Car Surgery, Eyes On Hold, Golfishness

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.]

7/26/25

 

Aloha Folks!

 

In earlier missives I've noted that it takes patience to live in paradise.  Everything takes longer and is more difficult to accomplish than on the mainland.  This is partly due to the mellow, laid-back attitude of those of us who live here. Another is that there is a shortage of goods and service providers compared to the mainland, leading to delays in obtaining everything from root canals to auto parts.  My wife's 2003 Mazda

Yikes!

Miata developed a transmission problem that required parts that had to be ordered because they weren't available here. We patiently awaited their arrival for weeks because they had to be shipped (literally "shipped") from foreign suppliers. My guess is that a mechanic on the mainland could have obtained them in just days.  Anyway, they finally arrived and the car went in for surgery early Wednesday morning.  This is a major repair that requires removing the transmission and disassembling it to get to the problem. It took 1 1/2 days and a bank loan to finally retrieve the car on Thursday.  Despite its age, Karen loves the car and won't part with it, no matter what the cost, so it was definitely worth it.

 

In other news, I saw my retina doctor on Tuesday and there was no sign of significant edema in either  eye. Good report, except for the possibility that it might flare up soon -- scheduling a follow-up too far out might miss nipping the problem in the bud.  Treating either eye now isn't advisable, because administering the shots too close together can actually cause worse problems.  So I'll return in two weeks for another exam. As you might guess, I have just about memorized the eye chart, making assessments of my acuity pretty much worthless for deciding when an injection is called for.  The only test that is really informative is a laser scan of my retina called an OTC (Optical Coherence Tomography). It produces a detailed image of the retina that can be viewed in layers and on edge, like a CT scan. In my case it shows precisely how much edema there is and where it is.  Since it is objective rather that subjective like the eye chart test, it is much more diagnostic for the need for an injection.  And it is quick, painless, and has no ill effects. The eye chart test is painless, but it is slow and frustrating.

 

Yesterday Karen and I got back to Makalei, after a couple of weeks off.  We were joined this time by our frequent golf buddy, who just returned from a family reunion on the mainland.  The weather was very

good, with several periods of sunshine and no rain.  We even saw some mother peacocks with babies in

Peacock Paradise

tow, 4 in all.  I again did mostly chip shots and putting, but upped the number of them and even tried a couple of more distant shots.  It went pretty well.  I'm trying to gently exercise my abdominal muscles since they  haven't been used much for almost 6 weeks.  On the last hole of the day I decided to go all out, including a tee shot that was surprisingly and pleasingly very good -- in fact, I wound up getting a PAR for the hole!! Next week I may try to play at least some of the holes for real (well, Kona-a-Lago real).

 

Ok, that's about it for this week.  Off to farmers' market and then a beach breakfast.  Stay cool if you can, and consider that showing compassion and kindness doesn't necessarily mean that you condone someone's behavior.  Carpe Vitam!