Waiting Games, 50 Fountains of Fire

[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.

6/27/26

 

Aloha Everybody! 

 

Have you ever had one other those times in your life when everything seems to be moving in slow motion or stuck on hold?  That is pretty much the story of this week.  Hurry up and wait.  And wait. And Wait.

 

First of all, it took two un-returned phone calls and two physical visits to the Subaru Service Department to get an appointment to have the a.c. checked.  Each time I called I got the usual recording saying the agents were busy with other customers and to leave a message with your phone number and someone would call as soon as possible.  I waited an entire day after each call and never got a response.  Finally I stopped by in person to make the appointments but found nobody at the service desk.  I waited about 10 minutes then found someone in another department who assured me the service clerk would be back soon.  So I waited some more.  Nothing.  After 15 minutes I left.  What kind of business doesn't call back customers and then has nobody on staff to handle customers face-to-face?  If the agent knew they were going to be gone for 1/2 hour or more, wouldn't it be courteous to leave a note on the desk? I went back the next day at an earlier time and managed to find someone who made the appointment for me.  Now I wait until the appointment day two weeks from now.  If this was the mainland I'd just go to another dealer for this warranty work, but.....there isn't one here on the island.  Complaining to Subaru Central probably wouldn't help -- there isn't anyone else they can give the dealership to, so if they want to sell cars they'll put up with this kind of thing.

 

Speaking of warranties. we are still waiting to hear back from the local 3M dealer about replacing the

Waiting...

window film in our living room. We had this installed years ago as a way to combat the afternoon heat and UV.  It did help, but over the years the film has started to chip off and has become hazy.  The warranty that came with the film was quite explicit:  full cost of removing and replacing film that failed, no time limit.  We have the original invoice and warranty, both signed by the company who did the installation.  They are no longer in business, but it doesn't matter.  The warranty says it should be honored by any authorized dealer. Slam dunk, right?  Wrong.  Since the job was so long ago the dealer didn't enter the warranty in 3M's digital data base. We have had to send copies of our documentation to 3M and wait for them to approve the replacement.  We started this almost 3 weeks ago.  More waiting.

 

Other waiting games include the status of my eye treatment with Valeda, my heart monitor results, and trimming more of our trees.  It's been 1.5 weeks since my last Valeda session, and nothing seems to have changed yet.  I finished my 2-week heart monitoring stint on Tuesday and sent off the recording device.  I have to wait about three weeks for my appointment to go over the results with my cardiologist.  Finally, our tree trimming company is 3-6 weeks out in their scheduling, about the typical delay here.  Bottom line: if patience is a virtue, living in Hawai'i can definitely make you a saint!

 

In more positive news, Karen played golf this week and did pretty well despite not playing since last October.  I opted not to endure the frustration of not being able to see the ball, but next time I may go anyway, just to experience the course at Makalei, one of my favorite places on the island.  Also positive, or at least noteworthy, is that the 50th fountaining episode in Kileaua's 1.5 year eruption is about to start any minute, according to the volcanologists.  It's been bubbling and spurting for the past several days, the usual precursory signs.  Like I said, any minute now.  Just wait for it..... 

 

Ok.  That's it for this week.  Be kind, be good, be well.  Carpe Vitam.