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.