1001 Frogs, Stealth Birthday, Travel Plans, Golf

[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.

7/18//26

 

Aloha Fellow Humans!

 

I reached couple of significant milestones this week -- one wanted, the other not so much.  First, I caught my 1000th coqui frog on Sunday night (plus #1001 just for good measure), a rather oddball achievement of which my inner macho-man is nevertheless rather proud.  One...Thousand...Coquis! Even though these

Stuff 'em?

are very small critters, 1000 of them would make a pretty big pile.  They also represent enough collective noise to rival the decibel level of a jumbo jet engine at full throttle.  To remind you, coquis are an invasive species that was accidentally introduced to Hawai'i from Puerto Rico in a shipment of nursery plants.  Without any natural predators, they quickly multiplied and spread.  Besides being noisy, they also prey on beneficial native insects, making coquis a serious environmental threat.  Contrary to the mistaken belief that many people have, they do NOT control mosquitos. Coquis can be killed by mild solutions of citric acid or by dustings of baking soda, but they must be thoroughly coated for these to work, a difficult task because they often hide in sheltered places between leaves of bushes or in leaf litter at the base of plants.  The surest way to kill them is the way I do it -- by hand catching them, putting them in a plastic bag, and tossing the bag in the freezer.  This method is also the most humane.  Over the years I've become quite good at hunting them, even with my recently reduced eyesight.  I use a headlamp at night, which helps me to locate them and to blind them long enough for the "Hand of Doom" to grab them.  I've developed a good sense of where they might be hiding, so that I can be successful even if they go quiet.  Anyway, do you think a good taxidermist could  mount these guys for my study wall?

 

The other milestone this week was the one I'd rather not have reached -- my xxnd [censored] birthday.  As you recall, I wrote recently about a couple of early presents; my new guitar case and my new AVR.  This week was my actual birthday.  I'm to the point where I really wanted to keep it low-key rather than make a big deal out it.  I view this as a celebration only in the sense that I'm still alive and doing fairly well compared to many in my age cohort.  Anyway, I planned the day to my liking with as little fanfare as I could.  Lunch was at a favorite dockside restaurant in our small-boat harbor.  Very picturesque, informal. fairly inexpensive, good relaxed service.  We shared a burger and a beer with fries and coleslaw.  How's that for fancy?  The afternoon was spent mostly in my "osmotic information transfer position" -- aka taking a nap with a book on my chest.  For dinner I barbecued a New York strip steak.  I imagine this sounds like I'm just another meat-and-potatoes guy, until I tell you the rest of the menu:  angel hair pasta with truffles and freshly grated Parmesan cheese, sauteed mushrooms, blanched fresh broccoli, mixed green salad with crumbled gorgonzola cheese, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  All, in all, a good birthday!  To top it off, Pele took pity on my dismal fireworks experience on the 4th of July and popped off  a present for my benefit.  At 8:30 a.m. the morning of my birthday lava fountaining began for the 51st episode in the current eruption and lasted until just before 5 p.m. hitting almost 1000 feet high at the peak. Thanks, Pele!

 

We're moving along with our travel plans for next Spring's trip to Portugal.  As you may recall, we've already booked a river cruise on the Duoro in the northern part of the country.  This will be June 8-15.  The cruise itself is much too short to make the trip worthwhile, so we've been working with a travel company based in Lisbon to make custom arrangements for another three weeks.  This outfit specializes in putting together u-drive itineraries, but they also do other forms of transportation.  We've opted to do a combination of trains, buses, and private drivers to get us between locations.  The company has suggested hotels and activities along the way, and we're now going back and forth to make the itinerary fit our travel style, past experience, preferences, and geezer challenges.  At the moment we plan to fly to Lisbon, stay a week, then take the train north to Porto, where we will do the cruise.  After that we will make our way south, staying several nights in towns along the way.  Some of these towns with be on the usual tourist track (like Coimbra and Tomar), but also places less visited, like Portalegre in the eastern side of the country.  We will end up on the southern coast and then take the train back to Lisbon for the trip home, for a total of about a month -- our usual.  We're making sure that we have a lot of time on our own to enjoy these places, but also to have some interesting  pre-arranged excursions and activities (like a private tour of megaliths in the central part of the country).  The mix of transportation modes should be interesting as well.  So afar the agent we've been working with (a young Portuguese woman in Lisbon) has been very good at interpreting our wishes. One very positive aspect of this company is their payment and cancellation policy, an important consideration since we are making these plans so far in advance.  They require a deposit, of course, but the final payment isn't due until a month before the trip, and we can get a full refund up until just 5 days in advance.  I'll keep you posted as this progresses. 

 

My final bit of news is that yesterday I went with Karen and her friend to Makalei.  I didn't attempt a full round but I wanted to test whether I could still hit the ball.  The answer is "sorta kinda."  In fact,  given that I haven't played for five months and that my vision has degraded since my last outing, I did surprisingly well -- three bogeys and a par!  I also enjoyed revisiting the course itself, which is one of my favorite scenic places on the island.

 

Ok, that's it.  I hope you are staying cool and dry, though that's somewhat difficult these days.  Btw, we're watching the wlldfires in Canada and Colorado with a feeling of deja vu -- it was two years ago that my birthday trip to the great outdoors turned into a perfect storm of health problems, heat, fire, and smoke.  I'm keeping my fingers cross that our trip next month isn't a repeat.  Take care, everyone.  Carpe Vitam!

Fireworks A Bust, Moving, Techno-Toys

[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.

7/11//26

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

It was a busy week here. Several good things happened, but a couple of negatives, too.  First, for a pyrotechnophile like me, the fireworks show on July 4th was a huge disappointment. As I mentioned last week, we didn't go down to the shoreline to watch the community fireworks this year.  Instead, we accepted an invitation from a neighbor to attend a get-together for socializing, hot dogs, and to watch the fireworks show from her lanai.  The socializing and the hot dogs were great, but the fireworks viewing was a major bummer.  A huge Monkey Pod tree a few streets down-slope was perfectly positioned to block all but the very highest explosions.  Not only that, we were so far away you could barely hear them.  Nosiree, I want to be close enough to be awed by the size of the fireballs and to feel the booms in my chest.  Next year I'll opt for less socializing and more sensory overload.  I did enjoy watching a YouTube recording of the D.C. fireworks, but it wasn't the same as seeing them in person.

 

On a more positive note, on July 5th we celebrated our 25th anniversary of the the day we moved to Hawai'i, arriving around 9 p.m.  Our realtor had left a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator, and

Yikes!

that's how we celebrated this year, too. The move was an exciting but daunting moment for us, to say the least.  Obviously it worked out pretty well, but we weren't at all certain of a positive outcome at the time.  We were leaving behind close friends, a paid-for house, a familiar, supportive community, and a very predictable life-trajectory. We were instead launching ourselves into an unfamiliar environment where we knew almost nobody, had a new mortgage that looked to us like the national debt, and where the future was an adventure into the unknown.  It was, however, one of those periods in our lives when we felt intensely energized and open to new challenges and experiences, something I don't think we would have encountered the same degree had we stayed in Ohio.  Cheers!

 

On Tuesday I finally had my Subaru's a.c. checked out.  Sure enough, more problems.  Here's the official written diagnosis:  "...found obvious refrigerant leak coming from evaporator cooling pipe connector near vehicle firewall.  Also found low pressure hose from compressor to evaporator has sign of leak on hose crimping."  Parts are ordered and are covered under warranty, but this will mean more waiting until the parts come in and I can get an appointment to have them installed.  To remind you, this car is just a little over two years old and has only 6700 miles on it. Other than the a.c. I do like the car very much, but it's a bit irritating to be wasting this much time on a problem that really shouldn't be happening.

 

On Wednesday I switched our internet service back to Spectrum from our Hawaiian Tel fiber optic service that we've had for the last couple of years.  I was quite happy with the fiber service, but Spectrum made me an offer I couldn't refuse:  internet at more than twice the current speed for half the cost, guaranteed for two years and a third year at an increased price that is still less that what we are paying now.  As you may recall, when we switched to fiber I installed a special network cable (CAT6) that runs from the garage wall where the fiber and coaxial cables enter the house to my router inside the house.  This setup made it very fast and easy to make the switch -- it simply involved unplugging that cable from the fiber "modem" and plugging it into the new (free) coaxial modem.  Done.  This means that going back to fiber would be even easier, because the fiber "modem" (actually called an ONT) is already installed.  The special deal I received is the result of the current intense competition between the two internet providers in our area, which definitely is benefiting the customers. Anyway, the new service is going great right now, and I can use the savings to help pay for the increased health care premiums I was just informed I'll be paying next year (!).  

 

Another technotoy I have enjoyed this week is my new AVR.  The Costco shipping was very fast, and I now have the new unit just about installed.  I still have to tweek the speaker settings a bit, and solve a small glitch in the Blue Tooth connection to my tablet and phone so that I can stream music.  Otherwise everything seems to be working fine again.  I really enjoy setting up things like this -- it forces me to solve problems, use some physical dexterity and coordination, and learn something new.

 

I'll just mention in passing some Geezer Gazette news --I don't want spoil the mostly good vibes so far. I saw my retina doctor on Tuesday, had a shot as expected, and my test results confirmed my subjective impression that there has been no improvement from my Valeda treatments.  Oh well, it was worth a try. 

 

Ok, that's all for the week.  Hang in there.  Ponder the possible relevance to our times of the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, "The Emperor's New Clothes."  Carpe Vitam!

Sizzling 4th, Window Film, Birthday Presents

[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.

7/4//26

 

Aloha All! 

 

Happy HOT 4th of July!  And a special one, at that -- the 250th.  There hasn't been as much hoopla here as elsewhere.  Still, the town will set off fireworks tonight over Kailua Bay, and we're hoping the show might be a bit longer than usual.  This year we won't be going down to the shoreline to see them.  Instead, we are going to a pot-luck dinner at a neighbor's house and watching the fireworks from the lanai.  I'll miss being up close, but at least we won't have to contend with the traffic and the crowds.  

 

One of the frustrating waiting periods I wrote about last week is now over.  On Wednesday our window film was replaced!  The guy did a great job, and fortunately the old stuff came off easily.  We were worried that it might crumble and make a huge mess. The new film is the same darkness as the old, so it looks about the same, but we can definitely see that it is clearer.  The best part is that it didn't cost us a cent -- 3M honored the warranty totally.  Not only that, the warranty is still in effect so that if the new film fails in any way they will replace it again.  When we had the film installed 23 years ago we thought it was a bit pricey.  Given that it lasted fine for two decades and that we now have a brand new application, I'd say it was a good deal.  I have to hand it to 3M.

 

Something that hasn't had nearly the same longevity is our AV receiver, which crapped out this week after about 5 years.  This unit is at the heart of our sound system for our t.v. and also for playing music which we stream from Pandora. Many electronic devices designed for indoor use don't fare well here.  The salty air, coupled with a dose of acidic vog from the volcano, takes a toll on appliances, metal fixtures, and printed circuits.  Of course, having a house that is open to the outside air 24/7/12 contributes to the problem.  Anyway, the receiver is long since out of warranty, and repairing it is impractical.  So, just in time for my birthday, I get a new techno-toy!!  I ordered a new receiver from Costco online and it should be delivered late next week.  The price was pretty good, but the best part about going through Costco is that if there is something wrong, I can return it to the local store for a refund.  Costco also extends the warranty automatically.  Ahh, nothing like the smell of new electronics for my birthday!

 

Another early birthday present arrived Thursday by UPS.  This is Karen's present to me, though I picked it out and ordered it.  It's a new guitar case!  I know you're underwhelmed, but consider that the old one

Happy Birdthday!

came with the guitar she gave me 55 (!) years ago.  The case wasn't very high quality to begin with, and after all these years it's no wonder it is barely in one piece.  The guitar is better quality than the case, and the sound it can make far exceeds my playing ability.  I have become very attached to it, playing almost every afternoon while I sip my beer before dinner.  I could buy a new one but it would be like turning my back on an old friend.  Nope, I intend to keep it and give it the home it deserves -- a nice cushy case. Happy birthday, guitar!

 

In other news, the volcano spit up again, just hours after I wrote last week.  It's 50th fountaining episode was a pretty good one, lasting seven hours and hitting a maximum height of 1000 feet.  All signs point to a 51st episode soon, probably next week.  Too bad it didn't happen today to supplement the fireworks around the country!

 

Ok, that's it from here.  Stay cool, and again, have a fun and safe 4th of July.  Carpe Vitam!