Ships Ahoy, Double Doc, Pele Pops Off

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.

10/17/26

 

Aloha Fellow Strugglers!

 

Well, the Iron People have left and things have quieted down considerably.  Last week's race went well. The weather wasn't much of a factor after all, except that high surf on race day made a number of athletes seasick, resulting in a fair amount of barfing at the beginning of the bike portion which immediately follows the swim. This has happened a few time before, especially effecting athletes who can only train in swimming pools or lakes. They also have the disadvantage of not being used to seeing sharks watching them from below.  Other than that, it was cloudy and breezy enough that the heat wasn't too much of a problem.

 

We are in re-positioning season, the time of year when many more ships come into port than just our weekly scheduled one.  Nearly all of these are changing location for the winter from Alaska to the South Pacific and/or Australia and New Zealand.  Several ships visited the week before Iron Man, and this week we've had several more.  This is a boon to local merchants along the waterfront because, except for Iron Man, this is a low point for tourists.  The ships vary in size and cushiness from smallish (300) to medium (about 2000) to MEGA (4000 +).  There is a rough and imperfect negative correlation between size and cost.  The best bargain is a cabin on one of the MEGA boats because you can share the cost with 4000 of your closest friends.  I looked at the itineraries of our recent visitors and found that most are on 19 to 29 day cruises from Vancouver, stopping in Hawai'i and several south sea islands, then continuing to ports in New Zealand and winding up in Sydney, Australia.  One ship was on a 10-day cruise from California to Hawai'i and back before its final repositioning voyage.  Although I've softened my attitude toward cruise travel, I doubt you will ever find me on a ship with 4000 other passengers. I understand the appeal of comfort, convenience, and affordability but it just isn't the kind of travel experience I would find worthwhile.

 

In  Geezer Gazette news, I started the week with a double dose of doctors.  On Monday I saw my internist for my routine 6-month visit to go over my blood work.  Everything was ok, including cholesterol, sodium, and glucose levels.  However, I learned that he is retiring in December.  Ouch! Now I have to find someone else, not an easy task here.  Despite complaining about him from time to time, I could always get in to see him on fairly short notice if I had a problem.  He was my primary doctor for about 20 years, a record for me.  On Tuesday I saw my retina doctor and as expected I had an injection in the left eye, though the edema buildup wasn't all that bad considering it was 8 weeks out from the last shot. Note that this makes my third appointment since we returned from our trip -- roughly a visit every 2 weeks.  This will continue because my appointment at Bascom Eye Institute for my evaluation and consultation will be the week after next. Anyway, this visit went pretty well on the usual measures.  Acuity in my right eye improved in response to the injection 2 weeks ago to 20/60.  My left eye tested at 20/40 despite some edema buildup.  However, the standard eye chart test does NOT capture the vision problems I have that are independent of the edema -- progressive dimming, loss of contrast, and light sensitivity.  A better test that I thought of is to display a line of letters that I can read ok.  Then turn down the contrast and brightness of the display in measured steps, each time presenting a new line of the same size..  The dial setting where I can no longer read the line would be lower (i.e., less adjustment needed) than for someone with the same acuity numbers but without my mysterious symptoms.  Who knows, maybe Bascom is ahead of me on this and that will be one of the things they examine.

 

Garden Flames

About mid-week we finally got a welcome break in our hot and humid weather. Although it has still been pretty toasty during the day, we had several nights that were cool enough that we didn't need the a.c.. Unfortunately the cooler nights dropped out pool temperature, but the water has still been low to mid 80's, not bad once you get used to it.  I've been able to do more garden work, something I really want to get done before our Florida trip.  

 

Pele finally popped her cork and began fountaining last night.  This is episode 55 and it is long overdue.  For weeks the summit caldera was  highly pressurized and seemed ready to blow at any minute but only some gurgling and spattering occurred.  Scientists could tell that magma was moving around in novel ways underground, and they were thinking lava might erupt from different locations.  In the end, though, the current fountain is coming from the same vents as before.  As usual it is quite a show and reminds us again that we live on in awesome, changeable  place.

 

Ok, that's it.  This will be my last missive for a couple of weeks.  I'll give you an update when we return.  In the meantime, resist the temptation to regard bizarre and corrupt behavior as acceptable, no matter how much of there is.  Carpe Vitam!  

Tight Buns and Hard Bodies

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.

10/10/26

 

Aloha  Everyone!

 

Today is he annual Iron Man Triathlon World Championship here.  All week long we have been humbled by the 2500 participants as they have been getting ready for the race.  They are easy to spot as they bike, run, or swim:  tight buns, upper bodies like inverted triangles, zero body fat, and leg muscles like steel cables.These magnificent specimens of humanity are very distinct from usual visitors (and ourselves) who are considerably more squishy.  Only about 130 of the participants are professional triathletes.  The rest are amateurs with jobs and families who somehow find the time and commitment to train for this grueling event.  Even in my most fit moments I could not have completed any of the three legs, let alone do all of them back-to back.  The professionals finish in 8-9 hours, while the amateurs take around 12-13 hours, with a final cutoff of 17 hours. Although Iron Man competitions are held at many locations throughout the year, the one here is the World Championship.  Not just anyone can sign up.  You have to qualify by winning in your age group in one of the designated qualification races leading up to this one.  This selection process has resulted in a higher and higher percent of finishers, now about 95%. This year there is special concern, however, because it may be excessively hot and humid, although we had some overnight rain that cooled things off a bit.  If it clears later, however, the number of dropouts may be higher than normal. The ultimate DNF is death, and about 3 participants die per year worldwide, usually from cardiac arrest during the swim portion.  I'm not sure what the number is for the Kona race in particular, but I would certainly be one of them.

 

In past years we have served as volunteers to help put on the event.  We used to enjoy this, primarily

because it gave us a chance to interact with the participants and to help make their experience a uniquely special one that they had worked so hard to achieve.  However, this year we opted out.  Iron Man has become more and more commercialized.  It is now a big business, bringing in yearly revenue of about 250 million dollars,  It's a privately owned company so the exact profit amount isn't public, but one thing is certain:  company profits are heavily dependent on the free labor provided by volunteers.  Many come from the community where the race is being held, but a large number are family and friends of the athletes.  The largest chunk of revenue comes from entrance fees -- about $1000 per athlete. There are now around 200 Iron Man events per year held in 80 countries around he world, with about 200,000 participants.  Do the math and you will see what I mean -- Big Bucks!  In recent years we've gotten the feeling that the company takes volunteers for granted, a work force to be exploited rather than appreciated.  One of the few positive aspects of Geezerhood is the freedom it gives you to not put up with that #@%%^ We wish the athletes well, but not the money-centered owners of the race.

 

Not much other news this week.  Our continuing hot weather has kept us holed up, except for a couple of shopping expeditions, two workouts at PF, and at least one daily session in our pool.  Our three a.c.'s are humming in harmony starting in the late morning.  Surely this will break soon.

 

Ok, that's it for this week.  Here's my latest question for you: Is there a difference between a skeptic and a cynic? Carpe Vitam!

Nolo No Show, Steam Bath, Good Geezer News

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.

10/3/26

 

Aloha Fellow Time Travelers!

 

Despite the dire warnings of certain doom, Nolo came and went with very little effect.  At our house, as with most of the leeward side of the island, the wind and rain amounted to bupkis, nada zilch, nothing, It's tempting to excuse the overhype by saying it is always better to be safe than sorry. I'm not so sure that's the case.  The predicted track of the storm NEVER showed it coming to within 100 miles of the south shore, and the actual path it took followed the predicted one almost exactly.  Radar showed areas of heavy moisture extending out from the center that did indeed include the southern portion of our island, but hardly the entire island, as the news seemed to imply.  Further, the arrival time of a hurricane's effects are generally predicted fairly accurately, yet county offices, schools, libraries, and beach parks were shut down days before it was necessary to do so.  This amounted to alarmist fear mongering, not rational risk assessment.  When dire effects don't materialize it may make people less likely to heed legitimate future warnings.  Hmm.  I believe there's an old folk story about this -- something to do with a chicken and the sky falling.   Ok, stepping down from my soapbox now.....

 

One effect of Nolo that was real was that it jumped our heat and humidity to very uncomfortable levels for almost a week.  I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer in our bedroom that objectively ocumented our steam bath conditions.  At times the humidity hung at 88+% with temperatures near 90 degrees.  The peak during the day was in the mid-afternoon, when doing anything outside except going in our pool was out of the question.  Consequently our usual gardening activities and house maintenance projects were put on hold.  As I mentioned last week, thankfully we have three rooms in the house that have a.c.,and we have a photovoltaic system to cover the cost of running the a.c. units.Even without hurricane-driven weather this year, it has been much warmer than in our previous 25 years here.  Meteorologists attribute this to a recurrence of the El Nino weather pattern, which is predicted to continue into next year.  Ugh!

 

The Geezer Gazette news this week is mostly positive.  First, on Tuesday my visit to my eye doctor went well.  Acuity improved a smidge in my left (good) eye, and my injection in the right went smoothly, as

Ono on Ono

usual.  Pressures were good, too.  We're holding off on doing the SLT procedure on my left eye so that I can have a preemptive shot before my trip to Bascom-Palmer. Moving to other body parts, my heart continues to behave itself after my ablation in February.  According to my self-monitoring devices, I haven't had an Afib episode for 7 months.  As you recall, my cardiologist said I could stop my blood thinner as long as I continued to stay in normal rhythm.  After about two months my bruising and bleeding problem has greatly improved -- I no longer look like I have leprosy.  A third bit of good news is that my blood pressure has lowered enough that I'm almost off the control medicine.  I'm not sure why this has happened, but for several months now my readings have gradually lowered.  I will be seeing my regular doctor in a week or so for my routine 6-month checkup and I'll ask him about trying to go off the medication entirely and see what happens. Finally, the inhaler he prescribed the last time I saw him has definitely been helping with my emphysema symptoms.  The improvement was very slow and subtle, but it seems to be much easier to breathe now and I don't get out of breath as badly as before.  My blood oxygen level, which is tracked by my Fitbit, has ticked up a couple notches, too -- although it was ok to begin with. Who knows, maybe the lung medication is what has lowered my bp, too.  Better living through chemistry!

 

Ok, that's it for this week.  I'll leave you with a question to ponder.  Which of the following is optional:  Being a Geezer or being a Curmudgeon?  Take care and Carpe Vitam!

Crazy Nolo, Pele Pops a Pimple, Double Tap Vax

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.

9/26/26

 

Aloha Fellow Humans!  I promise this entry has not been generated by AI -- but then, how could you tell? Come to think of it, how do I know YOU'RE not an AI?!  What interesting times we live in, eh?

 

Well, the big flap here this week has been the approach of Hurricane Nolo.  As I write this the storm is in full swing and dumping lots of rain on the East and South parts of our island.  So far we have had very little ill effects in our immediate area and I hope it stays that way.  Tomorrow night will be the time when I'll know for sure.  Tracking hurricanes has been a favorite pastime of mine during our 25 years of living here.  I've seen them behave in all sorts of ways, but Nolo is the strangest so far.  As many hurricanes in our region do, this one was passing well south of the island, heading from east to west.

Then it took a 95degree turn to the right, which brought it directly in line with the bottom of the island.  It has been approaching for the last few days, and right now it is about 50-100 miles south of the island.  This might seem like imminent doom, but now it is doing something even more  bizarre -- it's making another 90 degree turn, this time to the left (west).  It is currently projected to stay well south of us and meander west northwest until it peters out.  Very, very strange.  But then, craziness seems to be the dominant quality of our times.....

 

Speaking of odd behavior, Kilauea is locked and loaded, but still hasn't fountained as it was expected to do again.  There has been occasional oozing, gurgling and sputtering from Pele's pimple, but nothing dramatic. Unpredictability seems to be another quality of the times, I guess.

 

In Geezer Gazette news, last Saturday Karen and I had our Covid and Flu shots.  We opted for both at once just to get it over with so that both vaccines would be in effect when we make our trip to Florida in a few weeks.  To refresh your memory, this trip will be for my evaluation at Bascom-Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. The side effects of the shots were very minimal this time, just a slightly sore arm for a couple of days.  Also minimal was the recovery from my SLT procedure, which was just a day of minor discomfort, a light ache in my eyeball.  I'll have the other eye done next week.

 

Ok, that's it for this week.  I don't know about you, but I yearn for the good old days when reading the news didn't make me cringe and want to shout the old saying, "Stop world! I want to get off!!!!" Take care and keep smiling.  Carpe Vitam!

Home Again, Pele's Pimple, Eyeball Trabeculoplasty

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.

9/19/26

 

Aloha Everybody!

 

We returned home last week.  Our trip to Alaska and Colorado was a very good one.   I managed to survive the cold temps in Alaska better than I had expected. Of course, this was partly due to layering up until I looked like a cross between the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the Michelin Man.  The scenery in Alaska was stunning, and its remote wildness was palpable.  It is truly a wonderful, unique place.  Among other revelations, we learned that Alaska and Hawai'i share of number of things in common.  First, in both places "2nd-Day-Air' is a joke, as is fast shipping by Amazon Prime.  Patience is a necessity if you want to live in either state.  Second, everything is super-expensive because it must be shipped in from the mainland.  Third, in both Alaska and Hawai'i American missionaries sought to improve the lot of indigenous people by establishing schools for them --definitely a good thing.  However, in both cases the cost of this education was the near obliteration of the native culture, because traditional dress, customs, ceremonies, and even language were forbidden. Fortunately in both places there are current attempts to recover what was almost lost. 

 

Colorado was likewise enjoyable, particularly our 6-hour train ride from Denver to Glenwood Springs through the ruggedly beautiful canyons of the Rockies. Also, we got to see my nephew and his wife, as well as old friends in the Denver/Boulder area.  This was definitely a "return-to-your-roots" visit.  We spent one day driving around our old neighborhoods where we grew up, reminiscing to the point of nearly drowning in nostalgia.  We also spent a few days in Aspen, a ski-resort town we last visited about 50 years ago,  It is now a Disney-esque  haven for the uber rich, with average home prices in the tens of millions,  As the saying goes, in some respects you can't go home again, and Aspen is now way above our pay-grade.  Two cultural highlights of our time in Colorado were a visit to Denver's superb botanical gardens, and attending a traveling production of the Tony Award winning musical, "The Outcasts." All in all, we rate the whole trip very highly.

 

Our active volcano may be changing its behavior.  Fountaining episode 55 is way overdue, even though

Volcano Acne

the magma system is pressurized and seemingly ready to spout.  Early this week several new vents opened up near the existing ones, but they only oozed and gurgled.  The volcanologists are both puzzled and excited by this change.  So far they are being very cautious about predicting what it may indicate.  In the meantime, the main vent has been bubbling and spurting for so long that it has built up a small pimple-like cinder cone around the hole.  Again, a very interesting and unusual feature.  This new behavior shows that when humans think they have something figured out, nature shows us that things are more complicated. Another well-deserved lesson in humility!!

 

On Tuesday I had my laser procedure to help lower my eye pressure in the right eye (in a couple of weeks I'll have the other one done, too).  To be clear, this will NOT improve my eyesight.  It is now a standard treatment for people with glaucoma to head off future problems by reducing fluid build-up that increases internal pressure and harms the optic nerve.  The name of the procedure is very fancy, worthy of extra points in any session of Geezer Competitive Complaining:  Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty.  It took about 10 minutes and was only slightly painful.  I will probably keep taking drops, but hopefully the same dosage will produce even lower pressures.  I'll let you know, though it may take several weeks for the full effect.

 

Other than that, we've been working to get the landscaping back to a semblance of pre-trip condition.  In other words, lots of trimming and whacking. However, our weather has been so hot and humid since we returned that we can't stand to do this for very long each day.  Thankfully our pool and our three rooms with a.c. have given us relief from the heat.  In our 25 years of living here, this is the hottest it has been.  I've also had a few house repairs to take care of, like replacing a toilet lever and dealing with a battery-operated door lock whose electronics crapped out.  We've managed jet lag pretty well this time, since Colorado is only 4 hours different. We even managed light workouts at the gym on Monday and yesterday, for which we rewarded ourselves with an ocean-front lunch and a long nap.

 

That's all for this week.   Stay cool and well. Carpe Vitam! 

Waiting Pau: Cool Car, Short Trees

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.

8/7//26

 

Aloha Folks!

 

Well, my big news this week is that my waiting list has evaporated.  On Thursday my Subaru dealer finally installed the a.c. parts that were ordered over a month ago.  Whether this fixes the problem permanently remains to be seen, of course, but at least right now the a.c. unit is putting out plenty of cool air. The attempted repairs have been totally covered by warranty, so I haven't been burdened by this financially, but it has certainly been a hassle and a huge waste of time.  

 

Yesterday our tree trimmers returned and finished the job they were supposed to do two weeks ago.  My total wait for this project was about 1.5 months.  This now means I currently don't have any delayed projects to grouse about.  What's a Geezer/Curmudgeon to do!!  Oh, right  just take a look at the national and world news -- plenty of grouse-worthy material there........

 

Karen and I played golf on Wednesday.  We wanted to make sure we got this in because next week we

Big World to Explore

will be busy preparing for our trip to Alaska/Colorado.  I didn't do so hot, but Karen did pretty well, with 2 pars and a bogey.  The course was really dry because we haven't had much rain lately. On Makalei's hilly course this means the ball will really roll a long way once it lands.  This helps get more distance when the hole is downhill, but when it is uphill the ball can roll back so that it shortens your shot considerably. In fact there are a couple of holes on the course where on occasion I've actually had negative yardage!  When this happens we invoke Kon-a-Lago Rules and play the ball from where it first hit the ground.  Anyway. we saw quite a few Peacocks and Peahens this time, including one white Peahen.  This is the time of year when the mothers bring their babies out to forage. a very cute sight.  We counted about a dozen young ones, and there may have been more still hidden in the margins of the fairways. 

 

In Geezer Gazette news I saw my eye doctor on Tuesday.  He recommended a laser procedure that can reduce or even eliminate the need for pressure-drops.  These drops lower the pressure inside your eyeballs to help stave off eye damage from Glaucoma.  I've been using them nightly for years and my pressures have been low.  If the laser treatment works it may mean I can stop the drops entirely.  Fine with me -- the fewer medications the better.  The procedure is called "selective laser trabeculoplasty."  It is non-invasive with no down-time and no pain. I'll have this done after I return from our trip.  Note, this is unrelated to my other eye problems, so I'm not expecting any improvement in my vision.

 

Ok, that's it for now.  I may not be sending a missive next week because I'll be getting ready to freeze my butt off in Alaska.  I'll catch up when we return.  In the meantime, try to keep a firm grasp on the distinction between delusional blather and rational assessment.  These days we need to defend valuing the difference. Carpe Vitam!

 

Fausto Fizzles, Mainland Sizzles, Pele Pops

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.

8/1//26

 

Aloha Friends!

 

August already!  It's warm here, but nothing like many parts of the mainland.  One place that isn't hot is Alaska, where we are headed soon.  Highs there in the upper 50's and low 60's, with a lot of cloudiness and light rain,  In other words, WAY below my comfort zone.  I'm determined to try to enjoy it anyway, because this will be my one and only trip to Alaska. After cooling down we will head to Colorado, currently on fire.  Nature seems to be reminding us of who is ultimately in charge, regardless of all of our planning.

 

Speaking of travel, we finalized our plans for next Spring's return trip to Portugal, and we put down a deposit.  I'm pretty happy with the final itinerary, and our agent was very good to work with.  Of course, health, weather, and political uncertainties may interfere with our plans between now and then.  But we can cancel up until 5 days before the start and receive a full refund of both the deposit and the final payment (due 30 days out), so this seems like a pretty low-risk arrangement.  

 

A Miss This Time

Hurricane Fausto wound up tracking far north of the islands and was a total non-event here on our island.  In fact, by the time it reached our region it had pooped out and was no longer a true hurricane.  The cooler waters had robbed it of its energy and a dry air mass absorbed a lot of its moisture.  This is commonly the case and is the main reason Hawai'i has been hit by fewer devastating hurricanes than other Pacific islands. 

 

Speaking of nature's antics, Kilauea popped off again, the 52nd time since December of '24.  This episode was relatively brief, about 7.5 hours, and only hit 500 feet.  However, it was a fan-shaped fountain that was very pretty.  Visitors who were there got a very good show because it started about 7:30 p.m., occurring after dark.  Watching the live video reminded me of how deceptive lava looks.  Our conception of liquids is primarily based on our experience with water.  We don't grasp the reality of how dense this stuff is and how heavy it is compared to water.  I once watched a guy try to push a metal pole into a pool of molten lava and having limited success because it just wouldn't give way.  And of course, liquid rock is still as heavy as solid rock, so the energy to send a stream of it  500 or 1000 feet straight up is staggeringly great. It is worth remembering, too, that Kilauea is a pipsqueak compared to many volcanoes in the world.  Human arrogance when it comes to controlling nature is definitely unjustified.

 

I've got some good news and bad news about my waiting list woes.  The good news is that Wednesday I got a call from the Subaru dealer telling me the parts for my a.c. were in, and we set up an appointment next week (!) to get them installed.  Whoopee!  Only 5 service visits to get this problem fixed (well, maybe).  The bad news concerns our tree-trimming last week.  When I had a chance to closely examine the finished result I could see that the crew really had not done the work as specified and agreed upon in the proposal because they left the height of the trees much above the stipulated level.  I called the foreman on Saturday and had to insist they return and complete the job before I would pay the bill.  After a bit of arguing it was agreed they would do that, but now we must wait for them to work it into their schedule.  Sigh.........

 

Ok, that's my week.  Hope you are staying cool, dry, and unburnt. Take care.  Carpe Vitam!