Was It Good Friday?

Earlier this week, in the semi-dark silence of 5 am, I was walking down an apartment hallway. I was inside one of LTSC's affordable housing projects. A thought was emerging (or rambling) in my mind, but it was difficult to define... Life goes with the flow.

Making my way up to the building's rooftop, I was troubleshooting a wireless network problem. People have been complaining that the Internet was "slug-like" and slow. The early morning is the best time to track down network issues -- with few users online and low data traffic. It's like envisioning the world with a quiet and clear mind.

The view from the roof is always beautiful. One can feel that it's almost possible to visualize the data packets of electromagnetic energy emerging from the 2.4 GHz microwave antennas -- like the glittering city lights in the far distance. I was just checking again that the antennas were aligned OK.

[Excuse the geek talk.]

I reviewed the 802.11b bridge statistics to ensure that the wireless link was the source of the problem. CRC errors were taking place in the transmitted and received packets -- probably due to an interference source on the same channel. So I modified the configuration to an alternate channel, rebooted the wireless bridge, and things were fine again. Sometimes you wish that everything in life was that simple.

Back at home, Hikaru still had a low-grade fever, but feeling better. On Monday, his body temperature shot up to 105 degrees F, and we were worried. He had a fever and a bad cough since the previous Thursday. Our normally active baby was moody, cranky, and mostly wanting to sleep. So we took him in to see the doctor, and he was diagnosed with a form of pneumonia (or bronchitis).

Our doctor prescribed antibiotics for Hikaru, and that seemed to do the trick. The stuff really works. Sometimes you wish that things in life were that simple, but we're thankful for modern medical technology and the body's ability to heal itself.

Yesterday afternoon, I passed a red-faced middle-aged White man with a blue button-down shirt. I said "hello" with a smile, but he didn't reply. Suddenly, he shouted, "F*ck!" I heard loud repeated outbursts of the "f-word". Not wanting to find out the source of his anger, I kept walking. I heard him say, "This is most g*d d*mn f*cked up day!" Being Good Friday, Jesus could have thought similar things (even for a brief second), but with a better choice of words...

In downtown Los Angeles, it's not uncommon to see an urban drama being played out. In every human mind, there's a diversity of thoughts, beliefs, and stories being told. The sun is bright; the weather is warm, and the cherry trees along the streets of Little Tokyo are blooming with pink flowers. We celebrate the first day of spring!