[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 |
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 |
Off to Farmer's Market and our usual beach breakfast picnic plus errands. Be safe and stay as sane as you can.
4 comments:
You’re a brave man, climbing a tall ladder and then doing back-and-forth, up-and-down motions. THREE times at least, for sanding, staining and urethaning!! Wow! Want a job cleaning our gutters?
Well, it gets worse, I'm afraid. I didn't mention that I also removed and serviced the crank mechanisms that raise and lower the skylights. This required climbing onto the roof to disconnect them. While I was up there, I also removed the insect screens so Karen could wash them and I cleaned the skylight glass. Whether this is "brave" or something else is uncertain...
I am completely against anyone but professionals climbing onto roofs. I have heard of too many accidents. My former boss sustained a TBI when he was on a high ladder hanging Christmas lights. He spent the rest of his life (five years) in a nursing home. My brother died last year after falling off a tank he was working on. Autopsy said he died of “severe neck and head trauma.” Be careful, Dick!
Of course you are correct in your view of roof work. These days I have a much nigher threshold for being up there. A necessary aspect of successful Geezerhood (and life in general) is self-assessment of one's current capabilities. This can lead to foolish and dangerous overestimates of course, but it can also lead to an over-cautiousness which unnecessarily limits quality of life. I promise I'll be careful, and at some point stop doing it altogether, as I will other high-risk activities, like driving.
Post a Comment