Thursday, July 19, 2007

Tinian Pictures Taken May 2007

You know how you look at postcards and wonder how much airbrushing was done before they printed them? This is a 100% unretouched photo taken from Taga Beach looking to the east on the south shores of Tinian. Think warm and crystal clear water. Think every color of blue you've ever seen! I have NEVER spent time on such marvelous beaches. That alone was worth the trip. And just think, I'll be living just one block from these glorious beaches (you may all be jealous now)!

While I was searching for everything "Tinian" I could find, Tinian Health Center was not among them. So, here is a picture of the Tinian Health Center taken at dawn. Early morning is an absolutely great time to take a walk around town. This is where you will find me should you ever be in town. We're a clinic, emergency room, and acute-care facility, so someone is there 24/7.

And here is my new work family. The second day of my visit, we ran an immunization drill for the CNMI public health department. We immunized 1078 people in 4 hours! What an accomplishment and boy was it HOT! But you know what? Those 4 hours were some of the best hours I've spent. I was involved, medically engaged, and it was everything I have ever wanted in medicine. Just think! I got to meet 1078 people, all of whom I hope to serve.

Can't wait to get back!



Some background info

I thought I would give you some background about myself. I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. My profession has been in roofing and construction. For most of my adult life I have been a Project Manager with commercial roofing companies in Utah, Connecticut and Ohio. After over thirty years in the roofing industry, I am confident that I know just about everything there is to know about roofing, waterproofing, and the construction associated with those areas. My bread and butter was organizing and running large, often multi-million dollar, projects: schools, office buildings, government and municipal buildings, large condo and home projects, etc.

I have also worked as a roofing consultant for architects and businesses: inspecting buildings, developing maintenance schedules, working up budgets, and, of course, inspecting the work being done. I was always in a unique position, since I had actually worked on the roof for 10 years before coming into the office. So often architects and engineers believe they can do things that can't really be done! It is one thing to put something on paper, or in a drawing, it is another thing all together to actually have to build it! Because I had actually worked in the field, it took a matter of minuetes to be able to look at a drawing to see whether or not it would actually work in the field. I had many archiects that would call me to reveiw their drawings prior to putting them out for bid, just to make sure they had not missed anything. It was such a simple step, taking a few minutes, and yet it saved hours of time in the field, and thousands of dollars in real costs.

For a short time I was hired as the CEO of a large roofing company in Cleveland, Ohio. The company had just gone through bankruptcy, had been purchased by a multi-state roofing company, and had hired me to bring it back from the abyss. This was a tough challenge, with a bad ending. The company had been driven by sales (as most companies are), but had never developed a correct business model. When there was a slight recession, they quickly got into trouble--sales fell, cash flow crashed, and the company collapsed. I had to do what many businesses in the CNMI are having to do: I had to cut costs, develop new sales, and diversify the services we provided so that we could survive during tought times. After three years, I had cut the overhead in half, doubled the sales, developed several new product and service lines, and most importantly, the company had begun to make money again. The bad ending was that I was fired! The owner of the company had five children, and all but one was running their own company (all a part of this large multi-state conglomerate). I was replaced by one of the owner's children. Oh, well, such is life!

In 2000, while living in Utah, I developed back problems and had to have surgery. This put me on my back and in bed for several months. I decided to use this time to try something new--something I had always wanted to do: write a book. That was the start, and now I am a published author, currently working on my 7th book (I have six books currently in book stores). Moving to Tinian will give me the time to expand my writing into areas I have not tried before. I figure I have at least 4 or 5 books in my head right now, so there will be plenty to do! Each book took me at least a year to complete (including editing, etc.), so I have years of work ahead of me.

Which brings me to my beautiful wife Terri. With her working full-time at the clinic on Tinian (i.e., supporting a soon-to-be semi-retired author), Terri will provide me with the time and opportunity to write full time. I feel very blessed! I can only hope that what I have in my mind can translate to the printed page in a way that people will be willing to read my books.

Anyway, that is a little about me. I do have two college degrees: one in Psycology and one in Sociology, with a minor in English (I had planned on being a couselor in school, but found I earned much more money where I was--in roofing, and with a wife and five children, it seemed prudent to follow the money!). Terri and I have always been active in our community. I suppose this comes from our religious leanings--we have been blessed and so we always feel like we have the obligation to give back to the God who gave us life and the people and commutity that provide us with our lifestyle. Time will tell how that will work out on Tinian. Our first goal is just to try to fit in and not make a nusance of ourselves. Then, if time and circumstances will allow, we hope to be an asset to the community in which we live.

Thanks for all the kind words and comments from those who have visited our blog! Frankly, I was surprised anyone but friends and family would be interested. We look forward to getting to know all of you when we get to Tinian and CNMI!

Grateful to new friends

Where else could you move and have 5 new friends within hours of introducing yourself . . . long distance no less! Some of those whom we have so admired through their own blogs found our new blog within hours of our first posting and have welcomed us with open arms and local contacts. So thanks to Angelo Villagomez who is the heart and force behind Beautify CNMI and his blog, The Saipan Blog; Walt Goodridge, "The Passion Prophet," who wrote a wonderful book, Escape From America, which I read with great delight and his site, passionprofit.com; Harry Blalock, radio station manager and talk-show host as well as candidate for Saipan's sexiest male with his blog, Saipan Diver; Representative Cinta Kaipat who actively embraces her constituents and actually puts forth physical labor and sweat for their benefit, and her blog My CNMI; and Dr. David Khorram, ophthalmologist, whom I am certain to work closely with over the next many years and his blog Marianas Eye.

If you wish to truly get to know the kindness and selflessness of the great people of CNMI, follow the links to the right and visit their blogs on your own. There is a vast wealth of information available through their dedication to their blogs.

I have much to write about our visit in May and hope to get to it prior to returning in September along with some of the 400 pictures we took while there! For now, Cinta, Debbie Fleming was the first person to meet us at the dock very early one morning as we took the ferry from Saipan to Tinian. When we arrived at the Fleming Hotel, we picked mangos and her kitchen made us mango pancakes! How could you ask for a warmer reception? We were well cared for at the Fleming by Debbie and her remarkable staff. We ate most of our meals in the Fleming Restaurant and were very well fed.

Again, thank you all for your best wishes and we hope to attend "Blogger Night" on Saipan to greet you all in person!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Welcome to our blog

Terri and I struggled for a long time to decide where to move after she graduated as a PA. She has always wanted to work in a small clinic where she would be able to use all of her medical knowledge and talents (rather than confine herself to a specialty). We also wanted to go somewhere different, even exotic. We considered inner city, Indian reservations, prisons (several years ago we volunteered for a year to teach english and other skills in a medium security prison in Utah), Alaska, etc. At first we were attracted to Alaska, specifically the Aleutian islands. We liked the seclusion and my father served during WWII in Adak with the Navy. However, after further investigation we decided that the clinic we were looking at was just a little too isolated, even for us. We are simple people and don't need much to enjoy life, but we do like to attend religious services and do like occasional distractions. So we began to look around again.

It was on our second 'search' that we discovered the small island of Tinian. The size, seclusion, and of course the medical clinic, seemed to fit our needs perfectly. For at least six months we searched the internet for information, blogs, visitor reports, newspaper articles, etc., about Tinian and about the CNMI in general. We began to read the Saipan Tribune daily and occasionally read the other local papers out of Guam. Even though we thought we had a good handle on what would be in store for us, we decided it would be prudent to visit the island before we made a commitment to move there. After all, not everything we read painted the CNMI as a paradise! In fact, we found that the islands were struggling with many difficult problems.
So last May we made our first trip to Saipan and Tinian. I can say that there were very few surprises during our visit. We had done our homework pretty well, and the 'picture' of the islands was about what we thought.

This is what we found: All of the negative things that people had said about the islands had a basis of truth--but were no where near as bad as painted by the nay-sayers. The islands are struggling with economic conditions and there are other problems (many of which seem to follow any downturn in the economy), but we did not find any of these problems as negatives to our moving to Tinian. Every place we have ever lived has gone through ups and downs in the economy! To try to judge a city or community purely on the basis of the current downturn would be foolish.

All of the positive things that people had said about the islands also had a basis of truth--but we found the positive assets of CNMI and specifically of Tinian far better than we had expected! In fact, we had braced ourselves to be dissappointed and found that instead we were delighted and thrilled by what we found! The people living on Tinian were friendly and honest and the island itself was indeed a paradise! We fully expected the 'picture-postcard' photos we had seen of Tinian and its beaches to have been set-up to show an unrealistic view of the island. What we found was that the pictures we had seen did not do the island justice. It was much more beautiful than we had imagined.

So, once we weighed the pluses and the minuses of our trip to CNMI, our decision to move to Tinian was really quite easy. We loved the people, we loved the island, and we loved the simple lifestyle we would be able to find there. During our visit there were a few who tried to persuade us not to move to the islands--and then spent some time describing some set of problems they had been made to face when they moved there themselves. It was easy to see that these same people would have found the same problems no matter where they moved! It is one thing to complain about unusual circumstances and problems that might arise as a result of moving to a unique and/or difficult place. It is another thing to complain about problems that would arise no matter where you live! The CNMI is having some problems--so what? What community doesn't go through ups and downs? We lived in Connecticut in the late '80s when the government began to cut military spending. In a state that builds plane engines, helicopters, nuclear submarines, guns, etc., this was simply devastating! But they survived just fine. I remember when oil prices plunged for a time and Texas and other oil producing states were devastated. You could buy a home for a song for a long time, as everyone moved out. Every section of the mainland has felt ups and downs of some kind, and they always survive, they always come back, and with work, things always get better.

I believe the same is true for the CNMI. Many people and businesses are struggling. Sometimes this is a good thing--it forces people, businesses, and the government to go back to the basics. Everyone simplifies and removes the dross from their lives. In almost every case, the person or community that has gone through this type of crucible has come out the other side better for it. Businesses learn to be more competetive, governments learn to be more responsive to their constituents, and people in general begin to remember that true joy comes from friends and family, not from wealth or material things.


We are looking forward to our move to Tinian with great excitment. We expect to have our share of problems, but no more than we would moving anywhere else in the world. We are looking forward to getting to know the people of Tinian and enjoying a simple island life. Terri and I intend to do our best to fit into the Tinian community. For now, we are just filled with excitment and anticipation to start this wonderful stage of our lives!

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to Tinian Times. I am a physician assistant who will be working on the beautiful island of Tinian, part of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. My husband, Kevan, a published author, is coming with me and will finally have the time to write all the books he's had rambling around in his head. Well, he'll be writing and taking care of me (nice, huh?). It's only fair . . . I've spent the last 30 years taking care of him and our five children.

We'll arrive on Tinian 31 August 2007. We spent time there in May and couldn't have asked for a more warm welcome.

So come along and join in the fun. Kevan and I will both be posting here for family and friends, but we welcome all those who are interested in learning more about this fabulous paradise located in the western Pacific. Again, welcome!