Katy Dickinson

SEED Mentoring Applications Closed - 95 Total

Applications have now closed for the new SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring term for Established Staff (to run April-October 2009). 95 people applied and 70 of those applications were completed and are eligible for consideration. We will accept 40 to 50 people in this term. Tanya Jankot and I are now discussing details and checking information. Next step is information validation by Human Resources. SEED's selection committee meets at the end of this week, followed by an email announcement to all applicants and their managers.

SEED runs seven terms a year. After this Established Staff, the next terms will be for PreSEED and GSS SEED. Applications for PreSEED and GSS SEED will be accepted starting in early April; the PreSEED and GSS SEED terms will run June-December 2009.

Posted at 12:34PM Feb 24, 2009 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  | 

Caboose Permits Signed Off!

I am delighted to announce that WP668, our 1916 backyard caboose, is now fully signed off! The City of San Jose building inspector came, saw, signed and left this morning. After almost three years of working with the city, we are done - hooray!

Other WP668 news - at Sunday's successful SAMA auction, we sold a caboose brunch which will be cooked by John. This popular item was offered for the second year at the charity fund raising event. SAMA is a major outreach program for St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Saratoga, California). Auction money goes to support medical programs in the Holy Land and Africa. For details, see the SAMA web page.

Work in progress on WP668:

• Welding cleanup and metal coating for the stair railing
• Install roof walk, attach it to existing ladders
• Install bay window seat
• Restore the rest of the windows (1 done, 5 to go)
• Complete the back deck and step woodwork (steel is done)
• Restore brake rigging and wheels
• Reattach and restore battery box
• Restore (replace?) the doors

WP668 Electrical Plan

WP668 Caboose

Photos Copyright 2008-2009 by Katy Dickinson

Posted at 12:21PM Feb 24, 2009 by katysblog in Caboose Project and Other Trains  | 

Headache Update

Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to ask after the health of my 16-year-old son Paul. There is good news, and bad news. The good news is that the pathology (study and diagnosis of the blood and tissue samples taken from Paul) is complete: Paul's brain lesions are not cancerous, or caused by an infectious or autoimmune process. We were very happy to hear that! In fact, the Neurosurgeon does not think that the brain masses are related to Paul's severe headaches. Which brings us to the bad news. Since last week, we have been working with a Neurologist who is still trying to figure out what to do about the headaches that started our whole medical adventure.

We have tried seven drugs in the last two months, some of them twice. I now have a chart with the name of each drug down the Y-axis and the following column headers across the X-axis: Pain, Nausea/Queasiness, Dizzyness, Memory Loss & Fuzzy Thinking, Tippyness/Falling, Sensitivity to Sound-Movement-Heat/Cold, and Sleep. We are keeping track of Paul's response to each drug but have yet to find one that kills the pain without making him nonfunctional. I begin to suspect that this will take a long time to work through.

I think we are getting very good medical care. However, I also think we are creeping toward the edge of medical knowledge. For example, the MRI (scan of Paul's brain) done at our regular medical clinic had much less detail and resolution than the extensive set of scans done a few days later by Lucille Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH). Even I could tell the difference looking at the images with Paul's Neurosurgeon before the surgery. The first MRI images showed one fuzzy brain lesion, the second from LPCH showed two lesions very clearly. Talking with the LPCH technician who was getting Paul ready to scan again after the biopsy surgery, I learned that an even more advanced MRI machine will come on line there soon. It seems to me that as medical technology advances, body tissue scans are showing more and more detail and there is very little "normal" baseline to compare them to. Even if there was a "normal" baseline, it would probably be for adults, not children, because of laws and regulations quite rightly protecting children from medical testing.

The surgery scar on Paul's neck is healing well. He is back in school but excused from Physical Education (PE) for the rest of this semester. Your prayers for strength of body, mind, and spirit for Paul and our family are very welcome indeed. Thank you.

Paul just told me that light exercise and frozen grape popsicles made his headache better. Have to add those to my chart...

Posted at 06:23PM Feb 23, 2009 by katysblog in Home & Family  |  Comments[2]

91 SEED Engineering Mentoring Applications

We are in the application cycle for the new SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring term for Established Staff (to run April-October 2009). The application forms close after today, 23 February 2009. So far, 91 people have applied - 54 of those applications are complete. We will accept 40 to 50 people in this term.

Some Metrics

• Applications have been submitted from Sun staff working in Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, and the USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas).
• Applicants who have volunteered their countries of origin are from: Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, South Korea, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, UK, USA, and Vietnam
• Applications have come in from Sun Labs, Microelectronics, Sales, Services, Software, Storage, Systems and Worldwide Operations.

SEED's General Selection Criteria:

1. All Participants are in Engineering.
2. Only regular Sun employees may participate.
3. Superior annual performance ratings are preferred.
4. Manager support is required.

Next Terms
SEED runs seven terms a year. After this Established Staff, the next terms will be for PreSEED and GSS SEED. Applications for PreSEED and GSS SEED will be accepted starting in early April; the PreSEED and GSS SEED terms will run June-December 2009.

Posted at 05:34PM Feb 23, 2009 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  |  Comments[1]

51 SEED Mentoring Applications

We are in the application cycle for the new SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring term for Established Staff (to run April-October 2009). The application forms will be open through Monday, 23 February 2009. (That is: everything is due before midnight California time, 23 February.) So far, 51 people have applied but only 5 of those applications are complete.

Some Metrics

• Applications have been submitted from Sun staff working in Australia, China, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Switzerland, and the USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas).
• Applicants who have volunteered their countries of origin are from: Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, USA, and Vietnam
• Applications have come in from Sun Labs, Microelectronics, Sales, Services, Software, Storage, and Systems.

One of the fun aspects of a SEED application period is seeing where everyone is from and where they work now - like our own little world tour!

Question Call
Tanya Jankot and I will offer the last of two phone-in presentation and question sessions tonight:

• February 19, 8 p.m. or 20:00 (USA West Coast, Pacific Standard Time, PST)

SEED's General Selection Criteria:

1. All Participants are in Engineering.
2. Only regular Sun employees may participate.
3. Superior annual performance ratings are preferred.
4. Manager support is required.

Next Terms
SEED runs seven terms a year. After this Established Staff, the next terms will be for PreSEED and GSS SEED. Applications for PreSEED and GSS SEED will be accepted starting in early April; the terms will run June-December 2009.

Posted at 02:24PM Feb 19, 2009 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  | 

Healing for Holy Land and Africa

The SAMA (St. Andrew's Medical Assistance) auction and dinner will be held this Sunday, 22 February 2008. The fund raising event will be held at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Hall, starting with a silent auction at 5 pm, followed by a Middle Eastern Feast and live auction.
Tickets are $30/adult - $15/child - $100/family (pay at the door)
All are welcome!

Outreach program of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church 13601 Saratoga Ave. Saratoga, California 95070 USA (408) 867-3493, http://www.st-andrews-saratoga.org/

SAMA Programs
SAMA exists to provide hope and healing to a hurting world. SAMA raises support annually through the annual Middle Eastern Feast and Auction, Christmas Crafts sale, and other fund raisers.

Ongoing Medical Programs SAMA supports in the Holy Land include:

• Ahli Arab Hospital (the only Christian hospital in Gaza)
• The Four Homes of Mercy (a home for the severely disabled based in Jerusalem)

SAMA also supports health programs in Africa:

• In 2008, SAMA supported St. Mary's Hospital in Odibo, Namibia. St. Mary's is an Anglican-supported hospital for which SAMA provided linens for 50 beds as well as funding expansion of their birth delivery room from one bed to two.
• In 2008, SAMA also supported the Chiedza Clinic, in Harare, Zimbabwe. The clinic is part of the Chiezda child care center which serves perhaps 300 kids, many of whom are HIV positive, and their families.
• As part of St. Andrew's 50th anniversary celebration in 2007, SAMA raised almost $5,000 which (in conjunction with Episcopal Relief and Development) purchased 965 specially-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria in Africa

Auction Catalog

Click HERE to see the draft (Feb 19) auction catalog (PDF format).
There may be some changes in the published catalog version.

22 February 2009 - Live Auction Items

Item # 2004

Caboose Brunch - by John Plocher - Brunch for six in a private 1916 historic railroad caboose (Western Pacific Feather River Railway WP668) in Willow Glen, San Jose.

Item # 2005

Wine - 1964 Treasure from Louis M. Martini - Martini Family wine collection - 1964 Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a very good year - well known for excellence.

Item # 2006

Wine - 1959 Treasure from Louis M. Martini - Martini Family wine collection - 1959 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. A sleeper year but now one of the best. Delicious!

Item # 2007

Rabbit Etching by Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson - Original delicate and realistic black and white etching of two rabbits by famous San Francisco artist Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson. "Edward Hopper and Walter Hopps" 1983 14"x17" framed with glass.

Item # 2008

Private Flight Plus Brunch - Private flight plus lunch. Experienced Palo Alto pilot Charles Jackson of the Shoreline Flying Club will be your host for 2 hours in a 4 seat Cessna 182 Skylane II. Want to tour the San Francisco Bay and see the Golden Gate Bridge from the air? Here's your chance!

Item # 2010

Middle Eastern Dinner - Middle Eastern Dinner for eight on a date after March 2009 that works for both cook and auction item winner.

Item # 2012

Case of Wine - 2006 Soquel Vineyards Partner's Reserve - 2006 Soquel Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Partner's Reserve case of wine (12 bottles) from the Garvey Family Vineyard in the Napa Valley

Item # 2013

Exquisite Designer Necklace by Erin Mac - Necklace by Erin Mac who designs jewelry for the Hollywood Oscar event - Veridian Art Deco Venetian Master-Cut Briolette with an 18k White Gold and Diamond Enhancer on a Stainless Steel Cable with a 14k yellow gold lobster clasp. From the House of Erin MacGeraghty fine jewelry and watches.

Images Copyright 2008-2009 by Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Charles Jackson, Eleanor Dickinson, Patricia Martini, Erin Mac

Posted at 02:00PM Feb 19, 2009 by katysblog in Church  |  Comments[1]

New Mentoring Term Announced - for SEED Established Staff

Two days ago, executive sponsor Greg Papadopoulos (Sun's Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development) announced the opening of the application period for the new SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring term for Established Staff. The application forms will be open through 23 February 2009.

There have already been 12 applications submitted (from Australia, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, New Zealand, and the USA). Tanya Jankot and I will offer two phone-in presentation and question sessions:

• Call 1: February 13, 8 a.m. or 08:00 (USA West Coast, Pacific Standard Time, PST)
• Call 2: February 19, 8 p.m. or 20:00 (USA West Coast, Pacific Standard Time, PST)

SEED's General Selection Criteria:

1. All Participants are in Engineering.
2. Only regular Sun employees may participate.
3. Superior annual performance ratings are preferred.
4. Manager support is required.

SEED runs seven terms a year. After this Established Staff, the next terms will be for PreSEED and GSS SEED. Applications for PreSEED and GSS SEED will be accepted starting in early April; the term will run June-December 2009.

Posted at 09:44PM Feb 12, 2009 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  | 

Formal vs. Informal Mentoring

One of the common questions I am asked when speaking about the SEED Engineering mentoring program is about formal versus informal mentoring. I have managed Sun Engineering's worldwide mentoring program since 2001 for executive sponsor Greg Papadopoulos, Sun's Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development.

In eight years, SEED has developed into a formal system with published processes, metrics, and web tools. However, as in most companies, Sun staff also benefit from many informal mentoring relationships. I estimate that there are at least three times the number of untracked informal mentoring pairs as there are pairs in Sun's formal mentoring programs, of which SEED is only one.

Whether the mentee is a junior Engineer just out of the university looking to learn basics from someone one or two grades above them, or an already-accomplished technical star who wants to learn even more working with a world-class master of their craft, mentoring is a key tool. In as much as the experience, scope of understanding, and perspective of the mentor informs, inspires, and strengthens the mentoring experience, benefiting from the most senior mentor available is particularly important. I am biased in favor of formal mentoring programs because in SEED I have seen that a formal program can make the wisdom of executive mentors more available longer-term to a larger and more diverse group of mentees.

Style and Focus are the two main benefits of a formal mentoring program.

Style
By Style, I mean the personal manner, preferences, and comfort in communicating between the mentor and the mentee. Even in professional or corporate circumstances, mentoring requires a personal relationship and commitment that can be harder to initiate and maintain in an informal environment, particularly when the mentor is much more senior than the mentee (as is the case in most SEED relationships).

For the mentee:
Some people are very comfortable with selling themselves, for example, they are confident enough to call up a potential mentor and just ask for time. Others find this approach too confrontational, or they may be too modest or private to approach a senior or very accomplished person in this way. Gender and cultural issues come into this as well: for example, a woman who wants to be mentored by a senior man may be concerned about how he would interpret a direct request, or in a strongly hierarchical culture, a junior staff member may feel it is not their place to ask for mentoring from someone outside of their management (or they are rightly concerned about how their management would respond to their making such a direct request). A formal mentoring program can be of great value to someone who is not comfortable selling themselves cold to a potential mentor. Knowing that their own manager has formally approved their participation in mentoring (that this professional development program is part of their "day job") is empowering.

For the mentor:
Some potential mentors are comfortable being approached by junior staff asking for mentoring but others may find such a request offensively direct (inappropriate, pushy or arrogant). Also, the more senior a person is, the more valuable their time is. In particular, senior executives need to make the best use they can of their very limited time. SEED is run for the convenience of the mentors and is set up to make it as comfortable as possible for executives to participate. An executive may get too many requests for informal mentoring to evaluate the benefit and circumstances of each one, so they end up rejecting all, or just spending a little time with each, or only accepting requests from people they already know. Also, the executive may never have been a mentor and are not sure how to proceed (and they don't feel comfortable admitting this). A formal program which includes training may get them started, to the advantage of their mentee, the company as a whole, and their own understanding. By evaluating and validating potential mentees in advance, a formal mentoring program can save time and avoid mismatches as well as avoiding the awkward or embarassing situation of a potential mentor rejecting or discouraging promising junior staff members because of lack of time.

In a program such as SEED, all mentor-mentee matches are made privately. That is, the mentee submits to SEED a prioritized wish list of potential mentors with whom they would like to work. The SEED program staff act as matchmakers or brokers. SEED provides the available potential mentors with validated background information on the potential mentee (that is, information that the potential mentor can trust) and asks if they want to consider a mentoring relationship for six months. The mentee does not know which of the potential mentors on their wish list was contacted. Potential mentors are given space and time to consider the possibilities of a mentoring partnership without risk of offending the potential mentee or interfering with future communications with them or their manager.

Focus
In the SEED formal mentoring program, the mentee's manager advocates for their staff member to enter the program. The manager also makes an explicit time commitment for their staff member to be in the program. That up-front awareness highlights the mentee's strengths and often means that the manager has a better focus, understanding, and value of their staff member. Informal mentoring usually does not require this kind of commitment or focus on the part of the mentee's manager. Once the mentee enters the program, their new mentor (who for over 70% of SEED participants is an executive) also gains a greater appreciation and understanding of the mentee's work.

Metrics:
In the SEED program, we regularly collect and evaluate a number of program performance and success metrics:

• Satisfaction (of mentee, mentor, and mentee's manager)
• Participation (number of applicants, number of managers who have had more than one direct report in the program, number of mentees returning as mentors, number of mentors who return term after term, etc.)
• Diversity (demographic, geographic, professional)
• Promotion Rate (compared to Sun overall and Sun Engineering)
• Annual Performance Evaluation (percentage of Superior ratings, compared to Sun overall and Sun Engineering)
• Retention (voluntary and involuntary)

These metrics enable us to understand how program participants and Sun as a whole benefit from SEED. Because of the nature of informal mentoring, such metrics are difficult to collect, particularly in an active work environment. This makes improvement and valuation of informal mentoring almost impossible: "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it".

How it works:
In a formal mentoring program such as SEED, those seeking to become a mentee must submit an application form, resume, and letters of recommendation by their manager and others who think highly of them. Their direct manager and others spend a significant amount of time preparing the initial recommendations, and often follow up by advising the program participant on mentor wish list selections. When it is time for annual evaluation (or, unfortunately in these difficult economic times, lay off decisions), it can be very much to the advantage of the SEED participant that their management has seriously considered their capabilities and value. The SEED program has a proven track record of strong diversity, very high satisfaction, high regard by management, and high retention. SEED participants as a group earn more promotions and higher performance ratings than Sun overall. Individual experiences will vary.

You can see flow charts of how this process works at "SEED: Sun engineering enrichment & development" Research Disclosure Database Number 482013, defensive publication in Research Disclosure, Published in June 2004, Electronic Publication Date : 17 May 2004 (5 pages, PDF format)

This special and positive focus by their management on the SEED program applicant entering the program is often enhanced by the work of the mentoring pair once the SEED term gets going. Most SEED mentee and mentor pairs report talking about the following topics:

• Regular projects/work
• Joint special projects
• Setting goals (short/long term)
• Finding the best path to success
• Homework from Mentor: people to contact, reading material, etc.
• Industry current events/trends in technology
• Sun strategy/products/current events
• Soft skills development (negotiating, public speaking, conflict management, etc.)
• Career development
• Personal development

By spending six or more months focused on these topics in discussion with a talented executive or senior staff member, SEED participants usually improve their value to Sun. In the quarterly feedback reports, mentees report that participation in the SEED program positively influenced the following:

• Greater understanding of Sun's overall architecture, strategy, or business direction
• Better career direction
• Broader network of contacts (peer or executive)
• Increased visibility, within or outside work group

Another aspect of Focus is geographic proximity. For years, 70% or more of SEED mentoring pairs have worked at a distance, that is, the mentor and mentee are based in different cities, states, or countries. It is harder to make and maintain informal mentoring connections when the mentor and mentee are not local to each other. In a global workforce, potential mentees may work in an area where there are few or no senior staff available to mentor them. In their case, being mentored at a distance is their only choice. If only informal mentoring is available, promising staff who do not work at headquarters or at other large sites may not get mentored. A formal mentoring program allows potential mentors to focus on a broader group of potential mentees, not just those staff who work near them.

Informal Mentoring

Despite my bias in favor of formal mentoring, I do see some ways in which informal mentoring has advantages:

• Informal mentoring has the advantage of a quick startup (no application forms) and less overhead in managing the relationship.
• Informal mentoring may be more appropriate for peer mentoring in which hierarchy is less of an issue.
• Informal mentoring may work better than formal mentoring for short-term task-based learning ("how do I do this?") if that is the goal (as opposed to long-term professional growth and change).
• Informal mentoring is less expensive to provide because program staff, tools, tracking and communication are not needed. However, this benefit must be balanced against the long-term cost to the organization of not taking full advantage of executive mentoring capabilities available through formal mentoring.
• Because informal mentoring requires no administration, it scales - that is, many more can participate.

Mentoring of any kind (formal or informal) may not be the best solution for remedial learning, needed by staff members who are not meeting management expectations. Informal mentoring shares a key place with formal mentoring: both are important tools for professional development. An individual who wants to see what mentoring can do (as either a mentee or mentor) may get a better start within the structure of a formal program. An organization which wants to build or nurture a mentoring culture should plan to encourage the use of both formal and informal mentoring.

Posted at 04:09PM Feb 12, 2009 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  | 

Picnic at Johnson Park

My son Paul is still recovering from his brain surgery last Friday. Today we passed two milestones: he took a shower, and he got out of the house. Paul had permission as of today to get the incision site wet, so this was his first hair wash in a week. (This is a 6 foot tall 16-year-old boy we are talking about!) He looks and smells much better.

John and I took Paul out for a picnic lunch to Palo Alto's Johnson Park. He asked for his favorite food from Darbar Indian Cuisine. We sat on towels at a damp wooden picnic table under the trees and ate butter chicken (like Chicken Tikka), Bengan Bhurtha, rice, naan, dal and raita. I held Paul's arm to keep him from tipping or slipping as we walked on the wet pavement. He is moving slow but making good progress in his recovery.

Posted at 03:50PM Feb 11, 2009 by katysblog in Home & Family  | 

Packard Hospital Model Train

During my son's recent stay at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH) in Palo Alto, California, we enjoyed playing with their model train. The HO-scale train layout is on the main floor and provides entertainment as well as a focus for walking directions. There is a sign inside the front door "... take the Elevators by Model Train to Ground Floor...". The meticulously detailed self-contained layout is about 12 feet square under an arched roof. Inside are two non-connected oval railroad track loops. The scenery is inspired by Northern California's Southern Pacific rail line, featuring mountains, a lake, the ocean (beach and underwater), fields, and a small seaport town. Each of the four sides has two large plastic buttons which do something: create a sound or flash model street lights... Several friends of ours were involved in creating this layout under strict hospital supervision. It is a huge kid magnet and brings joy to all.

LPCH model train layout

LPCH model train layout

SP Engine closeup

John and LPCH model train layout

LPCH model train underwater scene

LPCH model train layout

Photos Copyright 2009 by John Plocher and Katy Dickinson

Posted at 01:08PM Feb 10, 2009 by katysblog in Caboose Project and Other Trains  |  Comments[2]

Out of the Hospital!

As I wrote yesterday, my 16-year-old son spent the last few days in Lucille Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH) in Palo Alto, California, for brain biopsy surgery and recovery. We are delighted that Paul got to go home today! He ate some breakfast and a red apple, walked most of the way up a hallway and back, and practiced going up and down stairs with two physical therapists before being discharged. Paul has been brave and patient with this whole scary experience and we are very proud of him.

We are less happy not to know what is causing his sudden, severe, and constant headaches. Paul continues to take strong prescription painkillers. He is frequently nauseous and sees double sometimes but the nurse said those symptoms will go away as he recovers from surgery. Despite all of the adventures and excitement of the past few days, we are still trying to figure out a solution to the original problem. There are many test results still to come in. Early reports say that the lesions (abnormal tissue) in his brain are not malignant cancer or an infection (hooray!). However, we do not even know if the lesions are causing Paul's headaches or just an unrelated thing he was born with. We may not know for weeks. Once all of the pathology (study and diagnosis) is complete, if Pediatric Neurosurgery cannot resolve this, we will probably move on to Pediatric Neurology.

Paul goes back to High School after the President's Day holiday. Until then, our job is to help him recover fully from surgery, grow strong again, cope with the pain, and pray.

Posted at 05:53PM Feb 09, 2009 by katysblog in Home & Family  |  Comments[3]

Hospital Update

As I wrote yesterday, we are in Lucille Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH) in Palo Alto, California, where my 16-year-old son is recovering from brain biopsy surgery. Paul is doing better today: he took a wheelchair ride to one of the roof gardens, ate some lunch, and has taken two walks up and down the hall outside his room. If he keeps up with this good recovery progress, he can go home tomorrow.

Mostly we spend our day watching by Paul's bed. From time to time, we help him with his covers, call the nurse when some machine beeps in a loud and agitated manner, or get Paul up to walk around again. The other family in our room mostly speaks Spanish but we communicate well enough to share the space. They brought in an amazing gelatin cake this morning for their son - white gelatin with stained-glass-like insets of red, green, yellow, and orange gelatin. Our family is celebrating my mother's birthday this afternoon (a little late due to Paul's medical situation) so we will be able to share our cake in return.

Our hospital room also shared a small religious service today. Two women from the St. Andrew's Episcopal Church pastoral care team brought us the bread and wine reserve consecrated at this morning's Eucharist service so that we could be part the celebration.

LPCH has a theme of sea creatures on its signage and fixtures. Chairs are decorated with cut out starfish and turtles; octopi and rays glow from lighted frosted glass panels set into the walls. Signs are in English, Spanish, and Braille. I would rather that Paul not be sick but LPCH is a wonderful place to get better.

Paul at Packard Hospital

Babar the Elephant, art at LPCH

Navajo Storyteller, art at LPCH

LPCH Octopus sign

LPCH Octopus wall window

LPCH roof garden

Photos Copyright 2009 by Katy Dickinson

Posted at 05:15PM Feb 08, 2009 by katysblog in Home & Family  |  Comments[1]

Hospital Time

My 16-year-old son has had severe headaches for several weeks with no known cause. Last Monday, after trying other tests and a variety of increasingly strong pain killer drugs, we went in for an MRI (scan of Paul's brain). We did not expect to find anything but unfortunately an unidentified mass showed up. Our family has been experiencing a wild medical adventure since those results came back.

I am writing from Lucille Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California, where we have been since Thursday morning. World-class medical excellence aside, Packard is a marvelous place for kids, sick or well. The walls are covered with colorful and interesting art (both originals created to illustrate well-known children's books and traditional works from many cultures), there are videos on demand, a computer game room, small and large indoor and outdoor play areas. Our family used Packard hospital for the first time just after Paul was born in 1998, after this hospital opened. Packard hospital has continued to grow and (from the large areas now covered with white plastic sheeting from which construction sounds) growth continues today.

The day before his surgery, we checked in to Packard and Paul's grandparents visited. Paul spent the evening (between medical tests) dragging his grandmother to the game room and watching "Spiderman 3" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" on the monitor over his bed. Since Friday morning's surgery to collect a brain tissue sample, Paul has mostly been asleep. He moved out of the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) onto a regular double room this afternoon. We are waiting for more test results to come back (some are not due until Monday, others in a week). So far, it does not seem to be a tumor or infection but we still don't know for sure what the problem is. The surgeon said that the headaches and whatever-it-is in his brain may or may not be related.

Thank you to everyone! This has been a stressful and frightening experience but we have been wonderfully well supported by our family, friends, and community. Our friend Susan has run emergency errands, and three different families have offered their homes near the hospital in case we need a place to stay. The pastoral care team from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church is helping us get our second car driven home. St. Andrew's prayer shawl ministry presented Paul with a beautiful and soft hand-knitted olive-rust-and-navy small blanket to keep him company in his hospital bed. Our parish priests and St. Andrew's Youth Group leader have all visited and prayed with us. We feel very well cared for both in terms of medical support and prayers and good wishes. We can almost feel the hands of God surrounding and protecting us.

Paul got out of bed, changed into his own pajamas, sat in a chair then ate three grape popsicles for the first time just now. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Posted at 06:37PM Feb 07, 2009 by katysblog in Home & Family  |  Comments[1]

SAMA Auction and Middle Eastern Feast - 22 February 2009

The SAMA (St. Andrew's Medical Assistance) auction and dinner will be held in three weeks, on Sunday, 22 February 2008. The fundraising event will be held at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, starting with a silent auction at 5 pm, followed by a Middle Eastern Feast and live auction. Tickets are $30/adult or $15/child

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
13601 Saratoga Ave. Saratoga, CA 95070
(408) 867-3493

This event has been held for over ten years. My husband John and I are in charge of the catalog and checkout table. In 2008, funds raised by SAMA went to support medical projects in the Holy Land (Gaza and Jerusalem), Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Some of the items to be auctioned on 22 February include:

1. Caboose Brunch by John Plocher
   Brunch for 6 on a private 1916 historic railroad caboose (Western Pacific Feather River Railway, WP668) in Willow Glen, San Jose
2. Wine - old treasure from the Louis M. Martini family collection
3. Middle Eastern Dinner for 8 - by Lucy Asfour
4. Private flight plus brunch for 4
   Private flight plus lunch. Experienced Palo Alto pilot Charles Jackson of the Shoreline Flying Club will be your host for 2 hours in a 4 seat Cessna 182 Skylane II. Want to tour the San Francisco Bay and see the Golden Gate Bridge from the air? Here's your chance!
5. Aladdin Fantasy Glass for Children
   Own a unique piece of Silicon Valley history! This is an original silk-screened heavy glass display cover from a 1982 Atari Aladdin arcade game. Never used - bought from factory by former Atari employee. 23-1/4" x 24" in size. Use it to display your child's or grandchild's photo or art with Aladdin, the Genii and other fantastic images. Unframed.
6. Cross and Chain - Gold - Maltese
   Lady's yellow gold-filled 24" long rope chain with an 18 karat yellow gold hand engraved "Maltese" cross with pendant dove. Total weight gold 0.2 oz.
7. Missionary dinner for 6 to 10 persons. Cooked by John Watson-Williams. Menu includes ground nut stew with meat, poultry, or fish. Steamed matoke (vegetarian), side dishes, tropical fruits.
8. $1000 off Home Closing Costs
   $1000 off your closing costs when buying or selling your home with Asfour Realty at Keller Williams. Contact Sami Asfour at 408-888-7800 for an appointment.
9. Tiger Woods - Golf picture
   A beautifully framed picture of Tiger Woods with his 2006 PGA Grand Slam of Golf Champion Trophy, Poipu Bay Golf Course, Kauai, Hawaii. Also included in the frame is an authentic unused ticket to the 2006 PGA Grand Slam.

Posted at 02:38PM Feb 03, 2009 by katysblog in Church  | 

Caboose Visitors from Japan

Last weekend, two visitors from Japan came to see WP668, our backyard caboose. Atsushi and Tab were in the San Francisco Bay Area for O Scale West and also to visit the Silicon Valley Lines (SVL) HO-scale model train club for operations. Last week's SVL monthly operations session was held in the dark - night operations. Atsushi is a member of SVL and helped in 2006 to construct WP668's very short rail line. It was a pleasure to host railfans from so far away.

Visitors in WP668

Atsushi and Tab outside of WP668

Atsushi in 2006

Photos Copyright 2006-2009 by Katy Dickinson

Posted at 01:19PM Feb 03, 2009 by katysblog in Caboose Project and Other Trains  |