Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]
6/15/24
Aloha Guys l --
Last time I forgot to mention that Saturday was King Kamehameha Day. Festivities all over the state commemorate Kamehameha's
unification of Hawai'i, including one of our favorite parades of the year here. The parade features groups of horseback riders representing each of the islands -- an honorary Princess and her court. The riders wear dresses and leis in the island's colors, and the horses themselves are decorated with leis around their necks and sometimes on their foreheads, It is a uniquely local celebration and we enjoyed it this year, after missing it for the past few times.
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| Happy Horse! |
Well, at less than 400 miles and only 6 weeks old my Subaru Outback's a.c.has serious problems. It happened on Monday when we went to Costco. The a.c, was working, but it seemed kind of weak. When we started home the driver's side vents weren't cool at all and the passenger's were luke-cool. Naturally I wasn't happy about this. It was late in the afternoon so the next morning I called the Subaru dealership service department to make an appointment. I was expecting a few days out at the most but was told the first available slot was --- get this -- July 8th!! I started to unload on the young woman doing the scheduling but realized she was just doing her job -- apparently they are short staffed and several mechanics have been out with Covid. Still....... I decided to drop in on the sales department and complain. I at least got a sympathetic response, plus verification that this wasn't just dufus-geezer error in adjusting the settings. The salesman offered to try to get me in for service earlier, and to give him until the next day (Wednesday) to see if he could do this. Nope, the best he could do was suggest I take it to the dealership branch in Hilo, a round trip of 250 miles! In the meantime the a.c. has begun to work a little better but is still weak and obviously there is something wrong. Since there is no other Subaru dealer on the island, I have no alternative and will just have to wait until July!! Hopefully this isn't a portent for future problems with this car!
Continuing my tales of woe, I got my new prescription glasses on Monday but they don't seem to be much better. Then on Tuesday my retina doctor confirmed that there is edema buildup in my left eye. This was not a surprise since this is the site of the recent vein occlusion. My right eye also showed signs edema, also not too surprising since it has been nearly three months since my last injection. So, double shots for me. I got one in the left eye Tuesday and I'll get one in the right in two weeks. The reason for not doing both at the same time is that it's best to have one good one in case the other gets infected or has some other problem from the injection. My concern right now is that I have to renew my driver's license before the middle of July and I want to have the best vision I can so that I can pass the test. Hmmm. The challenges of Geezerhood never let up, do they!
Speaking of shots, later this morning we will have our Covid boosters. We wanted to do this before our trip, but also Covid is on the upswing here (like the sick mechanics mentioned above) and we want to be as protected as we can be. We know a number of people here who have had it recently -- besides our golf partner and her husband, my barber just contracted it and had to reschedule my haircut until next week. This is sobering because she has pre-existing health issues that make her super careful. I may start masking up in crowded or up close situations.
Our solar pool system is still not operable. The guy who can fix it is out of town until next week -- not sure why someone else couldn't do the job, but in the meantime the pool temperature continues to be tolerable because of our warm weather and because we cover it at night. This is another one of those problems that seem to be taking way too long to be corrected.
Ok, on that note of frustration I'll sign off for the week. Hope things are going well and that you;re dodging those tornadoes!
5 comments:
Smooth sailing
I remember how much my mother, Stan, and I enjoyed watching the King Kamehameha parade during one of our visits with you. I am looking at returning to Hawai’i sometime in the future. But this year I am off to Iowa, Oxford, and Chautauqua. I’m taking Stanley’s ashes to be interred with his parents, then Oxford to see the tree the Geography Dept has planted in his name, and finally Chautauqua for three weeks of lectures and classes in a lovely setting with evenings filled with music.
Dick, sorry about the Subaru AC problems. I’d be frustrated too. An 87 year old friend of mine just recovered from a serious bout with Covid. He came close to death. His wife did a yeoman’s job advocating for him and caring for him. And he is generally a healthy guy. I’d err on the side of caution. I still sometimes wonder how the devil we ended up with still another health problem that will most likely chase us until we die!
Hang in there Richard. I hope for successful and quick resolutions to your eye and car issues.
Richard, the AC issue is "minor" compared to controlling the health of your eyes. Best wishes for those injections continuing to control the problem. July 8 will be here before you know it.
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