Ships, Shots, & Eye Drops

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.]

10/4/25

Aloha Ohana!

 

This is the time of year that cruise ships reposition from their northern itineraries (like Alaska) to their winter southern routes (like Tahiti).  Many of them stop in Hawai'i on their way, or do a few mainland-to-Hawai'i runs before they concentrate on southern cruising.  This year has been unusually busy for our little port, and this past week we were visited by half a dozen ships in addition to our weekly Wednesday visit by our permanently based around-the-islands ship. We also had the unusual situation of having two ships anchor on the same day -- probably a real strain on our small pier facilities  Also unusual was that twice a ship stayed overnight -- they usual take off around 5-6 pm. I'm sure this has made the town merchants, restaurant owners, and tour operators very pleased.  Between the thousands of ship passengers and the Ironman people, business along the waterfront must be booming.  I'm guessing about this, though, because we try to stay clear of that area during this time.

 

In other local news, episode 34 of the ongoing eruption of Kilauea came and went in just 6  hours on Wednesday.  Fountaining started about 1 am, reached as high as 1300 feet, and shut off around 7 am. Since most of this vigorous episode was at night, when the lava is very bright, some of the dramatic photos and video undoubtedly made national news.  Let me once again remind you that as spectacular as this looks, it is just a tiny spot in the corner of the much larger summit crater.  Photos can be very deceiving. The island is NOT being inundated with lava.

 

We played golf on Wednesday and all three of us did well -- though the scores didn't reflect the quality of some of our shots.  If my putting was better I could shave at least 2 shots off my total per hole.  I' sure I'm the only golfer who has ever said that.....

 

Speaking of shots,  on Monday Karen and I got our annual flu vaccinations. Not much of a reaction this time, though for a couple of hours that night my arm was sore and I had a mild fever and joint aches which were gone by morning.  Interestingly though, on Tuesday morning I had blood drawn for my routine checkups with my internist and cardiologist next week, and the lab results showed definite signs of my immune system's reaction to the vaccine (note -- I can access the results online ahead of seeing my physicians).  My assessment is that my blood work looks good, including a screening test for prostate cancer, and another that looks at a marker for plaque buildup in blood vessels..  I'll see if my doctors agree. I also had a shot in my left eye yesterday to head off any edema buildup while we're traveling.  As yucky as this sounds, it is pretty much a non-event for me at this point. Two shots and a needle stick to draw blood --  I'm turning into a geezer pin cushion.....

 

Still speaking of eyes, I'm really irritated with my insurance company about their coverage of the drops that I use each day to control my eye pressures.  Keeping the pressures low is important for preventing vision loss from Glaucoma.  I'm going to run out of my current prescription about halfway through our trip, so I tried to get it refilled this week.  Nope -- the insurance company won't cover a refill until shortly before the prescription is scheduled to run out, even in my case where the patient is traveling.  Grrrrr.  I talked about this with my retina doctor yesterday and he gave me a written version of the prescription to take with me.  After the refill-jump-through-the-hoop date I'll try to find a pharmacy that will fill it quickly.  What a hassle.

 

Ok, this may be the last missive for awhile.  I'll catch up when we return.  Take care, and carpe vitam.