Davon and I were both learning French, at least that’s what he’d say. Davon was fluent in French. By all accounts I’m a novice. He would joke that Duolingo would need to create new French lessons just for him, because he thought he might have already reached the end. Davon avidly reported grammar issues with his Duolingo lessons, and he frequently expressed frustration in the quality of his French lessons. Davon was always learning something new.

I met Davon at Archimedes Banya, where he worked as a massage therapist. After my car accident in early 2021, I found myself trying anything and everything to heal from my concussion (later that year I found myself concussed twice more). Davon was my massage therapist, and I attribute a good portion of my recovery to his healing powers. We’d exchange pleasantries, and Davon would ask me what hurts. He’d poke at me, finding new places I hurt. I think Davon enjoyed making me whimper, and I feel comfortable saying that out loud because I know he’d have gotten a good laugh out of that.

Our friendship may have started between massage therapist and client, but over four years, Davon and I realized we had so much in common. Mainly, we both like to yap, we both love musicals, and we’re both boy crazy. Davon loved to hear about the latest in my romantic life. Who was I dating, where were they taking me, how was I feeling about the relationship, how was the sex, what did they look like, etc. I always wanted to know when was the next time Davon was traveling to Mexico, to see his partner.

Outside of the banya, Davon taught English at several local colleges and universities, and I loved hearing about the experiments Davon was running in his classroom. One semester he taught English through musical movies to ESL students! Davon was so passionate about that curriculum, and I wish I could have audited his class. Because Davon split his time across multiple institutions in a quarter/semester, Davon often worked 6–7 day work weeks. I wish I had asked him how he manages his time and his stress, but I have to imagine he’d tell me that he finds comfort in his dog and spending time with his family and stress relief in his low-weight, high-repetition strength training. Davon was adamant that the best way to tone the arms is to use low weights (5–10lb) with lots of repetitions (30+).

We hung out a lot at the banya. Some evenings, when I needed to get away from the hustle and bustle on the sauna floor, I’d escape down to the spa floor and sit on the couch in the spa office. Davon would tell me about the dinner he’d be hosting later that week or the new recipe he’s trying. Davon loved to cook, but mostly Davon loved to impress. He was so thoughtful about curating delightful experiences, from the music to the scents to the textures to the palate. So rarely do I get to enjoy the company of someone who cherishes being excellent at many things.

I miss Davon. I think of him everyday when I’m completing my French lesson. I think of him every time I step through the banya doors.

All of us at the banya miss him dearly.

Rest in peace, Davon Frasca.

I debated linking directly to the article because I ugly-cried for over an hour and wish I hadn’t, but the article did give me the closure I was looking for.

This excerpt from the article is what I’d like to discuss:

“In the wake of the shooting, investigators tested the radios carried by the Uvalde Police Department, as well as by Chief Arredondo’s school police force, and found they did not transmit effectively inside the school or even just outside of it. Only the radios carried by Border Patrol agents appeared to function well, the review found.”

Many of us have been wondering what happened during the hour it seemed that the police were doing nothing while an active shooter was inside a school. Now we know that the officers inside the school were unable to effectively organize because they couldn’t talk to each other or get crucial intel from 911 calls coming from inside the classroom.

This shooting urges me to do more to protect our little ones, but I’m a software engineer, unlikely to ever participate in a first response to a shooting as part of my job. I can, however, focus on what I can control; right now, that’s servers and Ruby and engineering process at my job.

This incident reminds me of the 2021 Facebook Outage, when the outage wiped out Facebook’s internal communication, and Facebook employees, engineers had to organize and collaborate over phone, Skype, Discord, etc., to bring Facebook back up.

A shared takeaway from the Uvalde School Shooting and the 2021 Facebook Outage is that problem-solving progress comes to a screeching halt if you can’t communicate.

Your radios have to work.

You have to have a backup when your radio doesn’t work.

You have to practice what happens when your radios don’t work.

Everyone needs to know what happens when your radios don’t work.

I know that I can do better when I run my next incident or disaster recovery exercise at work. But that’s just about handling the aftermath. We need people fixing incidents before they happen.

I hope we all do more.

Shopping List

Whole Bean Grinder: Baratza Encore

Gooseneck Kettle: Bonavita Electric Kettle

Immersion Blender: Braun Stainless Steel Stick Blender

Storage Containers for Coffee Beans: Rubbermaid Container

Pour-Over Glass: Chemex

Chemex Filters

Coffee Scoop

Whole Bean Coffee: Bulletproof

MCT Oil: Bulletproof

Goat Butter: Meyenberg.

Sea Salt Butter: Vital Farms.

Travel Coffee Cup: YETI Rambler.

Instructions

Make the coffee

Grind 2tbsp of Bulletproof and 2tbsp of Bulletproof decaf. Follow the directions on the Encore for the grind setting.

Heat 500mL of water to 200F. Wait 35 seconds after the kettle stops to pour the water into the Chemex. Pour the water slowly clockwise on the edges of the Chemex — do not pour the water directly into the middle.

The Bulletproof way

In the Rambler, put 2tbsp of sea salt butter. Put 1tbsp of goat butter. Put 1 or 2 tbsp of MCT oil.

Once the pour-over is done, pour half the coffee into the Rambler.

Blend the coffee, butter, and oil in the Rambler.

Pour the rest of the coffee into the Rambler.

Enjoy.