Ever See a Baby Nene?

A what?  

The Nene is the Hawai'i state bird.  It looks a lot like a Canadian Goose, but in fact is a bird found only in Hawai'i.  Descended from some geese that arrived here about 500k years ago, Nene have decidedly different genetic makeup from their mainland relatives, and now have evolved unique physical and behavioral traits.  They spend almost no time in the water, have much less webbing on their feet, they are slightly smaller and have unique striations on their necks, and they tend to have fewer offspring. Also, they don't migrate long distances, though they do fly and do move seasonally from one area to another at higher or lower elevations, probably in response to food availability (escaping from freezing temperatures and blizzards isn't necessary).

Canadian Goose

Hawaiian Goose

Nene evolved without fear of the usual predators that Canadian geese have to deal with -- foxes, bears, raccoons, bobcats, etc. because until humans arrived there were only two mammals in the islands, the monk seal and a unique species of bat.  Neither of these was interested in tasting a goose. Their only threat came from two endemic birds of prey -- the Hawaiian Hawk ('Io) and the Hawaiian Owl (Pueo).  When humans arrived about 1000 years ago and brought with them other non-human mammalian predators (dogs, pigs, cats, mongoose, rats), Nene were nearly wiped out.  In the 1950's only about 50 survived, down from as many as 25k.  Vigorous captive breeding and reintroduction efforts have now raised that back to about 2500 birds.  They also seem to be breeding well these days, thanks in part to humans creating some attractive habitat, especially golf courses.

At the course where Karen often plays they love the open fairways bordered by trees, grass, and shrubs, and about this time each year mating pairs show up to nest and raise their goslings. Several weeks ago she counted at least 10 nesting pairs, and now the little offspring have started to venture out to forage with their parents.  On her recent outings she has seen at least 10 babies and has gotten photos of several family groups out and about. Enjoy them -- few people get to witness these rare and magnificent birds.

Babies are between parents' legs

Same family.

Easier to see all three. Two are resting.

Another family of three.

Good view of the three babies.

One more family. Dad is on guard duty.

A Present From Pele, More Vaccine, Cutting Phone Cord Report

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

12/26/20

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Ours was very quiet this year.  On Christmas Eve we went to Planet Fitness, had an Ultimate Burger picnic afterwards, and did some last minute grocery shopping at our new mega-Safeway store.  The mainland visitors have suddenly arrived in numbers we haven’t seen in nearly a year. This is great for our economy, but has come at a cost of choked traffic, stripped store shelves, and many high-energy lost and bewildered folks everywhere.  Hmmmmmm.
                                            
On Christmas day we had a peaceful day around the house, and then had a distanced dinner at our neighbor’s house.  Just the four of us, their dog Zoe and parrots Chico and Sweat Pea. Very nice traditional fare of turkey for the main dish.  

Of course the big excitement here is the waking up last Sunday of our Kilauea volcano after a two-year snooze.  Close-up photos provided by the volcanologists are spectacular, with fountains of lava and big streams of it flowing down into a growing lava lake.  Photos that show the real scale are much less impressive. All of this is taking place at the very summit, in the 1500-foot deep crater within the summit caldera.  The lake is now about 600 feet deep, fed by two fissures on the sides of the crater. This may keep going for a while, but the built-up supply of magma isn’t as great as it was before 2018's big eruption, so it might also be a short event.  The most negative impact for us is the sudden return of Vog that spoils the view of our coastline.  It also complicates treatment of Covid 19 patients who have respitory issues – the prediction is that it could lead to many more severe cases, We’ll see.

More vaccine arrived on island this week – a shipment of the new Moderna vaccine.  Since this can be stored more easily, it is being held while the Pfitzer is used up first.  Many front line health workers here have received their 1st shot, and now other essential workers can get it. Both vaccines have common reactions that are short-lived, with the Moderna being even more likely to produce them.  However, the Moderna is apparently also slightly more effective in preventing severe cases and more effective in geezers. I’ll take whichever is offered as soon as it is available to me. Good luck to those of you on the mainland, but I’m pleased that so far this, just like our mail-in voting procedure, is going very well. The anti-vaxers are unfortunately revving up their misinformation campaign, but I’m hoping most people will ignore it. I’ve looked into every claim they have made and I am confident it is all bunk.

After a period of frustration and disappointment with my new phone arrangement, I’ve now gotten the problems worked out. Although the call quality of the new phone is very good, the link to the cordless house phones was very poor at first. This turned out to be solved by just re-linking the cell phone to the base unit for the cordless phones.  The call quality through the cordless phones is now good – not as clear as the old land line, but very acceptable.  The other problem I had at first was that the cordless handset downstairs where Karen spends a lot of time didn’t have a very good connection to the upstairs base unit.  This was solved by just moving the base unit to a better location where the signal didn’t have to go through as many walls. Now the connection is very good.  All in all I’m satisfied and pleased to be saving $200 per year.

Ok, off to the beach for our usual picnic.  Not as clear as last week, but still very nice.

Merry Christmas, and next we will say goodbye and good riddance to 2020.

Ho, Ho, Ho! -- Let's Watch the Volcano Blow!

Let's see.  How can 2020 get even worse, you know, just to end on the lowest note possible? Oh, I have it.  Let's have Hawaii''s most active volcano blow!

And that's what happened a few days ago on Sunday, 12/20/20, about 9:30 am HST.  Kilauea has been quiet for about two years, after putting on a spectacular but devastating show for several months in 2018. It finally exhausted the available magma supply and just shut off. Period. Nothing. The best part for us, living as we do nearly 100 miles away, was the sudden clearing of the "vog" (volcanic fog) from our skies.  For nearly two years now we've enjoyed clear air, beautiful views of the coastline and of the ocean horizon, just long enough for memory-challenged humans to think this was "normal."

Actually, Kilauea has been erupting more or less continuously (in geologic terms) for thousands of years and it will continue to do so for thousands more. That is normal, as is the presence of varying amounts of vog throughout the time humans have been in the islands, about 1000 years.

Very soon after the last eruption stopped, volcanologists began recording seismic activity indicating magma moving up to refill the reservoirs under Kilauea. In November this increased dramatically and at a more shallow depth.  Other measurements, like the swelling of the summit ground, were consistent with an imminent eruption, which indeed has happened.  In other words, scientists weren't surprised, though one of the usual indicators was missing -- an uptick in the emission of volcanic gases as the magma got higher and under less pressure. 

If you've seen the photos and videos of the activity, it is very impressive.  Don't book a flight, though, because visitors can't really get that close. To be clear, the eruption is taking place only at the very summit, inside the crater within the summit caldera, called Halema'uma'u. This was a rather small crater until 2018 but when the eruption stopped, it collapsed when all the lava drained away. expanding and deepening dramatically. For about a 1/ 1/2 years ground water oozed into the bottom, forming a lake that was about 100 ft. deep.   Not now.  Lava draining into the bottom of

the crater quickly turned it all into steam in a very dramatic plume of steam, ash, and volcanic gas.  The gas is mostly SO2, which combines with moisture in the air to form vog -- which is essentially airborne sulfuric acid.

So for a while we get to breathe not only Covid19 virus particles but also traces of sulfuric acid.  Wait -- I think our stable genius president might just recommend this as a way of getting rid of the virus.  Seems logical, right, that even a virus can't stand up to acid in your lungs.  Be patriotic, breathe deep! How bad can sulfuric acid be for your lungs?

No estimate on how long this will last is yet available, but I'll be optimistic and say that since the available magma isn't all that great,  it might be pretty short-lived. Of course, this could be in geologic time, not human time. And I could be just blowin' my own smoke here.

In the meantime, a greater immediate threat to us is the volcano we actually live on, Hualalai.  It is active and past due for an eruption and is being closely monitored. Oh damn, I shouldn't have said anything -- I just thought of a way 2020 could get way worse!!

Phone Switcheroo, Vaccine Arrives

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

12/19/20

Aloha Everybody!

I’d complain about our cold weather, the frigid 65d we hit as our low the other night, how we’ve had to cope with our pool dropping to 79d, and the weather preventing us from having dinner outside by our pool, but that would be cruel, so I certainly won’t...

Ok, after much too much effort and wasted time, I finally made contact with two customer service reps who actually knew what the h*** they were doing, one at Hawaiian Telcom and the other at my new wireless phone service.  The problem was something called an account porting out passcode, which is needed for a new service to get the old service to release your phone number so it can be transferred.  As it turns out in the case of antique land lines, many local phone companies, including Hawaiian Telcom, don’t have them.  Unless you have an experienced and knowledgeable person at the new service company who knows this, you’re kind of stuck in limbo. The solution, it turns out, is simple – provide any number at all as the code and the land line company will accept it and release the phone number!  Once I initiated this process it took only 36 hours for it to happen.

So on Wednesday I slip-slided into to 21st century and if you call our old number it will go through as a wireless call to the new cheapo phone I bought.  This part seems to work pretty good so far.  There are still some wrinkles to work out with linking the house phones to the cell phone but I’m making progress.  At first I had some difficulty with Karen hearing me when I called from a location in town. Another issue is that if someone leaves a phone message it only appears on the cell phone, not the house phone base unit.  This is kind of a pain, but I haven’t tried all the options yet. A third issue is that the house phone in one room downstairs where Karen spends a lot of time has difficulty linking to the base unit, which is upstairs.  I’m experimenting with different locations for both to see if that will improve it.  Otherwise the other phones seem to connect just fine.  I’ll let you know how this goes.  Of course, most “modern” people just keep their cell phones with them at all times, so they don’t know what the issue is.

This week the state of Hawai’i received the first batches of the Pfizer vaccine and within hours it was distributed to the other islands.  Ours arrived and was immediately distributed to our hospitals and health care workers began receiving injections.  All this went very smoothly, a result of State and County planning, and even going through a practice run last week. As everywhere else, the first doses will go to health care workers and then nursing home residents, essential workers, and geezers with pre-existing conditions that would make their getting Covid highly risky.  It isn’t clear yet how this will be determined, but I think doctors will be advised of vaccine doses and can certify eligible patients to be vaccinated.  Depending on how much vaccine is manufactured and distributed, most of us on Hawai’i island could get it by late spring next year.  

Btw, I just read a very good article (https://www.wired.com/story/vaccines-are-here-we-have-to-talk-about-side-effects/) that urges an info campaign about the very likely but short-lived side effects of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines so that people don’t freak out when they get them (fatigue 59.4 %, headaches 51.7%, muscle 37.3 %, joint pain 21.9 % chills 35.1 %, fever 15.8 %). These might sound bad, but they pass in a few days, and the alternative could be much, much worse. Some of our travel vaccines have also laid us low so we are kind of used to this. Also, here's a summary of how the Moderna and Pfitzer vaccines compare in effectiveness at various age groups and pre-existing conditions.

Ok, off to market and beach picnic. Hang in there. Stay warm.

Attack of the Dragonflies, Man Triumphs Over Plumbing

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

12/12/20

Aloha All --

A pretty quiet week here, as most are.  However, we do have moments of what passes for excitement these days.  Like the other day when Karen was exercising in the pool and a pair of mating Dragonflies (yes, they do it while flying) kept trying to land on her.  Not sure what the motivation was – possibly the male wanted the female to lay her eggs there.  Not the sharpest Dragon in the stable if that was it.  Karen’s hat, swim suit strap, and face wouldn’t be the best spot, I would think.  Anyway, this went on for several minutes, long enough for me to get a few pictures.

 

Speaking of the pool, we’ve been struggling to keep it at our minimum acceptable temperature.  Even though we cover it with our solar blanket at night, it has been consistently dropping low enough (65d!) to cool down the pool to high 70's, low 80's.  We’ve also had several cloudy afternoons that shuts down our pool’s solar warming panels so the water can’t warm up very much. Still, we’ve gritted our teeth and gone in anyway, but it takes a few laps at 79d to get rid of the initial sting.  Hard life, right? (Heh, heh – I’ve been following the temps in your part of the county and I know the contrast with our weather).

Early in the week my handyman and I installed the new valve I talked about.  This was about as easy as it gets.  Shut off water, drain pipe, make two cuts and push the new valve onto the ends. Turn on water. That’s it. Period. No leaks, no fuss, no solder or flux or propane flames.  The valve is part of a whole line of plumbing connectors that are made by the  “SharkBite” company (there may be competitors but I haven’t seen them). According to the Lowe’s clerk who helped me, professional plumbers seem to approve them, and so far I do too.  The valve and its joints are rated to 200psi, which is far higher than any residential plumbing line should be.  Not only that, with a special $7 tool you can remove the fittings and reuse them. Of course 2nd hand testimony is hardly firm evidence. I’ll keep checking for problems, but so far I’m sold.

Had a good workout this week at Planet Fitness -- 12 other people plus 3 staff. Rewarded ourselves with lunch at one of our favorite in-town places -- Fish Hopper.  Right on the ocean, open-air, and we really like their food.  Our lunch was "Poke Nachos" and clam chowder with crabmeat in addition to the clams. The nachos are actually won tons and the poke is marinated raw ahi. The sauce is something made with a bit of wasabi and the whole thing is topped with strands of some kind of seaweed.  Delicious. Of course, this lunch pretty well undid the benefits of our workout.

Our virus situation is pretty good, though we are getting a dozen or so new cases every day.  The hospitals are handling it ok, unlike the ones on the mainland.  Overloading hospitals is one predictable and inevitable consequence of the “let’s-just-forge-ahead-to-herd-immunity” approach. Another is that lots of people are dying unnecessarily and if the anti-maskers have their way it will take another 140 million cases to achieve herd immunity, with a LOT more deaths.  Choosing not to wear a mask kills people. That’s a fact.  It’s not fake. Just ask Rudy Guiliani. Of course, immunity can also be achieved through vaccination, but the latest polls indicated that 50 per cent of our “enlightened” populace say they won’t get vaccinated! Besides, even the most optimistic predictions about rate of distributing the vaccine suggest that achieving herd immunity that way will not be accomplished until late next year.  How many more will die in the meantime if people refuse to take sensible precautions?

Ok, enough.  I won’t comment on the other insanity that is rampant in our country, except to say that when I hear “stop the steal” I have to ask which side is doing the stealing, really?

Stay warm and safe.

An Eyeball Exam, Deer in The Driveway, Plumbing Leaks

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

12/5/20

 Aloha All –

I forgot to mention last week that I had my 6-week retina exam last Saturday after our usual morning routine.  Good news!  Two months out since my last injection and still no significant oozing.  Like the last two times, I may go a total of 3 months without an eyeball jab, quite an improvement over the once-a-month routine with the old drug for the previous 5 years!  This drug, Eylea, is new and for me obviously very effective in treating my “BRVO” (Branch Retina Vein Occlusion) of 6 years ago.  Remember, this has *nothing* to do with glaucoma or macular degeneration, which are both risks to all of us in the family.  So far I’m good with those.  This was a sudden burst of one of the veins in my retina, probably caused by two crossed veins that I was born with.  The immediate cause was likely some physical exertion I’ve done many times before, but geezerdom has made the veins less pliable and “poosh,” one or more of them burst like an old garden hose. The swelling , oozing, and loss of blood circulation killed nearby visual cells and so I went from 20/20 in that eye to 20/60 on a good day, usually 20/80.  Left eye still doing good, though. Next appointment is 6-weeks out.    I’ll let you know.

Got more Christmas decorations up this week, and I think I’m done for the outside this year. A new addition is a pair of lighted deer at the bottom of the driveway, where they can been seen from the

street.  These were a gift from friends who thought they were moving back to the mainland this year – until the you-know-what happened.  I tried to give them back but our friends declined.  Putting these babies together was a real challenge.  It was easy to figure out what went where, but the way they are constructed meant you needed three hands to untangle the pieces, which are pre-wired.  Anway, several hours and a few cuts and bruises later, ta-da! We have no real deer on Hawai’i, so I hope they don’t get shot by some die-hard hunter transplanted from the mainland – the propane tank is right behind them.

One house project that looms for next week is the result of getting the deer boxes out of their storage location, which has an outdoor faucet that we use to add water to the pool.  As I was pulling the boxes out I noticed a leak in the faucet.  After trying the usual fixes, it now looks like this is going to require replacing the valve entirely.  I’ve consulted with my handyman and we have agreed to alter the installation a bit so that it will require little to no soldering of the copper pipe.  Of course, the fix requires the water to be shut off to the entire house, and turning it back on requires a successful job.  I know, I could call a professional plumber, right?  But where is the fun in that?!  Stay tuned for a report next time.

That’s all.  Reality lurches forward.  Off to the market and the beach.

Stay warm, stay safe, stay healthy!

Reports from Earth: Agent Zynt Recovers!

 [Message from Intergalactic Council:  The following messages were received as a burst relay after we had lost contact with agent Zork Zynt stationed on subject planet "Earth" in a political unit named "USA." We feared for Zork's safety when he went dark for many cycles after a final message describing his possible symptoms of our experimental pandemic virus. The transmorgified bodies of all Earth agents should have been immune, of course, but something apparently went wrong, a matter currently under careful investigation.]

 Encrypted Transmission #017 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 11.15.20 

Tell the bio guys I take back all my previous kudoes, and that I'm going to kick them in their sperm-buds when I get back! Human body completely shut down from virus for at least 14 Earth cycles.  Lost consciousness and woke up in a puddle of body fluids, weak and without any body fat left and a very bad pain in digestive organ called "stomach." Felt better after a dozen Krispy Kremes. What happened to our special immunity!!! This assignment gets more and more dangerous -- both from the humans and now even our own kind! You idiots!

Encrypted Transmission #018 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 11.16.20

So, the pandemic experiment protocol hadn't planned on the ineptitude of human response, particularly in my zone.  Current leader denies it's real, ignores facts, encourages followers to ignore measures for curbing viral spread, claiming they violate something called "constitutional rights." Situation completely out of control.  Casualty count way more than we wanted. This isn't going well at all.

Encrypted Transmission #019 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 11.18.20 

Almost sorry I woke up.  Election in US zone now over, but these humans are still self-destructing and acting even crazier than before I lost consciousness. Leader and his followers claim victory, yet challenger received 6 million more votes and many more of votes of "Electoral College," a strange part of election process left over from days when citizens here enslaved each other.  Losers claim election rigged, but can't point to any evidence that holds up under scrutiny.  This is almost as bad as my assignment on Castix 4, where the inhabitants wound up eating each other....

Tastes Like Chicken, Send The Outrigger Ark

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

11/28/20

Aloha Everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you had a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving.  Ours was quiet, just the two of us, but we tried to enjoy it, all things considered.  Our turkey looked and tasted like a Costco rotisserie chicken.  Hmmm.  Anyway, it was good and we watched a Christmas movie afterward. Earlier in the day I put up a few Christmas decorations outside and I’ll do more this weekend. Feels kind of weird this year, though.  I usually have an ambivalent feeling about the Holidays and it seems particularly strong this time around [see Bah, Humbug! (Sort Of)].  The idea of Black Friday is for me a glaring example of the struggle between the desire to make money versus the desire (and need this year) to spend as little of it as possible.  I’m staying as far away as I can.  Then there is the emotional roller-coaster of anticipation followed by despondency, fueled by relentless Muzak and Holiday entertainment specials.  Somewhere in there I do find a warm fuzzy feeling or two, so it isn’t all bad.

The Impostor

This week has been wet. An understatement, I think.  Thanksgiving day was very nice up until about 4, then it began to sprinkle, then to rain. Hard. All night. Buckets. Our pool overflowed (there’s a special drain for that, so there wasn’t any problems) and the coquis in the neighborhood were very, very, happy.  That night’s total was 3.2" preceded early in the week by overnight dumps of 1.1" and 1.4" for a total of 5.7 inches. Santa arrives here each year in an outrigger canoe, but this year he needs to come in an outrigger ark with central heating and load us up. It has also been downright chilly at night – 66d!  Karen had her heating pad on Thursday night to keep her feet warm, and for the last two mornings I’ve had on my sweat pants instead of my usual shorts.

Karen played golf Tuesday and escaped the worst of the rain, and Planet Fitness was very quiet yesterday, though for some reason everyone seemed to be trying to use the same machines.  We handled this by varying our routine and using machines further away. Received one of the estimates for our termite tenting, and it was much less than I feared, though still big bucks. The other company’s estimate should come any day, then we’ll see how far out their schedules are. May not get it done until June. Still waiting for my new phone from Amazon, so no movement on my project to cut the landline.  I did take advantage of Costco’s sale on a new system and I’ve been playing with it while waiting on the new phone, One new promising feature is that it automatically screens calls not in your personal phonebook and asks the caller to enter a code.  If they are human and can enter it, the phones will ring (you can still block the caller if it is a telemarketer). If not, it hangs up but keeps track of the number and if by chance it was a legitimate robocall, say from your pharmacy, you can whitelist it for the future.  We’ve been getting a lot of non-legit robocalls lately, and this should stop them cold. I’ll keep you updated.

That’s about it.  As far as the national scene, reality seems to be getting the upper hand, but not without serious damage from deniers. The legacy of this mess will be long-lasting and very negative, I fear.

Take care.  Hang in there.  Stay healthy and warm.

Hawai'i Snow! Cutting More Cords, Drive-Through Doctoring

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

11/21/20

Aloha All –

Well, we’re definitely heading into winter here.  More mainland refugees are arriving for the season, and Christmas decorations are prominent in the big box stores (actually, stuff appeared at Lowe’s well before Halloween).  Our neighbors across the street put up an artificial tree a week ago, and live-but-soon-to-be-dead trees are now on sale at several places (ours come in refrigerated shipping containers from the mainland and some sellers, like Costco, only put out a few to choose from at a time).  We saw the first poinsettias for sale today and quickly bought three.  We’ve learned here not to dilly-dally – things sell quickly and won’t be restocked. Not sure what happened to Halloween and Thanksgiving this year – oh, that’s right, Thanksgiving is next week, isn’t it.....  One thing missing this year is the arrival of cruise ship repositioning cruises, for obvious and very good reasons, of course.

Another seasonal sign is that last Saturday we had a big influx of moist air and “cold” temperatures that deposited the first snow on our two 13k foot volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.  It wasn’t much, but it certainly looked nice, and it was a bit unusual to see it on both at the same time. Even though it didn’t last long, it was a diversion from the news these days.

Got my landline telephone bill early this week and noticed they have increased the amount for standard service...again.  I’ve been considering dropping it altogether for about a year now like many other people have done – seems like a lot of money for nothing.  We can’t make long distance calls without extra charges, it doesn’t have caller id, call blocking or any other features that a cell phone does. We kept it because it seemed like a good idea to have a backup to cell service, and the number is one that we’ve given out as our primary contact in all kinds of places. This includes the many cases where we didn’t want to be called on our cell phones.  But the latest price increase can’t justify that anymore.  My plan is to buy a cheapo cell phone and assign it the old number, then link it to our current cordless phones that are arrayed around the house.  The new cell phone would remain near the cordless base unit and be dedicated just to receiving house calls, the same as our landline is now.  I can get an additional cell plan for $15 per month, and a decent phone for $70. In the first year alone this will save me nearly $200, including the cost of adding a few new cordless handsets. Plus, I get a new techno-toy to play with.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Karen and I go to the same internist here.  A few months ago I had a video conference with him to go over my routine bloodwork.  Doing this remotely was a response to the pandemic, of course.  Yesterday Karen needed to have him examine a cut on her leg that isn’t healing properly.  In her case she had the "interesting" experience of drive-through-doctoring.  She arrived in the parking lot and called the office.  The doctor came out in full hazmat gear and made her stay in the car while he took a look and did a quick swab of the wound.  I’ll leave it to your imagination as to how he could do this from outside the car. Anyway, she got an antibiotic prescription and was on her way.

I won’t comment on our current political scene nor our mainland health crisis, other than to say that reality always wins in the end, no matter how much someone says it isn’t true. But the cost of denial in this case is terrible.

Hang in there.  Stay safe, sane, and warm.

Mainland MIssive: Return of The Two-Legged Roof Rat, Termite Treatment Saga Continues

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

 

11/14/20

Aloha Everyone –

Hope your weather is as boringly beautiful as ours, but somehow I doubt that it is (snark, snark).  We did have about .5" of rain last night starting about 2:30, hard enough I had to get up and shut our skylights. It is still raining lightly here at our house, so we may have to adjust our morning plans a bit.

On the political mayhem front, I’m still waiting.... On the pandemic front, we are averaging about 20 new cases per day on our island, which seems to be leveling off, unlike the skyrocketing numbers on the mainland.  The new cases aren’t related to the 1k or so visitors per day we are getting, and I admit I was wrong in my earlier assessment that letting them in too fast would be a major problem.  However, this shows the effectiveness of the pre-test requirement and our masking/distancing requirements.  The on-arrival second test is being reduced to a random sample of 25% of the travelers because out of 12k tests only a handful were true positives.  Businesses are still struggling of course, but it is definitely more hopeful.  On Thursday Karen and I did our part by driving north to Waikaloa, a resort area that is showing signs of stirring again, and ate lunch at Macaroni Grill in one of the shopping areas there.  The restaurant was taking very careful measures to spread people out and reduce exposure to wait-staff.
                                                
My handyman delivered the new screen frame early this week and I have repainted it and I’ll re-screen it today.  Hopefully I can get it back up today, then take a break from my roof rat impersonations for a while. Also got the repainted fan up in the bedroom and it looks great, if I do say so myself.

I forgot to update you last week on the termite tenting efforts.  The first company that came turned out to be the one that did the job 20 years ago.  The owner is retiring soon and has been reducing the size of his crew so that he turned down the job this time because it was just too big (!).  I still have an estimate scheduled from a 2nd company for Nov. 23rd, and I called a 3rd who will come next week.  Notice the delay in just getting the estimates.  Scheduling the actual job will probably put this project into May or June next year.  This is the kind of thing that you have to get used to as part of living on a remote island.  If you don’t have patience you won’t survive.  Those of us who are still here after 20 years feel the trade-off is very much worth it.  BTW, it also illustrates how some businesses are thriving right now, supporting people who don’t have don’t have megabuck stock portfolios (they, of course, are doing great as well) and don’t need cash income to make it day-to-day.

Ok, that’s all to report for this week, other than the usual – Karen played golf on Tuesday, and we had a good workout yesterday at PF followed by a lemon grass chicken sandwich and home-made cole slaw at the shore. Gotta keep rewarding the physical effort!

Take everyone.  Hang in there – sanity and reality may yet prevail, but it will be a bumpy road.

Want To See Some Championship Turkey Poop?

I thought that in the spirit of our post-election mayhem it would be fitting to talk about ..... poop, crap, sh*t.

If you are reading this you and I may share a bit of mental derangement.  We both have a very odd interest in excrement.  The evidence in my case is particularly well-documented by some of my past Snow Crash posts:

• Cleaning Up Poop In Paradise
  
• How About A Fecal Transplant?
• Fabulous Synthetic Poop! 
• At Last! A Poop Museum! 

Here in Hawai'i creatures still defecate even though it is close to paradise.  Some of the biggest culprits in our neighborhood are wild turkeys.  They are not only biggest in terms of size but also in terms of the amount and disgustingness of their poop.  Like many things here, turkeys are not native and the most prevalent variety was introduced in the mid-1900's for food and "sport."  Again like many other things, they really liked it here, and have thrived because of the climate, the abundance of food, and the absence of any natural predators.

I learned early on that you don't want flocks of turkeys wandering in your yard and walkways because you'll soon be up to your nose in droppings.  These calling cards vary in appearance from big splatto's to dollops of something a bit like a big Hershey's kiss, dark, smooth and shiny.  I have trained the local turkeys to stay off our property by brandishing a broom and yelling as I chase them away.  However, they occasionally challenge the rules and my vigilance with quick incursions.  That's what I think happened recently when I discovered a poop specimen in my driveway.  This was a version I haven't seen before, but it has a number of tell-tale features that convince me the culprit was indeed a turkey, even though I didn't actually witness the expulsion process.

Here are a couple of photos I took to give you an idea.  What's unusual is the upright nature of nature of the poop and its rigid consistency.  The sheer size of this thing reduces the likelihood it was of some other bird, and the placement in the middle of the driveway is unlike a dog or cat (besides, there are no loose dogs in our neighborhood).

Anyway, appreciate nature's artistry and be glad you don't have to smell it or clean it up.

 

 

 

 

A Two-Legged Roof Rat, A Ladder Too Far

 [Note -- this is another in my series of blogs based on weekly emails I send to my family on the mainland.]   

11/7/20

Aloha All –

This has been an “interesting” week. Well, “interesting” if you think watching dangerous social manipulation at its most extreme is interesting.  I’m trying hard to filter out the election mayhem and wait.  My life is too short and potentially enjoyable to allow it to be hijacked by this stuff.  I like the way columnist Michael Gerson put it recently: “In a divided nation, Americans need to defend a space in their lives where cable news does not reach, where social media does not incite, and where the basic, natural tendency is to treat other people like human beings. This offers not just the prospect of greater tolerance, but the hope of healing.”
                           
Ok, now let’s talk about ME. I spent quite a bit of time this week on my roof.  Far more than I planned, dealing with one of those one-thing-leads to another house projects.  This started out as a simple matter of removing the vent screens in the high gable of our bedroom so that I could wash them. Turns out these (2 of them) were custom made to fit the triangular openings in the gable.  The screws holding them on were on the outside, so I had to reach them via the roof.  Thankfully the screws were not too rusted and I was able to get them loose.  This was progressing nicely (well, after several trips up and down to get more tools) when I discovered extensive termite damage in one of the screen frames. This will require completely remaking the wooden frame, then re-painting and re-screening it before putting it back. I  have assigned the skilled carpentry part to my trusty handyman and I’ll do the painting, screening, and remounting.  Estimated time for this 20-minute job is now about a week and considerably more expensive than a bit of water. Oh, and working under the cramped gable led to a dramatic demonstration the next day that the most wonderful workout machines in the world don’t necessarily use the muscles employed in house projects.
                           
All this started when I decided to wash the ceiling fan blades in our bedroom and I happened to get a closer look at how filthy the nearby screens were.  I also got a close look at the rust on the fan and decided to get it down and repaint it, like I recently did to the other two a few weeks ago. However, this one hangs above the middle of our bed, suspended from a beam that turns out to be the highest in the entire house.  My ladder just wouldn’t reach – at least not without the possibility of a trip to the hospital in the attempt –  and so I got my handy man to bring over his extension ladder and get it down for me.  I’ll now sand it down and refurbish it like the other two, then I’ll have him put it back up.  I love this guy – he’s been working with us since we moved here and he is very, very, good at all kinds of things.  Unfortunately, he’s now making noises about his own retirement in the not-too-distant future.  

Planet Fitness yesterday was again not crowded. No post-exercise lunch outing this time, though. We had to get home so Karen could get ready for a book club meeting.

Ok, off for our usual routine.  Hang in there everyone.

The Calm Before the Storm, Terminating Termites

 [Note -- this is another in my series of blogs based on weekly emails I send to my family on the mainland.] 

10/31/20

Aloha Everybody –

When I joked last week about your mainland “yo-yo” weather, I didn’t realize just how much on target I would be in the case of Colorado.  Geez, you guys go from fire to ice in a matter of hours! A 6-12" snowstorm on top of rampaging wildfires is pretty wild, even though I recall that extreme swings are common there.  Anyway, I hope you find a middle ground and that the fires will be brought under control soon.

About the most extreme weather event here this week was that one afternoon I heard thunder (very rare) a couple of times, and on Tuesday it rained about .5 inches during the afternoon and evening.  Karen played golf at her usual course that day and had good conditions until the last 3 holes when they got a little wet.  She did well again, by the way – 3 pars and 3 bogeys.  She keeps wanting me to play with her but this isn’t motivating me much.  As the bird mating season progresses though, I may go just to see the Nene chicks and the peacock displays.

As Election Day gets nearer our mail-in voting system seems to be going very smoothly, unlike what I see happening on the mainland.  I mentioned that we have about 6 drop-off boxes in secure locations spread around the island for a population of about 180k.  This contrasts rather glaringly with the Texas approach of one box per county, which in one case is one box for several million people.  I’m frankly dismayed by the obvious attempts to go well beyond trying to ensure the integrity of the voting system and instead to suppress voting altogether for certain groups of legitimate voters. This IS the USA, right – the country that claims to represent to pinnacle of Democracy?!  Ok, stepping down from my soapbox now.

This week I’ve made arrangements to get estimates for “tenting” our house for drywood termites.  This was last done when we bought the house 20 years ago.  It is a standard practice here whenever a house is sold and when (not if) infestations start to appear.  This past spring we had clear evidence during what is called the “swarming season,” a few weeks when the winged versions of the termites emerge and try to find a new spot to munch on.  Anyway, drywood termites are very, very common here and it isn’t a matter of “if” you will have to treat your house, but rather “when.”  We’ve done very well to go as long as we have, mainly because I was coached early on by a neighbor who used to work for Terminix on how to spot treat small infestations on you own and I have been pretty diligent over the years in doing that.  Anyway, we’ll get our first estimate on Tuesday and it will be interesting to see what the $$$ will be to do this.  BTW, drywood termites aren’t the same as the subterranean variety, which will quickly eat your house in no time.  Ours are slow but relentless, and though they can do considerable damage, the current building codes require that house be built using strutural lumber that has been pre-treated to ward off termites. The treatment doesn’t totally prevent damage, though, and sooner or later you have to fumigate.
                   
Our workout at PF yesterday was again well-timed.  Very few people and everybody followed the mask and disinfect routine.  Afterwards we had a small pizza, salad, and a nice beer at Kona Brew Co.’s outdoor restaurant. The beer made for a rather deep nap later.

Well, that’s about it for this week – no major house projects but of course still whacking back the jungle. Things are starting to slow down a bit, which is welcome.

Take care everyone.  Steel yourself for what may come for the next few weeks.

Tuning a Toilet, Shooting 3 Pars, and Poking an Eyeball

 [Note -- this is another in my series of blogs based on weekly emails I send to my family on the mainland.] 

10/24/20
                           
Aloha Everybody –

Hope you’re enjoying your fall yo-yo weather.  Looks like you’ve had some nice days and some that...aren’t.  It’s pretty much the same here as always, though to us local residents it seems like fall is here – cool nights (last night 67d at our house) and shorter days.  Sunset now is at 6pm, sunrise not until 6:20 am.  Tourists who associate warm weather with long summer days on the mainland are usually surprised by this, but our being closer to the equator (about 19d north) means our seasonal swings aren’t all that much – we’re always about 12/12 plus or minus an hour or so.

Did indeed have an eye injection last Saturday, but the fact that it had been 3 months is great news.  Also, there wasn’t a huge problem and this was more of a precautionary move.  My retina guy even said the thickness of my retina has improved noticeably, a very good thing though it doesn’t mean I’ll regain much of the vision already lost.  Next appointment in 6 weeks.

Karen played golf on Tuesday and shot *3* pars!  Obviously, playing weekly has paid off for her.  She also reported seeing 8-10 Nene mating pairs on the course.  Nenes are our state bird, descended from some Canadian geese that arrived here about 500k years ago.  They’ve now evolved into their own distinct species and are found only in Hawaii.  They’re smaller than regular Canadian geese, have deeper striations on their necks, feet that are more padded, don’t tend to flock together as much, and they mate for life. They love golf courses, where we humans have actually *created* habitat that encourages breeding and thus has helped to bring them back from near extinction.  They usually move to some other part of the island during the summer (I think to higher elevations) , so these are the first ones she’s seen since spring.  Makalei is a real haven for them, and definitely an added attraction to the course.

My rebuilding of our master bathroom toilet didn’t quite lead to fixing the problem, as I reported last week.  I was puzzled that the valve continued to run intermittently, but this week I figured it out.  All it took was a few adjustments to the height of the filler tube and after that it has been working perfectly.  This was another case of looking at something very, very closely and reasoning it out.  I plan to keep trying this as long as my grey cells allow.

Tourists are arriving in droves – about 4k since Thursday, apparently not deterred by the pre-testing requirement.  Merchants are happy – for now.  How much of an upsurge we get in a couple of weeks will be crucial to whether this is sustainable.  We continue to have new cases among locals and this means there is “community spread.”  A likely cause of this is that there is a cultural preference for large multi-generational family living arrangements among some groups of people here, many of whom are essential workers who come into contact with the community at large.  When visitors become part of the community, their Hawai’i vacation may turn out to be not as fun as they had hoped.  The biggest problem so far is educating some of the mainlanders that masks aren’t optional here – they’re required.  The logic is clear and based on solid research.  A few days after testing negative you can be infected and then be spreading the virus before showing symptoms.  A mask is the best way to prevent that,  period.  I’ll also repeat my mantra that as Covid 19 cases fill up our meager medical facilities this means that non-Covid emergencies and hospitalizations will be a real challenge, including the kinds of problems that tourists encounter.

Worked out yesterday at PF and it was pretty empty around 12:30.  Everyone was masked up and spaced out – except for one old fart who looked like a returning snowbird, with a t-shirt that had “Casanova” printed on the front.  He had his mask pulled up as he shuffled from one machine to the next, then promptly lowered it around his neck as he exercised on it. I lost track of him, then a short time later I saw him at the front desk with his mask down arguing with the staff.  I couldn't hear the exchange, but he had that "screw-you-I'll-do-what-I-want" look on his face. Then he left, with his mask still down.  I’m not sure, but I think they kicked him out.  Good. I let them know when we left that appreciated their diligence and as long as they kept it up we would keep coming.  Geesh!  After our workout we got another Vietnamese sandwich at had a beech picnic lunch watching the surfers.

Ok, yet another beautiful morning.  Off on our usual rounds. Stay warm, healthy, and sane, and away from old guys with Casanova t-shirts.

Zork's Pandemic Reports from Earth

 [The following are agent Zork Zynt's reports that have been received so far regarding our pandemic experiment on Earth.  Note that after several early reports a batch of garbled transmissions leaves a significant gap in his observations.  Also note that he seems to become increasingly alarmed by the dysfunctional reaction of his study population to the viral agent, something we had not entirely anticipated though we had expected a certain level of chaos.  The batch ends with a disturbing suggestion that our immunization of field agents may not have been as effective as we believed......]

 ___________________________________

Encrypted Transmission #010 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 03.02.20

COVID19 experiment going nicely. Global panic spreading fast. Supports plan to use a fast spreading virus to cause chaos and social discord. More later.

Encrypted Transmission #011 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 03.07.20

Congrats to Bio Directorate engineers! COVID 19 perfect for global panic experiment -- moderate R0 and death rate, mostly elderly humans, just as designed . US leader ignoring facts, floundering to control panic. More later...

 Encrypted Transmission #012 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 03.15.20

Pandemic Experiment Directorate: Consider moving up timetable for next round -- humans seem unable to learn from experience. Get this. Many are claiming they have a right to spread virus by not wearing a mask! Chaos continues here. US leader prime source of misinformation.

 

Encrypted Transmission #013 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 03.19.20

 

Pandemic experiment still going better than expected. Our virus is working great -- weeding out those burdensome elderly humans. Kudos to the bio-guys. However, humans are acting more and more bizarrely and I'm getting worried. Report again soon.
 

 [Note -- several garbled transmissions occurred during this gap, Most were unintelligible and have been omitted.]

 

Encrypted Transmission #014 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 10.10.20

 

Cases of experimental virus on the rise again. Didn't expect this. In US over 220k dead, 8 million infected. Leader insists no big deal, wants to go for Herd Immunity (would require 150 million to be immune, around 4.5 million deaths at current rate). Some followers actually endorse this strategy -- obviously many humans lack compassion or good sense or both.

 

Encrypted Transmission #015 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 10.20.20

 

Not feeling so good. Human form leaking more that usual. Can't taste Krispy Kremes anymore. Are you sure field agents are immune to the experimental virus?  Can't seek medical treatment because that would reveal my non-human identity.  Nothing in my field kit helps. Please advise!