A Flood

[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.]

11/22/25

Aloha All!

 

One of my past blogs was about "Whack-A-Mole Maintenance," the experience of having just taken care of one house maintenance issue when another immediately crops up to take its place. That's what happened here this week, and the new problem turned out to be a dandy.  On Tuesday my handyman and I replaced the ventilation motor I wrote about last week and got the fan back on the roof and working perfectly.  The warm glow of accomplishment lasted about two hours, until I went to check on a small leak in our pool pump that I had discovered a day before.  Water was shooting out of the pump housing with such force that it went all the way across the room and hit the opposite wall.  It looked much like one the lava geysers our volcano has been belching lately.  The pool equipment is housed in a little room that connects with a room that we use mainly as a quiet retreat. It is open on two sides and it connects with our pool deck.  We have a small couch and a couple of chairs there, and it's where I do my morning laptop computer surfing, meditating, and occasional napping.  Anyway, the indoor/outdoor carpeting was soaked, as well as the couch cushions and all the objects we had on display along the wall.  I managed to get the pump turned off pretty fast, but I think it had been going for awhile, judging from the puddles on the floor.

 

We spent the rest of the day dealing with all the water.  I went over the carpet several times with my shop-vac while Karen dried everything else off and moved the cushions out into the sun to drip and dry.  I was relieved to find that my laptop computer, which had gotten pretty wet, seems ok. One upside to this near disaster was that the carpet needed cleaning anyway, and the other things in the room needed cleaning too.  This could have been so much worse if we had not been home to deal with it.  If we were traveling several days could have gone by until my handyman discovered the problem on his next weekly visit.

 

I called my pool man and he came the next morning to take a look.  The initial diagnosis is that the pump housing suddenly developed a hairline crack and water was being forced through it when the pump was running.  The pump itself is separate from the motor that turns it, and even though the motor is fairly new, the pump is probably 30 years old.  Like the rest of us geezers, it now has developed cracks and leaks.  Also, being old, the pump is now no longer being made and repair parts are hard to find.  At first we were going to try to locate a used housing but on further reflection it seemed that it would be better just to bite the (expensive) bullet and get a whole new unit.

 

If this were the mainland there would be many outlets nearby who would have a wide variety of pumps on hand that could be immediately installed.  Not here.  There are just a handful of pool supply outfits on our island, and the selection is much more limited.  I searched the internet and found a lot of options, but --- you know what I'm going to say -- it would take at least a week to get it delivered.  A week of the pool water not being filtered is not a good idea, and of course without the pump running we don't get solar heating from our roof panels.  I did the rounds to see what was available here, and yesterday I bought a fancy new unit that should work, and should be reliable enough that we don't have to worry when we travel.  My pool guy will start installing it today, and if all goes well we should be back to heating and filtering soon.

 

This pump (a Pentair WhisperFlo VST Turbocharged Jet Assist Macho Mega Machine) is supposed

to be very energy efficient because it can be programmed to run at lower speeds for some of the cycle time.  Lowering the rpms of the motor dramatically reduces the amount of electricity the unit uses.  Of course, since we have PV panels that generate most of our electricity, this isn't much of an issue for us.  The state has mandated a switch from single-speed to variable-speed pool systems, though, so we don't really have a choice.  My intent is to just program the pump to run at one speed near what it does now, and forget all the fancy stuff.

 

In other news, we got rained out on another attempt to whack a ball at Makalei, so we went to PF instead.  On Thursday I sent in my heart monitor for analysis. and I'll learn the results when I see my cardiologist in a couple of weeks.  My new eyeglasses are still inching their way through USPS.  Finally, we're making some progress in planning our spring trip to Panama and Colombia.  Once the U.S. invades Colombia it should be safe, right?

 

Take care.  Bundle up. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!  

Set Screw Snafu, Ticker Tracker, Skin Check

[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.]

11/15/25

Aloha Tout Le Monde!

 

How's that for linguistic virtuosity?!

 

Jet lag faded pretty quickly this time, and we both felt fairly good by last weekend, This week I've been almost back to normal, which includes my fondness for a couple of deep naps each day.  On Sunday we did a light workout at PF, and we were once again reminded of how quickly the geezer body can become a blob of flab if you don't keep at it.  Yesterday we tried to do some practice putting and ball-whacking at Makalei, but we were rained out before we even started. Despite this we may try to play a round sometime this coming week.  Watch out, Peacocks!

 

Shortly after we got home last week I received my replacement motor for one of our roof ventilation

All you have to do is...

fans.  You may recall that a couple of months ago I noticed it wasn't working, so I ordered a new motor. On Wednesday I sent my handyman up on the roof to bring down the fan housing so we could work on it.  Everything went very smoothly -- we easily loosened the bracket holding the old motor and it was then simply a matter of taking off the old fan blade and putting it on the new motor.  However, the project came to a screeching halt when the set screw holding the blade on the old motor shaft wouldn't budge.  We tried everything -- more torque, penetrating oil, heat, lots of swearing.  My handyman is pretty strong, and if he couldn't loosen it no one could.  We gave up and reinstalled the roof unit temporarily until I could get a new fan blade and set screw -- given shipping delays these days, I thought it would probably another couple of weeks until this "simple" repair is complete.  In other words, a typical home maintenance snafu. However, the fan blade arrived yesterday, just two days after I ordered it on Wednesday!  This is definitely as good as it gets here.  The shipping was USPS Ground Advantage, which can take anywhere from two days to two weeks, depending on variables we don't understand.  It has nothing obvious to do with the size of the package or whether it's in a box or an envelope,  or where it's coming from.  Before you brag about your wonderfully fast Amazon Prime shipping, let me report that the same thing is true for those orders. It's yet another example of how unique living in Hawai'i can be.  Anyway, hopefully we'll get the job done next week.

 

In Geezer Gazette news, last week I dropped by my cardiologist's office to have his nurse paste a

Fit Bit on Steroids

heart monitor on me.  This is the third time I've done this over the past year and I'm great with it.  This device is like a Fit Bit on steroids. It monitors your heart 24/7 for two weeks and collects very detailed data about the state of your ticker. I'm betting it will show that my afib incidents have increased in number and duration, but they have remained mild in the sense that my heart rate usually stays below 100 and I'm mostly asymptomatic.  Also, not all afib patterns are equally serious, and I think mine is pretty tame.  Anyway, I'll see my cardiologist in a few weeks to go over the results and discuss any changes to my treatment plan. BTW, I'm a little envious of my friend in Ohio who has one of these kinds of monitors permanently implanted under his chest skin.  It's very small and the battery lasts about three years. It uploads his data automatically to his cardiologist and he gets a regular report. At some point I may ask my doc if he thinks that would be a good idea for me.  

 

Turning to external geezer news, on Tuesday I had a quick follow-up exam with my dermatologist.  This was just to check a couple of areas that she noticed at my last exam.  Both have healed nicely, so far now all is good. I go back for my yearly check next spring. No news is usually good news in geezerhood. I have some new info on my eyes, but I'll wait until next time to regale you with that.

 

A couple of final tidbits.  First, the 36th episode of our volcano's eruption-on-the-installment-plan came and went last week after a mere 5 hours of high (1000 ft) fountaining.  The brevity of this meant that there were a number of people who traveled to see the eruption and either arrived just as it ended or missed it altogether.  Pele can definitely be a mischievous tease at times.  Second, we enjoyed our river cruise so much we have tentatively booked another one -- this time on the Magdalena River in Colombia.  Some of our Ohio friends are doing this right now. We were going to wait and get their assessment, but it sounds so good we decided to go ahead and reserve space before all the spots are taken. We visited Colombia previously for about a month and enjoyed it very much, but we didn't spend time in this area.  The cruise isn't really long enough for our travel style, so we're working on a 10-12 day private land tour in Panama to precede the Colombia portion.  The trip will likely be in March and April next year.  Kind of exciting.

 

Ok.  Off to market and beach breakfast.  Take care, stay warm -- both physically and psychologically. 

River Boat Cruise, Gecko Welcome Home

[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.]

11/8/25

Aloha Everyone!

 

We got back from our mainland trip on 11/3, two days before the date which I now regard as the anniversary of "Black Tuesday."  Overall it was a great trip for a number of reasons.  First, consider the source when I tell you that we actually enjoyed the river boat cruise. We're reluctant cruisers, and you may recall we had a so-so experience recently on a European trip on the Danube.  Our Mississippi cruise was much, much more to our liking.  The ship was a replica of a stern wheeler paddle boat.  Built in 2018, it was very comfortable and well-appointed. Our large stateroom had a private balcony that provided us with a beautiful view of the passing river bank.  One aspect that we appreciated was that the 8-day itinerary included periods of daytime sailing when we could actually make use of the balcony. The boat holds just 180 passengers, which made for a much more relaxed and friendly atmosphere than our European cruise. 

 

The trip started in Memphis, where we stayed downtown for four nights on our own before starting the river cruise.  We liked Memphis very much.  This is the home of famous Beale street, a mecca for Blues performers. It is also home to the fabulous Civil Rights Museum, housed in the former Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. Memphis is also the location of Elvis' Graceland.  We spent one night at the Graceland Guest House as part of our cruise package. This allowed us to tour the mansion and the associated museum, a deep dive into Elvis' career, private life and his personality.  I came away with an appreciation for him as a much more complex person that I had previously thought. 

 

Another positive aspect of the trip is that the boat stopped at a number of places we had never visited

Old But New

before.  For example, the first stop after boarding in Memphis was a small town called Cleveland, in the Mississippi Delta. We learned several surprising things here.  First, the Mississippi Delta is far inland, not where the river dumps into the ocean.  It's considered a delta because it frequently floods along this stretch of the Mississippi, covering a very large area with floodwater.  Second, the region is home to more Grammy Award winners than anywhere else in the country, and the town hosts the National Grammy Museum for this reason.  The distinctive music of the area is called "Delta Blues," a sample of which we heard as part of the shipboard entertainment.  The third surprise was that this area has a large Chinese population, descendants of people who were recruited as sharecroppers on the plantations after the Civil War, when large numbers of former slaves migrated north.  Many Chinese immigrants rose above their sharecropper status to become successful proprietors of small general stores -- much like the Japanese did here in Hawai'i.  Though the Chinese weren't Black, they weren't considered White, either, and they faced considerable discrimination, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which prevented new immigrants and denied citizenship to those already in the country. Sound familiar?

 

Mostly Decorative

The 8-day journey to New Orleans included a number of other interesting and historic stops which we enjoyed  -- Vicksburg, Natchez, St. Francisville and Vacherie. After one night in New Orleans we were hustled off early the next day to allow the crew to get the ship ready for the return voyage scheduled to start in just a few hours.  We remained in New Orleans for another 3 nights on our own.  We have been to this unique city a couple of times before, with the last visit being just before Covid.  We had some great food, soaked up the fun-loving atmosphere, and generally had a great time. Two highlights were a visit to the terrific sculpture garden at the New Orleans Art Museum, and going through the fabulous World War II Museum.  The War Museum is a sobering, immersive experience that is an unflinching look at the early failures of the U.S. as a fighting force, the horrors of being a soldier, and the immense destruction and savagery of warfare.  It documents our successes, of course, but makes it clear these came at an enormous cost.  

 

Our trip finished with a 10-day visit to Ohio, where we got together with many dear friends, and got a reminder of what late fall weather in Ohio is like -- C-O-L-D.  The locals weren't complaining -- after all it was sunny and in the low 60's during the day, with a nice invigorating drop to the high 30's/low 40's at night.  What's wrong with that?  Well, for a wimpy Hawaiian boy like me that's downright painful!  Anyway, the warmth of hospitality from our long-time friends definitely helped counteract the chill...

 

Back home I immediately peeled off all my layers and donned my shorts and t-shirt.  Our first morning

Hangin' with ma Bud

back we reunited with our breakfast-table geckos by the pool.  It was clear they were glad to see us, with the first ones arriving within minutes. Some eagerly accepted our bits of papaya, but some also just wanted to hang out and enjoy our presence.  One of our favorites, who we have named Pom-Pom because of the shape of the dots on her back, chose to forgo eating and instead hopped into my lap and just sat there for a few minutes.  Very endearing, and a perfect welcome home greeting!

 

Take care.  I'll catch you up on Geezer Gazette news next time. Keep fighting for the middle -- it's the only place sanity can prevail.  

 

Ships, Shots, & Eye Drops

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

10/4/25

Aloha Ohana!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

T-Shirts for Triathletes, New Glasses, Self-Healing House?

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.]

9/27/25

Aloha Fellow Time Travelers!

 

Fall?  Really?  I guess so -- the Halloween decorations in Lowe's and Costco, which were on display a month ago, have now been joined by Christmas stuff.  Christmas in September! Actually, maybe having an extended season of good will, charity, and humility might be a good idea this year.....

 

Early in the week Karen and I participated in an "Only in Kona" activity -- serving as volunteers to help

Hard at Work

with preparations for the upcoming annual Ironman Triathlon World Championships.  This will occur on October 11, a few days after we have departed for our trip to sail down the Mississippi, so we will miss the actual race.  However, most athletes will have arrived in town the week before, and we'll be seeing them everywhere.  They are very easy to spot, standing out rather obviously from our typical tourists -- zero body fat and physiques like inverted triangles.This year the competition is only women, about 1500 or more of them, with 60 qualifying professionals. Our job, along with other volunteers from Karen's women's club and their spouses, was to fold athlete t-shirts and stuff them into bags. These shirts are only for the finishers of the race, which these days is nearly all of those who participate. It took our group about three hours to get the job done, so it wasn't really very onerous.  Karen and I rewarded ourselves with a slice of pizza, a salad, and a beer at Kona Brew Pub.

 

In Geezer Gazette news, I visited my optometrist on Wednesday and got a new prescription for glasses. The exam showed definite changes since my last prescription in May.  That one was about 3 months after my cataract surgery.  Since then both eyes show a bit more astigmatism, and both need additional magnification for distance vision, particularly more for my left (good) eye. A new pair of glasses have been ordered, and hopefully they will arrive before we leave. However, the optometrist showed me a preview of what I can expect, and it really doesn't seem that much different.  Sigh.  On the close-up problem, we worked hard trying to come up with a prescription that would help me see small detail, but nothing seem to help more than what I have right now.  I'll return for another visit to assess this when we get back from our trip. 

 

We did another workout at PF this week, and yesterday we played golf again, this time with our golf buddy. The workout was less painful, which means our muscles have resigned themselves to the effort.  Golf was enjoyable but my game was pretty lousy after a good start.  Still, there were enough moments of competence to make it fun.

 

 In the Department of House Maintenance Puzzles, I may have observed a case of temporary self-healing in one of our solar-powered ceiling exhaust fans.  We have two of these that we installed shortly after we moved in as a way to reduce daytime heat inside the house.  As you may recall, our construction is different than mainland houses in a number of ways.  We have no insulation in the walls or ceiling, something that works in our climate but would be unheard of on the mainland.  In fact, our ceiling is the underside of the roof -- there is no dropped ceiling, just open beams and planking.  Heat can build up near our ceiling just like in your attic, and these fans draw the hot air up and blow it outside.  Being solar, they crank faster when the sun is strongest, a very positive feature.  One of ours stopped working about a month ago and it was on my to-do list to have my handyman go up on the roof and remove the unit so we could test it.  But the other day it started working again -- kinda sorta.  Today it's immobile again.  The worst kind of problem is one that is intermittent, so I'll have to wait to see what happens for awhile.  I'm hoping that a gecko got tangled up in the mechanism and is slowly decaying so that eventually the self-healing will be permanent.

 

Ok, off to the market and then to the beach for breakfast.  Carpe Vitam! 

Muscles, Eyes, Skin, and Lava Episode 33

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.]

9/20/25

Aloha Everyone!

 

This was a very physical week -- by my standards, anyway.  Karen and I returned to Planet Fitness and also played golf, neither of which we had done for over a month because of our trip to the Northwest. Even though we tried to ease back in to them, both activities resulted in same experience -- being pooped and having very stiff muscles.  The golf actually went pretty well at times -- I got two pars and a bogey. Karen got a par on one of the same holes that I did -- a dual achievement.  Unfortunately I couldn't keep up that level of performance, and on several holes I was absolutely lousy.  Part of the problem was that if I had a good shot that went a long distance, we couldn't find the damn ball, a frustrating result of a recent downturn in my vision caused partially by my retinal edema.  I had an injection on Tuesday, but the medication really hadn't kicked in yet by the time we played golf on Thursday. I have to say that of all my current health problems, the one that concerns me most is my eyesight. Hopefully a new pair of glasses will help somewhat, and I have an appointment next week with my optometrist.

 

In other geezer news, yesterday I had my 6-month checkup with my dermatologist.  It went pretty well, but I do have a thingy on my neck that might be a basal cell carcinoma, a very treatable form of cancer. I'll go back in November to have this spot checked again, along with some other suspicious areas.  Isn't this fun?

 

My final bit of news is that Kilauea acted up again this week, Episode 33 in this ongoing eruptive period

Just Gurgling

that began last December.  The volcano had been quiet since Sept, 2, but according to the scientific measurements, it was building up pressure for another fountaining event.  The prediction was that it would start sometime between 9/17 and 9/22.  Sure enough, on the 17th it started spitting up new lava for brief periods of what is called "dome fountaining" -- low gushes that would come and go for short periods.  Then a continuous fountain began early Friday morning, reaching 800 feet before settling back to about 300 feet high. 

Main Event

Around noon, after just nine hours, it was all over, but current measurements suggest another episode will occur after a period of recharging.  Also, the volcano spits out more than just lava.  S02, the gas that is the main component of Vog, also gets ejected in huge quantities.  During this latest episode it was measured at 50 thousand tons of gas per day.  Once this gets around the tip of the island and up along our coast, we get a period of increased pollution, which is what we are experiencing right now.  This probably won't last long, though -- maybe a few days.  Don't breathe and you'll be just fine.

 

Ok, that's it for now.  Have pleasant dreams of our fading liberal democracy -- it may yet come again. In the meantime, Carpe Vitam. 

Smoky Trip, Sunny Week, Maintenance Catch-Up

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.]

9/13/25

Aloha Everybody!

 

We got back from our quick mainland trip last Saturday evening. Overall it was a good trip, though our

What do you see?

drive through the Cascade Mountains turned out to be more of  a drive through the "Smokies." Smoke from wildfires in the area dulled the view of the countryside, particularly the day we drove through North Cascade National Park on our way back to Seattle.  A recent fire in the area reduced visibility even to the point that driving was a challenge at times.  Normally that route is supposed to be beautiful, but we'll have to rely on the guide book photos to verify that.  In addition, the six days we spent in Rainier Park and on the Cascade loop coincided with a hot and sunny spell that produced 100+ degree days. We had to limit our outdoor activities to either before noon or after 6 pm.  Despite the heat, the night time temps dropped to the low 50's, well below my Hawaiian comfort level. Note, that makes for a daily swing of nearly 50 degrees!  If all this sounds like our experience last summer in the Canadian Rockies, it was indeed very similar -- minus the passing out and visit to the ER, of course.

 

Chihuli Glass

    I don't want to sound too negative, however, because there were also some very enjoyable aspects of the trip as well.  Seattle was great, as were our quick visits with our friends in Portland.  We found Seattle to be a very enjoyable place (good weather there, by the way).  It was easy to get around, and very inexpensive with our Golden Geezer bus passes.  We stayed in a comfortable historic hotel in Pioneer Square called The Arctic Club, near another historic building, Smith Tower, built in 1914.  Smith was the Smith in Smith-Corona, and for decades his building was the tallest skyscraper outside of New York. Our anniversary dinner was at a nice French restaurant tin the famous Pike Place Market overlooking Eliot Bay  We also went to three museums that were a "hoot" -- not a term I usually use to describe a museum. One was a museum dedicated to the work of renowned glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. He personally curated the pieces

Trust me, it's ok

that are shown here, and they are absolutely stunning.  A second museum was one that just recently opened, The Museum of Illusions.  There are several of these around the country, including one very fittingly located in Las Vegas.  As the name implies, both classic and novel illusions are very effectively and informatively presented, and many of them are interactive and large-scale.  We enjoyed this place very much.  The last museum was the Boeing Museum of Flight.  This huge facility not only has an amazing collection of real planes, there are two simulators that allow you to try your hand at the controls. One involved trying to land the Space Shuttle, which I crashed three times in a row.  The other was a jet fighter simulator that would actually turn upside down if you wanted to (or weren't skillful with the controls).  I quickly discovered that being Top Gun is very hard -- I didn't crash, but I wasn't able to shoot anything down either.  

 

Back home, this past week has been peaceful and uneventful.  Several days have been clear the whole day, with the result that our PV system is well ahead of the game for the first time in months.  The pool temperature has risen to the high 80's, which feels very comfy.  My projects around the house have mainly focused on fixing things that I've been putting off.  For example, I spent several hours one day repairing our outside garden lighting system to get a couple of lights working again.  I also got caught up on cutting back a clump of bamboo that quickly gets out of hand if you don't routinely keep it under control. With my recent health issues preventing my from whacking it back, it had done just that.  

 

Ok, that's my news for this week.  Hang in there and keep a tight grip on what you know is true and good. Carpe Vitam! 

Golf Mishap, Fixing A Robot, Fighting Fires

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.]

816/25

 

Aloha!

 

I hope you are all enjoying your summer, despite the upsetting domestic and international news these days, as well as the crazy weather in many parts of the world. We have had somewhat drier conditions here, but it still has been cloudy a lot of the time.  We're on our way to our fifth month in a row that our pv production has been in the hole. At least the warmer nights have kept our pool comfy.

 

We played golf on Wednesday for the last time before we return from our mainland trip.  It was a pretty good round, despite an embarrassing and slightly bloody mishap on the 2nd hole.  I was doing very well

Skid Marks

up to that point, and I was close to the green in fewer shots that usual.  As we do often at Makalei, I had driven the cart to a place that made for a shorter walk after finishing the hole. This tends to speed things up because the other player(s) can be chipping and putting while I reposition the cart. Unfortunately this meant I had to walk down an embankment to get to my ball, and on the way I slipped on a patch of dirt, fell backward on my ass (the embarrassing part) and skinned my right arm that I used to break my fall (the bloody part). This was partly a result of my delusional still-20-something brain telling my geezer body that it could function like it used to, and my body saying "Oh yeah?"  Anyway, I staunched the flow of blood with tissues and bravely

My First Wedgie

finished the hole.  Back at the cart we washed off the wound with bottled water, dried it as best we could with a paper towel, and slathered on some alcohol hand cleaner to disinfect it temporarily.  I kept going for the rest of the day and did quite well (by my standards), finishing with 4 bogeys.  At home I thoroughly washed my wounds, soaked them with vinegar, then coated them with antibiotic ointment.  So far so good -- no sign of infection -- but the scabs shout "geezer-guy walkin' here!"

 

On a more positive note. my home maintenance project this week was successfully fixing a problem with  our pool robot.  This little guy is a marvel of engineering.  It runs entirely off our vacuum return line, no electricity or electronic parts at all. Water and debris are sucked through an opening in the bottom of the robot, travel through a hose to a port in the side of the pool, and from there to the filtration system.  The robot travels all over the bottom and sides of the pool, driven entirely by hydraulic action.  The water flowing through it turns a turbine that powers "feet" on each side, and a mysterious gear box deep in its innards randomly varies which foot gets more power, causing it to turn left and right.  It is also

Rodney The Robot

engineered so that every part of the robot can be replaced easily, and I've learned how to do this over the years.  About a month ago the robot started favoring left turns, which results in inefficient coverage because it twists its tube into a knot. There are a few reasons for this problem, but I narrowed it down to the need to replace several parts inside. I ordered them online and this week I took the robot apart, installed the new parts, and voila, back to normal.  Total cost about $50, labor free (well, a good beer that afternoon was perfect payment).

 

We've finished making our travel plans for our trip to the Northwest, and we're in prep mode around the house.  Since this is just a two week trip, we don't have to be as thorough as we normally are when we're gone a month or more. We're getting kind of excited -- this is our first trip since last spring when we went to Yosemite and Las Vegas.  One potential wrinkle in our plans, though, is that there have been a number of wildfires in the area we are visiting.  We're hoping this won't lead to a repeat of last summer, when fires and smoke in Canada made for very unpleasant conditions. We've learned over the years, though, that plans and reality don't always coincide, and more often than not a mismatch leads to positive experiences, not negative ones. In fact, on-the-fly problem solving is one of the aspects of independent travel that we value highly.

 

Ok, that's it for this week.  I'll check in again when we return.  Carpe Vitam 

Testing My Tacks, Making Travel Plans

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.]

8/9/25

 

Aloha All!

 

This week I got back to physical activities that have been restricted during my recovery from surgery.  On Sunday I did a complete workout at the gym, though with very light weight settings on the machines.  My routine makes use of about a dozen of these self-torture devices, each of which targets a different set of muscles.  I also usually use a pair of free weights to do a quick shoulder muscle exercise.  I didn't hear or feel any tummy tacks popping loose, but by Tuesday my muscles were really  sore and stiff.  Obviously they objected to getting back to work after a nice lazy 6-week vacation.  I also resumed my usual gardening and house maintenance chores, like catch-up pruning, pushing our trash bin to the top of our driveway for weekly collection, using my heavy backpack blower to clean dust and debris from our walkways, lanais and pool area, and hauling my garden sprayer around with a couple of loads of weed-killer.  I also did some outdoor repainting of one of our lanai railings. Another test came on Thursday, when  Karen and I played golf.  I whacked my way through a full (for us) round and had some pretty decent shots, winding up with three bogies.  There has been less rain on the course during the last week, so the drier grass helped the ball roll farther. Thankfully the extra distance cut down the number of fairway shots, each of which required a full swing and really tested those tacks.  They seemed to hold ok, but by the end I was really pooped and glad to get home for my afternoon dip in the pool followed by a rather deep "nap."  After all of this week's effort and resulting soreness, my conclusion is that it is easy to let a geezer-body get out of shape and very difficult to get it back in.....

 

With all our health uncertainties we haven't made many travel plans.  We have our Mississippi river boat trip coming up in October, but other than that we haven't made any commitments.  This is unusual for us -- normally by this time we have a good idea of the trips we want to make next year and even have made some preliminary arrangements.  Besides the health issues which make exotic travel

Seattle

daunting right now, even relatively easy foreign travel doesn't seem attractive at the moment, due to international political conflicts, local attitudes toward tourists, weather extremes,  and our country's self-imposed pariah status. Nevertheless, our wanderlust has gotten the better of us and we've decided to take a quick 2-week trip to the Pacific Northwest at the end of this month.  We're going to focus on Seattle, the Cascade Mountains, and perhaps zip down to Portland to visit a couple of friends who live there.  We've been to Seattle before, but it was a long time ago and a very brief visit.  Our current plan is to spend several nights in Seattle, then rent a car and drive the Cascade Loop, a circular route that is supposed to be very picturesque.  We will do this leisurely, with multi-night stops in a couple of places along the way.  If the weather cooperates it should be just what the travel-doc ordered.

 

Episode 30 of Kilauea's eruption came and went this week.  It was another bubbler rather than one with high fountains like the one we saw.  Driving all the way down to see it would have been rather disappointing, and we are glad we timed our visit as well as we did.  The fountaining may return, but for now the show is relatively subdued.  The various monitoring devices indicate another episode of some kind is coming, we'll just have to wait to see what it produces.

 

Ok, that's it for now.  Off to market and beach breakfast.  Be well and be good -- we could use more of both qualities in the world right now.  Carpe Vitam.

A Tsunami, My Royal Tooth, A Birdie !

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.]

8/2/25

 

Aloha Kakou!

 

There were several items of interest that occurred here this week.  First, as you undoubtedly heard, we were threatened by a tsunami on Tuesday, the result of an 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Russia.  Though this was huge and locally quite damaging, by the time the tsunami traveled 2k miles to reach us, it was pretty pooped out by the journey -- much like our jet-lagged, sleepy-eyed tourists. A typical tsunami travels about as fast as a passenger jet (about 500 mph), and we had plenty of warning that something was coming.  However, we didn't know for sure how big the tsunami was until it passed a network of monitoring buoys to our west.  Bottom line is that we had virtually no damage.  However, the 

LOUD

state was taking no chances and shortly after the earthquake we started hearing sirens along the shore accompanied by warnings pushed to everyone's cell phones. I received my first one as I was at the dentist paying for my long-awaited crown to fix my broken tooth.  I'd say the warning system worked very well here -- I can't imagine very many people not being aware of what was going on.  However, when an evacuation order was given things didn't go so great.  Due to poor urban planning and haphazard development, there are very few roads that lead away from our tourist-laden shoreline. I've mentioned this before in the context of the devastating wildfires on Maui a few years ago.  Our roads weren't quite as jammed as they were on Oahu, photos of which you may have seen on the news, but it would have been faster to have just walked inland a short distance.  The state also ordered large ships to leave harbor to avoid having them cause huge damage if the tsunami shoved them around.  Also, it is much safer to be in a ship away from shore, because there the tsunami "pulse" is just a rise in the ocean level and often barely noticeable in open water.  There were two cruise ships visiting the island of Hawai'i that day, one in our harbor and one over in Hilo.  The order to leave port came when a number of passengers were on excursions and they couldn't get back before the ships had to leave.  The stranded passengers weren't just left to fend for themselves, though, and were well taken care of by the cruise companies, rejoining the ships the next day. However, a few people demonstrated what seems to me a stunning degree of self-absorption by complaining on social media that their ship should have waited for them.  Let's see -- risk the lives or injuries of hundreds versus inconveniencing some who could easily get out of harm's way.  Really?

 

As I hinted above, on Tuesday my broken tooth became royalty -- it now wears a bright new crown!  The final session in the dentist's chair went very quickly compared to the one where the tooth was prepped and a mold for the new crown was made.  The final piece fit perfectly and it didn't take long to glue it into place.  I haven't had any problems with it, other than my tongue is bored without something to continually explore.  The whole restoration process took almost three months.  I broke the tooth on May 1 and it was finally fixed on July 29.  Patience, Grasshopper.

 

My final bit of news is that I passed my 6-weeks-from-surgery point this week, and that means I can now abuse my body with abandon.  Well, maybe not, but it does mean I can get back to activities that were restricted while my innards healed.  Like golf.  On Wednesday I played at Makalei with Karen and our golf buddy.  Since my muscles haven't really done much work for 1.5 months, I decided to ease back into the game by just playing about half the holes and sitting out the rest.  It went very well, including my tee shots which require a fair amount of effort and stretching. I even got a birdie, my first-ever.  Granted, it was on a short par-three hole, and I had to invoke the Kona-a-Lago rule of "If it hits the pin, it's in," but  still.......  By the end I was pretty pooped, and my body was telling me "enough!"  The last couple of days I've felt a bit stiff and sore, but mainly in my muscles, not in the area of the surgery.  Obviously it will take some time and effort to get back into shape, but I'm pleased with the progress so far.

 

Ok, that's it for now.  Take care and keep to the middle course. It's saner in the center. Carpe Vitam.

Car Surgery, Eyes On Hold, Golfishness

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

7/26/25

 

Aloha Folks!

 

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

Yikes!

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

 

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

 

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

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

Peacock Paradise

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

 

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

Mo' Betta Birthday!

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.]

7/19/25

 

Aloha Everybody!

 

The biggest news of the week here is that Tuesday was my xx-st [content censored] birthday.  I am pleased to report that it was, as we say here,"way mo' betta" than a year ago.  On my last birthday you may recall that I was rudely reminded that the human body has an expiration date, and that Nature doesn't really care what your plans may be. We were in Canada at the beginning of a bucket-list trip to spend time in the beautiful Canadian Rockies.  The plan was to fly to Vancouver for a few days, then take the overnight train to Jasper and from there make our way to Banff, enjoying the dramatic scenery and idyllic countryside as we traveled by car. From Banff we were going to fly to the contrasting Arches National Park in Utah, a starkly different area of natural wonders.  However, my birthday celebration was quickly muted by (a) getting Covid, (b) having a sudden downturn in my vision, (c) experiencing an allergic reaction to something unknown that made my tongue swell up and my feet and hands itch like crazy, (d) becoming dehydrated to the point of passing out at the beginning of our first hike, (e) winding up in the Jasper ER and being diagnosed with persistent Atrial Fibrillation, (f) arriving in the Canadian Rockies during an episode of wildfires that filled the air with smoke, closed off some scenic areas, and destroyed a big part of Jasper the day after we left.  We shortened our trip and flew home, where I quickly became involved with more physicians and medical tests in a couple of months that I had encountered in my entire life to that point.

 

This year was far more pleasant.  Most of my medical issues have either stabilized (heart, eyes), or are moving in a positive direction (hernia surgery).  Last week I was treated to two early and unplanned birthday presents -- shows featuring lava fountains and Formula 1 cars.  On Tuesday I wanted to keep things simple and low-key, and it worked out great.  The birthday card Karen gave me captured my goals

Birthday Dreaming

beautifully -- the cover featured a bear snoozing contentedly in a tree, the epitome of taking it easy. For my lunch restaurant I chose one of my favorite guilty-pleasure places -- Taco Bell (!).  The rest of the day featured a dip in the pool and a couple of naps.  Dinner was at home because I really didn't want the hassle of going to one of our several high-end places in Kona.  The menu was a combo of my favorites:  a rare steak that I cooked to perfection on my grill, al dente angel hair pasta with truffle oil (purchaaed during our last trip to Europe) topped with lots of freshly ground Parmesan cheese, a side of buttered peas, and a mixed salad that included greens from our garden sprinkled with bits of Gorgonzola cheese.  No fancy wine, but instead one of my favorite beers, an Imperial Pale Ale that paired perfectly with the pasta.  I was a very happy birthday boy!  On Wednesday evening our neighbors treated us to dinner at Ola Brew Pub here in town, which has another of my favorite beers, a hazy Ipa called "Mo' Hazy."  This is a low-key, informal place that fit my birthday preferences perfectly.

 

To top things off, Karen gave me the perfect geezer birthday present -- a FitBit Charge 6 wrist band. This high-tech marvel monitors my heart rate, heart rhythm including Afib, exercise level, stress level, sleep quality, temperature variation, breathing rate, toenail growth, halitosis level, hair loss, dental hygiene, etc, etc., etc.  Now I can really be obsessed with health issues! Think of the ammunition I'll have during those geezer-guy get-togethers.....

 

In other news, our crappy weather has continued for yet another week.  We're on track to have a fourth consecutive month in which our p.v. system doesn't cover our usage.  This is unprecedented and getting really, really, old.  Despite the cloudiness, our pool temperature has stayed in the acceptable range, though some days we have to go in during the rain.  I've not read any clear explanation of what might be causing this pattern, nor how much longer it might last.  I just hope it's not the new normal. And of course I can still console myself with the fact that the weather in many other parts of the world is much worse right now.

 

Carpe Vitam. Enjoy your summer.  As things heat up, I find myself yearning for the good old days when "ICE" was just something we put in drinks to make them cold... 

Lava Geyser, Fast Cars, Back in The Pool!

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.]

7/12/25

 

Aloha Everyone! 

 

Well, this week was very enjoyable.  One reason is that I got to see Kilauea Volcano spewing lava 1500

Got Any Marshmallows?

feet in the air. Over the  past 35+ years we've seen it oozing like molten brownie batter, flowing like a waterfall over a cliff, and shooting like a fire hose into the sea, but we've never had the chance to see it fountaining.  Usually this behavior occurs at the beginning of an eruption, then quickly transitions to a longer gushing phase.  But this eruption, which began December 23, has acted almost like Old Faithful Geyser, waking up about once per week and shooting lava 1k feet high or more for about 8-10 hours, then going quiet again. On Wednesday morning we learned the latest episode, #28, had begun just a couple of  hours earlier, at about 4:30 a.m. By 7:30 we were on the road and reached Volcanoes National Park about 10:30. It's about 90 miles south on a two-lane road that is curvy more than half of the way, and we stopped for a bathroom break and a malasada at Punalu'u Bakery.. Despite all the cars flooding into the area we managed to find a place to park not far from the summit crater rim and we quickly hiked to the first overlook point.  Yup, it was still going strong and shooting up as high as 1500 feet.  AWESOME!! We kept walking along the rim until we got to the closest point allowed -- about 1 mile away from the plume. The sound was incredible, like a dozen freight trains.  The weather was perfect for viewing this natural wonder -- clear and fairly warm as opposed to the more usual misty and cold conditions at the summit.  Also, the wind was carrying the noxious SO2 fumes away from the viewing area, as well as the fine strands of volcanic glass called Pele's Hair.  These strands are very light, and when airborne can be a real breathing hazard. On the ground all around we could see strands that had been deposited from earlier episodes. Some of these were quite long, 6-8 inches, because they had not yet been broken by the elements into smaller pieces.  We stayed for a couple of hours, then had a picnic lunch and drove back home.  We learned later that the fountaining abruptly shut off shortly after we left, about 1:20 p.m.  Our timing was perfect!

 

The other fun thing this week was that on Monday we went to a matinee showing of F1, about Formula 1 racing. As you know, one of my many quirks is my fascination with fast cars.  These are the fastest in the world, and the movie depicted what it would be like to race them with heart-pumping realism.  You may recall that several years ago Karen gave me a birthday present that was the best I could have ever asked for -- driving a Ferrari and a Lamborghini around a special track in Las Vegas.  I described this experience in a blog,  How 600 Horsepower Helped Me Try For A Darwin Award .  The cars I drove are actually for sale, and could be driven on the street, if you're rich enough.  On the other hand, Formula 1 cars are very special, and could never be driven anywhere except a race course.  The "formula" refers to a set of restrictions and regulations that forces the designers and engineers to be innovative and creative in how they coax maximum performance from the cars.  The restrictions also place great importance on skills of the drivers and their support teams, which was the focus of the film.  The filming of the racing scenes was first rate, and I needed several tissues to catch the drool the photography and editing produced.  Needless to say, I was very glad to have seen this on a big theater screen with full bone-rattling sound.

 

In more mundane news, I resumed a couple of activities I had paused because of my surgery.  I got back to our pool this week, and I even went to the gym for a very light workout. On Thursday I again accompanied Karen for a round of golf at Makalei.  No tee shots or long approach shots, but I did a few more chip shots and putts than last time.  Karen did very well, getting a par and a bogey. The weather was better this time, and we even had some periods of sun.  I'm now about 3 1/2 weeks out from my surgery and although I feel really pretty good, I'm trying not to overdo it.  At 4 weeks my surgeon says the inner tissue strength is about 70%, increasing to 90% by 6 weeks.  So far, so good.

 

OK, that's enough for now. Stay cool, enjoy your summer.  Carpe Vitam. 

Tummy Tacks, Dirty Cello, Super Caddy, Boom!

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.]

7/5/25

 

Aloha Everybody!  Happy Fourth of July!

 

This was a pretty good week. We attended a fun concert, saw some fireworks, got to the golf course, had a couple of good solar production days, and I had only one medical appointment. 

 

The medical event was my 2-week post-op follow-up with my surgeon on Tuesday.  All good news. I seem to be healing nicely, both inside and outside, and my pain has all but disappeared. In fact, my surgeon cautioned me that with laparoscopic surgery the lack of pain can tempt me to do too much too soon.  The inner tissue strength doesn't get back to near 100% until after about 6-weeks.  However,  I'm cleared to get back in our pool as soon as one incision heals over a bit more -- maybe another week -- and most other low-exertion activities are ok.  I got some interesting information during the surgeon's recounting of the procedure. In particular, he said that to hold the reinforcing mesh patches in place and to close the internal incisions, he used....tacks. It turns out I have very few internal stitches

Tacks Enlarged in Photo

, but I do have about 15 tacks!  Well, this really fascinated me, and I had a lot of questions, including how did he hammer them in?  I learned that these are not like household tacks, but more like short, squat, screws. They're put in place using a nifty tool that shoots them like a staple gun with a long tube, spinning them as they go.  They burrow in, anchoring themselves and securing the target tissues (or mesh).  Mine are absorbed over about 6 months, by which time the tissues will have bonded to each other or to the implanted mesh.  Pretty cool, right?  So the parts list for my surgery included 3 pieces of plastic mesh, a small amount of thread, 15 tacks, and 5 globs of glue.  Naturally, I asked for a souvenir tack to go with my souvenir photo, a request the surgeon admitted no one had ever asked before.

 

The concert in Waimea that we went to last Saturday was very good.  The name of the band is Dirty Cello. They are a small group from northern California that plays a range of styles but mostly a kind of rock blue grass.  The founders and permanent members are a husband-wife team with her as lead vocalist and cello player, and him on backup guitar.  They were accompanied by two other musicians, a drummer and a bass player. For such a small group they really put out the sound.  The cello-playing was first rate and quite interesting to watch.  The cello was raised and secured to a stand that let her play and move around rather than sitting.  She was classically trained but this was far from classical cello! Her singing was terrific. Bottom line -- a very fun evening.

 

On Thursday we went to Makalei.  Karen played and I drove the cart. I also gave her sagely caddy advice about which club to use and where to aim, which she promptly and wisely ignored.  I did drop a ball on several of the greens and practiced putting, but I didn't do any approach shots. Karen had to load and unload the bag of clubs because it was well beyond the limit of my lifting restriction.  We didn't have any rain for the first few holes, but then we had off-and-on showers and drizzle.  We kept going, though, and finished our usual 16 holes.  The course is very green and gorgeous, but the ground is saturated, making cart-driving a bit of a challenge on the steeper portions.

 

Last night we drove down to watch the community fireworks over Kailua Bay. It was a tasty treat for a fireworks junkie like me, though it only lasted about 10 minutes. It's a small community, after all.  

 

Ok, that's it for this week.  Hope you are staying cool. Try to stay focused on what you know is real and what is good. And as always, Carpe Vitam!

Murder, Opioids, Eyeballs, & Teeth

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.]

6/28/25

 

Aloha All!

 

Wow, it looks like you mainlanders are having summer a little early this year -- scorching temperatures,

Above line is electric we had to buy

violent storms, fires, floods, etc.  Fortunately the NWS forecast predicts some relief for you over the weekend.  Our crappy weather has continued for yet another week, and is predicted to keep going into the foreseeable future.  This is undoubtedly the longest stretch of bad weather we've had since we moved here 25 years ago.  For the third month in a row our PV system couldn't generate enough energy to cover our electric usage, and the pool solar heating has barely kept the water temperature in the geezer-tolerable zone.  The best thing about the cloudiness is that it makes nice napping weather.

 

On a happier note, last Saturday we went to our local community theater's production of "Murder on the Orient Express."  It was great fun.  I've read and seen versions of Agatha Christie's famous mystery many times, of course, but enough time has passed that I forgot a lot of the details.  The local actors were quite good and the staging was very clever in its depiction of the train. Tonight we're going to another local presentation, this one at the theater up north in Waimea.  It's a performance by a touring mainland musical group called  "Dirty Cello."  We've never heard them before, but the name promises a fun time. I'll let you know next week.

 

 The Geezer Gazette news this week is more about my hernia surgery recovery, and about medical manipulations of other parts of my body.  I was premature in touting the low level of pain following my operation a week ago Wednesday.  I thought the nerve blocks had worn off when I wrote last time, but they were longer lasting than I thought.  When the deadened nerves fully woke up, they let me know they weren't happy -- big time.  I finally tried the opioid pain killer my surgeon had prescribed (Hydrocordone-acetaminophen).  It dulled the pain but after 2 days it also drove my blood pressure so low I nearly passed out if I stood or even just sat up.  I stopped taking it, figuring I'd just power through the pain, and my bp recovered quickly.  I was pleasantly surprised that the pain had subsided on its own and I didn't even need over the counter pain killer.  In general, I've been surprised and fascinated by how fast my improvement has been.  At the moment I'm very sore, but not much more so than after a rigorous workout at the gym.  The small incisions seem to be healing nicely, except for the one at my navel which has required some antibiotic ointment.  I see my surgeon next week, and I will be interested in his assessment of my overall progress.

 

On Tuesday I had a double-header, first with my Ophthalmologist and then with me Endodontist. As expected and needed, my retina doc gave me another eyeball injection, this time in my right. This has become so routine that it is pretty much a non-event.  Later that day I finally had a root canal -- my first real treatment of the tooth I broke on May 1.  I laughed when it was all done and the assistant advised me to (a) be careful to chew mostly with the other side of my mouth, and (b) be sure to see my dentist for a real restoration because my filling was only good for 30 days.  With slurred speech I informed her that I had been careful since May 1, and that I'd be lucky to get an appointment with my dentist within 30 days -- it had taken longer than that to see the Endodontist  She seemed chagrined, but could only mumble "sorry about that."  I was shocked when I called the dentist office and was told I could have an appointment on Friday, only 3 days out!!  This is the first of at least two sessions to finally get this thing fixed. So, for my third doctor visit of the week I got to lay flat with my mouth open for two hours while the dentist drilled, chiselled and built up my broken stub to hold the crown, now on order.  Next appointment, on July 29th to put in the actual crown, a total of about 2.5 months since my first dentist visit after the break occurred.  Patience, grasshopper...... I should note that the care I'm getting seems first rate, but it is obvious we need more physicians to speed up the delivery of that care.

 

Ok, on that snarky note I'll sign off for this week.  Keep cool, physically and mentally.  CarpeVitam. 

Surviving Surgery: Warning, Contains TMI!

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.]

6/21/25

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

Well, I made it through my surgery ok. I've now joined the other 800,000 people who have this type of hernia repair each year.  It wasn't pleasant, but the medical professionals who were involved made it the least unpleasant as possible.  I'm very grateful to them for being very personable, professional, efficient, and skilled at their jobs.

 

I may have over-thought this just a teense, something I am prone to do in general, so I was pretty anxious.  My experience with hospitals is limited to a few trips to the ER, visiting friends and family, and one overnight stay many years ago.  My surgeon felt that having it done in a hospital instead of a clinic was advisable because of my age and past history of heart and breathing issues. Geezerhood strikes again.

 

I was scheduled for 11 am on Wednesday, with a check-in time of 9:30. I checked in on time, but the surgery was delayed until about 12:00 because some emergency cases tied up the surgical suites.  I was getting very hungry and thirsty, and more anxious than ever. However, once the process started, it went very quickly.  I talked to the surgeon and the anesthesiologist,  got into the lovely hospital garb, then was wheeled into the operating room and hooked up to all the monitors. The anesthesiologist warned me that he was running some antibiotic through the i.v. and it might sting, and then the anesthesia would begin.  The last thing I remember was him saying to think of a pleasant dream.  No counting backward or slowly fading out, I went into another dimension immediately. The next thing I remember was a voice far, far away calling my name -- the nurse waking me up.  "All done, everything went fine."  All the embarrassing and unpleasant stuff happened while I was out -- shaving, inserting tubes in various orfices, and of course the slicing and dicing itself.  I came back to life fairly quickly and without too much brain fog (something I had feared) and then I was required to pee before they would let me go.  I was given liquids through the i.v., so it wasn't long before this was kind of urgent (they had removed the catheter while I was unconscious).  Mission accomplished, the surgeon came in the recovery stall and explained how it went, complete with souvenir photos of inside of my abdomen! This was a surprise and very interesting.  In a laparoscopic procedure several small incisions are made in the target area and in one of them a catheter  with a light and camera is inserted so the surgeon can see to work (sort of a "Geezer Go-Pro").  You are also blown up like a balloon with CO2 to make room for the surgeon to work.  Wow  Anyway, my surgeon not only fixed the two hernias I knew about, he also fixed one that was starting to form, and on the outside he removed a benign cyst that my dermatologist had assessed earlier.  A four-for-one visit!

 

Recovery has been another adventure altogether.  Karen drove me home about 2:30, where I had a bowl of ramen noodles and then had a long nap.  There was no pain at all for the first 24 hours because while I was visiting Alpha Centari the anesthesiologist gave me two long-lasting "nerve blocks" (note, not an epidural) that involved locating and deadening a nerve in my lower waist area and another in my groin. The blocks worked well, and all I've needed so far is acetaminophen, even though I have a prescription for some heavy-duty opioid pain killer if I need it. When the blocks started to wear off, in about 36 hours, I mainly felt some discomfort and bloating at ground zero. Today I've had more pain as the nerve-block drugs continue to dissipate, but overall.I'm amazed and very pleased, given what that area went through.

 

Modern Medicine

For the next six weeks I have to be careful not to lift anything heavy or do anything (like golf) that might put too much stress and pull out my internal stitches.  By the way, the procedure used stitches to close the holes where the hernias were, and to install reinforcing mesh patches over them. The small incisions on the outside were closed with.....glue .  I've heard of surgical glue before, but now I am the proud recipient of the stuff.  It's waterproof, so I can shower right away, but since it can't be soaked the pool is off limits for awhile.

 

Ok, I'm sure that's more than you really wanted to know about this.  There are even more details, but I've overshared enough for this week.  Take care and enjoy whatever good things you can find. They are still there, behind the political smoke and fog.  Carpe Vitam.