He worked hard, was an excellent student, played in the band and and added extracurriculars to get into a top college. He got his dream job as an architect and eventually was laid off. With architect jobs impossible to find, he embraced his fear of the unknown and bet on himself.

That is the story of this week’s guest, Pat Flynn. Now he makes a living from home while living in line with his values for family and work.

Flynn owns several Internet businesses and is the author of the book “Let Go.” He will speak about doubt and fear and how he did not let those two things get in his way.

All past shows are available at www.howshereallydoesit.com or directly from iTunes. Listeners can email questions to hello@howshereallydoesit.com or via Twitter or Facebook. Go to the website for the direct links.

“Due to personal issues, JD McPherson is unable to perform this weekend in Northern California,” his management company said in a news release. “He sends his sincere apologies to his fans and everyone involved in these events. He hopes to see you sooner than later.”

The Mondavi Center will offer refunds on tickets; no action is required on the part of the ticket holders, a Mondavi spokesman said. All refunds will be processed by Friday according to original method of payment. Checks will be mailed to patrons who paid cash.

“Additionally, since we sincerely regret McPherson’s cancellation, we are offering all ticket holders an equal number of complimentary tickets to Lyle Lovett and his Large Band on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 7 p.m.,” a Mondavi announcement said.

To redeem the offer, call the ticket office, 530-754-2787, before Thursday, Aug. 1, during business hours — noon to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Davis residents Susan Monticello, Stephanie Hartfield, Brett Coder and Duff Harrold, all initiated at Sacramento State, and Teresa Ludwig, initiated at San Jose State; and Woodland residents Tandy Burton, Shakita Caldwell and Kelly Fisher, all initated at Sacramento State.

Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts annually approximately 32,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify.

————

Richard Valicenti, a UC Davis prostate cancer expert, co-led a major effort that has led to the nation’s leading urological and radiation oncology organization’s recent announcement of a new guideline for radiation therapy after prostatectomy.

The guideline, released jointly by the American Society for Radiation Oncology and the American Urological Association, for the first time provides evidence- and consensus-based recommendations about the benefits and risks of additional cancer treatment after prostate-removal surgery.

Valicenti, chairman of the UC Davis department of radiation oncology, championed the comprehensive review on behalf of ASTRO. The guideline was based on Valicenti’s co-analysis of 324 research articles published between 1990 and 2012.

————

Licensed acupuncturist Johanna Utter became a board-certified Fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine in May. The certification demonstrates advanced knowledge and competency in Western and Oriental reproductive medicine.

The board emphasizes integrated treatment methods, evidence-based medicine and standardization in this specialty within acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.

Utter’s specialty is women’s health with an additional emphasis in treating both male and female infertility. Her practice offers a comprehensive approach to patient care, integrating acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, nutritional supplements and individualized health and lifestyle recommendations. She works with patients who want to conceive naturally and with those who utilize fertility treatments such as IVF or IUI.

Utter has been in private practice in Davis since 1990. More details about her practice are on her website, www.JohannaUtterAcupuncture.com.

Millipedes (no, really, they were huge) aside, camping can be surprisingly luxurious, particularly in the food department. For about the price of one “fancy” restaurant meal for two people, you can feed those same two people extra-nice meals for a whole weekend of camping. It does take a little preparation, and a few recipes. (You no doubt know some of them, so the ones included below are marked with an asterisk.)

Good camping starts with good packing, and good ice chest packing starts with a hard truth: Your ice chest doesn’t make things cold. It only preserves whatever cold you started with, and much of that is lost every time you open the ice chest and rummage around. For food safety, and cold beer, you need to pack as much cold into your ice chest as possible right at the start, and keep it there as long as possible. I’ve taken to packing two ice chests when I can, with all the items for the second half of the trip grouped in one ice chest that doesn’t get opened until then.

Planning ahead really pays off in both cold storage and yum. A few days before, make and freeze drinks and dinners in heavy-duty freezer bags. I find loading things into gallon ziplocks and freezing them flat (on a baking sheet in case of leaks) gives me the best results as far as ice chest arrangements. Chill anything that you want to be cold that shouldn’t freeze (beer, soda) for at least 48 hours.

If you have extra room in your ice chest, freeze drinking water and use that to keep things cold as well — we save quart plastic juice jugs for this purpose, since gallons are inconveniently large for both the freezer and the ice chests.

Most camping trips start with lunch. We’re always eager to get on the trail, so I pack our lunch straight into two-tiered bento boxes to take with us. One box has cubes of extra-nice cheese along with really good salami in one tier, and carrot sticks and cherries or grapes in the other. The second has crackers in one tier and cashews in the other. The cheese box, of course, gets packed in the very top of the cooler so it’s easy to grab.

After your hike, lunch and camp setup, a cocktail is generally in order. For the second half of the trip, that’s usually beer in cans or wine in boxes, but the first night a Semi-frozen Cosmopolitan* is lovely, maybe with the leftover cheese and salami.

For dinner the first night, I love Hobo Packets*, which cook nicely over the campfire alongside a loaf of garlic bread wrapped in foil.

You can certainly do a nice garlic bread from scratch, but I’m pretty fond of the frozen Alexia garlic bread, which comes in a convenient two (tiny)-loaf pack that’s just right for two nights of camp dinners. The “wrapped in foil” cooking theme extends nicely to a dessert of Cake Melt*.

Some people absolutely love pancakes or oatmeal cooked over an open fire for breakfast. It’s not really a good idea for me to play with fire before coffee, so our camp breakfasts are Cold Brewed Iced Coffee* with muffins, fruit and hard-boiled eggs, or a quiche*, which I find packs best when cut into individual slices, with each slice wrapped in foil and packed into a non-squishable container. Quiche also makes a nice camp lunch if you want more than the leftovers from the last three meals, of which we always seem to have plenty.

Pasta is pretty delicious for a camp dinner, and we make and freeze several batches of meatballs for Campfire Meatball Pasta* at the start of each camping season. The frozen meatballs in sauce are usually partially thawed by the second night.

I keep a stacking screw-top pill container with various herbs and spices in my camp kit for spicing up dinner. I also have salt and pepper shakers and a squeeze bottle of olive oil. As far as utensils, I have a big stainless steel pan with a glass lid from Ikea, a hot water kettle, a spatula and tongs, and a knife and cutting board. Don’t forget a couple of dish towels, heavy enough to double as pot holders.

The recipes

Semi-Frozen Cosmopolitan

Because of the alcohol, this will not freeze hard. I like to slush mine into a tall glass and add fizzy water.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce triple sec
2 ounces cranberry juice
2 ounces grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup or agave nectar
Juice of one-half lime

Putting it together:

Mix all ingredients. Pour into heavy-duty zipper bag, press out air and seal. Freeze flat.

Hobo Packets

You can prepare these completely ahead of time, or bring ziplocks of the various ingredients and let every one mix and match. Almost any cheese is good in this, but I’m partial to a big spoonful of creamy goat chevre.

Ingredients:
Ham steak or smoked tofu, cut into bites
Lightly cooked mixed vegetables — broccoli, summer squash, asparagus, etc.
Sliced onion
Sliced bell pepper
Cheese to taste
Salt
Pepper
Dried herbs
Heavy-duty foil

Putting it together:

Layer meat, vegetables, seasonings and cheese on a large sheet of foil. Fold edges up and seal. Wrap with a second sheet of foil and seal again. Place on grate over camp fire and let cook, turning occasionally, until hot through and cheese is melted, about 40 minutes.

Cake Melt

Ingredients:
Sliced pound cake
Chocolate chips
Nuts, coconut, caramel bits, dried fruit, marshmallows, etc.
Heavy-duty foil

Putting it together:

Layer cake and fixings on a large sheet of foil. Fold edges up and seal. Wrap with a second sheet of foil and seal again. Place on grate over edge of camp fire and let cook, turning occasionally, until hot through and chocolate is melted, about 20 minutes.

Camping Cold Brewed Iced Coffee

Ingredients:

3/4 ounce medium grind coffee (we use Pepper Peddler dark roast)
2 cups water

Putting it together:

Mix coffee and water and let stand at room temperature eight to 12 hours. Filter. Add sugar, milk, etc. Pour into heavy-duty zipper bag, press out air and seal. Freeze flat.

Breakfast Quiche

Ingredients:
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
1/4 cup onion, diced and sautéed
1 cup any combination of cooked vegetables, meat, fish or tofu
1 cup cheese, grated
3 eggs
1-1/2 cup whole milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Putting it together:

Bake pie shell until barely set and very lightly browned, about 7 minutes at 350 degrees.
Scatter onion, vegetables/protein and cheese evenly across bottom of pie shell. Beat eggs thoroughly and stir in milk. Add salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over onions and cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until top is puffy and golden brown and middle is just barely set. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Serve warm, room temperature or cold. Be sure to refrigerate leftovers.

Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds Italian sausage
2 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup finely, finely, finely chopped onion
(1/2 cup finely grated parmesan)
3 cloves garlic, pressed
Olive oil
About 40 ounces tomato or pasta sauce

Putting it together:

Mix together everything except the olive oil. Check to make sure mixture forms a marble-sized ball that holds together when fried — you can even fry one to check. Add more bread crumbs to dry it out, or a bit of olive oil to loosen it up.

Make approximately 60 meatballs. Fry in a heavy frying pan, only as many as will fit in a single layer, until lovely brown on all sides. After each batch, drain off any extra grease and throw enough tomato based pasta sauce in to cover the pan. Cook and scrape up the plain bits, then pour out the sauce and save it.

Store cooked meatballs, portioned out to fit your family, in sauce in ziplocks in the freezer. Eat a few for your lunch. Good job!

Campfire Meatball Pasta

We usually slice the onion and wash and chop the greens at home.
1 onion, sliced
A bit of olive oil
1 bunch chard or kale, washed and chopped
1 bag frozen meatballs in sauce
1 ounce pasta shapes per person

Fry the onion in a bit of oil in a large skillet with a lid. When almost done, toss in the greens. Cover and let wilt a minute or two. Add meatballs and a half cup or so of water. Stir well, then add pasta. Cover and let cook over the lowest heat you can manage, stirring now and then, until the pasta is tender. You may need to add a bit more water to rehydrate the pasta.

You can help

What: Yolo Hospice patient care volunteer training

When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, July 12-13 and 19-20

Info: Anne-Marie Flynn, Yolo Hospice volunteer service manager, aflynn@yolohospice.org, 530-601-5754

Sign up: Visit the volunteer page at www.yolohospice.org

The DavisWiki lists approximately 126 volunteer opportunities in and around Davis. With so many choices, why do people choose to volunteer with Yolo Hospice?

There are many reasons: Patient care volunteers work directly with patients and their loved ones. The care that volunteers provide is essential and immediately meaningful to Yolo Hospice patients and their loved ones. It is the reason that hospice volunteers are drawn to the opportunity. They make a difference with every encounter.

Katherine Moon is a recent addition to the Yolo Hospice volunteer team. She is applying to medical school, after working as a graphic designer. She wishes to do more with her creative abilities and believes pursuing a medical degree would allow her to use her skills in a manner more meaningful to her.

“People don’t deal with death until it knocks on their door,” Moon said. “It can be a shock facing your own or a loved one’s mortality. I like the Tibetan philosophy, that life is one small part of your continued existence.”

Moon has been exploring Tibetan philosophy and Zen perspectives. She wants to approach medicine creatively. Her grandmother’s experience with hospice led her to believe that caring for the whole person at the end of life may be the most beneficial to the individual.

“If I am going to become a good doctor, I need to understand people, every type of person out there,” Moon said. “Regardless of how they’ve lived, they all experience the dying process. In my future role as a doctor, I want to help people have ‘peace.’ To help people with end-of-life process in a creative way is something I want to do, not just right now, but for the rest of my life.”

Marion Franck has been a Yolo Hospice patient care volunteer for eight years, but hospice was in the back of her mind for much longer.

“I’d heard many stories of people in hospitals who wanted to go home, but couldn’t,” Franck said. “I was probably thinking way too early about my own death, but I read about hospice, and respected it as an alternative to death in the hospital.”

“At first, my imagination made hospice volunteering scarier than it ever turned out to be. In my medical ignorance, I worried I’d have to care for the patients physically. I’ve never done anything more physical than give a hugs or kisses.”

Franck has been assigned to patients fairly constantly since then. Her assignments have included a remarkable number of people who have lived on hospice for five to eight months, which is unusual. Too many people use hospice when they have only days remaining.

“What I did anticipate was that I’d get to know the patient, the family and the friends,” Franck said. “I’ve had real relationships, something important is going on and everyone cares.”

Patrick Hunt was a communications professor teaching interpersonal communications.

“I had a couple of colleagues who volunteered with hospice,” he said. “They were very positive about the experience. Then my father became seriously ill and moved into a hospice facility in Denver. It was a wonderfully supportive experience, especially for my mom, who was elderly at that point.”

Hunt has been volunteering at Yolo Hospice for approximately 10 years.

“The patients I’ve seen have tended to be male,” he said. “Typical of male communication, conversations are often less than direct and center on the mundane such as the ball score, traffic or the weather.”

Hunt follows hospice groundbreaker Elizabeth Kubler Ross’ recommendation, “let the patient set the agenda.”

He does not continue to volunteer for the meaningful conversation or the depth of the exchanges. He continues to volunteer because “people are sometimes lonely, especially those in facilities, sharing time with folks, trying to get people to laugh is meaningful. To me, if I break the monotony of their waiting I’ve made a profound contribution.”

All hospice patient care volunteers attend an intensive training and are taught what to expect. The training provides them the tools to be confident in their volunteer role as part of the hospice team and the resources available to them as volunteers.

The next hospice volunteer training is in Davis at Yolo Hospice on Fridays and Saturdays, July 12-13 and 19-20 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. To learn more, please contact Anne-Marie Flynn, Yolo Hospice volunteer service manager, at aflynn@yolohospice.org or 530-601-5754. To sign up for the training, go to Yolo Hospice’s volunteer page at www.yolohospice.org.

— Mary Odbert is Yolo Hospice’s public relations representative. This column is published monthly.