Tow Truck, Travel Prep, Tight Buns

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

10/19/24

 

Aloha Everybody --

 

One thing I neglected to mention last week was that a clutch problem developed with Karen's Miata.  This was the same thing that happened a couple of years ago, where suddenly the clutch pedal went nearly to

The Car Ambulance

the floor without engaging the clutch.  Naturally this makes it hard to change gears.  The last time I was able to drive in 2nd gear to the garage, where the  mechanic   diagnosed  the problem as a bad clutch slave cylinder  -- part of the car's hydraulic system that controls the operation pf the clutch.  However, this time the loss of pressure made it impossible to drive,  Fortunately Karen made it home before the cylinder failed completely.  I made an appointment to take the car to my mechanic, and I scheduled a tow truck to get it there last Wednesday.  This was a novel experience for both me and the car -- I've never had to call for a tow truck before in my life. and the Mazda has never needed one.  Anyway, it went very smoothly.  The truck arrived on time and the driver expertly and carefully loaded the car onto a flat-bed truck.  The analogy to an ambulance seemed apt.  The clutch problem was fixed that same day. but I had asked my mechanic to also look at the driver's side window, which had a problem going down without sticking about six inches from the top.  We've lived with this for several months by applying pressure to the window as it goes down.  Since the car was already in the shop, it seemed like a good idea to have this fixed at the same time as the clutch.  However, Mazda no longer makes the needed parts  -- it's 21 years old, after all. But the mechanic managed to locate another source for them. He placed the order but they won't arrive before next week  So we're driving without a window in the meantime, looking carefully at the rain forecast.

 

It's only a few weeks until we leave for SE Asia, so we've begun getting the garden and the house ready.  Yesterday we got our flu shots but held off on the latest Covid boosters because it hasn't been  4 months since we had Covid while on my ill-fated birthday trip to Canada.  The renewal point will be about halfway through the trip, so we've decided to wing it and get our boosters when we return. That's going to be a busy time -- besides re-opening the house and whacking back the garden, I'll have my first cataract surgery the following week.  Should be "interesting."

 

The Iron Man athletes are arriving in force now.  This past week dozens were zipping along on their high-end bikes or loping along like antelopes at the side of the street.  As I said last time, they're easy to spot  -- no body fat and buns like bagels.   Yogurt has become very hard to come by in the stores, as has anything else containing protein.  Our usual mix of languages has been supplemented by several more, making for a very cosmopolitan  atmosphere.  Also, the average age of Kailua has dropped by 10-15 years, I'm sure.

Ok, I'll skip the medical carping this week..  Next week I'll see my cardiologist to go over all my test results (including data from the heart monitor, which I sent in for analysis on Tuesday), and talk about an appropriate treatment plan. I'll regale you with that next time.

Off to market and breakfast on the beach.  Fasten your mental and emotional seat belts  -- we're in for a bumpy ride for the next couple of months.