Congrats to Joe Biden; homeschooling my daughter

 My wife was so happy when CNN called the election for Joe Biden that she left me a note on the dining room table congratulating Biden -- and me.  (The only thing I did was vote for President-elect Biden in a state that went to the loser of the election.) She was literally bouncing around the house. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I woke up at 3 a.m. and happened to see the news alert on the internet. Our family is very pleased with the result because it means we have the opportunity to come to the United States although we remain concerned about a surging pandemic that the current president has chosen to diminish and ultimately ignore. The silence of many who didn't congratulate the winner  speaks volumes about the divisions and difficulties President-elect Biden will face when he takes office. And the current president's lack of cooperation to assist President-elect Biden with the transition is consistent with the outgoing president's performance the past four years. When you consider the current secretary of state, attorney general and president, there's a real three stooges aspect to the current leadership --- sorry, no offense intended Curly, Larry and Moe, because, unlike you guys, the stooges leading the U.S. can be mean-spirited at times. While elated with the result and the fact that President-elect Biden got more than 75 million votes, I'm concerned that more than 70 million voted for the loser, who still refuses to admit he got whupped. Sometimes, losers don't like to admit they've lost. If the new vaccine is as good as advertised and President-elect Biden can get Covid under control, we're optimistic for a 2021 move to the U.S. It's essential for our daughter's education (see next item).
Oh, congratulations, President-elect Biden.
• • •
I'm homeschooling my daughter Joanna after her difficult stint at a local school. We start between 8 and 8:30 a.m. with some dancing and videos. Then we move on to dot-to-dot with numbers and letters, which she'll color with crayons. A good effort gets the picture on the wall of fame (actually, a window). There's seven pictures on the wall already -- two dinosaurs, an armadillo, a frog, turtle, whale and fire truck. We've only had eight sessions so she's doing great. She'll write letters and numbers, which isn't her favorite. Then we'll work on reading. I'll read to her and she'll read to me. She loves this and can read the basic stuff quite well. I'm so proud of how she tries to sound out words she doesn't remember. The first couple of days she'd just memorize the passage -- she's got a gift for memorizing -- but now she's actually reading the words. Her behavior and attitude have improved so much the past two weeks. I'm light on discipline and don't require her to take a nap, and she's blossomed. After lunch we'll head out, shopping for dad or going for a coffee or whatever. Along the way we snap photos of critters and I answer a constant barrage of questions from an inquisitive 4-year-old. The walk can get quite long so we're both tired at the end of the day. Our "school" day can wrap up around 2:30 or 3 p.m. or even 4, but really it's about 6 hours total including lunch and goof off time. The issue for me is that Joanna doesn't seem to need sleep, but I  do. I still prefer this to the 9 hours-plus she spent at her previous school and I know she prefers it too, and that's what's important.

• • •
My wife is focused on our 6-month-old, Elijah, who is determined to crawl perfectly.  He'll get up on all fours and gingerly bring a knee forward. Then he'll flop. He's so close to an all-out crawl. He's a huge guy, which is no shock since he loves big people food, especially salmon and potatoes.
• • •
The weather remains acceptable .... highs in the upper 80s with high humidity. Cloudy. On the minus side our air quality is unacceptable -- a rating of 4 or 5 daily with 5 being the worst ... other than red alert. The impact on my skin is noticeable, but that matters little at my age although Joanna always wants to know: What happened to daddy's face? Kids don't care too much about that stuff anyway. And that's a good thing.

Cloudy with chance of ... sidewalks, insects, ready to crawl

 We continue to get rain, although it slacked off a little in the past week. For us it means more clouds and slightly cooler weather. When there's no sun, we have no hot water since we have only solar-heated water. Showering isn't such a problem except when you don't feel well -- a hot shower is really nice when you're about to get sick. The problem is,  illnesses often occur when it rains a lot and the weather is slightly cooler. Lots of people are not well in our area at the moment, myself included, but I don't think it's Covid. Certainly hope not. There's coughing, but not dry coughing. No fevers that I know of.  Anyway, dishes are the big hot water issue at the moment for me. I'm lazy and really don't want to  boil water for dishes after cooking, but the extra effort removes the cooking oil, grease and butter from dishes, pans and metal chopsticks. (I wonder if there's a way we could inject boiling water and dish soap into our bodies to remove the unhealthy stuff that clogs our veins and arteries. We should look into that.)
 • • •
 We're doing our best to be ecologically responsible, such as using metal chopsticks and re-useable cloth grocery bags, and recycling plastic bottles, We've been recycling cardboard as well as plastic, which means giving all the items to a lady on a bicycle who comes by our house once or twice a week. I also walk everywhere, but that's more a function of safety than anything else. But it's not really that safe to walk since motorbikes and now cars ride on sidewalks, and motorbikes and cars always cut turns so they're driving into oncoming traffic. This means that when you cross the street in a striped zone and look to make sure oncoming traffic doesn't speed up to hit or threaten you, a car or bike will rip around a corner and possibly hit your blindside because it's shortcutting across the wrong lane on a turn. Happens all the time. I've been hit twice -- not hard -- in the past two months by this illegal but routine motorist technique. Then the motorists will glare at you when they're wrong because you made them either slow down or swerve to avoid having an accident, thereby damaging their bikes. The motorbike issue also exists in the park, which I thought was for pedestrians. I don't care when I'm alone because I use a walking stick due to back and safety issues, but I worry about my daughter Joanna, who wrongly assumes people will do the right thing and slow down when they see pedestrians. 
• • • 
The bikes and cars on the sidewalk were especially worrisome for me when I picked up our daughter Joanna from school  every day. She would come bounding out of school and face danger from bikes riding right up to the school stairs, and from cars riding down the sidewalk. The bikes and cars aggressively honked their horns at us (often from behind) as we walked home on the sidewalk. That particular issue is moot now. I took Joanna out of the school. I won't address the reasons. For now, I'm providing instruction. When I can get her off video, she shows real signs of being able to read. She knows lots of sight words (am, are, see, I, my, etc.). I've found some wonderful sites online where you can download books, and I resumed paying crazy prices to get books shipped here from the U.S. to Vietnam. We're taking photos of snails, red ants, stink bugs, lizards, spiders and butterflies on our walks. She's got a remarkable eye for spotting little critters.
• • •
Our son Elijah is extremely close to crawling, getting up on his haunches and rocking back and forth. He's got two bottom teeth, produced with much anguish. He's also learned to lead with his left, knocking off my glasses twice and popping out lenses both times. Fun guy!
• • •
Hope all U.S. citizens vote on Tuesday if you haven't voted already. We have CNN on every waking hour, even if we're not home or in the room ... hate waiting for the TV to "warm up." The results of this election could have a real impact on our family. 

Voting from Vietnam; ballot sent by Fed-Ex; masks and rain

 I sent in my absentee ballot Tuesday, Oct. 13,  by Fed-Ex to the Greene County Board of Elections. In other words, I voted. Some on the side I voted against might say I was playing with fire, but I didn't have a real choice in the matter. I didn't have to wait in a horrendous line to vote, but it cost me about $50 to mail in the ballot from Vietnam to Ohio, a price I'll  gladly pay to vote for a change that is so desperately needed in the United States. There were some minor issues along the way, but like I've said before, the lady I've worked with at the Greene County Board of Elections is fantastic. Hopefully, my ballot arrives and the paperwork is in order and most importantly, my vote counts.  I'm a little worried this election could drag on and end up being decided by the Supreme Court. But I have no understanding of presidential or executive law, obviously, so we'll just see what happens. Actually, I wanted to come to the U.S. to vote, renew my driver's license and get my eyes checked. But with Covid, I would have real difficulties getting back into Vietnam to be with my wife and two children. And the situation in the U.S. is far from optimal when it comes to fighting Covid. Some folks don't wear masks, like the President of the United States, for example.  Social distancing is a sometimes occurrence. I'm embarrassed to say I was almost starting to feel sorry for the president when he got coronavirus. But the man lacks any humility regarding the virus now that he has "immunity" and he most definitely shows no empathy for the more than 215,000 Americans who have died from the virus. The president was dancing to "YMCA" at one of his rallies, and CNN's Don Lemon said after airing the dancing video that the president was dancing on the graves of 215,000 dead Americans. 

• • •

The virus is almost an afterthought here in Bien Hoa, -- out of sight, out of mind, I guess --  and the cases in Da Nang appear to have been contained. Nonetheless, most people still wear masks, myself included. Sometimes I'll forget, but many coffee shops and other businesses have extra masks for those in need. I will say this: If a case is diagnosed, the affected go into quarantine immediately for 14 days and the contact tracing is thorough and extensive. I grimace when I hear people in the U.S. resisting masks, social distancing, quarantines and lockdowns. I recently heard a doctor on CNN say that even in the Middle Ages people had quarantines.

• • •

We're in the midst of an intense rainy season bolstered by an ongoing series of typhoons moving west from the Pacific Ocean. Central Vietnam has been especially hit hard with flooding and dozens of deaths reported. We've had daily rain, which is a little unusual in October, but the temperatures have been down due to overcast skies, even if the humidity has been up. With all the traffic and industry here, the air seems even worse and masks may be beneficial, virus or no virus.

• • •

Digger World is in full force here, with drilling and pounding at the hotel behind us. It looks like they're gutting the building. And the guy across the street pounds metal much of the day since he had to quit working for health reasons. That's what they do in digger world. Build things up and knock 'em down, and pound metal. I'm on the go so much with our kids Joanna and Elijah that the noise isn't a huge issue. The guy across the street is a nice man, and told us he does the work because he's bored. No worries.

• • •

Joanna keeps a running tally of the snails, butterflies, bees, lizards, and centipedes that we see on the walk to school each day. The 7-minute trip to school has become a 20-minute nature walk. Love it.  Elijah rolled from belly to back for the first time on Wednesday, and he's starting to flirt with crawling, getting a knee up to test his limits. He's not left-handed like Joanna, but he delivers a mean right hand ... still. He knocked off my glasses again, popping out one of the lenses. He smiled afterwards. Even when teething, he smiles.  He's a happy guy, and that makes us happy.

No news seems like good news these days

 I met an American teacher in a coffee shop this past week, and our conversation turned to politics, coronavirus, and turmoil in the United States. We agreed the news has been a bummer lately. Everyone knows the score: a president who won't commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses; unfounded accusations of mail-in voting fraud; a Supreme Court about to become a bastion of conservatism for the next 30 years or so; the downplaying of the coronavirus despite the death of more than 200,000 Americans; the refusal of many Americans to wear a face mask despite those deaths; tensions with China; climate change rejection; blah, blah, blah.  It's outrageous and serious stuff, but one of those weird coincidences occurred when we both said almost at the same time we've taken a couple of days off from watching the news just to clear our heads. For someone like me -- with addiction issues and OCD tendencies -- it might be just what the doctor ordered, so to speak. The same day I talked to the teacher my absentee ballot arrived by email from the Greene County Board of Elections. The lady I've worked with there to get my ballot has been professional and courteous. Well, as I looked over the ballot, I felt for that moment that maybe I could have a small impact. I sure hope so because we need a change. We didn't even talk about the president's taxes, since that story broke a couple of days later.

• • •

Our son Elijah has developed a short, snapping, left hook to go with his overhand right. My glasses have been knocked off my face several times and he nearly knocked a cup of hot coffee out of my hand. He'll roll back to front but still doesn't go front to back. As noted before, he hates being on his back and we block his turnovers when he sleeps with pillows and a stuffed shark and alligator. Or maybe it's a crocodile. Regardless, he'll force the issue and work his way to his belly. Of course, we worry. We worry about everything (remember my OCD tendencies.). It's no different with Joanna. Kids give you plenty to fret about.

• • •

My luck continues with lottery tickets. I hit another ticket (for chump change) this week, ticking off my wife. But four tickets of chump change is worth about $30 U.S., which is, well ... still chump change. I believe my ship will come in one day -- the Titanic.

• • •

In "Digger World" on the clever children's cartoon Peppa Pig, there are two characters – Mr. Potato and Mr. Bull – who readily recite the mantra of the true digger: "Building things up and knocking them down ... it's all part of the fun in Digger World."  I always think of Digger World when I walk in Bien Hoa. A building goes up for a fancy restaurant, the restaurant fails and three months later, the building is completely torn down and a new building almost always goes up in its place. The noise and construction dust this cycle of construction creates is staggering. I mention this because the hotel/motel behind us is being knocked down, creating noise and dust pollution beyond our wildest nightmares, but I guess it's all part of the fun of living in Digger World. The "diggers" here are under contract so work will start 6:15 a.m. on Saturday, Sunday, whenever, and continue until dark or a little beyond.

• • •

Our son Elijah got his passport, so if we send all of our passports to the embassy we should be able to get our visas to come to the U.S. We'll wait  until after the election to decide what to do.

Missions accomplished: Hospital, embassy trips successful

We made a trip to the International Hospital in Bien Hoa last week, and the results were more than satisfactory.  I'm still a decaying old man, unfortunately, but the hospital staff took care of my needs politely, efficiently, and effectively. I got an eye exam, drops for my glaucoma and a cyst removed from my back ... all in less than three hours and for an extremely reasonable $129, including post treatment meds. I've had unusual experiences at this hospital in the past -- a staffer wondered aloud if I had cancer for what turned out to be gall stones, a doctor asked me if the nurse treating me was pretty, and my wife Phuong was incorrectly diagnosed with rubella when she was pregnant with Joanna. But all is well now after last week's visit. Health care here is dealt with on the spot, from what I can gather. If the expense is going to be significant, like with Phuong's pregnancies and C-sections, insurance is purchased before the expensive treatments begin. At least that's my interpretation of events. The Vietnamese language remains out of reach for me even after nearly eight years here, so it's difficult for me to get a thorough and accurate account of things. I do know that my hospital trip went smoothly because my wife was with me to interpret and guide me through the process. I've begun looking into purchasing U.S. health care for my wife and two children. We must be covered when we arrive in the U.S., or maybe we have a small window of time. That's why I'm looking into it.
• • •

Our trip to the embassy for our son Elijah's passport application was smooth but pretty long -- nearly three hours. The embassy employee clearly appreciated our preparation, but there's a daunting amount of paperwork. Anyway, once the little guy's passport arrives, we'll surrender all of our passports to the embassy where they will be stamped for travel to the U.S. ... and off we go. Maybe. We'll make a firm decision after the election. We don't want to enter chaos, especially with two little ones. Also, we're not sure what the school situation will be like when we arrive. Of course we'll check all this stuff out, but there's a lot to check out. I enjoy going to the embassy in Ho Chi Minh City because we stop at the Coffee Bean, which sells bagels and cream  cheese, which I haven't found in Bien Hoa. Just as well, I guess, since I'm overweight due to lack of sleep and lack of exercise ... but not a lack of eating. I do most of the cooking while Phuong takes care of Elijah and I've become enamored with butter. Buttered toast, butter on potatoes, butter instead of cooking oil and buttered popcorn. I couldn't find butter here the first three or four years, but now there's imported New Zealand butter. I'm making up for lost time. I always load up on stuff like peanut butter, cheese, butter and yogurt when we go to the big supermarket since it's a bit of a hassle to go across town in a taxi. Cheese and peanut butter are not popular here, but readily accessible, which only adds to my girth. 

• • •

I was sitting on our third floor balcony reading (281 straight days of reading, according to Kindle) when the legs of my chair "exploded" ... KABOOM!.  I was on the ground before I had any idea what had happened and my left hip and elbow were in serious pain. I know I'm a fat ass, but I've sat in this chair for years. There were no sounds of splitting or breaking, just KABOOM. I was stunned, and looked up and saw my wife and daughter Joanna. They rushed upstairs when they heard the loud KABOOM and Joanna asked: "What happened?" Good question. My theory is that the chair went inside to an air conditioned room for the first time in a long time that week, then came outside in the grueling heat, expanded and KABOOM. Like a potato in the microwave that isn't punctured. Joanna said "Poor daddy" and went back to bed. I put ice on my hip, which was previously damaged in one of my motorbike accidents. Next day: more ice and walking and it's much, much better. I won't say I was lucky ... I'll say I was fortunate. I will say I was lucky when I bought two winning lottery tickets last week -- $5 and $10 payoffs for $2 investment.

• • •

CNN remains our viewing staple and the network's perspective certainly paints a bleak picture of events in the U.S. The coronavirus pandemic is still raging, wildfires are still raging in the Western U.S., the president is  always raging, and people in the streets are raging over inequality. My wife and I discuss the day's news in bed each night between Elijah feedings. I consider these dark times but my wife always sees a silver lining. She truly is amazing. I've seen dark clouds in silver linings my entire life, and that's been a problem for me. Living with Phuong creates such a positive atmosphere. And that's what's really needed right now. 

Key rollover; Delaware ties; progress; aging wastes time

I was fortunate enough last week to be lying next to my son Elijah when he rolled from his back to his belly for the first time. He was 3 and a half months old. He elevated his left arm and twisted his hips simultaneously to make the maneuver happen. He rolled from his belly to back a while ago after I placed him on his belly, but maybe that was just luck. He's only done it a few times since. Maybe he doesn't need to -- he prefers being on his stomach and would sleep that way if we let him. We don't. My wife took him to a baby spa this week, and he spent time in a jacuzzi, was stretched, and got an oil rubdown from a young staffer. Our neighbor jokingly tried to persuade me to get the same treatment, but I correctly pointed out that my weight was too much for the massage table.
• • •
With coronavirus, stifling heat and monsoon season strongly influencing our lives here, watching U.S. politics and news on TV has become our No. 1 prime-time and morning activity. I'm a lifelong Democrat born into a family of Democrats in Wilmington, Delaware. It so happens that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is a Delaware guy. In fact, he was my cousin's teammate on Archmere Academy's undefeated high school football team. Archmere is in Claymont, Delaware. My cousin was quite a player. Anyway, what's happening in the U.S. is upsetting me and my wife as we consider moving to Yellow Springs, Ohio, next year with two young children. Coronavirus and racial injustice shake our confidence. So does the current leadership.  I will get my ballot for the November election around Sept. 18, and I'll Fed-ex my vote the next day. My daughter Joanna wants to go to Yellow Springs -- she's heard me talk about it and knows I have a house there. Phuong has taken many virtual walks around town using Google maps and giggles at my tiny house. Joanna also mentions going to Africa since we watch a lot of nature shows on TV and video. That could happen if the election goes the wrong way for me.
• • •
Despite language issues, teachers remain patient and committed to making Joanna's school experience positive and enjoyable. I know Joanna can be supremely stubborn, she'll test the limits every chance she gets, and following direction isn't her strong suit. (These are just some of the reasons I love her so much.) But teachers have adapted somewhat to her style and the results are very noticeable, especially at home. Her interactions are more sophisticated, her wit is sharper, and she's more responsive to my requests. She loves dancing, and that's being encouraged at school -- clap clap ... cha cha cha ... shake your booty. She'll dance to YouTube alphabet videos and the ubiquitous Baby Shark videos. And it's not just silly jumping around. This girl takes her dancing seriously. Most important, she's a wonderful and respectful big sister to Elijah.
• • •
One of the inconveniences of aging is the amount of time spent on body maintenance and repair work just to live at a reasonable level. Back stretching is needed to cope with sciatica; constant cleaning is necessary so keys and wallet aren't misplaced; lots of short walks enable arthritic ankles and a balky left knee to function at a ... well ... functional level. There's also nightly eye drops to stave off glaucoma and a conservative diet and no booze to help deal with no gall bladder (and other issues). As my aunt who lived to be 96 once said, constantly seeing a doctor and taking medicine isn't great, but it beats the alternative. Regardless of health issues, two small children leave little time to whine except in a blog.
• • •
Good streaks: I have read (almost exclusively Jack Vance books) the past 266 days in a row; I haven't had a drink of alcohol for 9 months; and I haven't had a cigarette for a little more than four-and-a-half years.

Coronavirus comeback; laid back; voting for hope, change

We're dealing with a coronavirus resurgence in Vietnam that has put us back on limited lockdown with masks required. There are also limits on the number of customers in the few coffee shops that are open. Many "nonessential" businesses, such as nail salons and barber shops, have been re-shuttered. Some folks work around the restrictions because they need money for groceries.
We have a couple of active cases in Bien Hoa -- a doctor and his wife who went to Da Nang. Road blocks are set up to detour traffic around their neighborhood, which happens to be across the street from the supermarket where I shop. The detour added to my taxi fare on Saturday, but no big deal. Safety first.
  Joanna's school closed last week for two days -- Monday and Tuesday -- and we kept her out the rest of the week. She returned to school this week, but I limited her to half-days. Nine and a half hours a day for a 4-year-old seems a little extreme to me. During time away from school, I work with Joanna on bike riding (with training wheels), and provide academic instruction in the afternoons -- I continue to read to her and I have her write letters and words using dot to dot. We draw cartoons on our whiteboard that are based on the animated BabyTV show "Beep Beep," which is about the misadventures of two trucks and a "road," who are friends. Joanna loves the "Beep Beep" work, but she won't do something unless she is comfortable and confident in what she's doing. She slyly watches and listens. She's more capable than she lets on, and sometimes thinks it's funny to goof up, especially on the bike. With the language barrier at school, even though it's "bilingual,"  English-speaking Joanna can run into difficulties. She seems very bright to me, but she doesn't like taking any orders from anybody, and a language issue only adds to her frustration. Anyway, not all of the students have returned to class yet, so things are low-keyed. And that seems better suited for Joanna. Her clever sense of humor remains intact throughout all this; she recites the planets quite often and always points to my stomach and laughs when she says "Jupiter."
* * *
Low-keyed is perhaps the best way to describe our son Elijah. He's a little older than 3 months and doesn't complain about much of anything except when mom's milk isn't at the ready.  He loves company, and when's he's whining ever so slightly he'll stop whining instantly when I lay down next to him and baby babble. I read that if you copy the sounds a baby makes, the baby will make more sounds. This technique has worked like a charm for Elijah. He constantly baby babbles whenever he sees dad, which is all the time. We have funny little conversations about who knows what, but we both enjoy it. He'll roll from stomach to back -- but not vice versa -- especially when he's angry. Otherwise, this laid-back boy will chill on his back or stomach, examining his right fist. My wife Phuong is mostly recovered from the effects of giving birth, but she battles fatigue a little. So do I, but no doubt age, lack of exercise, and helping my wife deal with two very young children are big factors. I can't really exercise because of back issues. I know I'm old because I count my 7-minute walk to school with Joanna as a "workout." Sometimes that walk will take 20 minutes -- I'm not sure Joanna is 100 percent committed to school, and she loves spotting birds, butterflies, bees and snails on the way to school. She's got a decent eye and showed me the butterfly and snail pictured on the right.
* * *
We're working toward getting our son a passport, which would put us closer to coming to the U.S. Coronavirus has added hurdles to our immigration efforts, but no worries. no hurries. Still, we'd like to see changes in our country that would make the situation safer for my children and more welcoming for my Vietnamese wife. I like Kamala Harris as Joe Biden's VP pick. She's well-spoken and tells it like it is. Honesty and a straightforward approach to governing are necessary steps toward making America respected for its leadership and righteousness -- again. With so many negatives facing the U.S. -- the lack of any decisive action during the pandemic; racism; birther BS; lack of concern about climate change; mail-in voting misinformation -- voting this November is a must, not an option. I'll mail-in my vote from Bien Hoa. That's my right.