Happy (well, maybe, maybe-not) New Year!

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

12/31/21

Aloha All --

Happy New Year.  I guess.  My New Year's resolution is to not get my hopes up about 2022 like I did for 2021.  It (2021) started off, before January 6, with high hopes.  Then...well...not so much.  After bottoming out the roller coaster ride continued with a high point of getting vaccinated and breathing a sigh of relief. We relished our re-found freedom, including a trip to the mainland in the spring.  Then...Delta.  Sh*t.  Bottoming again. But then up we went with some fabulous demonstrations of what humans can do right -- like flying a drone on another planet!  Yay.  Even an international trip in late summer, wow!  And Christmas seemed to be going to be ok, when the roller coaster took another dive with Omicron.  I think I'm going to barf up my cotton candy. So this New Year's Eve I'm just going to wait and see what happens next. That way I figure I will either be pleasantly surprised or pre-resigned to more avoidable human folly.

Ok, we had a pretty good Christmas and I hope you did too.  I gave Karen a honu (turtle) pendant which she liked, and a blouse which didn't fit.  50% isn't bad.  My record of buying her something to wear hasn't been all that great, and you'd think I would learn my lesson.  I have managed to pull it off in the past, but not this time.  She gave me a golf shirt, a golf glove, and a nice fuzzy blanket to keep me

Abandoned Nene Egg

warm during my "contemplative naps."  I put the shirt and the glove to work on Tuesday, when I joined Karen and her usual golf partner for a round at Makalei.  I think the glove actually helped my long shots, and it looked really cool, too, almost like I knew what I was doing. We saw a fair number of peacocks and about 8 mating pairs of nenes.  The lower number of nenes has us worried a bit, because they might have had a difficult time with that big storm we had that brought down limbs and uprooted trees right where they

My Orange Ball To The Left

usually nest.  And then the clean-up effort involved lots of power saws and heavy equipment.  Hopefully most of them survived ok and simply decided to relocate somewhere with less damage and disruption.  At least one nest didn't make it, though, because we found an abandoned nene egg on the edge of one of the greens, not far from a stand of trees.  Oh, and I nearly whacked one nene with my tee-shot, which wound up lying next to it.  Maybe it was contemplating adopting it to replace the lost egg???

Tonight (New Year's Eve) we're having dinner at our house with my college friend and his wife.  This is the couple who own a small coffee farm not far from us in Holualoa.  They've decided to sell their place, however, to take advantage of the insane housing market and buy something more manageable that requires less work. They're in the process of prepping the house and "staging" it for the market, and it will be interesting to find out what this has involved.  I've decided that 2021 doesn't deserve a pyrotechnic send-off, so this year the dogs in the neighborhood will get a break from my usual noisy firework extravaganza.

Ok, I hope you have a fun, healthy, and reflective New Year's.  All the best for 2022.  We're all going to need it, I think.  Take care.

'Twas The Night... Bra, What Dat Clattah?

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

12/24/21

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wow, this really sneaked up on me.  For some reason (geezerhood, probably), I had the idea that

Christmas was Sunday.  Ho ho, huh?  So, on this Christmas Eve, I'll reprint a Hawaiian Pidgin version of the classic "'Twas the Night before Christmas."  There are a number of these around, so I chose one that gives you the idea and is still mostly decipherable. You still may have to do a little "googling" to understand some of the references. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Was da night bafo' Christmas,
and all ova' da place
Not even da geckos
was showin' their face.

Da stockings was hangin' on top da TV?
('Cause no mo' fireplace in Hawai'i)
Da kids stay all crashed, my old man too.
They leave all da work for you-know-who.

So me, I stay pickin' up alla their toys,
When - boom! - outside get only big noise!
I run to da window, I open 'em up,
I stick out my head and I yell, "Eh! Whassup?!"

And then, I no can ba-lieve what I seen!

Was so unreal, you know what I mean?
This fat haole guy get his reindeers in my yard!
And reindeers not housebroken, you know, as' why hard!

But nemmind, this Christmas, so I cut 'em some slack.
Plus, had uku pile presents pokin' outta his sack!
So I wait 'till he pau tie up his reindeer,
Then I yell out da window, "Huui! Brah, ova hea!"

An' I tell 'em first thing, when I open da door,
"Eh, Hemo your shoes! You going dirty my floor!"
He take off his boots, he tell, "You know who I am?"
I go, "Ho! From the smell, must be Mr. Toe Jam!"

He make mempachi eyes and he go, "Ho, ho, ho!"
By now, I stay thinking this guy kinda slow!
He look like my Tutu, but little less weight,
And his beard stay so white, mo' white than shark bait!

He stay all in red, specially his nose,
And get reindeer spit on top his nice clothes!
But him, he no care; he just smile at me,
And he start fo' put presents unda-neath da tree.

I tell 'em, "Eh, brah, no need make li'dat,
And watch where you step! You going ma-ke da cat!"
Then, out from his bag, he pull one brand new computah,
Choke video games, and one motorized scootah!

He try for fill up da Christmas socks too,
But had so much pukas, all da stuff went fall troo.
When he pau, I tell 'em, "Eh Santa, try wait!
I get plenty leftovahs, I go make you one plate!"

But he nevah like hang, he had so much fo' do;
Gotta make all them small kids' wishes come true.
So I wave 'em goodbye, and I flash 'em da shaka,
And I tell 'em, "Mele Kalikimaka!"

When he hear that, he stop and I telling you true,
He go, "Garans ball-barans! Merry Christmas to you!" (Originally Posted on Katy's Hawaii Adventure, 2008)

Schmutz In The Pool Pump, Coquis In Pots, Splinters On Fairways

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

12/18/21

Aloha Everybody --

Hope your Christmas season is going well.  Ours is ok, but our carpet cleaning disarray has put us bit behind on getting out our cards this year and we just got finished decorating the living room tree on Thursday.  I finally finished my shopping and found something for Karen, but I'll keep it secret in case she sees this.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll like the two things I got her.

On Wednesday my pool guy was able to fix our circulation problem.  I was worried that it might have been due to something clogging the suction line -- a real problem since cleaning it out would require a snake that could go around 90d corners.  The pipe, by the way, is encased in concrete and it isn't possible to get at it directly.  Well, it turned out that some debris had gotten past the filter and was partially clogging the pump itself.  My guy took the pump apart and cleaned out the schmutz.  Voila!  Problem solved.  Almost.  My little robot cleaner still wasn't working right so I took it apart again and found a small leaf blocking the water flow.  I removed it and that's all it took to get him back to his old self. All is well... for now.

The rain we've been having has really revved up the coqui frogs.  My neighbor has caught about 20 in the last week.  Our property isn't as attractive to them as his, but still I've caught 5.  Three of my recent kills were below our study window, near our vegetable garden.  One was a female who was being wooed by a male that up until now has been fairly quiet.  I got the female easily (the females are bigger and not as wary), but I couldn't spot the male until the next night, when I found him in a stack of garden pots (great place for brooding eggs). I caught him, then the next day I looked for eggs in the pots.  Damn if there wasn't another male hiding in there!  A regular coqui condo!  I sprayed him with citric acid and caught him by hand.  I went through all the pots and didn't find any more frogs or eggs, but I sprayed everything and bagged it up tight.  Hopefully this will take care of the problem for awhile.

Karen's golf course opened up again after the big storm and she was able to play on Wednesday with

Lots of Toothpicks

her snow-bird friend.  She said it looked like a tornado had gone through, with lots of limbs and even large trees down.  The workers had cleared the course but are still working on hauling away the trunks and limbs.  The wind must have been really powerful on those slopes.  She saw quite a few peacocks, so they seemed to have made it ok.  She also saw a fair number of Nenes, but nearly all were just solo.  We're hoping the mates are ok, and maybe just nesting.  Nesting usually doesn't happen this early, though, so we're still a little worried.  Karen will be monitoring the situation.

While Karen was playing golf I worked out at PF. I was pleased to see few people there, and as I've mentioned before, the mask and distancing policy is rigorously enforced.  Plus everyone is conscientious about wiping down the machines with disinfectant before and after using them.  This means that before I touch one it has been disinfected twice. In short, even with the new nasty variant around I felt pretty safe.  Oh, by the way, I ordered a couple of self-tests online and I'm keeping them handy in case we need a quick check.  I got the Lucira brand because it is nearly as accurate as a lab test in terms of correctly detecting both positive cases and negative cases  This kind costs more, but I think my insurance will reimburse me -- I'll let you know.

Off to market and the beach for our usual breakfast picnic.  Stay warm and healthy and be good for goodness sake -- Santa (and Alexa) is watching.....

Problems in Paradise: From Drought to Drowning

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

12/11/21

Aloha Everybody!

Last week I mentioned that we were getting some rain and that it had snowed on Mauna Kea. "Some" rain wound up being a total of 3.4" at our house and there was a bona fide blizzard on Mauna Kea.  However, the rain for us wasn't as much a problem as the wind that came with it. Our internet was knocked out for almost 2 days, and some nearby areas also lost power.  Both north and south of us the rainfall was much greater -- as much as 14 inches!  Things quieted down late Monday and starting Tuesday we were able to begin getting things cleaned up. However, as I write this our pool still isn't functioning the way it should -- our pool guy and I cleaned out the leaves that had blown in, but some debris must have gotten into the filtration system and messed up the pump or clogged the lines somewhere so that the water is barely recirculating.  And of course three days with very little sun has cooled the water to below our tolerance level.  Finally, no sun has also put us in the red for producing electricity so far this month.  We might be able to make that back up if we have enough sunny days over the next few weeks.

On more positive news, the carpet cleaners returned Thursday and finished the rest of our

!5 and Still Looking Good

carpeting.  We again lucked out on the weather, which was sunny while they were here and for most of the rest of the day.   We did get a little rain that night, but by then the carpet had pretty well dried out.  We'll move stuff back today, but yesterday we took the opportunity while the other part of the house was still drying to put up our Christmas tree in the living room.  No decorations other than lights yet, but it should be done by Monday. This is a pre-lit tree that is on its 15th season and still looking pretty good.  It comes in three sections that we can squish into a single box for storage -- with a LOT of effort.

Speaking of Christmas, I have to finish buying presents.  Ugh.  I find this more and more challenging, particularly when it comes to getting something for Karen.  And of course it means venturing into a store somewhere or even worse, going online and picking something based on just photos.  I really am a terrible shopper, to the point where I nearly have a panic attack when I'm faced with a huge selection of merchandise.  Where does all that stuff go, anyway?  Having lots of choices is my idea of hell. Karen says I really don't have to get her anything, but I've been married long enough to know that would NOT be a good idea....

No golf this week.  Karen's favorite course is closed while they try to fix the damage caused by the

Hope the Birds are OK

storm. We did get to Planet Fitness yesterday and worked out for the first time since before Thanksgiving.  It felt good, particularly since we haven't been able to exercise in our pool this week.  However, we immediately counteracted the health benefits of the workout by having lunch at Taco Bell.  A guilty pleasure if there ever was one.

Ok, off to market and our beach breakfast picnic.  Take care, stay warm, keep a grip on reality.

 

Snow On The Volcano, Carpet Chaos

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

12/4/21

Aloha All --

Winter has arrived in paradise!  This week we got our first snow of the season.  No shoveling for me,

Mauna Kea Summit

though, because it fell only on the top of 13k-foot Mauna Kea, where the telescopes are. Blizzard conditions are forecast for the weekend, with up to a foot of snow and 100 mph winds. The snow is visible from Kailua, and it has given a boost to the Holiday Spirit.  We finally have a decent rain that started last night and is still going on as I write this.  Haven't checked my rain gauge yet but it should be a fair amount. The timing isn't the best, though because this will cancel our usual Saturday morning beach breakfast and trip to the market,  another instance of our normal schedule being thrown off by the holidays.

I now have outdoor lights up and nearly all of my decorations, but the neighbors have been slow to get with the season.  So far there is just two others that have outdoor lights.

As if the rain and the usual Christmas discombobulation weren't enough, we had our carpets in the main part of the house cleaned on Thursday.  It was been many years since this was done, and we've been putting it off too long. Some people don't make this a big deal, and just clean in the "high traffic" areas. Not us. Karen insisted on moving a lot of the furniture and this in turn required relocating a lot of stuff temporarily.  And it takes a while for the carpet to dry before you can fully get back to normal. Thursday was sunny and helped a lot for partial drying,  and Friday wasn't bad until evening when the rain started. Today we will probably be able to move most of stuff back in and maybe get our Christmas tree up.  I can see the allure of the current fashion here which is to install stone tile everywhere in a house.  Last week we went through an open-house at a $1.8 million place nearby that even had concrete floors!  

We're not done with the carpet cleaning, either. On Thursday the crew will return and do the two guest bedrooms.  This will will require less effort to get things ready, thankfully

No golf this week for me, though Karen may play tomorrow with her Oregon friend who arrived Wednesday for a short visit.  Also, her regular golf partner is eager to go sometime next week, and they may make it a threesome. No Planet Fitness this week, either.  This is my yearly holidaze slugfest.

Ok, that's it. Take care. Stay warm. Stay safe. Avoid buggy people. Find something good to think about...

Holidaze Discombobulation Begins

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

11/27/21

Aloha All!  

Hau'oli La Pelehu! (Happy Thanksgiving!)  Funny note:  in Hawaiian, "pelehu" means puffed up or swollen, so the phrase is literally, "Happy Swollen Day."  Seems right to me...

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.  Ours was pretty good.  It was a pot luck at a neighbor's house.  My fears about too much togetherness were only partly realized.  There were about 20 people but we

Dinner Guests Arriving

ate on an open-air lanai well spread out.  The real test will come in about a week, however, when the virus will have had time to do its deed.  I'll let you know.  The new variant that has been identified in South Africa sounds scary, but we need much more data before assessing how bad it will be. Mutations occur when there are lots of vulnerable targets to infect, and unvaccinated people are indeed vulnerable. Cases that occur in those who are vaccinated reach the same level of viral load as unvaccinated, but the data show the amount of the virus declines much more quickly.  This means, of course, that those who choose not to get the vaccine are contributing to the emergence of problematic variants and thereby prolonging and worsening this sh*t show.

Karen and I played golf on Wednesday instead of our usual Tuesday and opted to forgo our weekly Planet Fitness workout altogether.  Wednesday's round continued my slide toward mediocrity -- no pars, no bogeys, no birdies, no skittles, no wigglies, no banshees this time.  Actually I did ok, and hit quite a few good tee shots, but I wasn't all that consistent on the follow up shots.  Karen again got a par and several bogeys. Karen's golf buddy may be available again soon, so I may be taking a break for a while.  That's ok by me.  I've really enjoyed the outings but I definitely resisted getting totally hooked on the game.

Received my replacement skylight opener and installed it on Thanksgiving day.  Wow, what a difference!  I put the new mechanism on the heaviest of the two skylights and it is now much, much easier to open.  I'll put the one it replaced on the other skylight which right now has the defective unit. This will require a visit by my handyman to help move our heavy dining room table top so that we can set up a ladder underneath it, probably next week some time.  So far I consider the whole project a definite success.

Well, as I've mentioned in previous years, I have mixed feelings about the holidays.  I've begun putting up outside decorations and lights, and maybe tomorrow we'll get out our artificial tree.  It's a bit disheartening though to be bombarded with the commercial hype of buy, buy, buy.  This year we started to see Christmas stuff in the stores before Halloween! And the Black Friday sales seem to now go on for weeks.  I try to ignore as much of it as I can, and to avoid going to some of the shopping centers unless absolutely necessary until after January 1.  Oh, and the tv schedule is all messed up with Christmas specials and football games taking the place of my favorite shows.  Bah, humbug!  Occasionally, though, the true spirit of the season breaks through and I get the warm fuzzies, so I don't feel entirely like the Grinch. 

Good news on the medical front.  I saw my retinal doctor yesterday and I got another reprieve from an eyeball jab.  That makes 2 1/2 months since the last injection.  My next appointment will be in 6 weeks, so if I hold out until then it will be a record interval of 4 months!  Although I was able to deal with injections every 4-6 weeks, it certainly is a relief to go this long between them.  My acuity in the bad eye hasn't improved much (20/80 to 20/100) and never will most likely.  But if it will stay where it is and my left eye remains at 20/20, I can deal with it.

Ok. Off for our usual Saturday morning routine.  A welcome antidote to Holidaze Discombobulation. Take care, enjoy the season as much as you can, try to stay sane and healthy.

Let's Bogey; Skylight Blues; Foreclosure No Mo'

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

11/20

Aloha Everyone!

The front that came through last week brought us hardly a drop of rain.  We did have a couple of days of mostly cloudy weather and an uptick in humidity, but that's about it.  The remnants of the front are still around and it has been warmer -- we even ate dinner outside by our pool the other night, and we ran the a.c. in our bedroom a couple of nights this week.  We did get some light sprinkles Thursday and Friday night -- not enough to do the garden much good but enough to wake up the coquis and to obscure the lunar eclipse.  I see from the weather reports that at night you've been dipping below the temperature at which water turns to ice.  As I recall that can be downright painful....

In Covid news, our island inched up another notch in terms of vaccinations to 68%, still going slowly but at least improving.  The daily infection rates have been dropping a bit, too, but we'll have to see what happens after Thanksgiving -- lots of gatherings means lots of opportunities for viruses to crash the party.  At least with breakthrough cases the severity has dropped and the demand for hospital facilities has eased off.  The unvaccinated folk will at least have a shot at a ventilator. We're going to a friend's house for a pot luck, and I'm a little nervous because there will be almost 20 people.  We will be outside most of time, and I plan on wearing my mask.  We're pretty sure that all of those attending will be vaccinated, but that still doesn't mean we will be 100% safe. The odds are good enough though to give it a try.

My skylight project is all done and it really looks better.  Of course, this is one of those projects where only I notice the difference.  I'm going to have to revisit this in the near future though, because one of the opening mechanisms has to be replaced because of a gear problem.  I've located a source online and it should be a simple job.  I'm also toying with the idea of installing motorized openers with remote controls.  Right now we open and close the skylights with a long rod that attaches to a crank mechanism. It would be much more convenient to just push a button.  On the other hand, the motors and buttons would add to my growing inventory of electronic gizmos and gadgets that could go bad....

A big event in the neighborhood this week was that a boarded-up house at the end of the street is finally getting some attention.  The property has been in limbo for years because of legal issues surrounding its foreclosure. Several years ago a squatter tried to move in but the neighbors got together and nipped that in the bud.  It was then boarded up to prevent others from trying again and has been an eyesore ever since.  But suddenly this week a big dumpster arrived and someone is cleaning out the debris and starting to fix it up.  The neighbors are ecstatic.  This is certainly the time for a new owner (or maybe the bank) to fix it up and maybe sell it.  Our real estate market is hot, and houses are selling for ridiculous prices, including ones that aren't particularly desirable. This will also spice up the neighborhood gossip, too, as we find out more and speculate about the progress.

Enjoying the Show

My golf outing this week went well, though I only got one bogey (Karen got 2 pars and several bogeys).  In general I think I played better and more consistently.  Some of my tee shots were surprisingly good this time, but my putting wasn't so hot. Yet again the weather was beautiful, although the course is getting very dry and the fairways were somewhat brown.  However, the dry grass allowed the ball to roll a long way and probably saved several strokes on the downhill holes.  But on the uphill holes there were a few times when the ball rolled backward away from the

Snack Time

green, despite my loud verbal commands not to. Bad ball!  We counted 28 Nenes this time.  Remember, these are the endangered state bird that looks like a Canada Goose, but is in fact indigenous to Hawai'i and has a number of characteristics that are quite different. One that is the same, however, is the poop that we have to watch out for when we play.  Golf courses are a haven for Nenes.  The have ample ground cover in the rough areas for nesting,  plenty of room to forage on the fairways and greens, and even ponds and small lakes to swim.  Nenes migrate but not very far, usually just from one end of

Definitely A Tough Shot From Here

the island to the other, and from higher to lower elevations.  They'll be at Makalei from now until late next spring, and we should start seeing babies in mid-winter.  

 

 

Ok, that's it for now.  Hope you've got your winter gear ready. Make sure that thing ... do you call it a "snow shovel?" is handy.  Heh, heh.

PARdon Me!

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

11/13/21

Aloha Ohana!

Our dry weather continues and it's getting old.  Since we returned from our trip 3 weeks ago we haven't had any significant rain in our area, though the southern and eastern parts of the island have.  It is taking a toll on our garden, though we keep everything going with our low-volume irrigation system.  A front is coming through this weekend and that may give us some relief.  We'll see if it actually materializes.  The upside is that the weeds aren't doing very well either, and also the coquis are quiet. Plus our solar panels have generated a good surplus credit after our balance was reset last month-- this should give us a nice cushion that can be used to offset any months when we fall short.

Well, the big news for me this week is about my golf outing with Karen.  This was Monday, at Makalei, our usual course. Sad to say this time I didn't get any bogeys -- instead I got TWO PARS!! Damn!  Move over, Tiger. Oh, and I actually completed 18 holes.  First time ever for both of these things! Now as I understand it, "Par" in golf doesn't mean "average," as it does in almost all other contexts.  Rather, it is the number of strokes an expert golfer is expected to take to finish a particular hole. "Expert," got that -- or in my case just a lucky duffer.

Now, I shouldn't leave you with the impression that the entire round was excellent because in fact there
were several holes where I took the maximum of 10 strokes.  On one hole I really fell apart and had five do-over tee shots (remember, Mar-a-Lago rules allow this).  And on another hole my tee shot got buried

I Need My Lava Wedge

in a stack of lava rocks that are an Hawai'ian archeological feature.  I adjusted the position for the next shot using the "Pele" exception to the usual drop rules.  In case you're wondering, neither of these were my "PAR" holes.  Honest.  Anyway, the overall experience was still positive enough that I'm certainly willing to go again. (By the way, Karen got 1 par and several bogeys and overall is way better than me).

My home projects this week included replacing the wax ring under one of our toilets.  This required my handyman's muscle, but I did shut off the water supply and drain the toilet. Oh, and I carefully supervised and kibitzed.  This is a common problem, according to my handyman, and it usually starts when the toilet is installed using wax rings that are not thick enough. This can allow a small leak that if left too long will rot the floor and require a much bigger repair ($$$). This happened to us in Ohio and I wound up replacing all of the flooring in one bathroom. The other project was a bit harder and required some high ladder work.  Over the years rain had splashed into our operable skylight openings and had left streaks on the wood enclosures.  I sanded down the water spots, re-stained the wood, and then coated it with an outdoor grade urethane varnish that may help prevent this from happening again.  We usually try to close the skylights in case of rain, but sometimes we are away or the rain comes on suddenly and with a lot of force. Since we seldom have lightning and thunder here, we usually don't have much warning like you do on the mainland.

A final bit of news this week is in the "only in Hawai'i" category.  On Maui the Highway Department has positioned some portable electric signs along roads where people have been speeding and driving

Da Kine Sign

recklessly that read "Eh, Bra. No Drive Like One Clown."  This is pidgin for "Attention Please, You are Hereby Forthwith Requested to Attend More Closely to the Velocity of Your Vehicle and to Subsequently Observe a Higher Degree of Decorum in Exercising Control Over Its Directional Configuration."

Off to Farmer's Market and our usual beach breakfast picnic plus errands.  Be safe and stay as sane as you can.

The Bogey Man is Back!

Ghoulish Gecko

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

11/6/21

 

 

Aloha, Everyone --

Happy Halloween! It was pretty much a non-event here, as usual. There are almost no small kids in our neighborhood, so the action is always elsewhere. We don't even buy candy. Which means, unfortunately, no left-overs (I particularly used to like the little Snickers bars).

I hope you're well and staying warm. I've noticed a definite downward trend to your daily temps, particularly at night. Same here. Last Monday night it got down to 63d! I got that new pool cover on just in time, and it has been working well -- despite the frigid night time temps our water has stayed about 82d during the day. It does drop the water temp at night, but only by a couple of degrees, and the frequent sunny days we've been having bring it back up to a comfortable level.

On Tuesday I went golfing with Karen as her substitute partner while her regular golf buddy is on the mainland. We saw about 20 pairs of Nenes and at least 30 Peacocks (the course mascot), and once again

King of the Club House

the weather was very nice. I made it through 16 holes but pooped out.  Remember, we duffers take a LOT more shots that anyone else. The best part, though, was that I got TWO bogeys again! As you may recall, I've done that once before playing with Karen. I was very pleasantly surprised that I did so well, given my lack of practice. I should confess, though, that we play by "Mar-a-Lago" rules, which means there is a somewhat loose connection between reality as it is and reality as we want it to be. Do-overs are permitted and not counted, and adjustments to the location of the ball before a shot are ok as long as your partner doesn't see it. Anyway, I really still did ok, enough to agree to go again next week.

Our governor has deemed the state's Covid situation to be improved enough to relax travel restrictions for international visitors beginning next week. This has pleased those who depend on tourism for income, but it may mean a return to our over-taxed infrastructure situation that we had a few months ago. Visitors from other countries can escape quarantine by being vaccinated and having a negative test within 48 hours of boarding their flight to the US. Hawaii will accept that as long as they go straight through.

Also announced was a relaxation of occupancy restrictions for businesses as long as they require proof of vaccination or a negative test result. This is good news for restaurants, bars and gyms who have been barely breaking even at 50%.

What????

Our island has reached 67% vaccinated but it has been excruciatingly slow. Part of the reason is that anti-vaxers are still trying to save us from the evils of science and logic. For example, one roadside proselytizer here claims that THE leading cause of death worldwide is "medical poisoning." Got it? Medical drugs and vaccines kill more people than all diseases, old age, wars, and accidents combined. Relative risk assessment may not be this guy's forte....

Ok, off my soap box and on to Farmer's Market and the beach. Take care. Stay healthy and sane.
 

How 600 Horsepower Helped Me Try For A Darwin Award

 A few years ago my wife gave me the best Christmas present ever, a bucket-list dream come true for a geezer sport-car enthusiast like me:  5 laps each in a Lamborghini Huracan (602 hp) and a Ferrari 488 (660 hp) at a track just south of Las Vegas run by Speed Vegas. They have a stable of cars you can

Me and "My" Lamborghini

drive, and although the Huracan and the 488 aren't the tippy-top of their lines, they were close enough for me to make the experience nearly stroke-inducing, which was what I was after. Now they have added some new cars to the buffet, including the jaw-droppingly delicious Corvette C8 (undoubtedly the best Vette ever). 

Ever since I was a teenager I've been a fan of sport cars, and I even owned an old classic Austin-Healey roadster which I managed to keep running with duct tape and baling wire.  It was a piece of junk, really, but it cornered well and looked really cool.  My fantasy, though, was to experience the thrill of a truly high-performance machine and Ferrari and Lamborghini were at the pinnacle of my hormone-addled dreams.

Me and "My" Ferrari

There are several of this kind of self-indulgent opportunities in Vegas, as you might imagine.  Other tracks allow you to go faster than the one I chose. For example one consisted of three straightaways connected by sharp turns at the end of each.  But the 1.5 mile track where I had my OmgI'mReallyDoingThis! experience was specifically designed to showcase ALL the performance capabilities of these marvelous machines. The back half of the course involved nearly continuous turning in both directions, accelerating and braking in between. The last turn entering the .5 mile straightaway requires that you slow to about 35-40 mph but then give it full acceleration (aka "full exhilaration") before having to brake for the sharp turn at the end.  I hit 134 in the Lamborghini and 141 in the Ferrari, and somehow resisted the siren song to go just a little faster before I hit the brakes.  Both of these cars are capable of 200+mph with enough room, but not on this track -- a good thing, according to my wife.

They don't just let you hop into one of their $300k cars and take off, however. First, they collect your money and make you sign a liability waiver which essentially says (1) you're crazy, (2) you admit that this is a very dangerous thing to do, and (3) you agree not to hold them responsible for A.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.

"Oh sure, piece of cake..."

Then there's an extensive briefing on the layout of the track and the operation of the cars' paddle shifters. Paddle shifters are a great invention which allows rapid shifting without using a clutch and without removing your hands from the steering wheel -- a far cry from my old Austin Healey that required frequent one-handed steering as you shifted with your right hand, and worked the clutch pedal with your left foot, while your right foot operated the brake and accelerator in a complex action called "heel and toe."  Anyway, in the photo you can see me pretending to understand the explanation of the best "line" through the course. After this you are fitted for a helmet (aka "brain bucket") that might allow for an open casket ceremony, if you're lucky.

Finally, you are accompanied while driving by a "coach" in the passenger seat who gives you turn-by-turn tips.  Also, he has a brake pedal of his own so as not to be totally in the hands of some crazed geezer like me who would consider this to be the perfect way to die, or who might have a coronary from the thrill of it all.  I'm not sure I would want the coach's job -- it would be a little like being a high school driving instructor at 130 mph. My couch got a little nervous that I wasn't braking hard enough at the end of the straightaway, but he never used his pedal.  I think he knows that novice drivers like me may be lulled by the (false?) sense of control these cars give you -- he was a teense more rational, plus he was young and had many more years ahead of him if he survived this gig with me behind the wheel.

An option which the track offers is a video package which includes views of the track from the front of the car, and interior shots of the dashboard instruments.  Naturally I had to have it.  

In the photo you can see the onboard display of my speed and my position on the track during one of my laps (yellow dot) in the Ferrari.  Traffic flow is counter-clockwise, and so you can see that I don't have much distance to bring the car down from 140 mph to about 40 for the next turn. However, these cars are engineered to do just that -- accelerate fast, brake fast, and corner like they are glued to the road surface.

I did pretty well and by the end of my 10 laps I was on Cloud 9. But then it got even better.  The onboard video for which I paid extra had failed during my Lamborghini laps.  I expected just a discount, but instead they gave me four more laps in the Lamborghini free!  Fourteen laps altogether! Viva Las Vegas!

Here's a link to me in action in the Ferrari. The video was taken by my wife from the observation deck. At times she had trouble finding the car in the viewfinder, so be patient.  You really can't see the back part of the track very well, but the acceleration in the straightway is very clear. Make sure your sound is turned up.

There's no deep philosophical insight I can offer here, other that perhaps this is another example of how we often appreciate things all the more when they come later in life, rather than being wasted on the young.  Also, there is a clear lesson that it's never too late for a Darwin Award, which is given to those whose deranged behavior removes them from the gene pool -- in my case before senescence robs me of that, too.

Fighting with Bubble Wrap; Catching Coquis

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

10/30/21

Aloha Everybody –

I hope your fall is going ok.  Our weather had definitely changed from the last time I talked about it, which was when I was complaining about all the rain we were getting during the summer. Now we need some.  Maybe this was another aspect of the Sherman Travel Curse (see last week) but since we left for our trip it has been very dry, though it has stayed fairly cool. Some parts of the island are nearing drought conditions whereas a few months ago they were flooding.  Sigh.....

It was a very quiet week here.  We’re more or less over our jet lag, though it still seems hard to get much done each day.  My big project this week beside the usual maintenance stuff was to remove our old pool cover and install a new one.  This is the cover we use at night to keep our pool water warm.  It

looks like a huge piece of blue bubble wrap – the little bubbles trap air and act as an insulator.  These things last about 3 years and then the plastic starts to deteriorate from the sun and pool chemicals. We try to rationalize the environmental impact of the covers by buying very few plastic drink bottles, and by noting that people who use covers require less energy to heat their pools. Don't look too close at these arguments.

 It has been much cheaper over the years to buy replacements on the internet and install them ourselves.  This year, however, no company would ship to Hawai’i, so I had to find one locally.  They come in standard sizes which requires buying one that is actually too large and then trimming it to fit.  Sounds easy, right?  The problem is it is large, heavy, and difficult to maneuver.  Plus it comes folded up and needs several days to flatten out the wrinkles before any cuts are accurate.  I’ve found it usually takes around 3-4 trimmings along the sides to get it to where it will roll up fairly easily.  I’m on the third trim – this involves being on my hands and knees leaning over the edge of the pool.  What could possibly go wrong?

Our Covid situation is better but stubbornly continues with daily infections still higher than before the Delta variant came on the scene. The good news is that we now have a few ICU beds available and only one is being occupied by a Covid patient.  I learned this week that my gardener got Covid just after we left for our trip — yet another blow from the Sherman Travel Curse. (Let's see, we're up to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, drought, disease---quite a trip!). Although he is now working again he can only manage a few hours a day.  Turns out he wasn’t vaccinated, but his wife, who works with him, was.  She didn’t get sick, nor did any of the others on his crew, all vaccinated.  He admits he should have gotten the vaccine, he said he just never found the time. He now regrets it, as I’m sure his wife reminds him, you know just from time to time....

I caught 4 coquis this week, all in our front garden.  When we returned last week I heard one and thought it was only one that moved in while we were gone.  Wrong.  Even with four on ice there is still another one that is taunting me, so at least 5 were setting up territories.  I think they are all very young and haven’t yet been able to attract females, but I can’t be sure.  It takes about 8-9 months for males to become sexually mature, and that’s when they start singing in earnest.  My captured frogs this week were very timid singers, usually only making a few calls at a time. I doubt any females were impressed. The fact that they were nearly all in the same small area and the same age makes me think there were from the same clutch of eggs deposited about 8 months ago.  The depressing aspect of that being true is that I could be battling a bunch more -- coquis generally lay clutches of 20-30 eggs.

Yesterday I saw my eye doctor.  It was six weeks since my last injection., which was right before we left .  The Eylea did its job, and there was no sign of new fluid buildup.  Bottom line, no shot. I'll go back in 4 weeks.  I won't have the drug discount for my next injection, but I'll get it anyway.

Karen played golf on Tuesday and did pretty well.  Her golf buddy will be returning to the mainland in November for routine medical checkups and to visit friends & family, so it looks like I’ll be taking to the links again in her place.  My goal this time will be to actually make it through all 18 holes.  Oh, and not spin the cart or drive it into one of the lakes.

That’s about it for this week.  Off for our usual Saturday morning itinerary.  Take care. Stay healthy and warm.
         

 

Jet Lag, Volcanic Twitch, Earthquake

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

10/23/21

Aloha Guys –

We returned home last Monday night.  The next couple of days were tough – a mental fog made it hard to concentrate on getting things going again, and both of us took more than the usual number of naps. Jet lag has always bothered me, but it seems to be worse as I get older, or maybe I just am more intolerant of any kind of discombobulation these days.  Anyway, by Thursday we felt much better, enough to even go to the gym for a light workout.  My Mexico muscles let me know on Friday that we hadn’t worked out for a month. We also got our annual flu shots on Thursday, motivated by our neighbor who had a bad case after returning from a weekend on Oahu and spent a couple of days in bed.  The pharmacy person giving the shots confirmed that there is a particularly nasty strain going around this year.  BTW, my neighbor and her husband did the responsible thing and got tested for Covid – both negative.

Getting back into the US was actually not a big deal.  The requirement right now is that you have to show a negative Covid test result within the last 3 days, regardless of whether you are vaccinated. This meant getting a test in Oaxaca, which was very quick and easy – there are both clinical labs there and at least one big pharmacy chain which offer tests.  Our guide made appointments for us and the whole process went very well.

We spent about a week in San Diego before coming home, but it didn’t seem to help with the jet lag (CA is 3 hours later than here, Mexico is 5).  We had a very good time visiting friends and doing some sight-seeing.

While we were gone the Sherman travel curse struck again.  This phenomenon involves something bad happening after we leave, either at home or where we have been traveling.  In this case there was a 6.2

10/12 Great News Photo

earthquake just off the southern tip of our island not long after we left, and a few weeks later the volcano decided to wake up and put on a hissy-fit for a while. The two events were not related, in case you’re wondering.  Anyway, the only damage from the earthquake we’ve found is that Karen’s golf bag fell over in the closet, and some golf balls on top of a cabinet rolled off.  The volcano is still erupting but all activity is confined to the summit caldera, and it has almost shut off again.  Our neighbors said that the vog was bad for a few days, but now we can barely notice it.  Vog comes

10/18 Back to Sleep

from the SO2 gas released from magma, and right now it is a mere 2,700 tons per day, whereas it had been 85,000 tons per day while we were gone.  It has always been hard for me to grasp that gas could be measured in tons and 85,000 tons is particularly difficult.

Ok, that’s about it.  Off to market and to our usual beach breakfast picnic.  Take care, and enjoy your early fall weather.  You know what comes next....

A Booster, A Radiator, An Eyeball

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

(9/18/21)

Aloha Everybody –

This will be my last regular email for awhile.  Our trip begins next week and it may be difficult to keep keep up. Instead, I’ll include you on the list of travel emails we send out to friends as we go, probably every 10 days or so.  We’re getting excited – our first international trip in 2.5 years!  This week was dedicated to the usual house prep, lots of trimming, cleaning, etc., so that we don’t come home to a jungle or to a mess.  It has been a long time since we have had to work this hard in a short amount of time and I admit it’s tiring.

On Sunday we managed to get booster shots at one of our local pharmacies.  We both have good reasons for getting them a little early, and the pharmacy agreed.  The reactions were about like the first shot – mild headache, brief period of joint pain, and a day of feeling tired and out of sorts.  Not fun but not all that bad, either.  Anyway, we are now about as protected as we can be and as I mentioned, the infection rate in Mexico is far lower than here in Kona.  Our biggest risk is going through airports and sitting on planes for 10-12 hours. Someone here asked if we didn’t feel bad, having 3 shots when much of the world is struggling to get even one.  My answer was yes, but the shot I got here and now was one turned down by someone who could have chosen to have it but refused it.  Rather than have it do no good at all, I took advantage of the opportunity to protect myself and others to the maximum extent that I can.

Minnie’s “surgery” went well and she now has a brand new radiator.  The bill wasn’t as bad as I feared. Any time you can get out of a garage for less than $500 these days you’re lucky. I just barely made it, but over the years this car has been a real bargain and I don’t mind at all.  For being 18 years old it is still doing great, looks good, and we have no intention of replacing it, even if the maintenance gets more expensive.  Of course, a new Corvette C8 might make a nice companion.....
 
Karen played golf on Tuesday.  Her usual golf partner returned unexpectedly and the two of them

Baby now has a tiara

returned to Makalei for a round.  Her partner had been scheduled to go on a cruise and decided to cancel because of Covid.  Karen didn’t know she was coming back until last weekend.  I had agreed to play with her, but I don’t mind skipping it, given the stuff around the house I have to do to get ready for the trip.  Besides, I don’t think I can top my two bogey accomplishment.

Today I have my eyeball examined.  It has stayed more or less the same, which is remarkable given how long it has been since my last shot (10 weeks)  I’d really like to have one today, though, because it seems very unlikely I can make it until we get back from our trip.  Imagine, *wanting* a needle jammed into your eye! If I wasn’t traveling I’d try to go even longer, because I could always quickly get a shot here if needed, but this would be much more difficult while traveling, especially out of the country.

Ok, enough for now. Focus on the positive, stay away from irresponsible people, and enjoy whatever good weather comes your way.

Virtual Labor Day, Vicarious Golf, Nullified Workout, Steamed Minnie

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

9/11/21 (An anniversary to be remembered but not celebrated)

Aloha Everybody --

When we lived in Ohio we almost always marked the end of summer by going to the massive fireworks display on Labor Day, held on the Ohio River in Cincinnati.  This was a hugely popular event, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators who would line the river bank to watch the show.  Despite the crowds I always thought it was worth it to get as close as possible – to feel the booms and experience how huge some of the fireworks were.  We handled the crowded conditions and inevitable traffic problems by arriving close to show time, leaving our car parked far away, then hustling back to the car afterwards and beating most of the traffic out of the downtown area.

The show was canceled last year, though they set off the fireworks at another site that was kept secret so that people wouldn’t try to congregate. The local tv channel recorded the display and broadcast it.  

This year the event returned to the river, despite the rise in Covid cases.  Our friends in Ohio with whom we usually attended were leery of going, even though they are both vaccinated, but decided to see how close they could get without getting into a really crowded situation.  It turned out the attendance was down so much that they were able to enjoy the show fairly close to the action.  They sent us the link to the televised version and it was AWESOME.  We hooked up our Ipad to the tv and ran the sound through our good speakers, with the volume cranked a bit high – not quite as good as being there but much safer.

Karen and her friend from Oregon played golf on Monday at another course.  This one was further up

Makani Golf Course

north and almost as beautiful as her favorite one closer to Kailua.  The weather was again gorgeous for them, and Karen again did quite well.  She also saw a mating pair of Nenes, the first of the season.  I enjoyed all this vicariously through Karen’s photos and texts.

Pizza at Sunset

 

On Tuesday we joined our friend for pizza, sitting on her shoreline lanai watching the sunset. She left on Wednesday morning but will return in December for another short visit.

That same night our Mazda got steamed –it looks like the radiator has developed a leak and will probably have to be replaced.  Minnie will go in for surgery on Monday, along with my wallet. I’ll let you know how this turns out.

On Thursday we did our usual workout at Planet Fitness, then completely nullified the benefits with lunch at Quinn’s Almost by the Sea restaurant.  Despite the self-depricating name, this is one of the oldest and most successful restaurants along the waterfront, and very popular with locals.  It is a stone’s through from the bay but has absolutely no view of the water – or of anything else.  However, the atmosphere is about as friendly and welcoming as you can get, and our lunch was delicious – blackened fish tacos with possibly the best fries in town, boneless Kalbi ribs, and a very good draft beer.  We took half home for dinner, and as soon as it was in the refrigerator we both took a long nap.  That’s my kind of workout!

We are still on track to go on our trip to Mexico.  Covid there remains much lower than here, and their downward trend in cases has continued.  Tomorrow we are going to try to get booster shots.  We think we qualify, but we will have to convince the pharmacy of that.  Again, I’ll let ou know.

Ok, that’s about it.  There is way too much strife, natural and unnatural disasters, and just plain craziness right now.  Take a deep breath (not in the presence of an anti-vaxer/anti-masker) and try to concentrate on whatever is good in your life.  

Postponing Paradise, Celebrating Mortgage Crossover Day

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

9/4/21

In the 20 years we’ve lived in Hawai’i we’ve experienced a lot of unusual things – volcanoes, hurricanes, the eerie quiet after 9/11 shut down all sea and air connections to the state, which meant no deliveries of food, fuel, mail, and toilet paper. But having our Governor ask tourists to stay away is definitely a first.  He’s been on t.v. a couple of times in the last week or so imploring mainland visitors to reconsider coming to our islands, despite our economy's heavy reliance on tourism.  This isn't because visitors are bringing disease and pestilence (very few Covid cases are linked to visiting tourists) but because our infrastructure is overwhelmed, particularly our health care system.  Here in Kona there are at most 2-4 available ICU beds – not much leeway to treat heart attacks, accidents, and other emergencies, let alone additional severe Covid cases – nearly all of whom are local, young and unvaccinated.  Restrictions on gathering size, restaurant capacity, tours, tourist sights, transportation, etc., etc. and the health risk local residents pose to visitors makes this a bad time to try to enjoy the beauty and usual warm hospitality of this unique and wonderful place. Come back later, please.

Here are a few tidbits from Thursday's West Hawai'i Today paper about the root cause of our current health crisis:  97% of the COVID-19 patients admitted to Kona Community Hospital since April 1 have been unvaccinated; most are under 50 and a few have been younger than 17;  unvaccinated people are 5 times more likely to be infected with Covid, and they are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized.  Those who are adopting a "wait and see" approach to getting vaccinated might consider that they might not be around to finally make up their minds.....

Hookay. Enough already.

This week continued to be wet, but we had a few days with a fair amount of sun and even ran our bedroom a.c. a couple of nights.  The pool is staying at about 82d, but we are still covering it most nights – very unusual for this time of year.  The afternoon rains have put a damper on our gardening efforts, though I did manage to take out a large amount of ground cover where coqui frogs were starting to take up residence.  By way, my hand catching efforts have really yielded results – between my fellow coqui hunter neighbor down the street, we have eliminated about 300 of the little devils in the last year or so.  They will keep coming, of course, just like ants and mosquitoes, but being diligent and putting in some effort at control does keep them at bay.

On Wednesday we celebrated yet another event – our mortgage crossover day!!  This was the day when our monthly payment began to consist of more money toward the principal than interest!  So from now on our actual debt will shrink faster and faster, definitely a good feeling.  We celebrated with sunset dinner at one of our favorite shoreline restaurants called Fish Hopper -- Poke Nachos with Wasabi Cream and Furikake Seaweed appetizer and a main dish of Blackened Opakapaka with coconut shrimp and purple potatoes.  Oh, and a couple of beers.  Very nice.  

Karen’s snow bird golfing buddy from Oregon arrived on Wednesday for a short stay to look after their rental house on the shore.  She and Karen played yesterday and will go again on Monday.  I guess I could have played with them but opted not to – I went to Planet Fitness instead.  Not as much exercise, but it is much faster......
                           
Ok, that’s about it for this week.  Try not to let news of current events get to you.  A tall order, I know.  What’s the saying, “Stop the World, I want to get off?" I agree completely.  Take care.

    
 

Eyeball Mo’ Betta’; Doctor Fights; Three Anniversaries

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

8/28/21

Aloha All –

My appointment with my eye doc last Saturday went very well.  My acuity was slightly better in the right eye (20/80), good pressures, no new edema.  The plan is to go back in four weeks just before our trip and probably have a precautionary shot then.  That will make 10 weeks between injections – a record!  By the way, I happened to stumble on the date when all this started – it was in the fall of 2013, nearly 8 years ago! I’m guessing I’m up to 50 or more jabs in the eyeball during that time, so I welcome the slowdown.

I also saw my internist for my usual 6-month followup.  This didn’t go quite so well, at least at first. My preliminary blood work showed – you guessed it – low sodium.  I got the usual call from his nurse – restrict fluids to 32 oz. and stay away from demon water. Deja vu all over again!  I know, I know, I was going to change physicians after the last episode of this, but somehow I never got around to it.  Then my prescriptions ran out and I figured the quickest way to get them renewed was to go back to Dr. “You-drink-too-much-water-stop-that-you-dufus” one more time. This was an actual office visit, not a Zoom call, and he’ll only see you in person if you’ve been vaccinated. The session actually went pretty good – I think he had reviewed my history in advance this time. He admitted that I’m somebody with normally low sodium (not caused by drinking gallons of liquid) and it can get even lower if I drink lots of water or if I sweat (or if somebody prescribes a diuretic without checking the patient’s history).  He backed off the restriction mantra but warned me of the danger of taking in too much pure water all at once with my condition – namely the risk of a brain aneurysm, aka exploding brain. There has to be a delicate balance between retaining enough salt in my blood to avoid this, while not having it so high that it raises my bp. Isn’t this fun!?  

We’re still on track for our Mexico trip.  Some of our acquaintances here have expressed grave concern over our safety in terms of the Covid upsurge.  It turns out that the current infection rate here in Kona is twice what it is in Mexico City, and it is 6 to 10 times higher in Kona than in the other areas of Mexico where we will be spending most of our time.  In short, we are far safer in Mexico than we are in Kona right now.  Anyway, our biggest concern is that Mexico may impose restrictions while we are there that would make it difficult to enjoy the trip, so we’re tracking developments closely.
    
Wednesday was our Wedding Anniversary.  Last year we celebrated with takeout.  This year we had

Complimentary Chocolate Souffle!

dinner at the Four Seasons resort up north.  Guess which was more enjoyable, though way more expensive. Also this week we had two other anniversaries which we always try to celebrate: The last first day of school for Karen on the 27th and the last first day for me on the 28th.  These days always put a huge damper on celebrating our Wedding Anniversary, so now we eagerly celebrate their absence.  We split a bottle of champagne three ways – a little before our dinner at Four Seasons, and then the rest on the other two days.  Let’s hear it for anniversaries!

We got our electric bill this week and it confirmed that June, July, and August have been the cloudiest consecutive months since we installed our pv system 8 years ago.  We still have a surplus for the contract year with Helco, but it is the lowest ever.  Actually this is kind of good news, because the surplus will revert to the company at the end of October and we will start from zero for the next 12 months.  Usually we give up hundreds of dollars when this happens, but this year it will be a pittance.  Our solar investment is paying off, in other words.

Ok, take care everybody.  Keep you head clear and your body safe.  Off to the beach (still open so far) for our picnic breakfast.

Becoming a Bogey Man, Lockdowns Looming

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

8/21/21

I’ll get right to the good news of the week.  On Wednesday Karen and I played golf again at Makalei.  This was the same mountain course where she regularly plays, the one with the peacocks and Nenes.  It

Happy Bogey Man

was a beautiful day again for my second outing – clear, sunny, great view of the ocean.  It was a bit wet to start from the rain the day before, but that wasn’t a problem (in some places the course is so steep that people often spin their golf carts when they put on the brakes too hard).  Karen did exceptionally well and I did too, including getting what I understand are called “bogeys” on two holes – one stroke over par.  I’m now a bogey-man!  We still didn’t finish all 18 holes, though – I pooped out after 14, which is three more than last week.  I’m not hooked yet, but it was certainly a good experience.

Now for some bad news.  The unvaccinated pandemic is much worse. We have now filled the available beds in our local hospital and all but one of the Covid patients are unvaccinated.  The number of active cases on the island now exceeds the number at any time last year, and over 90% are unvaccinated.  Testing centers have reopened and are doing a brisk business. Some people have seen the light and are getting vaccinated at an increased rate – a bit late to stave off this sh*t storm, but still a hopeful sign.  The Governor and the Mayor are soon going to reinstate some of our previous restrictions, including reducing gatherings on beaches, closing the libraries, parks and other public facilities where people come into close contact.  Loosening the distance requirements in restaurants is on hold after being very close to being relaxed. Also likely is the reinstating the requirement of a negative test to travel between islands, even with a vaccine certificate.  This may even be extended to travelers from the mainland as well. (Oh, a note to visitors: some have been caught with fake vaccination certificates, an offense with a justifiably stiff fine and quarantine.  Stay home, please.) We tried to get booster shots this week, which I think we qualify for, but the only vaccine available right now is the Moderna, and we need Pfizer.  At any rate, we’ll get one as soon as we can, hopefully before our Mexico trip next month.

Our rainy weather in Kailua continues – about 3 inches for the week at our house.  However, to the north there was another wildfire on saddle road.  Fortunately this one was controlled before it got very big.  The record-breaking fire around Waimea and Waikaloa is now contained, some good news.  Remember, we’re only talking about 40 miles between being soaked and being burnt. I believe there was some rain in that area late in the week, and that may help.

Today I see my retina doctor again.  It's been 6 weeks since my last injection and I might need another. I'm going to have a bit of a timing issue, though, because of our upcoming trip. I don't think I can last from now until we return, and so I may need to have another just before we leave -- but that's shorter than the usual interim. Hmmm. I'll let you know how this turns out.

Ok, I guess that’s about it.  Hopefully we’ll be able to have our beach picnic this morning if the beaches haven’t been closed.  Take care everyone.  This, too, shall pass.  Let’s hope it will be soon.

 

TSA PreChecks, Golf, Creatures Big & Small

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

8/14/21

Aloha All –

Summer finally arrived here this week – sort of.  We had several days when it was warm enough to crank up our new ac bedroom unit for a few hours, and we skipped covering the pool several nights.  However, last night the air temp dropped to a frigid 68d and it was cool a couple of other nights as well. It doesn’t seem to want to make up its mind.

One thing that is very much in earnest is our Covid spike.  The number of active cases is as high as anytime last year, and our local hospitals are now getting full.  The last report was that of all the hospitalizations at our Kona Community Hospital all except one are unvaccinated.  Next week a group of about 50 nurses from the mainland will arrive, some assigned to our island. They will assist the overburdened local staff and that should temporarily help administering to the regular patients, as well as to the Covid cases.

On Tuesday Karen and I stopped in at our local TSA Precheck enrollment center and signed up – surprisingly easy and fast.  We used to get this as part of our United rewards program, but they stopped that a few years ago.  Going though the PreCheck security line isn’t a great advantage here at our airport, but it sure is at big ones like Denver.  The regular line last spring when we had our forced layover there reminded us of a pre-Covid Disney World ride line – except that the experience at the end wasn’t fun at all.

After we applied for the PreCheck program we went on up to Makalei and played golf.  Yes me, Tin Cup Dick.  Karen’s snow bird partner is traveling (taking a cruise, no less!) and so I agreed to give it a try.  I actually hit the ball most of the time, and it usually went in the direction of the hole.  I made it through 11 holes before pooping out – remember, for me that was a LOT of strokes.  It was a gorgeous day and that course is really beautiful.  I even got to see several Peacock babies and to pet a cat!  Despite my Planet Fitness workouts I was also a wee bit stiff the next morning.  

About midweek we had a real dumper overnight – .8 inches total.  The next morning was we were on our daily walk we passed a driveway where the car parked there had an interesting roof decoration – a bedraggled turkey trying to dry out. My main thought was that if the bird pooped up there it would be a real mess. Turkey doo can be smelly, gooey, and often comes in astonishingly large quantities (see Cleaning Up Poop In Paradise). Anyway, this is the kind of interesting encounter that makes living here enjoyable.

Speaking of introduced critters, last night I officially became a two-fisted coqui killer.  A light rain around dinner time brought out the males loudly serenading for sex (their calls are to attract females). I went out hunting and quickly got two – one in each hand!  In both cases I was able to blind them with my headlight and make successful grabs.  Once I got the first one in my fist I heard another very close by and soon had him in my sights, too.  Normally it helps to have both hands free for capturing coqui, but in this case I figured I’d make a try with my free hand and see what happened. Bam!  One in each fist and soon, with Karen’s help, both bagged and in the freezer.  Sing to the ice cubes, you little buggers!


Ok, off to market and beach breakfast.  Take care and stay safe.
 

August Already? Abnormal Normality?

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

8/7/21

Aloha Everyone –

Well, August caught me by surprise.  What happened to June & July? I swear, since last year it is difficult to keep track of time.  In many respects it is like we skipped last year altogether.  Then I start to think back to the sh*t storm of events that happened. Maybe it’s because I’d like to forget that time and I have blocked it out.  Anyway, our return to “normal” seems to be an uneven lurch into the future.  On the one hand, we now have travel plans, we’ve returned to some of our usual routine (golf, Planet Fitness, Saturday mornings at the beach), and tourists have returned bringing much need revenue to businesses and providing jobs. On the other our Covid cases have now reached and exceeded last year’s record levels, tourists are overwhelming our infrastructure, and we’re spending time worrying about who is vaccinated and who is not – hardly “normal.”  Oh, and our travel plans now include arranging to have a Covid test in order to get back into the U.S.

One high for the week was last Sunday, when we had friends over for dinner – the first dinner guests (aside from our Ohio visitors) in 1 ½ years.  It was a real treat to chat, joke, and share a meal with someone.  Of course even that had a tinge of crapola because it was necessary to agree on some pandemic precautions for the evening.  Sheesh.  Anyway, it was still very pleasant. This is the couple I've mentioned before who own a coffee farm up above us.  He was fraternity brother back in the dark ages, and his wife is an expat Japanese who has been trying unsuccessfully to get back to Tokyo to honor her mother, who died last year. Tough. On the other hand, their house has one section that is a family vacation rental, and the return of tourists has been a great financial relief to them. As I said, abnormal normal.

Such Excitement!

My big house project of the week (!) was to apply some anti-algae spray to parts of the roof.  I routinely do this about once a year to combat dark discoloration of our asphalt shingles, but the online sellers of the product I used to buy from now no longer ship to Hawai’i.  I could do the old trick of sending it to a friend on the mainland and then having them reship it to us, but I recently discovered a different product that is available here at Lowe’s and Home Depot that may do the same thing.  Whoopie! (My threshold for excitement has lowered considerably lately.) My biggest challenge has been to find a 12-hour period without rain so that it has time to work.  We’re still getting almost daily showers – Tuesday it rained all day starting about 11 am, for a total of just over 1 inch.  Anyway, we’ll see if it works as well as the old stuff. Getting up on the roof will also allow me to fix another problem that is common in Hawai’i – we’ve got some nice foliage growing in one of the gutters and it’s time to do some weeding.

Since I haven’t mentioned it in a long time, I should give a brief update on our volcano that caused so much havoc a couple of years ago.  Not a speck of surface lava has been observed since May, and the lava lake that was in Kilauea caldera is completely crusted over. The volcanologists know that this is just a nap, though, because seismic measurements and other sensor data indicate a slow but continuous resupply of lava deep in the plumbing.  It could be years without any significant activity, or it could be only a few weeks.  The best bet, though, is that it *will* happen.  Kilauea volcano has been erupting more or less continuously (in geological time) for over 10k years, and there is no reason to expect it won’t continue for at least that same number into the future.

Well, on that semi-happy note I’ll end and get ready for our usual “normal” Saturday morning activities.  

Stay cool, unburnt, and uncontaminated.