Cataract Re-do, Heart Beats,Fire, Ice & Political Mayhem

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

1/18/25

 

Aloha All!

 

Well, I'd say I'm being vindicated in my negative premonitions about 2025.  Let's see,  we've begun the year mourning the death of one of the most ethical and upstanding ex-Presidents while our President-elect -- a man with neither of those qualities -- threatens to invade other countries, jail political enemies, and is filling high offices with conspiracy theorists and people of questionable competence.and/or obvious conflicts of interest. Tthe year has also started

with horrible devastation from the wildfires in LA, while at the same time historic winter storms are bringing crippling snowfall and cold temperatures to large sections of the country.  Gee, this is a lot  of fun!  What's next!? And this is only the third week of the year!

 

So far there are no disasters here in Hawai'i. Pele went back to sleep and the vog lifted for a while, but around the middle of this week activity started up again.  Unfortunate;y this has brought back the vog, too. Yesterday we had southerly winds, which kept most of the SO2 on the windward side, particularly near the volcano and in Hilo. This is an unusual pattern, because the winds normally are from the northeast. The current activity is the fourth time there has been a pause followed by flowing lava  -- kind of like my nightly routine of getting up to go to the bathroom. We're having a mild and dry winter, though there has been some really honking surf along our side of the island.  Winter storms far to the north and west are the cause -- local weather has nothing to do with surf conditions. In the summer. storms shift to places far to our south and east, so the other side gets high surf while our waters are generally calm. The "cool" temperatures have slightly curtailed our exercise routines. Although Karen and I have been getting to the gym fairly often, we have chosen not to work out in our pool because the water temperature barely matches our ages......

 

There are two main developments to report in the Geezer Gazette.  First, a week ago we flew to Oahu so that Karen's eye surgeon could attempt to correct the poor vision that resulted from her cataract surgery.  I should emphasize that this surgeon is highly regarded, extremely competent, and very experienced, so the problems Karen is having can't easily be blamed on lack of credentials,  In fact, it was the surgeon's reputation among a number of friends here in Kona that led Karen to select her even though it meant ktraveling to Oahu.  Anyway, the corrective procedure is called PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) and Karen had it done to both eyes a week ago yesterday.  PRK is like LASIK in that it uses a laser to reshape the cornea and refocus where the light strikes the retina.  However, in LASIK an incision is made in the outer portion of the cornea so that it can be folded back while the laser ablates (i.e., fries, zaps, blasts) some of the underlying tissue, which causes it to shrink and stretch into the desired shape.  In PRK no incision is made. Instead, just the outer cells of the cornea are removed (with alcohol, interestingly) then the laser reshaping takes [lace in the same way as  LASIK.  A very large contact is then placed over the cornea to protect it for a few days. PRK is often used for people who have previously had LASIK, as in Karen's case. The surface cells that are removed grow back fairly quickly but it can take a couple of weeks before clear vision returns.  On Tuesday she had the protective contacts removed by an optometrist here in Kona who works closely with the surgeon. Yesterday she went back for a more thorough exam to assess how the healing was going. The verdict was good, though she still can't see terrifically well yet. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this will work.  I'll let you know. By the way, this PRK fix-up was free, which was certainly welcome given how expensive the original surgery was.

My cardiologist had to reschedule my appointment until yesterday to go over the results from my heart monitor because he had laryngitis earlier in the week.  The results showed No Afib during the monitoring period!!  This matches my own daily measurements for the last month and a half, and it means I'm going to have to resign my membership in the Afib Club -- at least temporarily.  The return to normality is particularly good news because it occurred without any more of the arrhythmia medication, which I stopped taking over two months ago. That leaves only my blood thinner and a  low dose of heart rate drug, and my cardiologist felt I could stop the blood thinner.  Wow. what a positive development!  It certainly helps take the edge off the negativity 2025 has brought so far.  The plan is for me to continue self-monitoring, and if my AFib returns I will contact my cardiologist and resume the blood thinner.  Otherwise, I'll have a blood workup in March and meet with him to review the results.

 

That's it for now.  Stay well, stay grateful. And as always, carpe vitam.

Whoopie, It's 2025, Wordle in 1, Waiting Game

 [Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

1/4/25

 

Aloha Folks!

 

Well, 2025 blasted its way onto the scene despite my wishing we could skip it.  As I mentioned last time, I didn't set off my usual Costco pack of fireworks because I didn't feel much like celebrating the beginning of '25. Instead we had a quiet dinner with a bit of champagne and then went to bed at our usual time. All

Mind if I smoke?

was well until  midnight.  At the stroke of 12 it sounded like a war zone all along our coast for about 45 minutes.  For some reason, this year there were far more big and loud fireworks, including aerials. These are supposed to require permits and special precautions for storage and detonation, but I seriously doubt there was much compliance. On Oahu police seized a container ship bringing in 75 tons of illegal fireworks, and on New Year's Eve an explosion of fireworks stored at a house killed 3 people and seriously injured 20 others. Hmmmm. Although this was certainly a tragedy, it seems to me there is an element of ironic humor in people being killed in an explosion caused by their mishandling of celebratory fire bombs. For more my observations of questionable taste, see my blog "I'll Be Right Back" -- And Other Famous Last Words."

 

Pele provided her own New Year's fireworks show as she continues to throw up plumes of lava. This has led to some pretty bad VOG along our coast this week -- and some people with respiratory problems are having difficulty. Just to remind you --- VOG is formed when SO2 from the volcano combines with water vapor (H2O) and dust particles in the air to form a visible haze.  Part of VOG is actually sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and definitely not something that is healthy to breathe. There are air quality monitors all along the coast and so far they've been mostly in the "ok-but-elevated" levels. The good news is that our normal downslope breezes at night push the VOG out to sea to give us a break. Somehow the VOG problem seems fitting for the beginning of 2025.....

In more pleasant news,  this week Karen solved the Wordle puzzle on the very first guess.  I've done this once before also, and it is a low probability but much hoped for outcome for those of us who do this regularly.  Her start word was "stare." She is now using a different word as her first guess, and again has selected one that has not been a previous solution. There's no requirement that you do this, but it gives you a chance to repeat your feat.  In fact, Wordle will accept certain words that it considers legitimate words but that are not in the list of possible solutions.  I rotate among three start words, two of which are of that type, and one of which is a possible solution, That way I have at least a small chance of winning in one again.

In the Geezer Gazette this week it's mostly about waiting.  I have to wait until January 15th to get my heart monitor results.  In the meantime, I've now reached one month with only a couple of AFIB readings -- all the rest are 'Normal." I feel pretty good, well enough to get back to working out at the gym several times. Unfortunately we haven't been exercising in the pool this week because we've had cool nights and cloudy/rainy afternoons that have dropped the water temperature below our comfort level.  On the eye ball front, it has now been three weeks since my cataract surgery and my eye is not much better, if any at all, than it was before. This is a bit frustrating and disheartening, naturally.  I sure hope I have a better result with my other eye, but I'll have to wait until the end of the month to find out.  Speaking of cataracts. next week we will be going to Oahu to see if Karen's surgeon can co something to improve her eyesight, which as you recall is much poorer after getting her new super-duper lenses. Note, we'll be there Friday and Saturday, so there won't be a missive next week.

Ok, that's it.  Be happy. Well, at least try. A beer might help....

Gift from Pele, Eyeball, Poop, Cow & Turkey

8[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

12/28/24

 

Aloha Everybody!

Well, I imagine by now you've heard that Pele has given us a Christmas present.  Early in the week the

volcano woke up and started erupting again, this time in the summit caldera. It happened about 2:30 a.m., and anyone staying nearby was treated to a show of fountaining lava that reached 300 feet in the air.  It must have been spectacular! The eruption caught the volcanologists by surprise because none of the monitoring equipment showed the usual signs that something was about to happen.  Once again nature thumbs its nose at Hunan hubris. The show lasted just a couple of hours, then

paused until Christmas Eve, when it spurted up again, this time going for about 24 hours before pausing again around noon on Christmas Day  This pattern may continue for awhile, though there is no way of knowing for sure.  Onr thing is certain, though. Pele's present has produced a fair amount of VOG along our coast, the first we've seen in months.  This is one gift we'd rather not receive.The media coverage has tended to show close-up views of the lava because they are more eye catching than the eruption in context,  To illustrate, here are three photos, the first two are from NBC and NYT, while the third is from the USGS web cam showing the entire Kilauea summit crater.  If you look really hard in the USGS photo you'll see the real extent of the eruption in the upper left corner.

Our Christmas was quiet and pleasant.  On Christmas Eve we cooked a prime rib roast and very much enjoyed its evil goodness.We use the technique of cooking the roast for only about 25 minutes (depending on weight) in a 500 degree oven, then turning off the heat and leaving the roast in the oven undisturbed for the next two hours. It was perfectly medium rare. If you're not the blood thirsty carnivores that we are, you can always nuke it to your own taste before eating it.  On Christmas Day we joined about 15 other people at a neighbor's house for a traditional turkey pot luck dinner.  We've done this for the past several years, and it was quite pleasant sitting on the neighbor's open lanai with a view of the Kona coast.

 

Not much news in the Geezer Gazette this week, My 1-week cataract surgery checkup went ok.  The new lens is staying correctly positioned and the incision is healing nicely.  My acuity increased markedly from earlier in the week, but only to about what it was before the surgery,  I have to keep in mind that this eye is limited in how much it can improve because about 25% of the retina cells are defunct.  In short, I'm mot raving abut how I should have done this sooner because I can see so much better.  By the way, here are a couple of fun facts about cataract surgery you might find interesting.  According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, about 50% of cataract patients experience "secondary cataracts"within 5 years of their surgery.  This isn't a clouding of the implanted lens, but rather of the eye tissue that holds it in place.  Fortunately there is a quick and effective procedure in which a special kind of laser (Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet, or YAG for short) is used to punch a small hole in the tissue to allow clear light to reach the new lens.  The second fun fact is that although about 90% of cataract patients have improved acuity after surgery, 30-50% will still need to wear glasses for close vision, distance vision, or both, according to All About Vision.  My take away from these data is that you should make certain you really need cataract surgery before having it, and be realistic in your expectations about the outcome.

In other Geezer news, my poop test results came back and they present something of a puzzle, because they didn't show signs of parasites, bacteria, or any other nasties that could be causing my symptoms.  I haven't talked with my internist yet, and it will be interesting to see what he recommends now.  Fortunately, my symptoms have gotten better and I'm hopeful they will clear up soon.  Finally, I will be sending my heart monitor off for analysis on Monday.  It takes about 2 weeks for the results to come back, and I have an appointment in January to go over them with my cardiologist.  In the meantime, I am pleased to report that I haven't recorded an AFIB episode on my portable ECG device since December 2, nearly 3 1/2 weeks ago.  Of course, brief ones may have occurred between my measurements. If so,the great thing about the monitor is that it will have recorded them.

OK, that's it for this week.  I sincerely wish you all a Happy New Year. But I have to confess that I have a sense of foreboding about 2025 that makes me less than enthusiastic about celebrating its beginning. Not since the Vietnam War have I been this concerned about the direction that the country seems to be taking.  And even at that time I didn't feel that the very nature of our democracy was under threat. I do now. The majority of the electorate just voted into office, by a large margin, a man who is a convicted felon, a documented prolific liar, and a person who openly endorses a form of government that is authoritarian, oligarchic, and fascist. I have traveled all over the world and witnessed first hand this kind of governance and I've always been proud that I lived in a country that was based on more humanitarian and inclusive principles. But I can't be proud of what I fear is coming, and I certainly can't celebrate its arrival.  

 

Take care, and as always, Carpe Vitam .

Return From SE Asia: Jet Lag, Eye Surgery, Medical Marathon

 [Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

12/21/24

 

Aloha, Guys!

 

We returned from our trip to Cambodia and Thailand  on Friday, 12/6, and since then I've been too

Nature Wins

discombobulated to write.  It has been a whirlwind of doctor's appointments, my cataract surgery (just a little over one week ago), dealing with the aftermath of having our chest freezer crap out while we were gone, trying to get some Christmas decorations up, whacking back the jungle, etc., etc.  Of course, this was all happening while we were fighting d a vicious case of jet lag.

I'll try to condense this in order to avoid boring you too much.  First, the cataract surgery went well.  This was the first time I've had any kind of surgery since I had my tonsils taken out, so I was a bit anxious.  The operation took place in an outpatient eye surgery center in Hilo.  We drove over the afternoon before, did some shopping, and had a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Pesto.  My procedure was scheduled for 8am, which was good because it didn't give me much time to get nervous.  It went smooth as glass. You may remember that I was concerned about my sensitivity to the numbing solution, so the surgeon did a special procedure where he put in just one drop, made an incision, then instilled numbing solution inside the eyeball right at the cataract site.  The whole thing took 10 minutes and after a "recovery" period of about 15 minutes I was having breakfast at McDonald's.  Since then I've been using three kinds of eye drops every day and have had no issues whatever.  I wish I could say that I've had a "Eureka!" moment and experienced tremendous improvement right away, but so far  my vision in that eye isn't much better than it was before. Of course, it's only a week out from the surgery, so there might be more improvement over time. I'll keep you posted.

In "Cardio-Land"  things are going ok at the moment.  I saw my cardiologist a couple of days before my eye surgery and my rhythm was normal.  However, I know from my portable ECG device that I used on the trip  that I slipped into asymptomatic Afib a few times. These episodes didn't last long and my heart rate during them wasn't dangerously high. In fact, for those of you who may have been concerned I'd have a major coronary event while I was in the wilds of Cambodia, the probability of that was very, very low.  This assessment is based on the results of many tests and scans, including the detailed feedback from the heart monitor I wore for 10 days.  It has now been about 6 weeks since I stopped taking Amiodorone, and I feel much, much better.  My cardiologist is still skeptical that my experienced side effects were due to the drug, but I don't agree.  At any rate, if my Afib becomes persistent again he said he'd recommend Ablation therapy rather than a return to drugs.  I'm now wearing a monitor again, and I'll have the results in a few weeks --they should be very informative.

 

One more thing in geezer news is that during the trip I may have picked up some kind of intestinal bug that has given me diarrhea for the past 4 weeks.  I saw my internist on Monday and he ordered a thorough poop test to look for parasites.  Collecting the necessary samples for this has to be one of the most disgusting things I've ever done!  Even worse, the test results came back inconclusive, so my doctor wants me to repeat the test! This means that I may be playing with my poop while waiting for Santa -- fun times.......

Ok, there's lots more but I'm sure I've exceeded your tolerance level for negativity.  Have a great Christmas, and as always, Carpe Vita.

Final Trip Prep, 3 Doctors, Pills Are Pau For Now

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. In the last few editions I've related my aging woes to the extent that this might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

11/2/24

 

Aloha Everybody  -- 

 

The flab index in Kona rose dramatically this week as the triathletes left town. The weather didn't
cooperate entirely for race day as rain moved in during the afternoon.  I'm sure they've endured worse

Jingle Bells

conditions, though. The storm that came through brought the first snow of the season on the summit of Mauna Kea, which is unusually early.  It is now quiet for the next month or so, one of our least touristy times of year.  We'll soon get an influx of migrating snow birds and then lots of tourists during the holiday season until early January.

We're in the final prep stage for our trip.  This is the time when all the last minute things get done, including gardening of course, but also things like cancelling the mail and newspaper, arranging for house checks with my handyman, last minute shopping, etc., etc.  We've done this so often that I have a check list to make sure it all gets completed.. This year the preparations include doctor visits, which are unwelcome additions to the list.

On Monday I saw my regular doctor to get clearance for my upcoming cataract surgery. I had to do this now because there might not be enough time when we return.  I also needed renewals for my bp and cholesterol prescriptions which would have run out during the trip.  On Tuesday I had a preemptive eyeball shot from my retina doctor to avoid problems while traveling.  I'll see him again right before my cataract surgery in case the eye that is being operated on needs a shot.  Finally, on Thursday I saw my cardiologist for an EKG to see if I was still ok after reducing the arrhythmia drug.  It was.  However, the side effects are still so bad that I told him I wanted to stop it altogether,  He seemed surprised that the side effects were so severe and said he's never had a patient as bad as me.  Of course, the effects I'm experiencing  occur in only about 5% of those taking the drug.  In other words, 95% of his patients wouldn't complain about them.  At any rate, by the time I saw him I had decided that the effects were so debilitating that I'd rather have Afib.  He reluctantly agreed that I should stop taking the drug altogether and see what happens.  The drug has a very long half-life, so the anti-arrhythmia effects should last though most of trip.   If the Afib returns it shouldn't interfere with the trip, and we'll take a different treatment approach when I get back.  I also have quit my heart rate medication, at least for the time being because my rate was way too low. That makes my blood thinner the only heart medication I'm on.  Other than easy bruising it hasn't given me problems. Fun times!

 

This will be my last missive for awhile because of our trip and because of my cataract surgery when we return.  I should have plenty of news to share after that.. In the meantime, Carpe Vitae, VOTE, and try to keep calm for the next few weeks or months.  I'm very glad that I'll be far away after this election.

Race Day, SS Syndrome, Side Effects Suck

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

10/26/24

 

Aloha All --

 

Well, today is  race day for the Ironman Triathlon .  It started about 6:30 for the swim portion. This year the ocean is pretty calm, but in the past it has been so rough that some athletes got seasick.  After the swim the athletes jump on their bikes and head on the highway to the north end of the island. The road is closed for part pf the day.  This is one of only two routes  along the west side of the island, so it causes some problems for motorists, who have to find other ways of reaching their destination. In town, where a part of the running course is plotted, the streets are shut down as well.  All of this discombobulation is particularly frustrating and irritating to people who aren't Ironman fans .  We're ok with it and don't mind the inconvenience for just one day a year.  Besides, we know a back way to Costco and this is one day when it isn't crowded.  Another is Super Bowl Sunday. On both days we try to do some nice relaxed shopping .  

 

On Wednesday I saw my cardiologist and went over all the tests I've had since I started going to him.  This included the report from my heart monitor that I wore for about 10 days.  Bottom line is that I'm still alive and likely to stay that way.  For one thing, I have no significant clogging in any of my arteries or veins.

Also, the blood flow to my head and to the lower parts of me is nearly normal. However. the flow to my lungs is problematic because of my emphysema.  The heart monitor results showed that my Afib is being well controlled by the medicine I've been taking (Amlodarone)-- very few episodes were recorded.  This has come at a cost, however, in terms of extreme loss of balance, lethargy, and even more vision problems than I had before. These side effects might be because my heart rate has dropped to the low 40's, even after exercising.  Also, the monitor showed a high number of pauses, times when the heart stops altogether for a few seconds.  This could be due to the drug, but it also could be due to something cardiologists call Sick Sinus Syndrome (SSS)-- a cute way of saying "You need a pacemaker."  In this case the "Sinus" is the node in your heart that initiates the heartbeat -- nothing to do with the sinuses in your head.  The plan is to cut my drug dosage in half and see what happens. If the pauses are still frequent I may have some hardware installed.  I'm hoping that the reduction also lessens my side effects.  BTW, the cardiologist has no qualms about me traveling -- this is because the test results indicate that a sudden and acute problem isn't likely in my case.

We're only two weeks away from our SE Asia trip.  This is when I usually kick up the gardening preparations, but at the moment I don't have the energy nor the balance to do this.  Hopefully I'll be better in a few days.

Ok, that's if for the week.  As the cartoonist Wiley Miller said in his strip Non Sequitur: “It’s much easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they’ve been fooled"  (3/24/19). Carpe Vita!

Tow Truck, Travel Prep, Tight Buns

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

10/19/24

 

Aloha Everybody --

 

One thing I neglected to mention last week was that a clutch problem developed with Karen's Miata.  This was the same thing that happened a couple of years ago, where suddenly the clutch pedal went nearly to

The Car Ambulance

the floor without engaging the clutch.  Naturally this makes it hard to change gears.  The last time I was able to drive in 2nd gear to the garage, where the  mechanic   diagnosed  the problem as a bad clutch slave cylinder  -- part of the car's hydraulic system that controls the operation pf the clutch.  However, this time the loss of pressure made it impossible to drive,  Fortunately Karen made it home before the cylinder failed completely.  I made an appointment to take the car to my mechanic, and I scheduled a tow truck to get it there last Wednesday.  This was a novel experience for both me and the car -- I've never had to call for a tow truck before in my life. and the Mazda has never needed one.  Anyway, it went very smoothly.  The truck arrived on time and the driver expertly and carefully loaded the car onto a flat-bed truck.  The analogy to an ambulance seemed apt.  The clutch problem was fixed that same day. but I had asked my mechanic to also look at the driver's side window, which had a problem going down without sticking about six inches from the top.  We've lived with this for several months by applying pressure to the window as it goes down.  Since the car was already in the shop, it seemed like a good idea to have this fixed at the same time as the clutch.  However, Mazda no longer makes the needed parts  -- it's 21 years old, after all. But the mechanic managed to locate another source for them. He placed the order but they won't arrive before next week  So we're driving without a window in the meantime, looking carefully at the rain forecast.

 

It's only a few weeks until we leave for SE Asia, so we've begun getting the garden and the house ready.  Yesterday we got our flu shots but held off on the latest Covid boosters because it hasn't been  4 months since we had Covid while on my ill-fated birthday trip to Canada.  The renewal point will be about halfway through the trip, so we've decided to wing it and get our boosters when we return. That's going to be a busy time -- besides re-opening the house and whacking back the garden, I'll have my first cataract surgery the following week.  Should be "interesting."

 

The Iron Man athletes are arriving in force now.  This past week dozens were zipping along on their high-end bikes or loping along like antelopes at the side of the street.  As I said last time, they're easy to spot  -- no body fat and buns like bagels.   Yogurt has become very hard to come by in the stores, as has anything else containing protein.  Our usual mix of languages has been supplemented by several more, making for a very cosmopolitan  atmosphere.  Also, the average age of Kailua has dropped by 10-15 years, I'm sure.

Ok, I'll skip the medical carping this week..  Next week I'll see my cardiologist to go over all my test results (including data from the heart monitor, which I sent in for analysis on Tuesday), and talk about an appropriate treatment plan. I'll regale you with that next time.

Off to market and breakfast on the beach.  Fasten your mental and emotional seat belts  -- we're in for a bumpy ride for the next couple of months.

Repositioning Ships, Fall in Hawai'i, Eye Surgery Ahead

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

10/12/24

 

Aloha Everyone --

 

Poor Florida and other parts of the East!  Two whammies almost back to back.  My condolences and sympathies for whatever losses you might have incurred, and best wishes for recovering.

 

Here our fall has continued with much less drama.  This is repositioning time, when the cruise ships have sailings to Hawai'i as they get ships from the northern summer routes to more southerly ones.  They

Time to Snooze

usually run a couple of trips from the mainland to the islands, and we've had several in our port in addition to our usual Wednesday visit from the one based permanently in Honolulu.  One even stayed overnight, something that is very rare.  Another sign of fall is that the flowering foliage shifts. For instance our various varieties of plumeria, nearly stop flowering altogether and even lose their leaves.  Many others, of course, bloom more or less year around. It's hardly barren here in the late fall and winter, though --there's always something blooming.  Another sign of fall is the annual Iron Man World Championship  Triathlon that occurs near the end of October.  This year is the men's final, whereas last year it was women's.  This brings in thousands of hard bodies from all over the world, some of which have already arrived to train for the grueling  event.  They are easy to spot -- absolutely no body fat, broad shoulders and narrow hips.  There are usually about 50 professionals who compete, but the ones I admire the most are the 2200 or so amateurs in various age categories who somehow have managed to train in addition to holding jobs.  

 

This was a pretty light week for physical exertion.  We did manage to work out at Planet Fitness, but we didn't play golf.  Our usual partner was out of comission because she fell off her horse and was too sore to play.  We could have gone alone, but she's an excellent ball spotter, and right now both of us need help. Speaking of eyesight, on Tuesday I had an appointment with my eye surgeon and I've decided to definitely go ahead and have him do my cataracts.  The first one is scheduled for the week after we return from southeast Asia in early December.  The other is scheduled for late January.  I'm doing my worst eye first, though it is doubtful a new lens will help much because that eye has considerable retina damage from my vein occlusion 12 years or so ago.  If it does help that will be a terrific Christmas present! My other eye has a better chance of improvement because the retina is in better shape, even though I've had a vein occlusion in it as well.  

OK, that's it for this week.  We're off to market and breakfast at the beach.  Take care and keep reminding yourself that morality does matter.

Cataract Culprits, Cardio Consult, Magic Golf Balls

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

10/5/24

 

Aloha All --

 

Although it was a challenge, this week we managed somewhat to overcome our laziness since we returned from the mainland.  First, on Sunday we did a mild workout at Planet Fitness, the first in many weeks. Then on Thursday we played golf at Makalei for the first time in months.  For me the golf was largely "aspirational." I'd hit a tee shot, then skip the approach shots and just putt out.  On a few par 3 holes, though,  I played for real, and even got one bogie! I had to rely heavily on Karen and our partner because if I hit the ball any distance at all, it would magically disappear because of my lousy vision.  All things considered, I did pretty good given how long it had been since we played last.  Oh, and we saw about 8 Nenes who have arrived for their winter visit.

Speaking of vision, I saw my retina doctor on Tuesday and as expected, got a shot it my right eye.  We also talked seriously about cataracts and whether I should have them removed.  The conclusion is to have the surgery because it will eliminate one possible cause of my recent sudden vision downturn.  At first I asked him for a referral to the same surgeon on Oahu that did Karen's eyes because the only surgeon on our island has a somewhat iffy reputation.  Then I learned that a new surgeon has recently joined the eye clinic I go to, and my retinologist thinks very highly of him.  It turned out the new guy was in the clinic and I was able to have a quick consult,  I was very impressed with his credentials and experience, and I may have him do the surgery.  This would be in an out-patient clinic in Hilo, which is a100-mile drive each way, but much easier and less expensive that flying over to Honolulu.  I have an appointment next week to talk some more and take measurements  I'm thinking of going with tried-and-true plain vanilla lenses tuned to distance vision -- anything more than an outstretched arm's length. I may still need reading glasses but that's ok.  I want my vision for every day activities (like driving) to be as good as possible.

In still more geezer health news, on Wednesday I saw my cardiologist for the 2nd time.  This was a quick visit to redo my ECG, with which my cardiologist said he was "very pleased."  Naturally, I am very

Only 5"

pleased he's pleased.  He recommended that now I'm mostly in normal rhythm that I wear a portable monitor for a couple of weeks that will record any Afib events.  Since I don't feel a thing when they happen, this seems like a good idea.  These devices have become marvels of hi-tech.  The model I am using is remarkably small and tapes to my chest,  There are no wires -- the electrodes are embedded in the tape that holds it on.  I can get it wet but I have to make sure the electrodes remain taped down.  The device records continuously for two weeks, then I send it to a lab which analyses the data and generates a report. This is better than my own ECG device because it measures even when I'm asleep. 

 

I know I'm writing a lot about my health issues lately, but unfortunately this is a major component of my life these days. My advice is don't turn 80!

Ok, off to market and the beach.  As you are bombarded with election rhetoric, keep in mind a Finnish saying:  "you have a right to your own opinion, but not to your own facts."'

Carpe vita.

wet Fall, Medical Ambiguity, Heart to Heart

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

9/28/24

 

Aloha Folks --

 

Well, it's officially fall,  Back in Ohio when we had our apple orchard we'd be racing gravity  to get  the crop picked and sold.  Hard, time-sensitive work that was anything but a nice relaxing retirement activity. Here the fall is still prime growing season and although I complain about the challenge of keeping our plants under control, amount of effort  pales in comparison,

As I write this the east coast is getting whacked by another major hurricane.  My condolences to the coastal residents, particularly in Florida, who are  going through yet another devastating weather event this year.  We have to cope with hurricanes here in Hawai'i, of course but not on the scale of the mainland,  Our fall so far has been very warm and wet -- last week we had a couple of storms that dropped a total of nearly 6 inches of rain in our specific area,  The pool is full to overflowing, and has been delightfully warm for our daily workouts. Our sunny afternoons have helped our pv system produce a surplus of electrons that have more than compensated for running the ac that we have in a few rooms.  We're coming to the end our our contract year with HELCO and it looks like we'll be giving them abut $150 this time -- whatever surplus we have at the end of the contact resets to zero.  The company needs it, I guess, in part to offset the costs of lawsuits from the Lahaina fires on Maui last year.  

I'm a little over one week from starting heart care from my new cardiologist.  The arrhythmia drug he prescribed has continued to keep my heart in normal rhythm most of the time, including during my Echo

Cardio-Selfie

Cardiogram last Thursday.  This is an amazingly informative ultrasound examination of the chambers, valves, veins and arteries of heart as it is actually beating.  I've seen the results online but I will get the full interpretation when I see my cardiologist on Wednesday.  For an 80-year-old muscle that has been beating even before I was born, it seems to be in fair shape and I forgive it for my AFib problem.  I  also had an ultra sound exam of my carotid arteries, tee ones that send blood to the brain and visual system. I was hoping there might be a fixable problem that would account for my vision difficulties, but I don't think that is the case.  On Wednesday the ambiguity about my sight continued when I saw my optometrist.  He can't correct my distance vision with glasses, and he can see no structural reason for my vision loss, with the exception of cataracts.  However, they are not severe and can't account for the sudden loss of acuity,  So I'm still searching for a solution.  Ambiguity and uncertainty suck..........

Ok. Back to your reality-choosing dilemma.

Back Home, Cheers for Cardio Normality, Pele Spits Up

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

9/21/24

 

Aloha Everyone -- 

We returned from our mainland trip Wednesday evening.  It was short for us -- a bit under two weeks -- but long enough for the weeds and other plants to be noticeably in need of being whacked back.  The trip was very enjoyable even though short.  The first week we spent in Ohio, where we arrived in time for an early fall cool spell -- one night it got down to 43d!  The days were sunny, though, and by the time we left it had warmed back to the 90's.  We had a great time visiting old friends, eating barbecue, and sampling a few of Cincinnati's outstanding micro-brews.  Karen's routine checkup at UC Health Center went well, also.  We then flew to Colorado and stayed two nights with college friends who live in Boulder. They generously hosted a couple of get-togethers with other friends.  The final two days we stayed in Denver, where we got together with my nephew and his wife, and also played tourists in the downtown area, where we had a fabulous upscale Mexican meal at a restaurant namedTomayo in the LODO area.We hadn't been in Denver for seven years, and we were amazed at the positive changes in the downtown area.

The day after we returned hone I finally saw a cardiologist about my persistent Afib problem.  He was personable, competent, and paid close attention to my specific issues, particularly to the possible link

Thumpa-Thumpa

between Afib and my vision problems.  (By the way, my vision has declined to the point that Karen had to take over the driving on our trip,  I can barely read even with very strong reading glasses, and I am able to write this on my computer only by making the print very large,) An office ECG confirmed my Afib and the doctor ordered a bunch of additional tests, He also recommended trying to get my heart to revert to a normal rhythm using a drug that blocks the unwanted electrical signals in the atrium.  I got the drug that same day and started taking it immediately.  Yesterday morning I tested my rhythm with my portable device and for the first time since July it assessed the pattern as normal!!!!  This was much appreciated progress, to say the least.  I haven't noticed much improvement yet in my vision, but I'm still hopeful.  If this doesn't hold there are other techniques that can be used, including the good old paddles that deliver a nice electrical dope-slap to the heart telling it to straighten out.....

 

In other geezer news, Karen's cataract surgery didn't correct her vision as much as it should have,  She still has to use glasses for distance vision and for close up.  The new fancy lenses were supposed to eliminate the need for correction altogether, The surgeon is puzzled and wants to wait about three months for Karen's eyes to heal completely before trying to correct the problem.  The correction will undoubtedly require one or more trips to Oahu for either laser tweaks or to completely redo the surgery. Karen is understandably not happy with this situation.  I'll keep you posted on what happens.

I've been mentioning that Kilauea has been recharging its supply of magma and that the volcanologists have said it wasn't a matter of "if" but "when" the next eruption would occur.  Well, a couple of days before we returned Pele squirted out some lava in an area called the middle east rift zone, a few miles from the main caldera. The eruption was brief and has petered out at the moment. It may stall entirely soon.  The main  consequence so far has been a slight increase in vog that makes the air kind of hazy,

Ok enough for now.  You can now return to your onslaught of political ads and trying to figure out how to live in a  "post-factual," "post-civil" world......  Take care, carpe vita.

Storm? Waikiki Anniversary, Truffles & Surgery

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

8/31/24

 

Aloha All -- 

 

Tropical storm Hone turned out to be a fizzle for us here in Kona. We had hardly any wind and only 1.5" of rain at our house. Radar showed some pretty vigorous action elsewhere in the state, and there was some localized flooding that made for dramatic news video.  But Hawaii's problems didn't compare at all to the flooding, fires, volcanoes, deadly heat, etc,, etc. elsewhere in the world.  This weekend we might get some more rain as the remnants of hurricane Gilma passes by to our north, but otherwise things are pretty quiet. BTW, I was amused last Sunday when we went to Costco before the storm was scheduled to arrive -- the shrewd manager had quickly made a big display featuring emergency electric generators and warm clothing.  Oh, and people were hauling out big loads of Hawaii's essential emergencysupplies -- rice and toilet paper.

The storm had pretty well cleared from around Oahu when we flew there Monday afternoon.  Karen's surgery wasn't until Tuesday morning but we wanted to go early and have our 57th anniversary dinner in Waikiki.  We went to a restaurant named Orchid in the Halekulani hotel and it was excellent, even by our high foodie standards.  The setting was very nice also -- right on the beach at sunset.  Karen's surgery went

very smoothly again -- actually better because she didn't get nauseous this time.  As before, she has had no pain whatsoever with only numbing drops as anesthesia.  Her checkup the next morning showed that everything was going well,   Her eyesight has improved steadily since then and now it will just be a matter of time for both eyes to heal completely and for her brain to coordinate the two images, one near the other far. During her checkup Karen mentioned my recent eye problems and the surgeon took a quick look (!). She saw nothing dramatically wrong and confirmed that although I have a mild cataract problem it isn't enough to account for my sudden downturn.  She knows my eye doctor that I will be seeing on Tuesday and was confident he would figure it out -- I sure hope so.

We spent the remainder of the day (Wednesday) at the enormous nearby Ala Moana Shopping Center.  This involved lots of shopping, of course, but also another gourmet meal at a rooftop restaurant in the upscale Neiman Marcus department store.  One of the dishes was a seafood combination of scallops and shrimp, with a cream sauce that contained bits of truffle, a really delicious treat.  We flew home late afternoon, feeling like we had optimized this medical travel about as well as we could.

 

We've now turned out attention to prepping for our trip next week to Ohio and Colorado. Since we won't be gone all that long (about 2 weeks) it doesn't require quite as extensive preparation as our longer trips do, but there are still lots of house chores to take care of.  We managed to do a workout yesterday at Planet Fitness, though Karen had to take it easy on some of the machines to safeguard her eye.  This will probably be my last missive until we return, so I hope everyone has a good Labor Day  and that you enjoy the end of summer.  Take care, carpe diem.

Waikiki Eye Slice, CC Hack, Tropical Storm

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

8/24/24

 

Aloha Everybody -- 

This was an interesting week for us.  On Monday morning we flew to Honolulu for Karen's cataract surgery  This was a three-day affair, the first of which consisted of several hours of tests, exams, consultations, and making financial arrangements. Day two was the surgery at an outpatient facility.  The procedure itself takes less than 30 minutes but the preparations and resting period afterward made the total time about three hours.  Karen opted for only numbing drops, so she was awake for the whole deal.  This was the laser version of cataract surgery, which involves the same steps but is less traumatic on the eyeball.  Karen felt no pain whatsoever, either during the surgery or since. The only negative aspect of the surgery was some nausea afterward likely due to the disorienting bright light involved in the procedure. The next morning the doctor examined her to make sure everything was ok, and we flew back that evening.  She'll return next week for the other eye. She chose the Binford 1200 XLR Supercharged Turbo model lens, an upgrade that insurance doesn't cover but which seemed like a good idea.and so far has worked out well. She also opted for having one eye tuned for distance and middle vision, and the other for close up. This is a common arrangement which with luck may do away with the need for glasses altogether.  

I don't think I mentioned earlier that one of our credit cards was hacked shortly after we returned from Canada.  The card company flagged 54 transactions that had been made within a few hours that were

Gotcha

fraudulent.  They contacted us and when we confirmed that we hadn't made the purchases, they denied the charges and cancelled the card.  Fortunately this account issues a different number to each of us, so even though hers would no longer work, mine was still good. She received a new card in about a week.  THEN, on Thursday my own card was used to make a couple of fraudulent charges, which the company again caught right away.  These were very small charges, probably meant to test the card to see if it was still good prior to doing the same mass attack that had been done with Karen's card.  Anyway, I now have a new card as well as Karen.  We find it very suspicious that this happened after we had used the cards in Canada.  This account is one we use when we travel to make it easier to track expenses and because it gives us 2.5 % cash back.  We use it here at home only for food purchases.  Regardless of who the ne'er-do-wells were, the hack seemed more sophisticated than usual, which is sadly in keeping with current levels of organized cyber crime.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Hone are in the islands this weekend.  So far this has only meant increased humidity and cloudiness, but tonight and tomorrow we may get a fair amount of rain and wind.  Actually, the rain is welcome because much of the island has been very dry lately.  Of course if you're a tourist this may put a damper on your planned activities -- a wet luau is no fun at all. Most of these storms, and also hurricanes, come from the east.  This one is forecast to pass south of the islands before turning northward, a fairly common track. The strength of winds usually drops steadily as the storm passes over cooler waters.  We're certainly hoping that's the case this time, but at the moment the forecast is for the storm to strengthen to hurricane level after it passes to our south. We're also hoping all this settles down by the time we return to Oahu for Karen's eye surgery next week. I'll let you know how it goes

Ok, enough for now  Off to market and a pre-storm beach picnic breakfast.  Take care.  Keep your exposure to election nastiness to as little as you can.

Fire Prep, Med Titration,Travel Plans

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

8/17/24

 

Aloha  Ohana -- 

Life lurches on here.  It was a fairly quiet week.  Probably the two biggest events were getting my teeth cleaned on Wednesday and working out at the gym on Thursday.  The workout this week was definitely a notch up from last time, and I managed to get back to my previous machine settings.  Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with lunch at one of our favorite seaside restaurants in town, one that we haven't been to in quite a while. I attribute my improved energy level to cutting back a little on my heart rate medication.  This is supposed to lower your heart rate to ease the burden of Afib, but my initial dose was overdoing it and turning me into a zombie.  By the way, I'm not sure I made it clear that I feel absolutely no symptoms from Afib itself-- no pounding or fluttering in my chest, no light-hotheadedness, no pain at all. I only know I'm still in Afib because my little home monitoring device tells me so.

 

Our weather has turned drier.  We're still getting some afternoon and evening showers, but the total rainfall has dropped off.  In fact, island-wide the rainfall has been far short of normal, and this is prompting

Fire in Paradise

concerns about wildfires of the sort that devastated  parts of Maui last year. The county has been creating fire breaks around large wooded and grassy areas inland of town, and along major roads.  Homeowners are being advised to push back flammable vegetation from their houses. In addition, the electric company has established several zones where power might be preemptively cut off to prevent downed wires from starting fires, as they did on Maui.  All of these actions give the impression that they would protect us from a Maui-type event, but I'm not so sure they would.  First, our town is situated very similarly to Lahaina -- a seaside tinderbox with lots of grassy areas inland and upslope, Normally onshore winds prevail during the day both here and on Maui, but the day of the Maui fire they were blowing down slope and toward the ocean, a very unusual pattern.  This meant that that escape routes away from the shore went directly into the path of the fires.  The same could happen here, and due to poor urban planning  there are only four evacuation routes in a five-mile stretch along our coast. The fire breaks and electric cut-off zones might slow things a bit, which might give people time to escape, but it still might be a tragically chaotic situation.  The climatic conditions that led to the Maui tragedy are also becoming more common, yet another legacy of climate change.  

In more happy news, we made our final payment for our November trip to Cambodia and Thailand.  I know, you're probably questioning the wisdom of exotic travel with my current health concerns.  But after carefully thinking about it, we've decided to go ahead despite the risks,  Or rather, we believe the risks are worth it for this special experience.

 

Next week we will be spending a few days on Oahu for  Karen to have cataract surgery, and again the following week when she has it done on the other eye.  She could have had this done on our island, but the surgeon on Oahu is very highly recommended by several friends, and it will give us a chance to get away for a couple of days.

 

Ok, that's all the geezer talk for now  Hang in there, stay cool, and give thanks for sanity and integrity -- they really do exist.

 

Olympic Workout,Medical Molasses,Golf"ish"

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

8/10/24

 

Aloha  Folks --

 

Inspired by those incredible Olympic athletes, on Sunday Karen and I made it to the gym for a very light workout.  It went ok -- no coronary collapses -- but our muscles reminded us of the effort for several days.

C'est Tres Belle!!

Speaking of the Olympics, we've been watching some of the events that we never knew existed, like Speed Climbing and Mixed Team Triathlon.  The triathlon includes a swim in the Seine -- something that would seem to me to require a very fierce competitive drive in order to overcome the reports of questionable water quality in what historically has been an open sewer.  We've also watched some of the more standard events, like gymnastics, and saw some incredible performances -- like those of Simone Biles, who has to go down in history as one of the greatest gymnasts of all times, with an inspiring personality to go along with her athletic abilities.

My medical saga continued this week.  My meds have kicked in and lowered my heart rate nicely, but they are making me want to sleep all the time.  I'm hoping this effect will get better over time, and it does seem better today.  My blood pressure is also back to acceptable levels.  All in all I think things are improving.  However, I'm swimming in molasses as far as getting a consult with a cardiologist.  It has taken two attempts to get the referral faxed from my primary doctor, and the first available appointment was for September 10.  Unfortunately, we will be in Ohio at that time, so I have an appointment for the day after we return, on the 20th. I got some interesting news on Saturday when I saw my ophthalmologist.  He didn't think there was a problem taking a blood thinner with my retina vein condition, and he said it might even head off future vein occlusions because they are caused by small clots that block the blood vessels in the retina.  Sounds good to me. He also attributed my recent acuity problems to Covid, which is documented to sometimes affect vision.  He thinks this should go away with time -- again, just...be...patient.  Easy to say and hard to do.  Finally, my visit to the dermatologist was mostly good news, but she did shave off a keratosishalitosis from my elbow for a biopsy.

 

In a final burst of energy this week we went to Makalei and did some putting and some practice drives.  After all, what could be better for your heart than trying to make a little ball go into a hole in the ground?  Amazingly, I managed to hit the ball a number of times and even sink a few putts.  The reward for this effort was a  heart-friendly lunch at Taco Bell.

Ok, off to market and to our beach breakfast picnic.  Stay cool --- both physically and mentally -- if you can.

Musical Doctors, Cool Air & Warm Water, Pele Snoozes Again

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

8/3/24

 

Aloha  Guys --

 

It was a pretty quiet week here.  I feel mostly ok but I don't have much energy and I take frequent (and long) naps. Some of this is likely due to my body's reaction to the new drugs I'm taking for my AFib and  I

Geezer Popcorn

hope it's only temporary.  I've been monitoring my bp, heart rate and heart rhythm to check on their effects (my geezerware collection now includes several new gadgets to assist with this physical preoccupation) .  After my birthday surprise adventure in Canada my pressure was way up and so was my heart rate. The  bp has dropped considerably and my heart rate is coming down slowly.  My heart's rhythm is still is still a random walk through cardio-land. This is not uncommon and many people live just fine with it.  It may be possible to get my heart back to a normal pattern, but in most cases drugs are required to keep it from misbehaving again. I've decided to consult with a cardiologist rather than rely on my internist for my treatment plan.  For one thing, I think he missed the possible complication I might have from taking blood thinners and having retina bleeding issues at the same time. I contacted a highly recommended cardiologist in town but he requires a referral from your primary physician before seeing you.  I had an appointment yesterday with my internist to get this, and hopefully I'll get scheduled with the cardiologist soon.

Speaking of doctors, today I will see somebody at the retina clinic to check on my current state and to consult about the blood thinner issue.  Then on Tuesday I have a routine dermatologist exam, and on Wednesday I have a follow up exam with my optometrist to assess my current prescription.  If I get in to see a cardiologist that will make a record of five physicians in one week. Happy Birthday, Dick!!!!!

There is, fortunately, some good news this week, too.  First, the ac in my new Subaru seems to be working just fine after getting charged up with refrigerant right before we left for Canada.  On Monday I'll have the dealer check the current level to see if it has lost any.  If it hasn't then the problem seems to be solved. If it has, then they should be able to tell where it is leaking from the dye they put into the refrigerant.  Also in good news, our pool solar heating system has been working well despite cloudy afternoons, and the temperature has been pleasant without having to cover it at night.  Finally, it looks like Pele has taken a snooze rather than belching lava, as seemed like she might a couple of weeks ago.  The magma has stopped surging underneath the summit -- for the time being.  There is no doubt there will be another eruption, but it doesn't look like it is imminent.

 

Ok, that's my entry in the Geezer Competitive Complaining Olympics.  Off to market and the beach.  Carpe diem.

 

A-Fib Club, Escape from Canada, Pele Perks Up

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

7/25/24

 

Aloha  Everybody --

 

Well, just two days after my 80th birthday train trip in Canada, I joined the not-so-exclusive A-Fib Club.

We were starting to take a hike in Jasper National Park when I felt light-headed and passed out,  I recovered enough to get back to town, but later in the Jasper ER I did it again.  An EKG showed I was in A-Fib -- an extreme form of heart arrhythmia. I was also dehydrated and had contracted Covid a few days earlier, plus something triggered a weird allergic reaction in which my tongue swelled up and my hands and feet itched.  Sound like fun, eh? Both the allergic reaction and Covid symptoms passed quickly, but the A-Fib is still with me -- a surprise birthday present I'd rather not have received.

 

We cut our trip short after a few days in nearby Banff -- a stunningly beautiful place overrun with summertime tourists and unfortunately grey and hazy from wildfires in the area. It was also very hot -- 95d one of the days we were there. We realized that continuing to Utah was out of the question, given the even greater heat there, plus my ticker issues. We managed to cancel our arrangements and fly back to Kona directly from Calgary through Denver.  You may have seen the news about the wildfires in Canada, which just a few days after we were in Jasper burned though the town and caused evacuation of the National Park.  The ER where I received treatment just 10 days ago is possibly gone now.We definitely made the right decision to leave.

On Thursday I saw my doctor and another EKG confirmed my problem.  I'll spare you the details (of which many of you are probably personally aware), but I'm now on four additional drugs to control the A-Fib and prevent a stroke -- a blood thinner. a heart rate regulator, a diuretic, and a potassium supplement (the last two hopefully will be temporary once my BP is lowered to a safe level).  

All in all I'd say this hasn't been the best birthday I've had, but it wasn't all a lost cause.  We loved the several days we stayed in Vancouver.  It is a beautiful city with great architecture, art, transportation system, food, and excellent beer.  Also, my train adventure through the Canadian Rockies was just what I wanted, including having dinner as the scenery rolled by and sleeping in our own comfortable compartment. Oh, and I should add that even though both of us got Covid, the symptoms were milder than an ordinary cold and only lasted a few days, something we attribute at least in part to our recent booster shots.

Returning home may not have insulated us from nature's current global fury.  Kilauea activity has just recently taken a significant jump.Volcanologists have detected swarms of  hundreds of small earthquakes near the summit that have come in several pulses.  This is an indication that magma is welling up and recharging the system to the point that there may be an eruption soon.  However, the magma has moved from the summit caldera to a fault region just south and east, so an eruption right at the summit is less likely now.  Of course, the recent activity might also stop once the reservoir beneath the summit is drained.  Time to sing a lullaby for Pele ...

Ok, that's it for now.  Off to market and our beach breakfast picnic.  Carpe diem!

 

Guest, Fireworks, More Travel Plans

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

7/6/24

 

Aloha  Folks  -- 

Happy 4th of July!  We spent most of ours whacking a golf ball and feeding the course peacocks atMakalei.  For the first time in quite a while we did all 18 holes -- aspirationally, that is.  On a few holes

Kona's Little Big Bang

we cut the frustration short, but otherwise it was an enjoyable outing. We wanted to get in as much as we could because we'll be gone on our Canada/Utah trip coming up and won't play until we return.  Doing all 18 was rather tiring (remember, this represents A LOT of strokes for us duffers) but the effort gave us a sense of accomplishment. After dinner we made a quick trip down to the waterfront for the town fireworks display -- all 7 minutes of it.  Though very short, the display was surprisingly good, with a few giant ones that filled to sky above Kailua Bay.  This was certainly a low-effort outing.  It took about 10 minutes to drive to the Lowe's parking lot above town, then we managed to avoid any heavy traffic returning home after the show.  Round trip was about 30 minutes!

Earlier in the week we had a short visit from our friend from France, the expat we visited last year who moved to Nimes after the 2016 election,  She only stayed a couple of nights, but it was great showing her around a little bit.  We first met her when we crossed paths on our tour of Bhutan.  Like us, she had a guide and driver, and was going to areas less frequented by tourists.  The limited infrastructure of the country meant that we followed the same route and sometimes wound up in the same hotels.  She's an avid independent traveler, an approach to travel we definitely share.  We've stayed in touch all these years and it was great fun to compare travel notes from adventures since we met in Bhutan.

 

Speaking of travel, we are continuing to make arrangements for upcoming trips.  It probably sounds like a lot of planning because for various reasons we've found ourselves making plans for three trips at once --usually the planning is much more spread out. Our Thailand/Cambodia trip in November is nearly done.  We have decided to stay in a coastal resort area called Khao Lak, about an hour north of Phuket. Just off the coast there are a couple of National Underwater Parks that have highly rated snorkeling and diving. We've booked a hotel in Khao Lak and we'll soon book one in Bangkok for a few days upon arriving in Thailand.  Still left to do are the flights from Bangkok to Phuket, and from there to Phnom Penh and finally our international flights between here and SE Asia. Whew!  We're also going to be making our yearly quick trip to Ohio to visit friends in September, with a stopover for a few days in Colorado on the way back. This one doesn't require quite as much planning, but it needs to be done soon.

 

Ok, that's about it.  This may be the last missive for a while, depending on how busy we are during our trip. In the meantime, carpe diem and resist the gaslighting attempts all around us these days.........

Warm Water, "AA" Golf, Pigs & Mangos

Nte: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

6/29/24

 

Aloha  Guys  -- 

I wrote last week that our solar pool panel replacement had fallen through the cracks and the person who was supposed to finish the job didn't get the word until late in the week.  As promised, he and a helper showed up Saturday morning about 7:45 and by 10 am we had warm water flowing into the pool for the first time in several weeks.  Of course, it was bright and sunny right up until then, then promptly clouded over for the rest of the day. We still got some heat gain, though, and in the next few days the temperature of the pool increased by 2-3 degrees, definitely into the geezer comfort zone.  Yay! This long-term project has finally been finished!

 

Another thing that got resolved this week was my driver's license renewal.  On Tuesday when I got my injection I told my retina guy that I was worried about the eye exam.  He determined that I was qualified to drive as long as I wear my glasses and filled out a form for the DMV saying that.  Bingo -- 4 more years and maybe by then I'll be improved enough that it won't be an issue.

 

On Wednesday I played golf with Karen and our golf buddy. My goal in playing golf is enjoy it and not to take it too seriously. Lately, though, I've been getting frustrated when I don't do well, a sure sign of taking it too seriously. I just want to enjoy the outing and hit the ball well enough to appreciate the accomplishment. This time I played "Aspirational Golf."  If I liked my shot I'd play it from where it landed.  If I didn't like it I would apply an "Aspirational Adjustment," which involves repositioning the ball to where you think it should have gone. You probably recognize this as being in the same spirit as "Kon-a-Lago" rules, which I've described before.  AA Golf definitely reduces frustration, though it makes score-keeping kind of an exercise in wishful thinking.  I figure that's ok, though, given that our culture no longer seems to care much about reality.

My final tidbit of the week is about the mangos we've been enjoying from our neighbor's tree. Turns out

Somebody Say Mangos?

we're not the only ones who are enjoying them -- birds, mongoose, rats, and particularly the feral pigs in the area, have also.  The pigs aren't native, of course.  They were first introduced to the islands by the Polynesians who brought a domesticated variety with them for food.  Much later wild boar were brought in by Europeans and American settlers to hunt for sport and for food.  Without any natural enemies except humans to keep their population in check, feral decedents of the first pigs have become a real environmental problem. Our house borders an undeveloped strip of land that is home to probably dozens of them.  It's a pig paradise with plenty of wooded cover and easy access to tasty and nutritious food, especially macadamia nuts, avocados and mangos that drop either from trees in the strip or, as in this case, from somebody's yard that is accessible from the strip.  My neighbor makes absolutely no attempt to harvest the mangos, so they are easily available when they drop.  We've seen as many as 15 pigs in several groups chowing down, sometimes with loud disagreement over whose mango is whose.  There is one pig that we see regularly that is very interesting.  It is always in the company of the same feral chicken --- they seem to be buddies, and may have been together since last year, when we spotted a young pig and a chicken that seemed to be hanging out together.  Kind of cute,  By the way, I'm giving that area a wide birth at night when I'm coqui hunting -- I really don't want to tangle with a wild boar. Wishful thinking might not be enough to keep me from getting turned into a pile of bloody pulp.

Ok, that's it for now.  Stay well, safe, and sane.

vAX Whack, Travel Plans, Mango Mania

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

6/22/24

 

Aloha Folks --

 

Shortly after sending last week's missive, Karen and I had our Covid booster vaccinations. We generally get our shots at the Safeway Pharmacy because it's convenient and we get a 10% shopping discount coupon. The shot itself was so painless that at the time I wondered if the pharmacist had done it correctly.  NOT TO WORRY!  By that evening my body was in full Intruder Alert Mode as my immune system sent out the security forces to do battle.  Sore arm, aching joints, muscle pain, blahs. Since this was a vaccine and not the real thing, the good guys were guaranteed to win, and in the process they have made anti-body preparations that should be effective if I contract the real disease.  By the way, Covid (the latest strain) is still on the uptick here, though not in numbers that are alarming yet. For people who had been previously vaccinated and/or had Covid before, the symptoms are usually unpleasant but not too bad.  On Monday at my rescheduled haircut, my barber reported the same thing.  We were both masked, by the way. My worst symptoms abated in about 12 hours, but the whole next day I was not a happy camper, and for the next few days I felt out of sorts.  No reqrets, though, and my strong reaction means my geezer immune system is still working pretty well.

 

After a few more iterations of our Cambodia itinerary we put down a deposit this week on that portion of our SE Asia November trip.  As you recall, our plan is to spend about a week in Thailand first, mainly in the southern islands, then fly to Phnom Penh  to begin our personalized tour.  We haven't decided yet which island in Thailand we'll visit, but it will definitely not be one of the several where we've stayed before.  The main itinerary of activities there will be eating, snorkeling and getting massages.  The Cambodia part will be far more adventurous and active, but we've designed it to allow for a fair amount of leisure time, too.  We begin in Phnom Pehn for several days, then travel overland to the far north, visiting lesser-known temple complexes that should have far fewer tourists than Angkor Wat. At one of these temples we've arranged to stay just outside the complex in a luxury tent for one night, and tour part of it by torch-light. We'll then spend several days in Siem Reap and of course tour the Angkor complex, one of the most tourist-clogged  sites in the world. Our tour, though, has been designed to avoid the crowds as much as possible by spreading it out over several days, visiting temples before most people arrive or after they've left, and traveling between sites along less well-traveled routes, for example by e-bikes along jungle paths.  We'll also stay a couple of nights in a colonial-era town a few hours from Siem Reap called Battambang before flying down to the Cardamon Mountains in the south for 3 nights in a tented camp inside a national park. We'll finish the trip with a couple of nights in a southern town called Kom Pot, noted for its nearby pepper plantations.  This itinerary is fairly pricey but we think it's good value for the money, and it certainly fulfills the bucket-list requirement.

All week long we've been harvesting mangos from our neighbor's tree that projects over the property line.

Thanks, Neighbor!

This year it is almost touching the roof above our bedroom lanai, and we've been able to reach a lot of the mangos by either leaning over a little, or by using our pool cleaner net with its long handle. There are many varieties of mango that are grown here and ripen at different times.  These are Hayden mangos and this variety is one of our favorites.  The weather this year has produced a bumper crop and we're trying to take advantage of the bounty -- including giving quite a few away to friends, freezing some, and even making mango chutney -- in addition to having mango every morning at breakfast.  After the mangos are all gone we'll have the branches cut back to the property line so that the tree doesn't become a nuisance.  No worries -- mango trees are very vigorous and in a couple of years it will be back.

The saga of our roof solar system may finally be about over.  Recall that everything is in place and ready to go except for one fitting that needs to be repaired.  Yesterday was three weeks (!) in that state.  I contacted the company last week and asked when it would be finished.  The answer was sometime this week.  Well, by yesterday it still was in limbo, but I got a call yesterday morning saying someone would be there Saturday morning, along with an apology because nobody had told the guy to work it in during the week. He was quite upset that the job hadn't been finished and that nobody had told him about it (he was on vacation the week before).  So we're holding our breath this morning to see if it actually gets done.  Geez!

Ok, that's it for this week.  As I scan the news of climate woes, wars, political bs, and the general lack of civility and consideration these days, there's a saying that comes to mind that is in the spirit of an unpleasant  carnival or amusement park ride (I don't remember the source):  "Stop the world, I want to get off....."

Take care. Stay cool (both physically and mentally).