about these trails which gives the rider a great closeness with nature.

"The Basin and Range region is the product of geological forces stretching the earth's crust, creating many north-south trending mountain ranges. These ranges are separated by flat valleys or basins. These hundreds of ranges make Nevada the most mountainous state in the country." ( http://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/the-great-basin.htm ) http://www.blurtit.com/q689713.html )

Undoubtedly, there are many great places to ride all over the country. It would take a lifetime to experience them all and to really know for oneself which is the best.

So, please check my blog a lifetime from now to see what I found.


Now, in regards to the second poll: What is the best way to keep in touch?

The results were: Email (5), Phone call (3), Blogs / Facebook (1 each), and USPS (0).

I think these results are about right; at least I agree with them. I did think that somebody would have voted for USPS as Ruth and I are always more excited to get a letter in our mailbox than in our inbox.

Notwithstanding these results, I will continue to post blogs and mountain bike in Arizona.

An interesting Ad on our refrigerator magnet:

I just thought the business type and the street name were a little conflicting...or maybe not.

My son prefers condiments to real food

Lately I've been trying to decide what my oldest son's favorite food is and I've come to a frightening realization: he'd rather eat what goes on his food than the food itself.

Here is a list of some of my son's favorites:

Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Salt
Butter
Syrup
Honey
Cheese
Sour cream
&
Cool whip

Try some! You just may prefer them to real food too.

Is my van allergic to me?

We got a tune up right before we left Memphis. It worked fine all the way out on our move to Whiteville NC. The first time I drive it after we drop off the moving van it sputters on acceleration and starts to mis-fire! Ruth said that was the first time she noticed it. It ran poorly all the way back to the house and the next day when we started it up it ran perfectly. It did this same thing off and on over the next few weeks. When we went up to Mom and Dad's in Clayton we had a friend of theirs look at it. He found some things that looked fishy with the spark-plug wires and did his best to fix them. It worked fine for a little while but, like usual, on the way home it started sputtering and wanting to die on idle. I decided to just change the wires myself and if that didn't work I'd take it in to a shop that Dr. L___ recommended to me. It didn't work. So, I took it to the highly recommended C___, a really nice mechanic here in Whiteville. I also told him to change the timing belt while he was at it just to be on the safe side.


One month later - to make this long story slightly shorter - our van is still in the shop. It was declared "fixed" several times, only to sputter and die one or two short in-town trips later. Because of this, poor C___ wouldn't let me pay him until I could use it long enough to be sure the problem was fixed.

My trip to the contact lens seminar was coming up and we needed our car to go to the airport and for Ruth and the kids to drive up to Mom and Dad's while I was gone. The van wasn't fixed yet, nor would we have trusted it if it were, so we were just going to try and find me a ride to the airport. I asked at church if anybody happened to be going to Wilmington and one of the guys said he was and that he could take me when I had to go. He called me the next day and told me that we could just borrow one of his cars that he doesn't use that much. He brought it by and it was a very nice 2002 Buick LeSaber.

Since we were going to be gone for several days the mechanics would have a good chance to make sure it was running good. The first Monday after getting home we called and he said it was ready to go and that I could come pick it up. He finally let me pay him. Less than $400!! Did I mention he changed me timing belt too!? I was getting ready to let him swipe away $1000 from the old magnetic strip. When I started it up it idled funny - like it was revving up and down. I showed C___ and he asked "is this van allergic to you?" He got in and played with the gas a little and listened and told me that it was probably just from sitting so long. When I put it in drive the revving was strong enough to lurch the van forward as the idling fluctuated. I almost turned around but decided to give it a try. After a few minutes it seemed to stop; however, on the way home I noticed a strange banging noise coming from inside the van. I looked back and saw that the plastic brace that holds one of the rear fold-out windows closed was broken! By then I was late for work and just kept going. The next day I brought it back and told C___ about the revving and the broken window. C___ has tried the last two weeks to fix the idling problem and has given up. He said it only does it for the first few minutes when you start it up in the morning so it's hard to catch it doing it long enough to see what's causing it. Anyway, he's working on the window now and we'll probably go pick it up on Monday (never to take it back again).

I'd like to leave a special thanks to S___ W___ for lending us his car for the past month. Also a special thanks to C___ for having the patience to work on our van for 5-6 weeks. He really is a nice guy and I would recommend his services to anybody.

Monday morning we will find out if allergy season is over.

The First Presidency

As you many already know, the former First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consisted of Gordon B. Hinkley as president, Thomas S Monson as first counselor, and James E Faust as second conselor. Many of you with small children may also know that Gordon, Thomas, and James are all main characters in the "Thomas the Tank Engine" stories. Late this summer president Faust passed away. This month we had our semi-annual general conference of the church and we all anxiously awaited the name of the new second counselor. We were all pleased to hear that Henery B Eyring would be taking his place. Not only has he been, for me especially, one of the most inspiring apostles, he also is the only apostle with the first name of one of the main characters in "Thomas the Tank Engine"!

Interesting...don't you think.

Clark, Lee, Haley, Ruth, Shanna, and Cal

Whiteville House

Shanna and Haley ~5 months

Whiteville NC

More than a year has past since my last post. A lot has happened. For one, my wife gave birth to number's 3 and 4 (at the same time)! Twin girls, Shanna and Haley, were born on May 2nd of 2007. They were both over 7 lbs and breached. Ruth of course had to have a c-section. Everything went really well. They are very different from each other, which is fun. Soon after that I started my 4th year at SCO. The last year consists of 3 rotations: 1 at the school, and two away. I was at the school this last summer and am now at my first rotation. It is a private practice in Whiteville North Carolina. The practice is a state-of-the-art full-scope practice. Most of our patients are over 50 and have both ocular and systemic disease. There are also a decent amount of contact lens patients and just patients of all ages. But overall, a lot of disease, foreign bodies, and eye injuries. The proctor is very nice and all of the employees are very kind. The proctor lets us live in an old house next door to the practice for free. There are 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The yard is really big and the kids are in heaven after being in an apartment their whole lives.

After this we are off to Raleigh for Christmas and then to Johnson City TN for my second and final rotation. That one will be at a VA hospital. We still need to find a place to live so we plan on going up there over the Christmas break to see if we can find something.

Es una prueba solamente

As a side note, I think I finally need to start wearing a watch.

After Johnson City we'll go back to Memphis for a couple of days for graduation. After that we'll go back to Raleigh and live in Mom and Dad's upstairs for the summer. For the last half of the summer I'll be at Ft. Sam Houston TX for my officer basic course. Sometime in September of next year we'll start our first tour - 3 years.

After a career in the Army we plan on going back to Ely NV. I looked at a lot of different places to live and all their pros and cons, but Ely just seemed to be the best.
I looked at:
Population
Number of Wards
Distance from a Temple
Population to optometrist ratio
Mountains / scenery
Mountain biking
Distance from family
Crime rate
Growth
etc....

Anyway, Kent is the only O.D. in Ely, plus another 60-100 mile radius. He is building a new building and business seems to be going well. It is far from a temple and from Ruth's family however. Ruth's family makes a great effort to see each other though so we'll see her family no matter where we live. My family on the other had almost all lives in the same state and probably only sees each other twice a year - if that. Overall, there are a great many places we could go and be happy. Ely is one of them. I'm not closed to other places but we haven't really found anywhere better.

I'm still speaking Spanish to my kids. It is going pretty well. It is always a challenge for me as I don't feel like I can explain everything I want to in all situations. The kids don't like to speak it much either. They have fully fluent comprehension and are great translators from Spanish to English. They never speak complete Spanish sentences but they do interject a lot of Spanish words into their English sentences. Like I said, it's been a challenge and I'm not sure I would do it again if I could go back, but I can't to back now after the progress I've made.

Maybe when I'm done with school I can devote a little more time to perfecting my Spanish. I'd also like to spend some time mountain biking and of course spend more time with my family!!

Last day at Walter Reed AMC

Today is my last day at the hospital here at Walter Reed. Some of the staff got together and brought a cake to say good-bye. It's been good to get to know all these guys here and they have all been very kind and helpful. I'll miss the people, but I definitely won't miss working as an active duty soldier on an army base. I'll have to write more about my "army" experience later.

My kids should be on the cover of a magazine!

I know that all parents think their children are beautiful; however, I'm sure many parents acknowledge that their kids' are not meant for public display. They get their good looks from their Mom of course

My first patient

Today I saw my first official patient here at Walter Reed. I've been here for 3 weeks but have only been doing tech-work (screenings), photos, etc. It was a good experience so I guess I'll keep doing it.

His name was Darrell. I also had my first look at some drusen in an early case of macular degeneration.

My Family

This is my first Blog. So I suppose I'll just put down a few tid-bits about me and my family. I am from Ely Nevada (four hours from anything) and am currently attending optometry school in Memphis TN. I am the youngest of 7 kids.

My wife and I met at Ricks college our first year at school. Our first week really. We spent a lot of time together and became very good friends. She is from Walnut Grove MN (the same one in 'Little House on the prairie').

After that first year of school I transferred to BYU in Provo UT only to defer my matriculation while I served a 2-year mission for my church in Nicaragua. While I was gone my wife-to-be received her associates degree from Ricks College and also transferred to BYU. Not long after starting school there she also decided to serve a mission where she spent 18 months in Los Angeles CA. In the meantime I had come back home and picked up where I left on in terms of my education. A year later my wife-to-be came home from her mission and I seized the opportunity to ask her to marry me. We were married on September 21st 2002. She finished her BA the summer of 2003 one month before our first son was born. I finished my BS the next summer (2004).

Since then we've been in Memphis TN. We now have two sons. The army is paying for our schooling and when I graduate in 2008 we will owe them 3 years. Optometry school is 4 years, but we paid for that first on our own.

At the moment I am doing an optometry ADT (active duty training) at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C. There is no place for my family to stay here with me and so that is why I have enough extra time to publish my first Blog.

To end my first Blog, let me just say that I am the luckiest man on earth. My beautiful wife and handsome boys are the loves of my life and I could not ask for more.

Below are some pictures of my family for your viewing pleasure:

My wife and me (obviously)

My wife and our youngest (1 year old)

Me with my two boys (the older one will be 3 in July 2006)
A better picture of the oldest