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....