[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
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."
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| Mind if I smoke? |
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....
4 comments:
Dick, have you tried playing Connections? I like it better than Wordle because it requires more skill.
I find a beer helps with most things - here's to 2025!
I alternate stare and slate as my opening words for Wordle but unfortunately did not use stare on that day. I did get it in 2 which was very good. I’ve never had a 1.
Egg and I spent NY Eve huddled under blankets as the power went out around 5PM and didn’t come back till the next day. I expect 2025 to be a mixed year for me. Positive as I get stronger but negative for the political policies of the coming administration on the economy and the environment.
Coleen, we also do Connections. We do ok, but one of the frequent frustrations is getting two of the connections and then getting stumped on the third. The last one (4th) is sometimes a bit of a stretch, IMHO.
SS -- a great advantage of a dog is the warmth it can generate when you need it! The warmth comes with lots of unconditional love, to make it even better.
A -- I play my guitar every afternoon about 5 pm while sipping a beer. It's amazing how much better I sound as the beer gets lower in the glass!
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