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.