Stress Tests, More Bird Sitting, Retirement Anniversary

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.]

5/31/25

 

Aloha Everyone!  

 

I'll start with some positive news. Today is the 25th anniversary of the last day of teaching for both Karen and me, and tomorrow will be our first day of retirement anniversary.  Amazing it has been so long.  Neither of us regrets a minute of retirement, which has allowed us to have so many enriching and enjoyable experiences.

 

I continued my bird sitting duties this week because my neighbor had even more complications with his ablation procedure.  Recall that this was supposed to be a simple, routine operation done on an out-patient

Ultimate Techno-Toy

basis.  All seemed to go well and he and his wife were preparing to return to Kona when his heart suddenly started beating very fast. They quickly returned to the hospital's ER, where his heart stopped altogether.  They jump-started him, admitted him to the hospital, put in a temporary pace-maker and then in a few days a permanent one to keep his heart from stopping again.  His high heart rate was controlled by heavy-duty drugs that can restore a normal rate and rhythm.  So far so good,  He was ready to be discharged a week ago today.  However, they did one final test to make sure the pacemaker was working ok. This is called a stress test, and compares your normal heart function to what happens when you exercise or do something that puts a burden on your heart.  The results suggested massive blockage in one or more arteries, with a survival rate of 1-2 years!  The treatment for this is usually to install stents in the arteries or even open heart surgery to fix the problem.  The stent procedure involves running a catheter with a camera on it into the heart and directly examining the blood vessels. This is called an "angiogram" in medical jargon, the definitive test for determining blockage.  He had to wait in the hospital for 3 days until this could be scheduled. It showed....Nothing.  No blockage at all.  No stents needed, no open heart surgery.  No dropping dead in the next two years.  In short, the stress test result was a false positive, which apparently is not that uncommon.  Indeed, another friend of mine who lives here had a clean angiogram last week after a stress test had suggested blockage.  Anyway, my neighbor finally escaped from the hospital on Wednesday and is now back home after a 10-day stay.

 

Having two friends within a week who experienced nasty outcomes from a stress test got me a wee bit uptight about my own test, which happened on Thursday.  Being the wimp that I am, I was getting very worried that this would lead to a round of unpleasant tests that might delay my hernia surgery. Now that I've decided to go through with it, I want to get it done!  I was greatly relieved when my ticker passed with flying colors!! No problems at all. The test was done on a treadmill with me wired up to a very fancy ECG machine which also tracked my blood pressure.  The goal was to get my heart rate up to about 85% of my age-adjusted maximum, which for me is 120 bpm. This didn't take very long to achieve, thanks in part to my emphysema.  My cardiologist didn't spot anything problematic, much to my delight. Yippee! I celebrated with a quick dip in the pool, lunch, and a nice deep nap. 

 

That's all the Geezer Gazette news this week, but of course there will be more next time.  Carpe Vita.

Bird Sitting, Cold Recovery, Hurry Up and Wait

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.]

5/24/25

 

Aloha Ohana!  

I'm finally on the down side of my cold symptoms, just a nagging cough that brings up goo-balls from my chest, and I still don't have much energy. The cloudy wet weather we've still having has been very conducive to naps because it gives me a great excuse to snooze since I can't work outside.  This past week we got about 2 inches of rain in almost daily installments.  By covering the pool at night we've managed to keep the water temperature in the low 80's, so the few times we've been able to take a dip between rain showers haven't been too bad.

 

One focus of my week was taking care of our neighbor's two exotic birds, a rose cockatoo and an African grey parrot.  The neighbors went to Oahu for a couple of days.so he could have an ablation procedure to

Cockatoo

treat his Afib.  Bird-sitting is pretty easy compared to dogs.  There's no walking and poop bags involved, for instance.  It was just a matter of giving them special food a couple of times a day and cleaning up the bottoms of their cages.  We've known the birds for years and they seem to know us, too.  Both are in their 30's,  raised by our neighbors.  Both are very friendly, but they have very different personalities.  The cockatoo doesn't talk but loves to dance.  The African grey is very talkative, and tends to be a real show-off.  Anyway, my duty was extended to most of the week when my neighbor had complications and wound up having to have a pacemaker installed yesterday. In addition, the African grey became ill and my neighbor's wife flew home then returned to Oahu with the bird to get treatment from a special bird veterinarian there. BTW, flying with a bird is not a simple matter.  Most airlines no longer allow them in the cabin, and only a limited number of cargo hold slots are available.  Also, the bird has to be inspected and cleared by USDA.  If all goes well the neighbors and the bird will return late this afternoon.  Talk about a stressful week for them!

 

In stark contrast to my neighbors' whirlwind week, I'm in a "hurry up and wait" mode with several pending issues.  For one thing, we're waiting on parts to fix the transmission in Karen's 22 year-old Miata.  The problem has been diagnosed and the mechanic is standing by to do the work as soon as the parts arrive, ordered two weeks ago.  Also, I'm still waiting to see an endontist about my broken tooth. That should happen week after next. And Im waiting to take the stress test my cardiologist wants in order to clear me for hernia surgery in June. It's not uncommon here to have to wait for a resolution to some problem, of course.  But I seldom have this many important  things hanging at once.  Patience, Grasshopper....time is but an illusion.

 

Ok, off to market and a beach breakfast picnic.Take care, enjoy your Spring.  

Beach Birthday, Nursing a Cold, Cancelled Stress Test

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.]

5/17/25

 

Aloha Guys!  

This wasn't exactly a pleasant week here.  For one thing, the weather has been downright sucky -- grey, cool, and rainy. Since we returned it has been this way, and the locals are grumbling -- at the most we might get a day or two of this kind of weather, but this is way beyond the  norm.  My PV system is taking an extended snooze and even the hot water solar has needed a supplemental boost several times to give us warm enough water for showers.  One positive result is that I've been putting our garden irrigation on hold most of the week because we have been getting more than adequate rain.  Of course the plants love this weather, including the weeds, but conditions for working in the garden have been wet and muddy most days.  

Another thing detracting from our usual pleasant conditions is that I've been nursing a cold all week. I had

Nastius Culpritis

a slight cough last Sunday but I was able to ignore it.  By Tuesday, however, I was feeling downright crappy.  I haven't had a cold in years and I forgot how uncomfortable one can make you feel -- achy, drippy, lethargic, and toward the end a nice chest congestion that settles in for a few days.  BTW, I know this is a cold and not Covid from the negative results of 4 self-tests.  Actually, the two times I've had Covid the symptoms weren't as bad and didn't last as long as this. Maybe my cold virus antibodies haven't been activated in such a long time that they were asleep on the job.  My system is loaded with Covid antibodies from all my vaccinations and they headed off the virus early and more completely. Also, it is likely I have a  cold and not flu because I don't have a fever. But it doesn't really matter -- crappy is crappy.  Of course, my stress test had to be rescheduled from Thursday to two weeks out, May 29. This should still be in plenty of time to get my clearance for my hernia surgery in June.  My life is increasingly and depressingly revolving around scheduling medical procedures.  Damn!

 

In more pleasant news we celebrated Karen's birthday on Sunday with a low key picnic dinner of Thai takeout on the beach just north of town.  My cold hadn't fully developed yet, so it was an enjoyable outing.  Karen told me she didn't want anything from my usual go-to categories of gifts, so I had to get creative -- a new serrated sickle for gardening (her old one was very dull) and a deluxe personalized sharpening of her favorite pair of hand pruners.  Romantic, right?!!

 

A final piece of Geezer Gazette news is also pleasant -- I saw my retina doctor on Tuesday and didn't need a shot.  Very little edema in either eye, low pressures, new lenses are staying in place.  My acuity is stable (not great, but workable) and my new glasses seem to be helping a smidge.  I'll take it.  Next appointment is in a month, and by then I may need shots, but for right now there is no need.  Yippee!

 

The 22nd episode in Kilauea's lava fountain show started early yesterday morning and ended 10 hours later.  This was a good one, though short, with lava spouting up to 1000 feet for a brief time before backing down to 500 feet.  Like the previous 21 episodes, this one has ended, but the volcano is probably recharging for the next one.  No one knows how long this unusual pattern will go on, but so for it has been pulsing like this since December 23.

 

Ok, that's it for this week.  Remember, morality, ethics, and integrity aren't mythical qualities, though many prominent people seem not to have them...... 

Carpe Vitam.

 

 

Waterfalls, Roulette Wheels, 800 Frogs, & A Broken Tooth

 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.]

5/10/25

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

We returned from the mainland last Saturday evening, after flying from Las Vegas to San Francisco and

then Kona.  Overall, it was a very good trip.  Recall that we began in Yosemite for 5 nights. We really enjoyed  our time there. It is a uniquely dramatic and beautiful place.  Our lodge was very close to Yosemite Falls, and we could see them from our room. At this time of year all of the park's many waterfalls were in full "gush mode," which made for some very picturesque hikes. The weather cooperated and every day was sunny.  I survived the temperatures (50's -60's) pretty well though at night it got down way below my comfort level.  The chaos we feared we might encounter because of our Oligarch-in-Chief's rampages didn't materialize.  The first couple of days were crowded, but that was over Easter Weekend and included an admission-free day.  After that we didn't have any problems.  High season this summer might be a different story, however.  

From Yosemite we went north to Calavaras County (as in Mark Twain's story about jumping frog contests).  Highlights included getting a close-up look at a classic steam locomotive that has

been used in many Western movies and t.v. episodes, like Gunsmoke, Back to the Future, and Little House on the Prairie. I'm very enamored with steam engines and so this was a real treat.  Unfortunately the weather turned against us and it was wet and cold for a few days, including the day we took a 2-hour walk through Calavaras Big Trees State Park, where we got up close and personal with many Giant Sequoias, some of which were nearly 2 thousand years old.  The temperature when we started was 37d and there was frozen white stuff on the ground.  I was pretty frozen myself by the end.  One tree in this park is a sad tribute to human ignorance, greed, and hubris.  It was discovered by Augustus Dowd in 1852, and was the biggest tree he had ever seen --300 feet tall, 25 feet in diameter and 1200 years old.  So he did what any red-blooded nature lover in those days would do --- he cut it down and made the stump into a novelty dance floor! Had this magnificent tree not encountered Homo Sapiens Idioticus it would now be the largest Sequoia in the grove, according to arborists.  Of course, the grove itself wouldn't still be standing if  the people of California, acting through their state government, hadn't prevented its loss to logging and other commercial interests.

 

From hugging trees and watching waterfalls we flew to Las Vegas, the de-evolution capital of the world.  We stayed four days and enjoyed a couple of shows and a couple of excellent dinners, including one by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck that featured great food and a view of the Bellagio fountains.  We also gambled a bit, though our tightwad tendencies made this very low stakes and we neither won nor lost very much.  One thing I did lose, though, was part of a tooth while having a light meal at Caesar's Palace. The irony is that although I didn't lose much gambling I may wind up paying big bucks because my dental insurance is very limited in covering this kind of thing.  On Tuesday afternoon I got an assessment by my dentist, and he recommended putting on a crown.  This will take at least a couple of more visits, plus

arranging first for a root canal at a different dental facility.  What a hassle. We noticed several significant changes in Las Vegas since we were there eight years ago.  For one thing, it is much more expensive.  Rooms, meals, and minimum bets are all higher than we remember.  Covid killed the cheap buffets, of course, and few have come back.  The new resorts are grander and bigger than ever before and some of our old favorites, like the Mirage, are being re-branded and refurbished.  The Mirage is now the Hard Rock, complete with a huge guitar being built in front -- not as classy as we remember the Mirage being, but definitely more iconic. Oh, and the de-evolution machines are now bigger and brighter, with wrap around screens and stereo sound, programmed with even more hypnotic and stupefying sound effects.  Four days in Vegas was fun but about all we could handle.

 

There is a fair amount of Geezer Gazette news this week, besides my unexpected visit to the dentist.  Monday I saw my Optometrist for a check on my prescription.  Both eyes have changed enough that I've ordered new glasses that may get me to 20/30 using both eyes. That's good news indeed. Tuesday morning I consulted with a surgeon about my hernia.  He verified the problem, acknowledged my issues of age, Afib, medications, etc., and recommends a laparoscopic procedure to do both sides at once.  The surgery is scheduled for June 18, but first I have to get clearance from my cardiologist, who wants me to do a stress test, which will happen next week.  I really like this surgeon.  Although he seems to be about 13 years old, he also seems knowledgeable, competent, and personable  This helps a lot with my wimpiness about getting sliced and diced.  

 

Finally, I caught my 800th coqui frog this week!  The honor went to a big female who was about to have a hot date with a male who was calling loudly below our bedroom lanai.  I hand-caught the female, but the male had backed into a deep hole in the house foundation and I had to spritz him with citric acid. I'm not sure if I got enough on him to put an end to his singing career because he shot out of the hole and disappeared.  Anyway, the female is now a coqui-cicle in the freezer.

 

Ok, that's my report for the week.  Hang in there.  Roller coaster rides do come to an end eventually. Carpe Vitam!