Aloha '22, Aloha '23?

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

12/31/22

Aloha Everyone, and Happy NewYear (Hau'oli Makahiki Hou)!!

This has been a mixed year for me and I'm ambivalent about seeing it end.  On the one hand Karen and I had some very good travel experiences, I learned some new things, like how to hit a small white ball, and we continued to live in Hawai'i, land of lava and great weather.  On the other, the world seems to be coming apart at the seams physically, politically and socially, and some very crazy people gained power and influence during the year.  In keeping with my ambivalence, I've decided not to do my usual fireworks "extravaganza" again this year, and just let '22 end quietly and without much fuss.  How about you?

This past week was pretty good.  The Christmas dinner party we went to on Sunday was a nice way to celebrate. There were about 20 people, and the menu was traditional turkey etc.  Some of the guests were other neighbors, like a very interesting guy who lives down the street and who used to work for Disney as an "Imagineer," and others who were local friends of our host whom we didn't know but from whom it was stimulating to get fresh perspectives on things.  On Friday some old friends from Ohio joined us for dinner, along with their daughter who teaches in Waimea. Tomorrow we will share New Year's dinner with a woman in Karen's quilting group and her husband.  Like I said last week, this holiday season has involved a LOT of socializing for us, but we've certainly enjoyed it. My presents for Karen were pretty well-received, much to my relief of course: a lightweight garden hose she has been wanting, and a new rain jacket for golf. Mine included an Aloha shirt and a device to help me with my breathing exercises. How's that for being romantic!  All in all, it was a good Christmas.

Swimming Lesson

Despite all the socializing this was a fairly physical week for us.  On Tuesday we went to Planet Fitness for our 13-machine muscle-mangling session, and then on Thursday we played golf at Makalei.  The golf went very well, considering we hadn't played in over a month.  I got a couple of bogies and only lost two balls.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  We saw around 30 Nenes, including one family with three babies who were taking advantage of one of the course lakes.  The Peacocks are nearing their full mating plumage and we were treated to a couple of displays.  We only saw one white one this time, and we think it was the young male.  We can hardly wait for him to be mature enough to do the fan dance.  A problem with being a very mediocre golfer is that it takes so many strokes during a round that I'm really tired at the end.  We opted to skip the last two holes, which aren't all that interesting anyway, and I was perfectly fine with that.

In addition to the gym and golf course, this week I was on a campaign to chop back some bushes and tree limbs that have gotten out of bounds.  This is the best time of the year to do this, because the slower growing season means that your efforts will last a little longer. Much of what I'm doing involves using a pole trimmer, a strenuous workout for the core muscles which are also used in swinging a golf club. Needless to say, I'm sore.

The only medical news of the week is that we both got our teeth cleaned on Wednesday.  Anywhere on the mainland this would be trivial, but here we are experiencing a severe shortage of hygienists.  This means scheduling is 6-8 months out.  We ran into a problem earlier this year because our spring travel plans changed and we tried to reschedule our April cleaning.  Nope.  We already had this December appointment so we gave up and just brushed extra well.  Our insurance will cover 3 cleanings per year -- if we can find someone to do it.  We tried to get appointments for next spring but no luck -- our next visit will now be August.  We also made appointments for December and again for April, '24.  That will get us back on track, but if we have to change any of these we'll be out of luck.  By the way, if you need to see an actual dentist there isn't a problem.  If you know anyone who is a dental hygienist and wants to spend some time in Hawai'i, let them know that they would be hired instantly.

Oh, I forgot to report that the two Covid tests I took last Saturday and yesterday were both negative.  Yippee.  

Ok, that's it.  Christmas decorations will come down starting tomorrow.  Hope you are staying warm and shoveled.  

Lava Changing to Snow, Ho, Ho, Ho

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

12/24/22

Aloha to All!  --

How's that snow shovel holding up?  Back ok?  Any frostbite?  Heh, heh.  Actually, the weather reports from the mainland look rather dire, and I shouldn't  joke too much.  Any complaints I make about the weather here are pretty pathetic compared to conditions in many parts of the country.  "Bomb Cyclone" is a new term for my vocabulary. But of course everyone focuses on their own particular circumstance and I'm no exception, so here goes my whimpering anyway.

Last weekend we had a dandy of a weather front come through, with rain and wind continuing on Sunday

Yes, that's a volcano

and Monday.  This was the storm that caused an Hawaiian Airlines flight coming into Honolulu to have such a hard time, with people bouncing off the ceiling and a number of serious injuries.  The storm came in from the west -- a Kona (leeward) front -- so our side of the island took the brunt.  Here at our house we had some rather scary wind gusts and even some lightning and thunder, a rare thing for us.  It dumped a total of 5" of rain according to our garden rain gauge.  All that moisture fell as snow on our two 13k foot-tall volcanoes, and we have been treated to the sight of both of them with snow caps this week.  Yes, it will be a white Christmas in Kona (sort of).  Note, a couple of weeks ago lava was flowing down the side of Mauna Loa, and this week it was dusted with snow!

My eye exam last Saturday went fine and I skipped having an injection.  I'll take that as a nice Christmas present.  I'll return in 6 weeks, sooner if things go south, but for now both my eyeball and I are happy. 

This week has been high-level socializing for us.  Thursday we had our neighbors over for barbecued ribs, just to contrast with all the usual Christmas fare.  Yesterday we went to an annual get-together sponsored by a women's organization Karen belongs to -- the first time since BC (Before Covid) that it has actually happened. And tomorrow we're going for Christmas dinner at another neighbor's house.  Whew! I'm going to do a covid test today and another one around Tuesday or Wednesday just to see if all that close contact hasn't spread more than Christmas cheer. By the way, the test I did last Saturday was negative, which means covid didn't hitchhike back home from the mainland with us.

We went to Planet Fitness *twice* this week, Sunday and Wednesday. This is partially in lieu of playing golf, which we hope to get back to next week. It didn't seem any more agreeable to my muscles the second time than the first. 

Ok, got to get ready for Santa.  We'll do a day-before-Christmas beach breakfast picnic and then "chill" (pardon the expression) out for the rest of the day.  Take care.  Stay safe. Merry Christmas!!!

In From The Cold, Lava Pau for Now

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

12/15/22

Aloha Everybody  --

We got home on Tuesday from our quick California trip.  Later today I'm going to take a Covid test, but so far I think we're going to be ok, even though we were around a lot of unmasked people.  It was a fun trip, except that for us it was c-o-l-d (highs in the low 60's). Most of the time it was sunny, which helped, but when we went to Santa Barbara it rained 3 inches and turned even colder.  There were "sun breaks" and during those we enjoyed the very pretty area around Santa Barbara, including our friends' house, which sits above the city and has a great view when it's clear.  We really enjoyed staying in downtown LA, which we found safe, clean, and architecturally dazzling, particularly the Biltmore Hotel, where we stayed, the Broad Museum, the new Disney Concert Hall, and many old Art Deco and Art Nouveau buildings built during LA's heyday. We spent one night in nearby Pasadena and toured the historic Gamble House (as in Proctor & Gamble), a 1908 gem of Craftsman style.  As much as we enjoyed the trip, it is very good to be home and get warm again.

Now

While we were gone our two erupting volcanoes also decided to take a vacation and have now shut off completely.  Kilauea's lava lake crusted over just a few days after the fissure eruption of Mauna Loa suddenly stopped.  Volcanologists aren't detecting any seismic activity under either one that would indicate a resumption of activity, so for now we're a lava-free zone.  The two volcanoes tap into the same deep magma source, but they have separate plumbing.  The best guess of the volcanologists is that Mauna Loa's

Then

expansion during its eruption somehow pinched off the route of magma rising to the summit of Kilauea.  The good news is that the side vent lava from Mauna Loa stopped about 1.7 miles from Saddle Road, so the commuters and truck traffic can continue.  A nice Christmas present from Pele.

 We're now a little behind in our holiday prep.  Hopefully we'll get some cards and letters out this weekend, and we'd like to put up a few more decorations. Busy, busy, busy.

Last week while we were in Santa Barbara we got some bad news from Ohio. A very good friend died suddenly and unexpectedly.  He was recovering from some minor surgery and had an infection that may have contributed, but no one knows for sure at this time.  His wife died from cancer about a year ago, and although he was devastated from that, he seemed to be upbeat and looking forward to a January trip to Israel.  He had just finished rebuilding his greenhouse and was doing other projects that kept him active and involved.  A real shame, and he will be sorely missed.

Later this morning I will be seeing my eye doctor.  I'm not sure how this will go.  My eyesight in both eyes went downhill while we were on the mainland, which I think is due to the cold weather.  As soon as the temperature drops to about 65d my eyes start watering and my nose runs -- constantly.  It could be that my eyes got really dried out from all that crying.  I'll let you know next week.

Ok, off the market and to our beach breakfast picnic.  Take care.  Stay warm and be good so Santa will be generous.

Living with Lava, Tired of Turkey

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

12/3/22

Aloha All  -- 

Who's Got the Marshmallows?

Well, the big news here this week, of course, has been the eruption of Mauna Loa that began last Sunday night and has continued all week, with some interesting developments along the way.  Another of our volcanoes, Kilauea, has continued its 14-month summit lava lake activity, so at the moment we have the distinction of being an island with two simultaneous eruptions going on. Lotsa lava!  Now, if we can just get Hualalai  to go off also, we'll have a trifecta!  (I shouldn't say that -- it's the volcano we live on and overdue for an eruption...)

Mauna Loa had been rumbling since September, when the usual 10-15 earthquakes per day increased to 40-50.  Even so, the volcanologists didn't think it was about to erupt.  Here's the official update the morning of the eruption last Sunday: "Mauna Loa is not erupting and there are no signs of an imminent eruption at this time. Monitoring data show no significant changes within the past 24 hours. Mauna Loa continues to be in a state of heightened unrest as indicated by increased earthquake activity and inflation of the summit. The current unrest is most likely being driven by renewed input of magma 2–5 miles (3–8 km) beneath Mauna Loa’s summit."  

They were likely embarassed, then, when lava started spewing in the summit caldera about 11:30 p.m, that night. Oops.  However, Mauna Loa is a very active volcano that has erupted over 30 times since 1843, the first well-documented eruption (that's an average of once every 5 years), so nobody was surprised that it did so again.  In fact, the last time was in 1984, so we were kind of overdue.  I'm sure the volcanologists are carefully looking at how they misjudged the timing and what signs they missed.

Pretty Awesome!

The action at the summit was over in just a couple of days, and the eruption has continued from fissures further down slope, along what's called the Northeast Rift Zone. This shift has been common to about half of Mauna Loa's eruptions. Rift zones are a common feature of shield volcanoes and are natural lines of weakness that form as the volcano grows and settles.  The fissure eruptions have produced some spectacular fountains of lava, sometimes reaching 200 ft. They are in a rather remote area, however, and the best views have come from helicopter flyovers and from a web cam the volcanologists quickly set up.  The lava is flowing to the northeast, away from us, and there is almost no chance it will directly impact us.  Nor are there any communities in the path of the lava, unlike when Kilauea's rift zone eruption of a few years ago took out quite a few houses down south. However, it is looking increasingly likely that lava will cut Saddle Road, a major highway connecting Hilo and Kona.  This will be a major disruption, because many people live on the Hilo side and commute to the Kona side.  Also, a unique problem is that the only landfill on our island is on the Kona side, so trucks have been using the Saddle Road to haul all of the Hilo side trash to the landfill.  Commuters and truck traffic will have to use longer and more difficult routes.  The lava is currently about 4 miles from the highway and has slowed as it reached a more level area.  It could take a week before it cuts the road, but it seems inevitable if the eruption keeps going.

Being the lava enthusiasts that we are, on Thursday night we drove up north and went along Saddle Road to several spots where you could see the lava pretty clearly.  With binoculars we could even see lava fountaining from the most active fissure.  Pretty impressive, and we can add to our life achievement lists two firsts: seeing in person an eruption from Mauna Loa, and seeing lava fountaining in person.

Living with lava for the past 20+ years has taught us to take the dire, shrill, and hey-look-at-this -we're-all-going-to-die-isn't-this-terrible news reporting with a very large dose of "ho-hum."  We'll see what the reality is and deal with it -- yes, there will be vog (but none now), and yes, there will be destruction and disruption (but likely less than Kilauea's last rift eruption).  In the meantime, it seems best to just enjoy the educational entertainment it is providing, the recreational opportunities (lava tube hiking), and the money it's bringing to the island (thousands of tourists spending lots of it). 

In non-volcano news, Karen and I worked out at Planet Fitness on Sunday, trying to do penance for our Thanksgiving over-indulgence.  We had planned to also play golf on Thursday, but the course had to close for the day because their new liability insurance hadn't become effective.  They thought the change would be seamless, but some unexpected legal snafu came up that couldn't be quickly fixed.  Since we're leaving for CA next week, it may be awhile before I can chase a little white ball again. Darn.  We may miss the Nene babies when they make their debut.  We could have played somewhere else, but I'm kind of committed to Makalei and other courses don't interest me much. (Note, that should make clear my lack of seriousness about the game.)

We also managed to finally finish off our turkey.  Even though we bought a small 13-pounder, it has taken a week of lunches and dinners, plus a plate to take to our bachelor next door neighbor, plus freezing a fair amount, to do it justice.  Talk about bang for your buck!  I confess that about mid-week we took a break and barbecued a steak.  I think I've had enough turkey to last another year.  Not sure about steak, however,

We managed to get up more Christmas decorations than I thought we would before our trip, including setting up our (artificial) Christmas tree.  I have a few lights on the outside, and all in all it looks credibly festive.  

Ok, off one more time before our trip to run some errands and to enjoy our beach picnic breakfast.  Bundle up, keep smiling, stay healthy.

Lung Results, Turkey Day, Spring Travel Plans

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

11/26/22

Aloha Everybody  --

Thanksgiving Snow

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.  Ours was quiet but very nice.  We decided to go traditional and have a turkey, though this time it was a fresh one rather than frozen.  Despite the dire predictions of shortages and high prices, turkeys were actually fairly plentiful here and not all that expensive.  Our guests were technically "homeless" -- earlier in the week my old fraternity brother and his wife had closed on the sale of their coffee farm.  They're now looking for a more physically friendly place that will require much less work.  Right now there isn't a lot for sale, so this may take some time.  Fortunately, their deal with the buyer allows them to stay until spring.

I got the results of my chest ct and it is mostly good news.  The nodules that were spotted 5 years ago haven't changed in size, so they are almost certainly not cancerous.  Nor were there any new nodules. That was the information I wanted, a comparison to the earlier results.  All isn't perfect, however. My emphysema has progressed nicely, from "mild-to-moderate" to "moderate-to-severe."  No oxygen tank just yet -- it's a matter of how fast and far it will progress from here on.  When I was trying to quit smoking 28 years ago after being addicted for 40+ years, the main emphasis of the campaign to get people to quit was that your cancer risk will drop.  There were also other points, like the irresponsibility of second hand smoke, and the overall health benefits of stopping.  All correct.  However, not mentioned was that for a large number of smokers (about 15-20%, rising to about 50% after age 45) the non-cancerous damage already done to your lungs would continue to grow over time in the form of emphysema, which is relentlessly progressive. -- it might be slowed by quitting but not stopped or reversed.  Although there's no cure, there are a number of ways of managing the condition, from breathing exercises to inhalers.  Something more to look forward to....

On a more pleasant note, this week I finished making hotel reservations for our spring trip to France and Italy.  They can all be canceled in case our plans change.  In making them I came across a number of hotels that have a new twist on their cancellation deadlines.  The best deal is if you pay in advance, like always, and this isn't refundable for any reason.  For a higher room rate you can maintain flexibility with the ability to cancel up to a few days in advance, that's also been common in the past.  But this time I found that in some cases the cancellation deadline was a week to a month ahead of time, and a few hotels had options of rates for a couple of different deadlines.  I'm sympathetic to smaller hotels that suffer from late cancellations, but in some cases their requirement was a month out to get a refund.  I booked somewhere else.

I'm going to try to get some Christmas decorations up this weekend, but we may wait for the heavy-duty stuff until we get back from California.  It will depend on how much spare time we have. Getting ready for this short trip isn't as demanding as preparing for longer ones, so we'll see how it goes. 

Ok, off to market and beach breakfast.  Take care, keep smiling, and bundle up.

 

Fixing Solar Leaks, Getting Nuked & Shot, Pumping & Putting

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

11/19/22

Aloha All  --

This is the week before Thanksgiving and the beginning of the season of my discombobulation.  Actually it started for me before Halloween when the Christmas decorations were first displayed in the big box stores and with the arrival at Lowe's of the first mainland Christmas trees yesterday. The holidays are a mixed bag for me -- I like the warm fuzzies and all, but there's always been something unsettling and a little depressing about this time of year for me, also.  Regardless of my party-pooper attitude, I do hope you have a good Thanksgiving next week.

I started and ended the week with medical procedures, something that seems to be happening more and more these days.  Last Saturday was my visit to the eye doctor, and although I did have an injection, my right retina is doing much better and this was more to head off a relapse.  My doc is really good at jabbing needles in people's eyeballs, and it went very well, with only a brief and moderate discomfort from the injection and little aftereffects later.  This should hold me for at least a couple of months, maybe longer.  Then on Thursday I got a call from the hacked radiology clinic saying they were back online and were able to schedule my chest ct for Friday! Wow, this was much sooner that I expected given the backlog they must have had.  So I was nuked yesterday morning and I will pick up the report later today. I'll let you know the outcome next week.

Badbadbad

My big house project this week was repairing a couple of leaks that I discovered in our solar system that produces hot water for our pool.  As is often the case when you do your own house repairs, you discover that the original installation was -- to put it charitably -- not exactly the best job.  I've already had to work on this system to replace pipe and fittings that were the wrong kind and failed prematurely.  The panels themselves are ok, it's the stuff the installers added that was the problem.  I think it was either a matter of trying to save money, or that the right materials weren't available.  Anyway,  fixing the latest problems required cutting out two

Much mo' betta!

sections and replacing them with more durable parts that should have been used in the first place.  There are several more spots where this might have to been done also, but I'll wait.  The job required getting up on the roof several times, and re-learning how to glue ABS pipe and fittings.  So far it looks like I succeeded, kind of a Geezer macho high.

I mentioned last week my recent tendency to either play golf once a week or go to the gym, but not both.  Well, on Sunday Karen wanted to go the the gym and then on Thursday I also played golf with her.  Whew!  Note, this is in the context of my physical exertion of fixing the solar system.  I'm paying for this wanton exhibition of the geezer syndrome "brain-is-willing-but-the-body-says-WTF?!" with sore muscles, stiff joints, and extra naps.

Ok.  Off to market and beach.  Note -- no snow shoveling. Stay well.

The "C" Word, Spring Travel Plans, Long Johns

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

11/12/22

Aloha Guys  --

Neighbor's Tree Bling

Well, I see the mainland is getting a teensy preview of winter and that four letter word that begins with "s" and ends with "w.'  Here it got down to a frigid 65 degrees on Thursday night.  To avoid frostbite, I got out my sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt for the first few hours after I got up Friday morning.  How about you?   

On Wednesday I got the results of the biopsies on the skin growths I had cut off.  The one on my arm is just some kind of pre-cancer, but the one on my leg is a squamous cell carcinoma.  Fortunately we caught it early and the initial treatment is exactly what we did -- removal plus cauterization and scraping. If it comes back again I'll have Mohs surgery to get all the nasty cancer cells.  Gee, this getting older is such fun!  On a more positive medical note, today I'll see my retina doctor, and even if I have to have a shot, this has been a long time (3 months!) since the last one.  I don't think my vision in the bad eye has changed all that much, but the real indicator is the laser scan and it will be interesting to find out what it shows in the way of oozing.  Maybe I can go one more month, another new record!

I mentioned last week that we have made plans for a short trip to LA in early December.  This week we also made flight arrangements for a trip next spring to southern France and northern/central Italy.  These are two of our favorite countries and we've visited both of them a number of times over the years.  But it has been a long time since we were in either one and we're eager to return. Our plan is to fly into Marseilles and return from Rome.  Most of the time will be in northern and central Italy, but the first week will be in Provence and the area of France known as the Haut Var. We have spent a fair amount of time there, as well as along the French Riviera, but it is such a fabulous place we don't mind seeing (and tasting) it again.  Also, we know an expat living in Nimes that we may be able to get together with, and another in Menton, near Monte Carlo.  In Italy we'll start in the northwest area called Piemonte, around Turin and to the west where the Alps separate France and Italy.  We'll spend a few days  in Genoa,  then return to Tuscany and Umbria, staying in the towns of Voltara, Assisi, and Orvieto.  One goal near the end of the trip is to visit the festival of  Le Infiorate in the village of Spello, where each year the main street is carpeted with flowers arranged by local artists.  This is a trip entirely on our own and our plan is to travel mostly by car.  I'm making the reservations at hotels and mapping out the exact itinerary, and Karen has researched and made the flight arrangements and the car rental.  Both of us spend a lot of time doing this, but as I've said before, the effort is very educational and enjoyable.  In my case, I read guidebooks and research the internet to find out where we might want to go and what the attractions are, and within a specific town, what the accommodations are like, where they are located, and what other people have thought of them, including guidebook authors.  These days important issues have become things like parking, nearby transportation, and whether the hotel has an elevator.  By the time I'm done, I have really learned a lot, not only about the places on our itinerary, but also about the places I've rejected. You'll note I haven't mentioned destinations like Milan, Florence, Venice, Siena, Cinque Terre, etc.  This is because we've stayed in all of them on previous trips, so we've opted to focus on other places this time.

The radiology clinic that I mentioned last week is still closed down.  They've now admitted they were hacked but still haven't given any details about the nature of the problems nor when they might be resolved.  Seriously frustrating.  I suspect a ransomware attack, but if the clinic had been following best-practices regarding security and back-up, they would be recovered by now.  Given that ransom attacks aren't new, and that measures exist to both prevent them and mitigate their damage, it is simply no excuse to just blame the bad guys. 

On Thursday I went to Planet Fitness and Karen played golf.  Note that I'm on the alternate-week plan as far as the gym and golf are concerned.  No reason to overdo it, I figure.

I won't say anything about the election results, other than the observation that the overall outcome was mixed enough to make it a Rorschach test -- you can pretty much spin the outcome any way you want.  I have my preferred spin, of course, as I'm sure you do.

Off to market, beach breakfast, then to my eyeball exam.  Take care, stay safe, well, and warm.

Coffee Festival, A Golf Par"ish," Travel Plans, Clinic Problems

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

11/5/22

Aloha Everyone  --

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

No big house projects this week, just the usual whacking, trimming, and pest control chores.  Living in a sub-tropical climate is very pleasant for humans, but it also is ideal for other critters, too.  Co-existence requires routine control measures to keep the less desirable ones in check.  For instance, once a month or so I use an insecticide around the outside perimeter of the house to reduce the ant/cockroach/centipede/termite/mosquito problem that would otherwise develop.  We try to be reasonably environmentally conscious about this, but doing nothing would be a very bad idea.

This week is the annual Kona Coffee festival, which goes back to 1970.  It's a pretty big deal, with parades, a beauty contest, and a coffee cupping competition.  One event we've gone to in the past is held in the little artist's village near us named Holualoa.  Different coffee growers pair up with art shops and you can walk the main street tasting coffee and admiring the art.  We haven't gone for a few years, so we may stop by.  I've learned to go easy on the coffee, though.

Karen and I dropped off our ballots this week.  For us this a pretty easy task -- Hawai'i allows mail-in voting, as well as a few secure drop-boxes.  One of the boxes is at the Civic Center, right on the way to Costco, so it was a quick stop.  There aren't any big controversial issues this time, and the integrity of the voting procedure is very tight.  One of the candidates for governor, Josh Green, is a physician from our island and did a good job during the pandemic as Lieutenant Governor, so he's our favorite. He's also a rarity these days -- someone near the center. Otherwise the races are very local and thankfully focus more on competence and values that on identity politics.

I played golf this week with Karen and her usual golf buddy.  After my stellar performance on my last outing I was concerned I'd really blow it this time.  Actually, all three of us did pretty well, though my main moment of glory was a par on one hole -- actually it was par"ish" because I redid one stroke, which is legal under our group's rules.  I also got a couple of bogies, and most of the time played reasonably well.  The weather was gorgeous until the very end -- sunny and clear, pleasantly cool at that elevation.  Karen got a real par, and her friend got a birdie.  We finished all 18 holes and that effort made my usual afternoon beer taste extra good.

This week we finalized arrangements for a short trip to Los Angeles in December.  We're going to stay most of the time in downtown LA, something we've never done before.  It has a lot to offer there in terms of art deco architecture, museums, and some highly rated restaurants.  We'll then spend a couple of days visiting an old grad school friend who lives in Santa Barbara before returning home.  This is a whirlwind trip for us -- only about 10 days.  Besides being fun, we're going in part to kick up our airline miles to put us into a higher perk category for next year.  And these days you need all the perks you can get to make flying tolerable.

Finally, an illustration of the somewhat iffy state of our health care here is the sudden shutdown of one of the major clinics that does CTs, X-Rays, etc. About two weeks ago their computer systems that hold patient records and coordinate appointments crashed and still hasn't been restored.  I was supposed to have a chest CT as you may recall, but that is on hold for now.  I could go to the local hospital for the scan, but one of the main reasons for doing it is to compare the current results to the past scans I've had to track any changes, like the progression of my emphysema.  All those past records are with the closed clinic.  The organization has been suspiciously tight-lipped about what exactly happened and why it is taking so long to get the system restored.  Surely a medical facility with health information about thousands of people would have had a backup that would allow them to get back online almost immediately.  My geeky background leads me to suspect the organization was negligent either in securing the information or safeguarding it and they're scrambling to cover their asses from the legal fallout.  I'll keep you posted on this one.

Ok, off to market and the beach for breakfast.  Take care, vote while it still counts.

Getting Sliced & Shot, Pumping My Pecs

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

10/29/22

Aloha All  --

Our transition from fall to winter is continuing.  The snow birds are returning to roost for the season, the fall foliage is giving way to winter foliage, fewer repositioning cruise ships. and the coffee beans are nearly ready to harvest.  Oh, and the big box stores are pushing Christmas decorations.  Actually, that started a couple of weeks ago, well before Halloween.  I was going into Lowe's and found myself suddenly in a forest of artificial Christmas trees and an army of blow-up Santas -- on October 10th!  Geez. 

From This

One mark of early winter here is that our Plumeria trees stop blooming and lose their leaves. It doesn't exactly get drab here, though, because several other things start to flower during this period -- African Tulip trees, Silver Oaks, Jacaranda, Poinsettias.  One adjustment I have to make during winter is with the little flower arrangements we keep in our bathrooms and on the kitchen counter.  I usually use Plumeria collected during our morning walks in the neighborhood, but about now I switch to other flowers, most often

To This

the Pentas that grow voluntarily everywhere in our yard and bloom year around.  I like them because they're easy to pick, last a long time, and come in a variety of colors.

On Thursday we both got our flu shots.  We had to wait a few days because the pharmacy was out of the high-dose vaccine recommended for geezers and geezerettes. So far no big reaction. Also on Thursday I went to Planet Fitness for the first time in months. I did just a light workout to ease back into it, but even so my muscles are chiding me for laying off for so long. Karen played golf that day with her usual partner-- she got through 11 holes before rain and fog got them to quit.  I'm glad I didn't go this week, partly because of the weather, and partly because it saved me from the embarrassment and discouragement of doing far worse than I did last week.  However, I missed a very special experience of seeing not only the two white peahens that are often sighted on the course, but also a white *peacock* -- so far as Karen knows never before reported at Makalei.  It will be very interesting to see what kind of display feathers he develops this mating season.  I did a quick internet search and it's likely they will be all white, too. White peafowl aren't exceedingly rare, and maybe this new male will lead to more of them here.  I wonder what the regular peahens will think of him?

Both of us paid a visit to our dermatologist this week.  Karen went for her regular checkup, and I went to have a few spots checked out.  One was a mole on my leg that has come back after being cut off just before we went on our Eastern European trip. This time the PA not only cut it off but also fried the underlying tissue and scraped it away. Hopefully this will do the trick.  I also had a thingy cut off of my right forearm and a couple of spots frozen on my left -- she gave me the name of the ones on the left arm, something like Keratosis Halitosis.  She was much more concerned about the spot on my right forearm which might be a small squamous cell carcinoma.  She cut it off and it has been sent to a lab for identification.  All of these things are, of course, the legacy of a childhood without sunblock and a culture that made a suntan a desirable goal.

Ok, off to market and breakfast.  Take care. Vote while you still can.

 

Zero-Putt-Birdie, Volcano Duet

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

10/22/22

Aloha Everybody -- 

Looks like some of you mainlanders are getting a taste of fall. Our warm pattern has eased off somewhat, and we used our a.c. much less this week than last.  Good, thing, as our solar credit for the year was donated to Helco on Wednesday and we've started over from zero.

Makalei in Fall...

Last Sunday Karen's foot was improved enough that we went to the driving range and whacked a few balls, the first time in a couple of months.  We did well enough to go ahead and play on Thursday.  Karen's snowbird friend joined us.  She's also not been playing for awhile, so we were well matched.  Surprisingly, all three of us did very well.  The recent rain has made the Makalei course absolutely beautiful and the day we played was clear and cool.  We saw the usual resident bunch of peacocks, including the two white peahens, and we were treated to about 20 or more

A Standout

Nenes, who have returned for nesting season.  The best part for me was achieving the pinnacle of my golfing "career," a zero-putt-birdie on a par four hole!  This involved a rather amazing chip shot from about 30 feet off the green that rolled right into the hole! Damn!  It was almost like I knew what I was doing!  I did well on several other holes, too -- including 4 bogeys.  This performance will never be repeated, I'm sure, but it sure was sweet while it was happening.

You may have heard that Mauna Loa, our 13k foot volcano to the south, has been rumbling recently.  Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano in the world, and has erupted 33 times in the last 180 years. The last time was in 1984 and it will undoubtedly erupt again.  Although there isn't any direct danger to us because it's 100 miles away, it is a danger to Hilo and to smaller communities in the area.  An eruption is likely to take out the only road that circles the island and it would cut our internet and power links. You might think there would be plans in place to deal with this likelihood, right?  Sortakindamaybe. Mauna Loa is monitored very closely and starting last month there has been an increase in earthquake activity from the usual 10-20 to  40-50 per day caused by lava moving into system.  However, the scientists say that "The current increase in activity does not suggest that a progression to an eruption is certain, and there are no indications that an eruption is imminent."  Not sure that's very comforting.  Anyway, that means that at the moment we have two volcanoes doing their volcano thing -- Mauna Loa and Kilauea, which is still oozing lava at the summit-- now around 29 billion gallons since September of last year. That's a lotta lava!

Ok, off to market and the beach. Take care, enjoy your fall -- you know what's coming next.....

Using up Electrons, Good Eyeball News, Vaxed to the Max

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

10/15/22

Aloha All -- 

Hope you are all doing well.

Things are slowly getting back to normal (whatever that is these days).  Last Saturday my eyeball made me proud and passed its exam with flying colors!  No edema buildup at all, so I didn't have an injection.  My next appointment is in 4 weeks, which will be about 10 weeks out from the last shot.  It seems like this problem may at last be coming under control -- not cured, but something I can live with.  Now that the retina problem is less severe,  it might be time to consider cataract surgery.  My doctor recommends doing the problem eye first, mainly to see how it goes before risking the good eye.  He says the only extra consideration is that I should have a shot about a week before the cataract procedure to head off any leakage.  Other than that, future injections shouldn't be effected.  I did happen to think of one likely complication, though, that my retina guy and I didn't explore.  For the cataract surgery I'm sure they will flood my eye with numbing solution and therefore I'm likely to have a pretty rough time for 8-12 hours afterwards. Hmmmm.

Speaking of shots, Karen and I wound up having a reaction to the new booster after all.  The symptoms were the usual -- sore arm, joint aches for a few hours, feeling tired.  Even though our reactions were a bit more than those of other people we talked to, they were overall very mild compared to the previous shots. Anyway, we're once again vaxed to the max and glad to be so.

snowboots

This past week has been quite warm here -- afternoons have been in the mid-80's.  Given our current surplus of solar credit, we've had no qualms at all about cranking up the a.c. units in our study and in our bedroom at night.  At the end of the month our credit is reset to zero, so why not enjoy it while we can? Our contract with Helco starts over in November for the next 12 months.  I'm usually a little stingy until I can build up some credit again.

The Ironman dust is settling and all those firm, slim, bodies are starting to be replaced by our more normal snowbird crowd, most of whom are far from slim and trim. The two-day format caused so much disruption that there has been a lot of community push back about repeating it next year.  The problem is that the Thursday race requires many businesses to close because their workers can't get to their jobs while the race is using our one coastal road.  This is less of a problem on Saturday, when many have a day off anyway.  It will be interesting to see how this is resolved.

We've had a number of ships in port this week in addition to our usual Wednesday visit.  These are another sign of normality which we missed the last couple of years -- the ships are repositioning from their northern itineraries to the ones they do in the winter in the south and west.  Along with Ironman income, the last couple of weeks have been a much-welcomed economic boost for the businesses along the shore in town.

Ok, off to Farmer's Market and our breakfast picnic.  Take care and enjoy your fall. 

 

 

Aloha from ..... Home

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

10/8/22

Aloha Everyone--

Hope you are enjoying your early fall.

We got back a week ago Thursday from our 35-day trip.  The first few days were rough.  Our bodies were in Kona but our jet-lagged brains were somewhere else. A 12-hour time difference is difficult -- during the day your body thinks it should be asleep, and at night it wants to be active.  For me, though, the worst part is that I'm in a mental fog and unable to concentrate -- even fairly simply tasks seem extremely complex.

Anyway, we're mo' betta now.  It was a pretty good trip.  The river cruise was interesting, and the water levels rose enough that we were able to complete the whole stretch from Budapest to Regensberg.  However, we learned that we just aren't the cruising type.  There are certainly positive aspects to it, and we can see why so many people love it.  But it neither requires nor allows the kind of intimate interaction with a culture that we've found so appealing and rewarding over our years of independent travel.  There are no problems to solve, nothing that you are required to figure out, and no one you have to communicate with to accomplish something.  This, of course, is the appeal to many people.  But not us.

As I mentioned before, the cruise was actually only a minor part of our itinerary, and most of the time we were on our own as we drove through the Czech Republic and a bit of Germany, ending in Berlin. We definitely enjoyed this part of the trip, but we hadn't anticipated that the weather would turn against us.  For us Hawaiians it was c-o-l-d, often getting down to the low 40's at night and only reaching the high 50's during the day.  In contrast to my shorts and t-shirts that I wear here, I had to put on long pants, a t-shirt, a shirt (usually long-sleeved), a sweater, a fleece over that, a jacket, and a neck scarf.  And even then I was chilly most of the time.  There was also a fair amount of light rain that didn't necessarily make it impossible to sight-see, but certainly made it less pleasant.  Oh, well, this is part of travel that you can't really control, other than trying to time your visit according to seasonal weather patterns.

Parade

We got back just in time for the Iron Man Triathlon.  This is the first year since Covid that it has been held, and in order to deal with the backlog of athletes who had qualified for the last race, there are two days of competition this time  -- Thursday and today.  That extra day has meant additional disruption to the community, but we think it is worth it.  We volunteered to help with Monday's parade, as we have for the past several times, and it was fun to interact with so many people from all over the world.

Yesterday we got our special Covid boosters.  No huge reactions so far.  By the way, we were relieved that we were able to avoid getting sick on our trip, despite all the exposure.   Today I have an appointment with my retina doc.  I don't think I need an injection yet, but I'll find out for sure.

Ok, that's it for now.  We can't do our normal routine today because of the race,  but we may still be able to have a breakfast picnic at the shore.  If not, we'll just picnic by our pool!  Take care. Stay warm and healthy. Stay away from the crazies.

 

The Wheels on the Boat Go 'Round and 'Round

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

8/20/22

Aloha All --

This will be my last weekly email for awhile.  Our trip begins soon and I probably won't have time to keep you up to date, though if I can I'll send a travel summary or two as we go.

As you recall from last week, the low river levels on the Danube and the Rhine means that our river cruise may be more of a bus ride than the leisurely boat ride that many people have enjoyed in the past.

Nope

Previous boaters were fortunate to have done their travel in earlier times, because it is likely that these kind of conditions will prevail in the future.  Climate change will increasingly demonstrate its reality, and extreme weather patterns in Europe will be more frequent.  I think the golden age of river cruising may be about over, and that's one reason we've decided to go ahead with our plans now, rather than postpone the cruise in hopes conditions will be better at a later date. Besides, we already lost 2 geezer years of travel during Covid and we feel we can't afford to put this off any longer.  A final reason is that the river cruise is only about 1/4 of our itinerary -- even if it's a bust, we have lots of other experiences to look forward to when we travel on our own through the Czech Republic and Germany.

I saw my regular doctor on Monday and all is well, considering.  I did learn one disconcerting fact, though.  If you're over 77 insurance won't cover chest scans to screen for lung cancer, even if you were a heavy smoker for 40+ years and have emphysema, like me.  Also, if it's been more than 15 years since you quit smoking the scans aren't covered.  I had my last scan in 2019 and met the criteria at that time, but I don't now.  I told my doctor to order a scan anyway, and I'd pay for it myself. The only way to detect lung cancer early is with a scan -- if you wait until you or your doctor notice symptoms (like coughing, pain, etc.) your chances of living 5 more years are less than 50% and those years are likely to be hell as you go through aggressive treatment.  No thanks.  But note, this means that although it is possible to get good preventative care, you've got to have enough money to pay for it yourself.  Hmmmmm.

Speaking of medical matters, later today I have my retina exam and probably an eye injection. It has been 4 months since the last shot, a new record, and I might even be able to stretch it out a bit longer, but not as long as our trip.  My vision in the bad eye has deteriorated slightly, and an injection now will head off worse problems.  In this case my insurance has really stepped up and has covered most of my expenses.  Of course, my eyeball problem isn't life-threatening, whereas lung cancer certainly is.

Even though we have been busy with travel prep, Karen and I did manage to play 11 holes of golf on Wednesday.  I got one bogey and my putting was better, but my overall performance was a solid "meh."  Saw quite a few peacocks, including the two white peahens, but the males are looking pretty sad because they're losing their tail feathers, a process that takes time and before it is completed produces a rather pathetic bedraggled look compared to the glory days of those magnificent fans. Actually it's kind of endearing because I can certainly empathize.....

Next week we will celebrate our....ahem...55th wedding anniversary.  Wow! We'll be on the road in Ohio at the time, and we're planning on keeping it simple by getting together with a few close friends for dinner at a highly recommended restaurant in Cincinnati.  It seems particularly appropriate that we'll be traveling when we celebrate, because travel has been a major focus for us right from the beginning. We also will be celebrating the first day we didn't have to begin a new school year.  It's a treat to be traveling instead.

Ok.  We're skipping farmer's market today but we're having our last beach breakfast picnic before our trip.  Take care everyone.  Stay healthy, sane, cool, and unburnt.

Alarming News, Body Fluids, Double Whammy Workout

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

8/13/22

Aloha everybody!

A.c. still working?  How's that electric bill?  Ready for winter?  Geez.  You mainlanders are having a  hellish summer so far, and it's only the middle of August.  Here it's....better.  Pool is at 84d, p.v. system is doing great, even with our a.c., and we're still getting a reasonable amount of rain --- .85 " early in the week and a bit more last night.  As we say here, "lucky you live Hawai'i, bra."  I should note that there are drought problems to our north and even some wildfires, so we know some of your pain.

The saga of the missing alarm system continued this week.  We left off with the replacement being shipped but I was afraid it had gone astray.  Well, despite my misgivings it arrived Saturday afternoon, a mere 5 days after being shipped via USPS Priority mail.  I got it installed on Sunday and so far this week it has worked great.  The feature I like the most is that I can monitor the system with an app on my phone, and I can even arm and disarm it remotely.  If one of the sensors is triggered it sends me a notification of the exact time and which sensor it was.  The indoor sirens are painfully loud, and don't rely on a wired power source. If I were a crook I'd bail out quick. Finally, the monitoring service is no contact and can be started and stopped without much fuss.  All in all, this is a real improvement over our old system that I installed about 15 years ago.

The final part of the saga occurred on Wednesday, when the original order arrived.  In this case the shipping took 19 days.  The tracking information isn't clear, but my best inference is that FEDEX delivered it to the west coast, then it was put on a cargo ship to Oahu, then transferred by ship to Hawai'i, then delivered to our post office, then finally to us.  USPS, on the other hand, had the good sense to put it on a cargo plane in LA that got it here pronto. Anyway, I sent the original package back on Thursday with a label the company provided.  I just hope it went the same slow way it came..... This saga is, of course, a great example of the premium we pay for living in near-paradise.

On Tuesday I had my blood drawn and I peed in a cup for my routine 6-month checkup, which is scheduled for Monday.  Being the control freak and data hound that I am, I have the results posted online

Pee Flight!

and I go over them myself and compare the current results with previous ones.  Everything looks good, in some cases even better than last time -- bad cholesterol is down slightly, good is up, and my problematic sodium level has moved solidly into the normal range now that I stopped taking the diuretic and substituted a different class of drug. My bp is staying under control even though I've reduced the dosage of the two drugs I take.  As you know, I've got a few other physical problems, but these results, at least, are pleasantly positive.

On Thursday Karen and did an unprecedented double whammy workout -- Planet Fitness *and* golf in the same day.  I confess, though, that the magnitude of this might be a teense exaggerated, because we didn't actually play a round of golf, just went to the driving range and practice putting green for an hour or so.  Still, it was a busy day:  gym --post office -- Costco-- beach picnic -- golf -- pool.  NO naps! Slept rather soundly that night.

We're entering full-bore prep mode for our trip.  I did some heavy-duty pruning this week, and some house chores that needed to be done before we leave.  Next week will be even busier, since it's close enough to our departure that we can do our monthly routine gardening and house cleaning.  Also, we'll both get haircuts, I'll see my internist and my eye doctor (for a eyeball injection), and we'll replenish our travel medical supplies and toiletries.  Our current concern is that the dry weather in Europe has lowered the water levels in rivers, making cruise companies have to bus people instead.  We'll be on the Danube, and recent forum discussions have painted a rather dire picture.  Canceling at this late date is still possible but we're going to go ahead with it unless the cruise company cancels, and that isn't likely.  We've decided to be philosophical about it and just see what happens, realizing that we may be in for some on-the-fly problem solving (something we've had a lot of experience with over the years), and that this may be yet another travel adventure that has unexpected surprises.

Ok, that's it for this week.  Take care and look for the good things -- they're still out there, even if they are hard to see because of the negative stuff choking the air these days.

Termite Repairs, Under the Knife, Clubs for Sale

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

8/6/22

Aloha everyone!

Fires, floods, searing heat, viruses running amok, political extremism in both directions, wars, famine, intolerance, etc., etc., etc.  Time for something mundane and much, much, more important --- my week!

On Monday my handyman and I attempted to repair damage to a portion of the railing by our pool that was caused by termites (now dead, after we had the house fumigated). The railing has some vertical pieces

The culprits, now deceased

that the termites find really tasty, and rather than replace just those pieces we rebuilt the whole section.  This time, though, I used pvc pipe instead of the wood dowels that had been devoured.  Let'em try to eat THAT! Everything was going swimmingly until my handyman's nail gun stopped working.  We recessed until Tuesday, when he returned with a new one and we finished the job.  I still have to do some touch-up painting and caulking, but I should get it done this weekend.

This was also a week of some repairs to my geezer body.  On Wednesday my dermatologist sliced off a couple of hunks of skin on my right thigh.  These weren't cancerous, just "barnacles" as she calls them, and I've had them for years.  Recently, though, they became a nuisance because of their location -- one rather close to my private parts, another at the point where most of my shorts end.  The second one had gotten big, crusty, and itchy.  She's offered to remove them for quite some time, but I demurred out of modesty and cheapness (she doesn't accept insurance, like many physicians here).  Anyway, they're gone and I'm nursing the surgical sites, trying to prevent infection and promote healing. It occurred to me that these are the first pieces of my body that have *ever* been purposefully removed in my lifetime so far, except for tonsils and one tooth.

This was a rather physical week.  Besides the effortful repair work and body slicing, on Tuesday Karen and I worked out at Planet Fitness, and on Thursday we played golf.  Both of these in one week is fairly challenging for us these days.  The workout went fine, though the muscles didn't think so.  Afterward we bought a lemon grass chicken sandwich at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant and had a beach picnic. The golf on Thursday was at Makalei and unfortunately it was raining that day -- not so hard as to make us stop, just a light drizzle for much of the time which made it cold and uncomfortable.  We quit after 16 holes.  My playing matched the weather, i.e., lousy, and to top it off the usual bird sightings were way down so there wasn't a compensation.  Good thing I don't take this all that seriously.  I did get one bogey but on several holes where I usually do pretty well I did spectacularly badly.  Maybe next time.....

Our friend who broke her leg is now back home as of Thursday, much to the delight of the cats.  She doesn't have a cast or a splint, but she still can't put any weight on the bad leg for a few more weeks.  She's trying to get around with a walker and a mobile bench, which I'm sure is very difficult.  Fortunately she has help every day for most things, as well as a physical therapist who visits.  She seems very positive and determined to get back to normal, which is to her credit given the challenges she faces.  Again, this has been a sobering experience for her and for us, too.

The only other item I might regale you with is my difficulties trying to upgrade our house alarm system.  I ordered everything online and received notification that it had shipped -- but then it went into a black hole.  Somehow FEDEX lost the package!  I contacted the company and after a bit of back and forth, they agreed to ship another one.  A couple of days later I received another notification that the package was being shipped -- this time via USPS Priority Mail, which usually works well for us here in Kona. However, the notification was simply that the label had been generated and that USPS was waiting for the item.  They've been waiting since August 2nd and it is now August 6.  Hmmm. If USPS ever gets the package, it will probably arrive in just 3-5 days. IF and WHEN.  I put in the original order on July 22 -- this seems a bit long to wait.  I'll update you next week.  In the meantime, the old system works ok, so it's not like we're unprotected.

Ok, that's it for now.  Try to stay cool, sane, and healthy, despite the many challenges.

 

 

 

Playing With The Wind, Controlling Critters

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

7/30/22

 Aloha All!

How's that a.c. holding out?  Boy, the reports from the mainland these days are a litany of bad stuff -- record heat, fires, floods, high prices, shootings, shortages, etc.  My complaints about conditions here seem pretty mild by comparison, though some of our problems are the same as yours -- gas is high (but of course we don't drive very much), food prices have increased (but we don't have a family to feed), temperatures have gotten hotter (but we have our pool and most nights it cools off nicely).

On a more fun topic, Karen and I played golf this week at a different course than usual. Since I've never

Phew!

played at any course other than Makalei, I thought it would be an interesting contrast.  This one is further north, about halfway to Waikaloa. The name of it is Makani, which in Hawaiian means "wind." The name is appropriate, because it is situated near the gap between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, where trade winds pick up speed as they are funneled through from the east. The winds can really honk at times, particularly further north.  Fortunately it was pretty calm on Thursday, with just a pleasant cooling breeze.  The course is on a bluff at about 1200 ft. elevation, with views of the ocean, Mauna Kea, and a foliage-covered cinder cone on the side of Hualalai called Pu'u Wa'awa'a (say that fast three times).

There are many Jacaranda trees that line the fairways and in the spring when they bloom the course is very pretty.  Thursday, however, they weren't flowering, and the surrounding area of the island hasn't had much rain, so everything except the greens was very dry and brown.  It is also very flat compared to Makalei, and much more open.  Some people like this, I guess, but

It's there somewhere.

I much prefer the forested steep hills of Makalei. One of the major challenges of this course is staying out of the many water hazards, which isn't easy because on several holes the fairway slopes toward a lake or pond.  I did ok overall, getting two bogeys and a few good putts.  All in all, though, I'm imprinted on Makalei and I'm looking forward to returning there.

We're now getting close enough to our trip that we're starting to time our routine house maintenance chores so that we can do them again right before we leave.  One of my tasks is critter control, a necessary aspect of living in a climate like ours.  This week I sprayed the perimeter of the house with an insecticide that controls ants, cockroaches, and centipedes -- all of which were introduced by humans within the last 1200 years or so.  I do this about once a month, and I also spray weeds around the house and in the yard to keep them at bay. You might be wondering why I don't contract with a pesticide service for the bugs.  Many people do, but this way I can control the nature of the product that is used, and I can get just as good a result with much less expense.  Also, it really isn't hard, nor does it take much time, and being the control freak that I am, it makes me feel good.

Ok, that's about it for this week.  Off to market and beach breakfast picnic.  Take care and stay healthy, safe, and as cool as you can.

Big Swell, Digital Coquis, Covid Neighbors, Four $eason$

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

7/23/22

Aloha Everyone!

Hope you're surviving the heat.  This summer has certainly been "interesting," both on the mainland and here in Kona.  Our latest tweak from nature occurred last weekend, when a very large swell from storms far to our south (*not* the remnants of Darby, which only gave us a small amount of rain), combined with a

A Wet Wedding Crasher

higher than usual tide, produced some huge surf and great photo ops, which you may have seen on national news.  One was a wave that crashed over the top of a two story condo, and the other was of a wave crashing through a seaside wedding venue.  Spectacular! Dramatic! Awesome! Stunning! And very unrepresentative of what was in fact a rather limited event up and down our coast.  I drove along the shore the next day, expecting to see widespread devastation and destruction and saw...nada, bumpkiss, zilch.  Even at the house of our friends from Oregon which is 20 feet from the ocean there was no evidence that anything had happened.  So, boooorrrringggg.  Other than that, we've had pretty good weather, though it has definitely gotten warmer.  A few nights warranted our bedroom ac, but a few nights were actually quite chilly, getting down to our winter levels (high 60's).

One of my life's poignant moments happened this week when I cleared out about 125 of my 225 frozen coquis. It speaks to my pack-rat nature that I have kept every one of my hand catches over the past 4 years

Bye Bye!

in our freezer -- labeled with the date, location, and description of conquest.  The motivation was a mix of trophy-touting ego and compulsiveness about keeping data -- no doubt left over from my research years. Coquis are quite small, but hundreds of them start to take up a bit too much space.  Before letting them go I tried to see if anybody at the University of Hawai'i might be interested in the collection but I had no luck.  However, I have created a spreadsheet that contains information about each frog so I at least have a digital memory of each one.  In the long run this might be even better, because once I get all the data entered I can easily track things like the number of females and males over time, where the density has been highest, and how the number of catches has changed over the years, etc.  Fascinating, right?

On Thursday Karen and I had dinner at the Four Seasons Resort up north. We used a gift card that our friend gave me for taking care of the cats and for my birthday.  The restaurant was one I hadn't eaten at before called The Beach Tree.  Open air but covered, view of the ocean at sunset, beautiful decor.  Everything you'd expect in a $1700 minimum per night resort.  The food was excellent but absurdly expensive.  We've had meals at least as good for 1/3 the cost during our travels, with service and ambiance to match.  Honestly, without the gift card I wouldn't go there anymore.  Lots of people obviously have the money, though, including a number of families with 2-3 kids, because it was fully booked and the hotel has near 100% occupancy year round. Sigh......

The wife of my coqui-catching partner 2 doors down the street got Covid about a week ago.  She was fully vaxed and boosted, and so far has had a fairly intense but short-lived case.  He has self-tested every few days but so far remains clear.  This ba.5 strain is very contagious, no doubt, but note that although she is somewhat ill, he is not, which is likely due to their vaccination status that has given them protection.  We're still taking precautions, but it's hard to keep it up when few other people are doing so.  Given the odds that we would have mild cases, living semi-normally seems justified to us, thus leading us to go to restaurants, retail stores and even a movie theater last week when we saw "Elvis." We also worked out yesterday at Planet Fitness -- masked, of course.  The facility has very good ventilation and there weren't very many people, so we didn't come at all close to anyone else.  We'll see what happens in a few days. I've stockpiled a fair number of tests and will use them whenever it seems appropriate.  For instance, we had talked with our Covid neighbor last week so I waited a few days then did a test that was fortunately negative.

Our friend who broke her leg was transferred Thursday afternoon to a rehab facility in Hawi, way on the north end of the island.  She'll be doing physical and occupational therapy for at least a couple of weeks before facing the next challenge --- living in her house alone.  She'll definitely need help.  Her plight has been a real wake-up call, not only for her but also for us.

Ok, that's most of what's going on here.  Keep cool and stay away from crazies.

 

Good Eyeball, Birthday, Lack of Good Sense, Roof Gardens

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

7/16/22

Aloha All!

It was an interesting week here.  First off, my eye exam last Saturday went very well -- absolutely no sign of leakage and therefore no shot.  I'm now scheduled for another exam right before we leave on our trip in August. My doc and I agreed we will keep a low threshold and most likely I'll have an injection at that time no matter what.  That will be a new record between treatments, by far! Yippee!

Yesterday was my birthday, much less cause for celebration than my good eye exam.  I think I'm

Liquid Gold

Neighbor's "Garden".

somewhere around 35 or so.  I lost track after 21.  Anyway, I wanted to keep it quiet and low-key and so I celebrated with a couple of naps and a burger + good beer for lunch at a seaside restaurant. Oh, and for fun I did a minor repair to our irrigation system and *weeded our gutters.*  In our warm and wet climate if you don't watch it, stuff will begin to grow on your roof and suddenly you'll find tree roots dangling from the ceiling.  In this case it was a small sapling of some kind in one of our gutters, which required a quick and careful trip up to the roof to yank out.

Saturday our Miata suddenly developed engine problems, as in refusing to start (it would turn over, but not fire up).  It did start on the next try, and Karen drove it to the hospital to visit our friend who broke her leg last week while I went for my eye exam. Although it ran fine on the way there, the "check engine" light came on and it again refused to start when she tried to leave.  Fortunately it did start after another couple of tries when I got there, and we were able to get it home ok. On Monday morning I called our usual mechanic and although the shop had a full schedule, he said he'd try to work it in if I could get in to to garage.  It started one more time (whew!) and we dropped it off.  It turned out to be either a faulty cam shaft sensor or a crankshaft sensor, and they replaced both.  These sensors are what determines the timing of ignition (back in the dark ages this was done by something called a distributor).  Voila!  A mere $500+ and she's running great.  Despite this and a few other repairs, this has been a terrifically reliable car and we've had to spend very little to keep it maintained.

Finally, I guess I'll include as part of my birthday celebration the round of golf at Makalei that Karen and I

From Par to Bogey

played on Thursday.  Despite getting a bit wet (it was misting most of the round) I did pretty well -- two pars and a bogey.  It might have been 3 pars, but my par-putt was just a couple of inches short, one of those frustrations that might lead to broken clubs and lots of swearing if I took the game more seriously.  Saw lots of peacocks, including both of the white peahens.  The Nenes, though, have all left.  During the summer they fly to a different part of the island -- a minnie-migration compared to their distant relatives, Canadian Geese.

Weather-wise we've been getting less rain and more sun.  However, the remnants of Hurricane Darby are passing by to our south today and we are likely to get some moisture from it. Three times this week we used our new a.c. in our bedroom -- something we rarely do but have come to appreciate when the need arises.  We're definitely cooler than many parts of the mainland, though, which I see has been really cooking this summer.

Ok, off to market and the beach.  Take care.  Stay cool.