Missed Anniversary, Rejoining Afib Club, Barbers, Valves & Lava

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

4/5/25

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

I completely forgot to mention last week that I had an important anniversary on the day we got rained out at golf -- that day marked 31 years (!) since I quit smoking. Quitting was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I had been trying for years, managing at times to get down to just a few cigarettes a day, but I could never go 24 hours without smoking. I was finally forced to go 24 hours by a sudden bout of pericarditis, a condition that landed me in the intensive care ward overnight. Pericarditis is not caused  by smoking and it often doesn't recur, as in my case.  But the hospital stay gave me the opportunity to finally break my addiction.  My physician prescribed nicotine patches and an anti-panic medication that turned out to be key to quitting.  Anyway, after 31 years my chances of lung cancer have been greatly reduced, but the legacy of emphysema is still with me and will continue to progress. Kind of a "good news-bad news" thing....

In Geezer Gazette news, I have now been reinstated in the not-so-exclusive Afib Club.  From December 6 until March 12 I didn't record a single Afib incident, but in the last three weeks I've recorded 9 episodes, mostly brief.  As disappointing as this is, I wasn't very surprised, given that most people who returned to a normal rhythm after being treated with either drugs (me) or shock have Afib again within a year.  One thing for sure is that my decision to continue taking a blood thinner a was a wise one.  Afib can lead to blood clots that produce strokes, a very nasty outcome.  During my episodes -- recently as well as last summer -- I really don't feel all that bad, and may not even notice that I'm in Afib, which means I shouldn't rely on my experience as a guide to taking a blood thinner. I saw my cardiologist yesterday on a routine, pre-scheduled visit.  He was unconcerned about the return to Afib and said that as long as I don't experience severe symptoms or have a prolonged elevated heart rate, there is no need to change anything at all.  I'll continue with the blood thinner and with my heart rate medication, and of course I'll still check my rhythm.  But other than that I don't need to worry about it.  Gladly, I should add -- I have enough things to keep me worried.

One of the irritating aspects of getting older is that you find yourself outlasting more and more of the people you've come to rely on, like barbers, doctors. gardeners, handymen, mechanics.  This week I learned that my barber of 20+ years has to travel to the mainland to care for her ailing father, and also that the shop she has been using has been closed, leaving her without a place to work.  For many guys this wouldn't be a big deal, they'd just switch to a new barber.  However, I've struggled for most of my life with barbers who can't seem to handle my somewhat difficult hair (see my blog, Haircuts From Hell).  About twenty years ago I stumbled onto one that consistently is able to keep me looking at least semi-decent, including adapting to the challenges of thinning and receding that have accompanied geezerhood.  At the moment I'm not sure how this will work out, since I really needed a cut before our upcoming trip.  I dread the thought of going to someone new, but I may have to anyway.  I'll let you new how this very serious crisis plays out.

My house project this week involves replacing a valve in our irrigation system. I installed this nearly 25 years ago as part of my expansion of our low-volume automatic watering system.  I have about 7 of these valves that control water going to different zones.  They're connected to an electronic timer that programs the length of time and frequency of watering for each zone.  It sends a signal to each valve at the appointed time to open and then close the valve.  The one that I have to replace will open ok but it won't respond to the signal to close, so that the water keeps running.  Often this can be fixed by replacing a part called a solenoid on the valve, but I tried that and it didn't work. So I've brushed up on my skills for working with pvc pipe, and I will cut out the old valve and glue in a new one this weekend. I know, I could have hired somebody to do this for me, but where's the fun in that?  I figure that every time I get a chance to use a muscle or a brain cell I should take it to ward off that guy with the scythe.

Pele's 16th fountaining episode came and went this week. It was definitely a "sweet sixteen" event, reaching heights of over 700 feet.  Like the other 15 episodes, this one didn't last long and it has now completely shut off again.  I'd drive the 180 mile round trip to take a look, but I would likely be there during a pause.  Also, I should emphasize again that the closeup  photos are spectacular, but the nearest observation point is about 1.5 miles away.  This would be ok for a lava hound like me, but anyone expecting a huge all-encompassing eruption would likely be disappointed.

Finally, Karen and I played golf this week, and it was an interesting round.  I did much better than the week before, with a couple of bogeys and some truly amazing shots.  Karen and I agree, though, that our scores didn't reflect our performances.  For the first several holes, Karen outplayed me by far, yet our scores were very close.  Then I started doing better and we both were happy with how we were doing, but the scores didn't seem to match our happiness.  We also may have witnessed a golfing case of quantum entanglement, parallel universes, or a rip in the space-time continuum.  Karen uses bright yellow balls.  Other people do too, but most of us use white. On two occasions Karen whacked a ball into oblivion and we chalked it off as lost.  She shot again and the second time her ball went to the other side of the fairway, nicely hit.  When we approached we found two yellow balls next to each other! This happened twice during our round. Hmmm.

Ok, that's it for the week. Enjoy spring as best you can.  Dodge those tornadoes! 

Water Wing Golf, Security Light, A.C. Fix (?)

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

3/29/25

 

Aloha All!

 

Can you believe it? April is creeping up on us and April Fools' Day will be here next week.  Hmmm. Come to think about it,  every day is starting to feel like April Fools' Day.... Anyway, life lurches along, and here are some of the highlights of my week.

 

On Tuesday Karen and I played golf with our friend but it didn't go well.  After about 7 or 8 holes it started to rain. 

A Swimming Hole?

We seldom have encountered full-out downpours on the course, and a shower can often be avoided by skipping to a hole lower on the course.  Not this time.  We tried to keep going in the spirit of the tough-as-nails Scottish originators of the game, but we finally gave up and headed for the warmth and dryness of the car.  By the time we quit, the greens had turned to ponds, a great excuse for putting badly. We still had our lunch with us, so we drove down to the beach for a picnic. 

My house project this week was to replace a faulty security light, a simple task that of course wound up being a much bigger deal than it should have been.  We installed a couple of these on the outside of the house several years ago after we were robbed while we were away on a trip. The theory is that ne'r-do-wells trying to break in at night might be deterred by having a glaring light suddenly shining on them.  The light is motion activated by a sensor that detects infrared sources, like human beings, cats, and the occasional feral pig.  Occasionally the sensors go bad, which is what happened in this case.  The light would sometimes come on when it was supposed to, but often it wouldn't.  I went to the big box hardware store where I had originally bought the lights and got what looked like an exact replacement.  Same brand, same model, same style. Everything seemed like all I would have to do is unscrew the old light and connect the wires (power off, of course) to the new fixture.  Nope.  In the intervening years the company had changed the design slightly and it took an exasperatingly long time to figure out why the new light wouldn't attach to the old outlet box.  I finally realized the problem and got the job done, but it was a lesson in why you shouldn't take things for granted.  The new light works fine, and I didn't electrocute myself nor fall off the ladder! 

On Thursday morning I finally got my new Outback in to have the a.c. fixed.  Recall that just a couple of months after I bought the car last year the a.c. stopped putting out cold air.  The dealership service department is so understaffed that it took almost two months to have the problem looked at.  They recharged the system and it worked fine -- for another couple of months.  Same deal. I had to wait almost two months to get them to try to fix it again. That was in January.  The decision was that the evaporator core, the heart of the system, needed to be replaced. They once again recharged the refrigerant and it has been working so-so since then.  The next available appointment was this past Thursday, another two month wait. It took all day Thursday and a good part of Friday to get the job done.  It seems to be working ok at the moment, but being the skeptic that I am, I made a follow-up appointment for early June.  That way, if the problem returns I won't have to wait a long time to get it worked on again.  Geez I wish things would be less of an unnecessary hassle!

 

Finally, I should say we are going ahead with our plans to visit Yosemite National Park, despite the efforts of our newly appointed Oligarch-in-Chief to mess things up.  We've decided that this may be our last chance to see this uniquely beautiful place, and we're determined to make the most of it.  We have reservations in the park itself for 5 nights, plus reservations in the surrounding area for another five nights, before we fly to Las Vegas for four nights.  The Vegas experience will be an interesting and perhaps lethal contrast.  We have tickets to a couple of shows and reservations at a couple of nice restaurants. Should be fun.

 

Ok, that's it for now.  It's hard these days, but keep trying to find your Zen place.... Carpe Vitam .

 

Flamenco Dancing, Air Plants, Beach Birthday Party

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

3/22/25

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

By my current standards this was a busy week -- concerts, medical appointments, birthday parties, golf, gym & pool workouts, making travel arrangements, etc.  "Busy" doesn't mean interesting, however. I'll try to condense this so you don't doze  off.

 

On Sunday we attended a concert at the Kahilu Theater in Waimea. It has been a long time since we did this because lately the programs haven't piqued our interest enough to warrant the 40-mile drive there

Flamenco Vivo

and back. Also, most of the events are held at night, making the drive somewhat daunting. This performance was an afternoon matinee, however, and it was by a renowned dance company from the mainland called Flamenco Vivo based in New York and Durham, N.C.  They were terrific.  It was Flamenco, of course, but choreographed and performed in novel ways -- sort of like Modern Ballet compared to Classical. Afterward we had an early dinner with our friends visiting from Wisconsin whose daughter teaches at a private school in Waimea. All in all it was a great afternoon and well worth the trip.

 

On Tuesday I saw my retina doctor.  Same story as always, so I won't repeat it.

 

Happy Birthday!

Wednesday evening we went to a surprise birthday party for a friend of Karen's who is a member of the same women's organization that Karen belongs to.  It was held at a beach pavilion and had the typical Hawaiian elements:  lots of tasty pot luck food, a lei for the guest of honor, and Hawaiian music with Hula dancing.  It was a beautiful sunset that day, a perfect Hawaiian birthday present. Needless to say, we enjoyed it very much, partly because it reminded us of why we like living in this unique place.

 

It was also a physically active week (interspersed with naps, of course).  In addition to our daily morning walks we also managed to work out in our pool most days.  With more sun and steeper sun angle the water temperature has gotten up to a downright comfy level.  We went to PF on Monday, and played golf on Thursday.  Our golf buddy joined us on this round, the first time since last June. All of us did pretty well, though my performance didn't come close to last week's -- I only got two bogeys and no pars.  Still, all three of us had some very good shots, the weather was nice, and we saw about 20 Nenes and even one white turkey mixed in with the peacocks.  There was more pig damage to the course than last week, and we encountered one of the culprits as it crossed one of the fairways, a huge guy that would make a luau feast for many, many people.

 

I'll close with two more uniquely Hawaiian tidbits.  First, the volcano went through its 14th (!) spit-up since Christmas. This one lasted 28 hours and occurred in the same spot as all the others.

Hawaiian Daffodil

 It included a 7- hour period of fountaining that reached heights of 600 feet.  The second tidbit is about gardening. There are many unique plants that people here use in their outdoor landscaping. One is called an Air Plant.  These come in many varieties, and as the name implies, they don't need soil or water to live.  They grow very slowly and require absolutely no care at all, qualities I regard very highly, given the 24/7/12 growing season here. Some are very colorful at this time of year, and we have a few growing on the lava rock wall near our front door.  I've included a photo of one for your enjoyment. 

 

Ok that's it.  There's more but I don't want to overwhelm you -- that's probably being handled quite nicely these days by news stories about the country's political mayhem.  Here's something you might try that works for me. Close your eyes, click your heels, and repeat over and over: "There's no place like home,  there's no place like home, there's no place like home." 

New Glasses, Bogey Boogie, Skin Exam

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

3/15/25

 

Aloha!

 

I see on my weather app that it has been in the 70's this week in the Midwest!  Wow, talk about  a spring thaw!  Back in the days when we owned our apple orchard in Ohio, I got nervous if we had an early spring warm up. If the trees were in full bloom when a cold snap hit, a frost could wipe out most if not all of the year's crop. Our roller-coaster spring weather in Ohio made this a real possibility.  We didn't breathe easy until after the frost-free date, which these days us in late April, but back 30 years ago it was mid-May.

 

My Geezer Gazette news this week is mixed.  On Monday I saw my optometrist and got a new prescription for glasses. My current uncorrected acuity tested fairly good (well, compared to my

Good Luck!

previous tests),  20/60 in my worst eye and 20/40+2 in my best eye.  However, a comparison of my eyesight with and without the new correction prescription showed just a little difference.  In other words, my vision can't be totally corrected with lenses that just refocus the light.  I'm sure this must be hard to understand for those of you who wear glasses with good results. But my problem is something far deeper, and as the optometrist verified yet again, it's not due to refraction errors, cataracts. glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal edema. or any obvious problem with my optic nerve. I will certainly order the new glasses, though, because they will help a smidge, and these days I'll take every smidge I can get. You'll be glad to know I'm also going to shut up about my problem until I have something definite to report. 

 

The other piece of Gazette news is actually good.  I had my 6-month skin exam on Thursday and my skin passed with flying colors (except of course for the sags, bags, wrinkles, bruises, and age spots). Usually I  have to have several pre-cancerous thingies frozen with liquid nitrogen, the legacy of growing up in Colorado and poo-pooing sunscreen. But this time my dermatologist couldn't find anything to zap, and believe me she looked hard everywhere. I'm still on a 6-month schedule because of my past history, but I'm ok with that.

 

Staying with the good news, Karen and I played golf on Wednesday and we both did great, with very little fantasizing or applying Kon-a-Lago rules. In fact, it was one of my best rounds ever. I got a total of five bogeys and one par!  I don't have any explanation for this stellar performance, and I doubt if I can keep it going, but the moment was very sweet. Before you ask, let me remind you that we don't keep a total score because we often don't play all 18 holes. However, we do keep track of strokes on each hole so that we can compare this round with previous ones. My eyesight is good enough to see the ball as I hit it, but then I have to rely on Karen to spot where it goes. On long shots I can usually feel when I connect well, and there is also a certain sound that goes along with a good whack.  Both the feeling and the sound are very satisfying. We saw quite a few peacocks but not as many Nenes as we usually do. This might just be because they are now nesting out of sight. We'll look for them again next time.

 

Ok, enjoy the warmth.  And remember that honesty, integrity, and compassion are still admirable qualities, despite their absence in prominent people. And reality, truth, and facts really do matter.  Take care.

 

Look & See, 77" Techno-Toy, Pool Pump Meltdown

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

3/8/25

 

Aloha, Fellow Life Travelers!

 

Two of my newsy notes this week have to do with vision, so I suppoise they qualify as Geezer Gazette items.

 

First, Karen's visit to her optometrist resulted in a new prescription that will get her to 20/25 in one eye, and 20/30 in the other.  This is good news, though before cataract surgery she had even better

Choices, Choices

eyesight and didn't require glasses except for reading. It is true that she has less trouble with fuzzy lights at night, but she isn't sure that the small improvement is really worth it.  At least with her new prescription she will be able to function well, including being my extra pair of eyes.  Both of us are cautionary tales regarding cataract surgery, though it is still true that 90% of the time people have improved vision afterward, often experiencing a dramatic improvement. But...Not...Always.  

The second bit of news this week is that my Costco online order for a new t.v. was delivered (shipping took a total of 4 weeks).  This 77" bad boy is a full 12" bigger than our old one, a geezer godsend.  It arrived late Wednesday afternoon and I spent Thursday reading the instructions and prepping it to hang on the wall.  We wrestled it up onto the wall bracket Thursday afternoon.  I then spent time tweaking it to get it to talk nice to my audio-visual receiver. My AVR handles all the input from our Roku, our DVR, and the Bluetooth media apps on our tablets and phones.  It was working fine for that night's t.v. viewing.  Definitely better!  By the way, my approach to Smart TVs is considered odd by many people, because the first thing I do when I hook them up is lobotomize them by not letting them connect to the internet. Instead, I set them to accept input only from my AVR.  I don't do this because I'm ignorant of the technological power of Smart TVs. Rather it's because I am fully aware of what they can do, and for this reason I regard these devices as potentially posing huge privacy and security risks.  The convenience, access, and control they offer are certainly appealing and for many people these features far outweigh the potential downsides of giving a t.v information about your viewing habits, search preferences, biometric patterns, links to other devices and your usage patterns of them (as in, "Siri, turn on the oven at 5 pm, start the dishwasher at 3am, open the garage door in 10 minutes"), etc.  It is far easier for me to control and limit the surveillance activities of my AVR, including shutting it off entirely from the internet except for specific functions that I choose.  Anyway, I'm very happy with the new tv's display performance.  I'm also pleased with myself for the successful installation, given current physical challenges.

 

The last bit of news this week is about one of those home-ownership headaches.  For about a week I've noticed our pool circulation hasn't been quite what it should be. Then one morning early in the week I discovered that the pool pump failed to start at its scheduled time.  Without the pump running the system doesn't filter the water nor send it through our solar panels. I did some troubleshooting of my own to rule out something simple, like a tripped circuit breaker or a timer malfunction. Nope.  I called my pool guy and asked him to stop by and take a look.  His assessment was that it might be a bad capacitor that pump motors like these need to get up to speed when they are first turned on.  It took him a couple of days to locate a new one, which was not easy given the age of the motor.  This type is being phased out by newer energy-efficient designs, a great idea that is irrelevant in my case because our pv system generates more that enough electricity to run my current pump. Anyway, it didn't help.  Still dead. It was looking more and more like I'd have to buy a new motor.  However, nobody on the island sells a direct replacement, so I'd have to have one shipped from the mainland, a lengthy and expensive proposition.  Of course, I could buy one of the available energy-efficient motors available locally, but this would require re-engineering the whole system.  Shees....  My pool guy, to his credit, kept troubleshooting and eventually spotted a problem in the timer connections that are inside the control box.  One of the circuits hadn't been properly grounded when the timer was installed.  Over time the lack of grounding caused one of the terminals to actually melt, cutting the power to the motor in half!  This might account for the slower circulation and eventually the lower power wasn't enough to start the motor at all.  These control boxes are common and easy to find locally, so we were able to test this possibility pretty quickly and inexpensively.  Voila! As of late yesterday afternoon we're functioning again so that today we should get some heating from the solar panels as well as having the water filtered.   Ah, home ownership.

That's the news for this week.  Stay warm, stay healthy.  Stay centered.

20/20"ish," Iffy Travel Plans, String Theory Putting

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

3/1/25

 

Aloha, All!

 

March already!  Can you believe it?  Seems like just yesterday we were heralding cooler weather and

March Magnificence

those wonderful changes of seasons!  Now there are some welcome signs of Spring showing up on the mainland that will provide you some relief from  your rather brutal winter. To get you even more in the springtime mood, here's a photo taken Thursday of some "spring" flowers in our garden.  Of course, these were blooming most of the winter, too. Enjoy your early Spring, but keep in mind that Nature can be fickle....

In the Geezer Gazette this week the big news is that Karen finally got her glasses after 3 weeks of shipping time.  These were to be a quick stop-gap until her eyes stopped changing after her cataract redo last month. We expected them to arrive in about 5-7 days.  The delay unfortunately means the prescription is not quite right.  They do help a lot, and almost get her back to where she was before cataract surgery, but not quite. In addition to only giving her 20/20 "ish" vision, she also has a problem in that the glasses distort things so that objects seem to be leaning away from her.  She has an appointment with her optometrist on Tuesday for a follow-up and hopefully he will be able to assess what the problem is.  My left eye is now 1 month out from my own cataract surgery, and my vision has stabilized enough so that I can confidently say the overall improvement has been ......meh.  I notice a bit of improvement in my acuity but the overall problem that began last July is still with me.  A neurologist may be able to identify a cause but I'm now not hopeful there will be any cure.  My own diagnosis is that this may be a case of irreversible  Optica Geezerosis -- i.e., being an old fart.

 

In other news. we have been making plans for a short bucket-list spring trip to Yosemite, a National Park that we have never visited.  We actually booked a room in one of the hotels inside the park almost a year ago.  Now it is getting close enough that we want to firm up our plans.  Of course, our current administration's efforts to make the country great again may mean we have to cancel, since staffing National Parks is now deemed a waste of tax money.  So far we've not heard anything from the hotel and so we're going ahead with our plans, which are to fly to San Francisco, rent a car (Karen may be the driver) and travel to the park from there.  After 5 days of communing with nature, we are thinking of returning to SF and flying to Las Vegas, though our brains may explode from the contrasting experiences.  I'll let you know how the plans progress.

 

Karen and I played golf on Thursday.  It went pretty well. I got two bogeys and Karen got a par. These weren't manifestations of fantasy golf, either.   Karen's par and one of my bogeys occurred on our last hole of the day, a par three.  We both hit fabulous tee shots that landed on the green, though mine was considerably farther from the hole than Karen's.  Karen nearly putted a birdie  There were a number of other shots during the day that were surprisingly good, though there were also quite a few that required some fantasy adjustments.  As we were playing I thought of a new putting technique that I may try next time.  It involves using a bit of glue to attach a string to the ball, looping the string around the pin, and then pulling until the ball drops in the hole.  Perfect putt every time!  Notice, this requires no skill, no ability, no knowledge, and no ethics.  It fits nicely with the new administration's strategy for making appointments to high offices.

 

Pele is still pulsing, with the eleventh episode since December 23 ending this week after a brief period of fountaining that lasted about 12 hours.  Unfortunately these pulses have occurred close enough together to keep our vog levels high along our coast. If you've seen video of these recent episodes, you might think that the whole island is being inundated with lava.  However, as I've pointed out before, the active vents are actually in a very small corner of the summit caldera.  Video can be real but very misleading at times.

 

That's it for this week. Stay warm, enjoy your thaw. And as always, Carpe Vitam.

Bad Paint, Sore Arms, Magic Act

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

2/22/25

 

Aloha Everybody!

This week I learned that old house paint is not like wine --- it doesn't get better with age.  In fact, it's more like humans with their definitive expiration dates.  Last week I wrote that I was going to paint my new 

A Vintage Year

stair railings to match the walls.  Being the miser that I am, the paint I used was left over from a project a few years ago. Usually I write the date I bought  paint on the can, but this time I didn't, so I'm not sure exactly how many years ago that was. At first the paint seemed fine -- it mixed well and went on smoothly.  However, after several hours I found that it was still tacky and had a rough feel to it even though it was supposed to be smooth semi-gloss. I waited a couple of days but it didn't get any better.  Finally, I  bought a new can of paint, sanded down the railings and painted them again.  BIG difference!  Lesson -- don't be a cheapskate when it comes to home projects.  It will only cost you more work.and money in the end.

 

My second mea culpa of the week involved our Valentine's Day Covid vaccinations.  Covid is very low here at the moment, so there was no urgent health reason to get the latest boosters yet. However, we felt that getting them not only added to our protection against the disease, it was also kind of a political act -- a message that we believe in the overwhelming body of scientific data that shows vaccines are safe and effective.  "Shows" here refers to the extremely high probability of positive outcomes and the very low probability of truly serious negative ones. Of course it is very common to experience short-term discomfort after receiving vaccines, a sign that our immune systems have been successfully tricked into manufacturing antibodies for battling the real disease from the vaccine's harmless virus fragments.  In this case both of us had surprisingly little reaction at first.  Then, shortly after I published last week's missive, we both got slammed with sore arms, achy muscles and joints, and  in general a feeling maybe like being it by a Mack truck. This lasted into Sunday but by afternoon we were well enough to do a light workout at Planet Fitness.  Lesson:  a little pain can lead to a great gain, and even make a statement against political idiocy.

 

We didn't play golf this week, but we did go to the practice putting green and the driving range at Makalei.  The putting went ok, although whoever designed the practice green made it devilishly difficult -- a chance to practice getting frustrated as well as your putting skill. Driving practice was a different story. The Makalei driving range is on a slope with a great view of the ocean about 5 miles away.  The horizon is low in your visual field because of the downward slope. and this means that a well-hit ball is immediately high enough so that it is against a sky/cloud background.  If you have good eyesight this isn't a problem.  If you don't, like Karen and me, then it is as if the ball has instantly disappeared.  If you're lucky you may see where it lands, but that requires knowing the trajectory of the ball, another eyesight-dependent task.  I found that if I stood directly behind Karen I could usually see where her ball was going, and likewise she could see mine from behind.  I suspect this arrangement was somewhat humorous for other golfers to watch.  Also, it was a good thing the price is based on the number of balls you hit and not the time it takes to hit them. We followed our duo magic act with a lunch at Patricio's Taqueria down near the shore, a tasty reward for our efforts and angst.

 

Ok, off our our usual Saturday morning activities. Stay warm. Stay calm. Smile.

  

Game Day Surprise, Golf Champ, Stair Railings, Pele's Afib

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

2/15/25

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

We usually look forward to Super Bowl Sunday -- but we don't watch the game.  I'm not a big football fan, and although I enjoy some of the ads, it is easy to see them online without the surrounding hoopla. Instead of watching the game, we take advantage of the fact that Super Bowl Sunday is normally one of the two days of the year when it is blissfully quiet at Costco and we can get our shopping done with minimal hassle. (The other day is when the Ironman Triathlon is being held.)  However, this year we were surprised to find lots of people in the store who apparently were like us -- indifferent to the BIG game.  Any ideas?  Was this match up not interesting?  Was the billed half-time entertainment not as alluring as usual?  Gosh, what an intriguing mystery. Well, maybe not. Anyway, we still managed to finish our shopping fairly quickly, so it wasn't really that bad.

 

Toll Taker

On Wednesday I played more Fantasy Golf, and I had a stupendous, stunningly great, super-stellar, fabulously fabulous round.  In fact, I fantasized  so well I may soon qualify for the annual Seniors Invitational Fantasy Championship Tournament, to be held this year at some very fancy club in Florida, I believe. We saw lots of strutting Peacocks again, including one that barred the cart path to the first hole, convinced the cart was a very large and attractive hen. Karen got a par and a couple of bogeys.  I did not. As the day went along it clouded over and I got really cold. Back in my new Subaru I hit the seat warmer button and that helped speed my recovery a lot.

 

Before

My big house project this week was installing a couple of inside stair railings. These flights of stairs both have only a couple of steps, so the building code doesn't require railings. I put them on as an aid to maintaining balance going up and down -- a geezer precaution.  Anyway, since they are very short flights of stairs, the big challenge was finding appropriate wall studs to anchor the brackets securely.  I was able to do it,

After. Mo' Betta.

but it meant shifting the beginning and ending points of the rails a bit.  After painting the rails to match the walls, I think they will look pretty good and be functional as well.  I only had to employ the SAM technique (Structural Modification and Adjustment) once, when I used a file to make up for a slight error in the angle of the end cut on one rail.

 

The big Geezer Gazette  news this week is that .....there is no news.  Yup, a whole week without a single medical appointment!  Karen was supposed to receive a pair of glasses in the mail that should help her distance vision greatly, but USPS has delayed delivery for over a week. Lately this is not uncommon here and is mainly due to the shipping method being changed to ocean cargo.  This doesn't happen every time, but when it does we may not get something we ordered online for a couple of weeks.  Other times a package of the same size arrives in 3-5 days. It's yet another of life's puzzles. My eyes seem a bit better, but are still very far from where I wish they would be. My heart is still beating -- regularly as far as I can tell from my home ECG measurements. 

 

Speaking of hearts, Valentine's Day was low key.  We went to lunch at one of our favorite open air restaurants along the shore in town.  Then as a gesture of mutual affection we went to our local pharmacy and got our latest Covid booster shots.  We were glad to get them before our newly appointed Secretary of Health decides to ban vaccines ...... I also ordered the latest Apple Air Pods as a present for Karen.  These are upgrades to her current pair, and they include a hearing aid feature.  Pretty romantic, eh?!

 

In keeping with the heart theme, Kilauea's current eruption is exhibiting an Afib pattern .Since December 23 there have now been nine times when a couple of vents in the summit caldera have spewed lava in fountains as high as 200 feet for hours or days, then shut off.  All is quiet right now but the volcanologists are predicting this will happen again in the next 3 to 6 days.  This pulsing pattern is something we haven't seen in our 25 years of living here. However, we have observed that Kilauea is unpredictable and always changing.  Frankly, this is one of the things I really like about living here-- the island is very much alive and in a highly visible way.

Ok, that's it for this week.. Be good to each other and to yourselves.  As always, Carpe Vitam.

Fantasy Golf, Mississippi Cruising, Eyeballs

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

2/925

 

Aloha Folks!

 

Life lurches along here.  Karen and I rebelled  against the forces of Geezerhood in two ways this week. We realize these victories are only temporary wins of skirmishes in the grand battle, but they sure felt good.

 

First, we decided that vision problems be damned, we wanted to return to Makalei golf course, even if it meant driving the cart into a tree, a sand trap, or a water hazard.  We have really missed Makalei.  The last time we played was in August, nearly six months ago. You may remember the reasons we like Makalei are that it is not only 

Gorgeous George

beautiful and unique, it is home to many peacocks and, in season, flocks of endangered Hawaiian Nenes.  This is prime breeding season for peacocks, when the males grow their long tail feathers and make spectacularly handsome displays when they fan them out to impress the females.  We saw a number of these "Gorgeous Georges" including a pure white fellow that is about 2 years old now, and is just hitting his prime.  It was a real treat to witness his display near the 18th green. We also saw a number of Nenes, the vanguard of the migrating flock that uses Makalei as a breeding area in late winter and spring.  It is against the law to interfere with Nenes. since they are endangered.  As a result, they have become quite comfortable around golfers, blissfully unaware of the danger of an errant ball.  In fact, a couple of them calmly watched Karen tee off on one hole, where she had to move from the designated strike zone to reduce the risk of whacking one of

Karen's Golf Fans

them.  My intent for this outing was to just enjoy the course, not to take the game itself seriously,  I accomplished this by playing "Fantasy Golf," where the score is what you imagine it might have been if you had hit the ball well. My performance included quite a few "pretend-pars," "bogus-bogeys," and "fake-fours." This kind of remaking reality seems to be the modus operandi of our newly-elected administration, so I'm sure it's ok, right? Actually, Karen and I had some very good shots, which amazed us given how long it had been since we played.  Karen sank a 20-ft putt, I had some very decent tee-shots, and we both got a real bogey on one hole.  Not bad!  Oh, and despite our visual challenges we only lost a couple of balls and we managed to avoid driving into any water hazards.

 

Our second act of rebellion was to make some long-term travel plans. We were reluctant to do this until the uncertainty of our health issues was reduced, but we've now decided that it's better not to wait.  Things may not get very much better, and they might be worse.  We want to continue traveling as long as we can, though this may mean tailoring the style of travel to our physical reality. Accordingly, this week we booked an October river cruise on the Mississippi, from Memphis to New Orleans.  Cruising is not our preferred way of traveling -- on principle and in practice. (You may recall that we had a so-so experience on a Danube river cruise a couple of years ago.) This Mississippi cruise seems more promising because (a) it isn't physically demanding, (b) it is a small ship (180 passengers). (c) the boat is a charming replica of an historic stern-wheeler, (d) the itinerary includes a number of stops at historic places we've never visited, and (e) it ends in New Orleans, one of our favorite cities with fabulous art, architecture, and food (like the yummy alligator cheesecake, which we love).  Our current plan is to couple this trip with our yearly visit to Ohio.  This is most likely to be after the cruise to give us a better chance of seeing some fall color in Ohio.

 

The Geezer Gazette news this week is all about eyeballs.  On Monday Karen had another follow up exam for her PRK procedure.  The news wasn't good.  Although her eyes are healing nicely, her vision is no better and maybe even a little worse than it was before the PRK.  The "good" news is that her distance vision in both eyes can be corrected to 20/20 with glasses  Prescription reading glasses will help for close-up vision.  The bad news is that she didn't need glasses at all before the cataract surgery. Hmmm.  On Tuesday I saw my retina doctor and as expected I had an injection in my right eye (the left was the one that was operated on last week).  I knew I needed this because my acuity dropped considerably in the last week or so.  As usual, a few days after the injection my acuity has improved noticeably.  Finally, yesterday morning I visited with my surgeon for my 1-week post-op followup. Healing is going well, and my acuity has improved a bit over what it was before the surgery.  However, the problem I've had since last July is still with me. I can cope with it better with increased acuity in my one eye, but I'm afraid this may be with me for the duration.  I'll give it a month then try to see a neurologist.

 

Ok.  Sorry for the delay in getting this to you, but my schedule these days is centered around medical appointments.  Hope you are surviving your winter  The weather this year is crazy, just like everything else.  Remember, when things are tilting to the extremes, the best place to keep your balance is in the center.  Carpe Vitam.

 

Pool Dollies, A.C. Woes, Eye Surgery

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

2/2/25

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

Sorry this is a bit late, but on Friday morning I was in Hilo having my second cataract surgery. My vision made it difficult to write until yesterday afternoon.  By the way, the surgery this time went well again, and my first post-op exam early yesterday morning showed things are going ok. It will now just be a matter of time to see how much, if any, this has helped my vision. So far it seems like there is a chance for a slight improvement because even after this short time my vision has not only bounced back to what it was before the operation, it is a smidge better.  This is my "good" eye and as I've mentioned before, it has a better chance than my other eye to benefit from the cataract surgery.  ll keep you posted with future  Geezer Gazette updates.

 

On the day of my surgery an unusually strong front moved through the state from the northwest to southeast.  It brought high winds and lots of rain -- when we got home Friday afternoon my rain gauge showed a whopping 4.8" total accumulation.  We had some minor flooding and a lot of leaves and other debris in the pool that I had to clean up, but in general we escaped the flooding and wind damage that occurred on Oahu.  Oh, an interesting thing that happened was that schools were closed the day of the storm -- a "rain day" instead of a snow day like we had on the mainland.

A big event early in the week was taking my new Subaru Outback in to finally have the a.c. serviced.  You may remember that last year it went kapoofy just a couple of months after I bought the car ("kapoofy" is a technical term meaning "stopped putting out cool air").  The dealership here has such a lousy service department that it took 1 1/2 months to get the mechanics to try to fix it. They couldn't find any leaks in the system, but the refrigerant was nearly gone.  They recharged it and everything worked ok for awhile. Then last fall the a.c. went out again, and again it took 1 1/2 months to get it looked at. This time they found a leak in the evaporator core -- the main guts of the system, and recommended that it be replaced, This is a very expensive and extensive repair that takes a couple of days.  Fortunately it will be covered by my warranty, which is the good news.  The bad news is that I can't get it done for another 2 months because the service department is so backed up! Later in the week I received one of those automated email surveys asking me to evaluate my recent service department experience.  Guess what I said.....

 

Top & Bottom

On a more positive note, I finished a fun house project that I'm kind of proud of involving a design improvement for my new pool cover reel .  The old reel that I replaced had casters attached to the end stands that allowed it to be moved and turned easily.  I thought the new stands had that feature too, but it turned out that instead of swiveling casters there were rollers that only allowed movement in one direction.  This is worthless for us, because when we store the reel for the warmer months we maneuver it to the side of the pool deck, requiring a change of axis.  I solved this problem by making a couple of dollies from left over lumber and attaching swivel casters to their bottoms.  When we want to move the reel, all we have to do is put the stands on the dollies.  By the way,

Patent Pending

these dollies are readily available in various sizes for moving furniture and other heavy objects, and I probably could have just bought a couple of pre-made dollies that would have worked ok.  However, by making them myself I was able to custom fit them to the reel stands. There's also the fun and challenge of problem solving, using power tools, and stroking my aging male ego.....

 

 Take care everyone, Stay warm, stay unburnt, and keep clicking those Ruby Slippers together in case this is all a dream.....

 

Cloud Forest Walk, Eye Poke, Pool Cover Reel

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

1/25/25

 

Aloha Everybody!

 

A Special Place

Last Saturday after I posted my blog, Karen and I joined a group walk through a special place here in Kona -- a "cloud forest."  The forest is on the side of Hualalai, the active volcano perched above our town. "Active" means still alive, bound to erupt again, but snoozing right now.  Not to be confused with Kilauea 90 miles to the south. The forest is a band of vegetation at about 3000 feet elevation. It's called a cloud forest because warm moist air from the ocean travels upslope during the day and meets cooler air at higher elevations, condensing to form clouds.  Trees and other vegetation enhance this process because their respiration further cools and moisturizes the air.  In places where the land has been cleared the condensation either occurs further up the mountain or not at all.  As you might imagine, a

Nature's Artwork

cloud forest is a cool, dim, and drippy place.  The plants love it.  Our guide, Norm Bezona,who is the originator of the 30-acre cloud forest preserve where we hiked pointed out trees that were 100 feet tall but only 40 years old, and plants that in other situations would be small house plants but here were big as Buicks. This is a rich and dense ecosystem in which everything is trying to find its niche and most have the resources to pursue this vigorously.  It was a fun and fascinating adventure to be sure, but I was glad to return to the warmth and sunlight nearer the shore.

 

Not much Geezer Gazette news this week.  Karen's eyes continue to improve but the progress has slowed somewhat.  My eyes are still not so good.  I saw my retina doctor on Tuesday and had a shot in my left  eye, the one that will be operated on next week.  I return in two weeks for an injection in the other eye. My heart continues to behave itself, even on reduced medication.  I feel much better lately, with a lot more energy and stamina.  That's not to say I still don't love a good nap. Or two.  Or three.

My big house project this week was replacing the solar cover reel for our pool. The reel is how we roll back the solar blanket that we use at night to keep the water warm and to reduce evaporation. A reel consists of two stands with cranks that turn a long metal tube between them that spans the width of the pool  The end of the solar cover, which looks like thick blue bubble wrap, is attached to the tube with straps. By using the cranks we can roll up the cover for storage during the day.  At night we just pull the free end of the cover and it unspools from the tube as we walk the length of the pool.The reel I replaced came with the house, so it was at least 25 years old. I repaired the cranks on the stands several times, but parts kept breaking as the plastic/resin became brittle from intense sunlight all those years.  I decided it was time to replace the whole thing and found one online that didn't cost an exorbitant amount to ship to Hawai'i.  The two crank assemblies were pretty easy to put together, but the tube took more work.  It came in several sections, some of which were slightly smaller and fit inside the others. The total length is adjusted to fit the width of the pool by sliding an appropriate amount of the smaller sections into the larger ones.  That part was easy.  To fix everything in place, the instructions called for me to drill holes through both sides of the assembled tubes and thread bolts all the way through.  It was surprisingly difficult and time-consuming to line up the holes and get the bolts in place.  A couple of times I had to resort to the handyman's last-ditch approach which I call the "SMA" technique -- Structural Modification and Adjustment.  This usually involves a hammer, saw, drill, or file and is often accompanied by an incantation of 4-letter words. Some people refer to SMA as the "Stand back, I'll make it fit"  technique. In this case I drilled the holes a bit bigger than specified and the bolts slipped right into place.  Hah! I also employed SAM to fix a problem with one of the cranks hitting the stand as it went around.  This took just a little modification with a file applied judiciously to the spot where the crank hit the stand.  Voila!  The project is now completed and the reel system works much better.

Ok, off to market and to our usual beach breakfast picnic. If there's enough energy left over, we may stop at Planet Fitness,  After that, I plan to return home for one of those naps I mentioned above.  Finally, things may be crazy right now, but that doesn't mean you have to be one of them.  Carpe Vitam.

Cataract Re-do, Heart Beats,Fire, Ice & Political Mayhem

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

1/18/25

 

Aloha All!

 

Well, I'd say I'm being vindicated in my negative premonitions about 2025.  Let's see,  we've begun the year mourning the death of one of the most ethical and upstanding ex-Presidents while our President-elect -- a man with neither of those qualities -- threatens to invade other countries, jail political enemies, and is filling high offices with conspiracy theorists and people of questionable competence.and/or obvious conflicts of interest. Tthe year has also started

with horrible devastation from the wildfires in LA, while at the same time historic winter storms are bringing crippling snowfall and cold temperatures to large sections of the country.  Gee, this is a lot  of fun!  What's next!? And this is only the third week of the year!

 

So far there are no disasters here in Hawai'i. Pele went back to sleep and the vog lifted for a while, but around the middle of this week activity started up again.  Unfortunate;y this has brought back the vog, too. Yesterday we had southerly winds, which kept most of the SO2 on the windward side, particularly near the volcano and in Hilo. This is an unusual pattern, because the winds normally are from the northeast. The current activity is the fourth time there has been a pause followed by flowing lava  -- kind of like my nightly routine of getting up to go to the bathroom. We're having a mild and dry winter, though there has been some really honking surf along our side of the island.  Winter storms far to the north and west are the cause -- local weather has nothing to do with surf conditions. In the summer. storms shift to places far to our south and east, so the other side gets high surf while our waters are generally calm. The "cool" temperatures have slightly curtailed our exercise routines. Although Karen and I have been getting to the gym fairly often, we have chosen not to work out in our pool because the water temperature barely matches our ages......

 

There are two main developments to report in the Geezer Gazette.  First, a week ago we flew to Oahu so that Karen's eye surgeon could attempt to correct the poor vision that resulted from her cataract surgery.  I should emphasize that this surgeon is highly regarded, extremely competent, and very experienced, so the problems Karen is having can't easily be blamed on lack of credentials.  In fact, it was the surgeon's reputation among a number of friends here in Kona that led Karen to select her even though it meant ktraveling to Oahu.  Anyway, the corrective procedure is called PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) and Karen had it done to both eyes a week ago yesterday.  PRK is like LASIK in that it uses a laser to reshape the cornea and refocus where the light strikes the retina.  However, in LASIK an incision is made in the outer portion of the cornea so that it can be folded back while the laser ablates (i.e., fries, zaps, blasts) some of the underlying tissue, which causes it to shrink and stretch into the desired shape.  In PRK no incision is made. Instead, just the outer cells of the cornea are removed (with alcohol, interestingly) then the laser reshaping takes [lace in the same way as  LASIK.  A very large contact is then placed over the cornea to protect it for a few days. PRK is often used for people who have previously had LASIK, as in Karen's case. The surface cells that are removed grow back fairly quickly but it can take a couple of weeks before clear vision returns.  On Tuesday she had the protective contacts removed by an optometrist here in Kona who works closely with the surgeon. Yesterday she went back for a more thorough exam to assess how the healing was going. The verdict was good, though she still can't see terrifically well yet. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this will work.  I'll let you know. By the way, this PRK fix-up was free, which was certainly welcome given how expensive the original surgery was.

My cardiologist had to reschedule my appointment until yesterday to go over the results from my heart monitor because he had laryngitis earlier in the week.  The results showed No Afib during the monitoring period!!  This matches my own daily measurements for the last month and a half, and it means I'm going to have to resign my membership in the Afib Club -- at least temporarily.  The return to normality is particularly good news because it occurred without any more of the arrhythmia medication, which I stopped taking over two months ago. That leaves only my blood thinner and a  low dose of heart rate drug, and my cardiologist felt I could stop the blood thinner.  Wow. what a positive development!  It certainly helps take the edge off the negativity 2025 has brought so far.  The plan is for me to continue self-monitoring, and if my AFib returns I will contact my cardiologist and resume the blood thinner.  Otherwise, I'll have a blood workup in March and meet with him to review the results.

 

That's it for now.  Stay well, stay grateful. And as always, carpe vitam.

Whoopie, It's 2025, Wordle in 1, Waiting Game

 [Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

1/4/25

 

Aloha Folks!

 

Well, 2025 blasted its way onto the scene despite my wishing we could skip it.  As I mentioned last time, I didn't set off my usual Costco pack of fireworks because I didn't feel much like celebrating the beginning of '25. Instead we had a quiet dinner with a bit of champagne and then went to bed at our usual time. All

Mind if I smoke?

was well until  midnight.  At the stroke of 12 it sounded like a war zone all along our coast for about 45 minutes.  For some reason, this year there were far more big and loud fireworks, including aerials. These are supposed to require permits and special precautions for storage and detonation, but I seriously doubt there was much compliance. On Oahu police seized a container ship bringing in 75 tons of illegal fireworks, and on New Year's Eve an explosion of fireworks stored at a house killed 3 people and seriously injured 20 others. Hmmmm. Although this was certainly a tragedy, it seems to me there is an element of ironic humor in people being killed in an explosion caused by their mishandling of celebratory fire bombs. For more my observations of questionable taste, see my blog "I'll Be Right Back" -- And Other Famous Last Words."

 

Pele provided her own New Year's fireworks show as she continues to throw up plumes of lava. This has led to some pretty bad VOG along our coast this week -- and some people with respiratory problems are having difficulty. Just to remind you --- VOG is formed when SO2 from the volcano combines with water vapor (H2O) and dust particles in the air to form a visible haze.  Part of VOG is actually sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and definitely not something that is healthy to breathe. There are air quality monitors all along the coast and so far they've been mostly in the "ok-but-elevated" levels. The good news is that our normal downslope breezes at night push the VOG out to sea to give us a break. Somehow the VOG problem seems fitting for the beginning of 2025.....

In more pleasant news,  this week Karen solved the Wordle puzzle on the very first guess.  I've done this once before also, and it is a low probability but much hoped for outcome for those of us who do this regularly.  Her start word was "stare." She is now using a different word as her first guess, and again has selected one that has not been a previous solution. There's no requirement that you do this, but it gives you a chance to repeat your feat.  In fact, Wordle will accept certain words that it considers legitimate words but that are not in the list of possible solutions.  I rotate among three start words, two of which are of that type, and one of which is a possible solution, That way I have at least a small chance of winning in one again.

In the Geezer Gazette this week it's mostly about waiting.  I have to wait until January 15th to get my heart monitor results.  In the meantime, I've now reached one month with only a couple of AFIB readings -- all the rest are 'Normal." I feel pretty good, well enough to get back to working out at the gym several times. Unfortunately we haven't been exercising in the pool this week because we've had cool nights and cloudy/rainy afternoons that have dropped the water temperature below our comfort level.  On the eye ball front, it has now been three weeks since my cataract surgery and my eye is not much better, if any at all, than it was before. This is a bit frustrating and disheartening, naturally.  I sure hope I have a better result with my other eye, but I'll have to wait until the end of the month to find out.  Speaking of cataracts. next week we will be going to Oahu to see if Karen's surgeon can co something to improve her eyesight, which as you recall is much poorer after getting her new super-duper lenses. Note, we'll be there Friday and Saturday, so there won't be a missive next week.

Ok, that's it.  Be happy. Well, at least try. A beer might help....