Ho, Ho, Ho! -- Let's Watch the Volcano Blow!

Let's see.  How can 2020 get even worse, you know, just to end on the lowest note possible? Oh, I have it.  Let's have Hawaii''s most active volcano blow!

And that's what happened a few days ago on Sunday, 12/20/20, about 9:30 am HST.  Kilauea has been quiet for about two years, after putting on a spectacular but devastating show for several months in 2018. It finally exhausted the available magma supply and just shut off. Period. Nothing. The best part for us, living as we do nearly 100 miles away, was the sudden clearing of the "vog" (volcanic fog) from our skies.  For nearly two years now we've enjoyed clear air, beautiful views of the coastline and of the ocean horizon, just long enough for memory-challenged humans to think this was "normal."

Actually, Kilauea has been erupting more or less continuously (in geologic terms) for thousands of years and it will continue to do so for thousands more. That is normal, as is the presence of varying amounts of vog throughout the time humans have been in the islands, about 1000 years.

Very soon after the last eruption stopped, volcanologists began recording seismic activity indicating magma moving up to refill the reservoirs under Kilauea. In November this increased dramatically and at a more shallow depth.  Other measurements, like the swelling of the summit ground, were consistent with an imminent eruption, which indeed has happened.  In other words, scientists weren't surprised, though one of the usual indicators was missing -- an uptick in the emission of volcanic gases as the magma got higher and under less pressure. 

If you've seen the photos and videos of the activity, it is very impressive.  Don't book a flight, though, because visitors can't really get that close. To be clear, the eruption is taking place only at the very summit, inside the crater within the summit caldera, called Halema'uma'u. This was a rather small crater until 2018 but when the eruption stopped, it collapsed when all the lava drained away. expanding and deepening dramatically. For about a 1/ 1/2 years ground water oozed into the bottom, forming a lake that was about 100 ft. deep.   Not now.  Lava draining into the bottom of

the crater quickly turned it all into steam in a very dramatic plume of steam, ash, and volcanic gas.  The gas is mostly SO2, which combines with moisture in the air to form vog -- which is essentially airborne sulfuric acid.

So for a while we get to breathe not only Covid19 virus particles but also traces of sulfuric acid.  Wait -- I think our stable genius president might just recommend this as a way of getting rid of the virus.  Seems logical, right, that even a virus can't stand up to acid in your lungs.  Be patriotic, breathe deep! How bad can sulfuric acid be for your lungs?

No estimate on how long this will last is yet available, but I'll be optimistic and say that since the available magma isn't all that great,  it might be pretty short-lived. Of course, this could be in geologic time, not human time. And I could be just blowin' my own smoke here.

In the meantime, a greater immediate threat to us is the volcano we actually live on, Hualalai.  It is active and past due for an eruption and is being closely monitored. Oh damn, I shouldn't have said anything -- I just thought of a way 2020 could get way worse!!

Phone Switcheroo, Vaccine Arrives

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

12/19/20

Aloha Everybody!

I’d complain about our cold weather, the frigid 65d we hit as our low the other night, how we’ve had to cope with our pool dropping to 79d, and the weather preventing us from having dinner outside by our pool, but that would be cruel, so I certainly won’t...

Ok, after much too much effort and wasted time, I finally made contact with two customer service reps who actually knew what the h*** they were doing, one at Hawaiian Telcom and the other at my new wireless phone service.  The problem was something called an account porting out passcode, which is needed for a new service to get the old service to release your phone number so it can be transferred.  As it turns out in the case of antique land lines, many local phone companies, including Hawaiian Telcom, don’t have them.  Unless you have an experienced and knowledgeable person at the new service company who knows this, you’re kind of stuck in limbo. The solution, it turns out, is simple – provide any number at all as the code and the land line company will accept it and release the phone number!  Once I initiated this process it took only 36 hours for it to happen.

So on Wednesday I slip-slided into to 21st century and if you call our old number it will go through as a wireless call to the new cheapo phone I bought.  This part seems to work pretty good so far.  There are still some wrinkles to work out with linking the house phones to the cell phone but I’m making progress.  At first I had some difficulty with Karen hearing me when I called from a location in town. Another issue is that if someone leaves a phone message it only appears on the cell phone, not the house phone base unit.  This is kind of a pain, but I haven’t tried all the options yet. A third issue is that the house phone in one room downstairs where Karen spends a lot of time has difficulty linking to the base unit, which is upstairs.  I’m experimenting with different locations for both to see if that will improve it.  Otherwise the other phones seem to connect just fine.  I’ll let you know how this goes.  Of course, most “modern” people just keep their cell phones with them at all times, so they don’t know what the issue is.

This week the state of Hawai’i received the first batches of the Pfizer vaccine and within hours it was distributed to the other islands.  Ours arrived and was immediately distributed to our hospitals and health care workers began receiving injections.  All this went very smoothly, a result of State and County planning, and even going through a practice run last week. As everywhere else, the first doses will go to health care workers and then nursing home residents, essential workers, and geezers with pre-existing conditions that would make their getting Covid highly risky.  It isn’t clear yet how this will be determined, but I think doctors will be advised of vaccine doses and can certify eligible patients to be vaccinated.  Depending on how much vaccine is manufactured and distributed, most of us on Hawai’i island could get it by late spring next year.  

Btw, I just read a very good article (https://www.wired.com/story/vaccines-are-here-we-have-to-talk-about-side-effects/) that urges an info campaign about the very likely but short-lived side effects of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines so that people don’t freak out when they get them (fatigue 59.4 %, headaches 51.7%, muscle 37.3 %, joint pain 21.9 % chills 35.1 %, fever 15.8 %). These might sound bad, but they pass in a few days, and the alternative could be much, much worse. Some of our travel vaccines have also laid us low so we are kind of used to this. Also, here's a summary of how the Moderna and Pfitzer vaccines compare in effectiveness at various age groups and pre-existing conditions.

Ok, off to market and beach picnic. Hang in there. Stay warm.

Attack of the Dragonflies, Man Triumphs Over Plumbing

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

12/12/20

Aloha All --

A pretty quiet week here, as most are.  However, we do have moments of what passes for excitement these days.  Like the other day when Karen was exercising in the pool and a pair of mating Dragonflies (yes, they do it while flying) kept trying to land on her.  Not sure what the motivation was – possibly the male wanted the female to lay her eggs there.  Not the sharpest Dragon in the stable if that was it.  Karen’s hat, swim suit strap, and face wouldn’t be the best spot, I would think.  Anyway, this went on for several minutes, long enough for me to get a few pictures.

 

Speaking of the pool, we’ve been struggling to keep it at our minimum acceptable temperature.  Even though we cover it with our solar blanket at night, it has been consistently dropping low enough (65d!) to cool down the pool to high 70's, low 80's.  We’ve also had several cloudy afternoons that shuts down our pool’s solar warming panels so the water can’t warm up very much. Still, we’ve gritted our teeth and gone in anyway, but it takes a few laps at 79d to get rid of the initial sting.  Hard life, right? (Heh, heh – I’ve been following the temps in your part of the county and I know the contrast with our weather).

Early in the week my handyman and I installed the new valve I talked about.  This was about as easy as it gets.  Shut off water, drain pipe, make two cuts and push the new valve onto the ends. Turn on water. That’s it. Period. No leaks, no fuss, no solder or flux or propane flames.  The valve is part of a whole line of plumbing connectors that are made by the  “SharkBite” company (there may be competitors but I haven’t seen them). According to the Lowe’s clerk who helped me, professional plumbers seem to approve them, and so far I do too.  The valve and its joints are rated to 200psi, which is far higher than any residential plumbing line should be.  Not only that, with a special $7 tool you can remove the fittings and reuse them. Of course 2nd hand testimony is hardly firm evidence. I’ll keep checking for problems, but so far I’m sold.

Had a good workout this week at Planet Fitness -- 12 other people plus 3 staff. Rewarded ourselves with lunch at one of our favorite in-town places -- Fish Hopper.  Right on the ocean, open-air, and we really like their food.  Our lunch was "Poke Nachos" and clam chowder with crabmeat in addition to the clams. The nachos are actually won tons and the poke is marinated raw ahi. The sauce is something made with a bit of wasabi and the whole thing is topped with strands of some kind of seaweed.  Delicious. Of course, this lunch pretty well undid the benefits of our workout.

Our virus situation is pretty good, though we are getting a dozen or so new cases every day.  The hospitals are handling it ok, unlike the ones on the mainland.  Overloading hospitals is one predictable and inevitable consequence of the “let’s-just-forge-ahead-to-herd-immunity” approach. Another is that lots of people are dying unnecessarily and if the anti-maskers have their way it will take another 140 million cases to achieve herd immunity, with a LOT more deaths.  Choosing not to wear a mask kills people. That’s a fact.  It’s not fake. Just ask Rudy Guiliani. Of course, immunity can also be achieved through vaccination, but the latest polls indicated that 50 per cent of our “enlightened” populace say they won’t get vaccinated! Besides, even the most optimistic predictions about rate of distributing the vaccine suggest that achieving herd immunity that way will not be accomplished until late next year.  How many more will die in the meantime if people refuse to take sensible precautions?

Ok, enough.  I won’t comment on the other insanity that is rampant in our country, except to say that when I hear “stop the steal” I have to ask which side is doing the stealing, really?

Stay warm and safe.

An Eyeball Exam, Deer in The Driveway, Plumbing Leaks

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

12/5/20

 Aloha All –

I forgot to mention last week that I had my 6-week retina exam last Saturday after our usual morning routine.  Good news!  Two months out since my last injection and still no significant oozing.  Like the last two times, I may go a total of 3 months without an eyeball jab, quite an improvement over the once-a-month routine with the old drug for the previous 5 years!  This drug, Eylea, is new and for me obviously very effective in treating my “BRVO” (Branch Retina Vein Occlusion) of 6 years ago.  Remember, this has *nothing* to do with glaucoma or macular degeneration, which are both risks to all of us in the family.  So far I’m good with those.  This was a sudden burst of one of the veins in my retina, probably caused by two crossed veins that I was born with.  The immediate cause was likely some physical exertion I’ve done many times before, but geezerdom has made the veins less pliable and “poosh,” one or more of them burst like an old garden hose. The swelling , oozing, and loss of blood circulation killed nearby visual cells and so I went from 20/20 in that eye to 20/60 on a good day, usually 20/80.  Left eye still doing good, though. Next appointment is 6-weeks out.    I’ll let you know.

Got more Christmas decorations up this week, and I think I’m done for the outside this year. A new addition is a pair of lighted deer at the bottom of the driveway, where they can been seen from the

street.  These were a gift from friends who thought they were moving back to the mainland this year – until the you-know-what happened.  I tried to give them back but our friends declined.  Putting these babies together was a real challenge.  It was easy to figure out what went where, but the way they are constructed meant you needed three hands to untangle the pieces, which are pre-wired.  Anway, several hours and a few cuts and bruises later, ta-da! We have no real deer on Hawai’i, so I hope they don’t get shot by some die-hard hunter transplanted from the mainland – the propane tank is right behind them.

One house project that looms for next week is the result of getting the deer boxes out of their storage location, which has an outdoor faucet that we use to add water to the pool.  As I was pulling the boxes out I noticed a leak in the faucet.  After trying the usual fixes, it now looks like this is going to require replacing the valve entirely.  I’ve consulted with my handyman and we have agreed to alter the installation a bit so that it will require little to no soldering of the copper pipe.  Of course, the fix requires the water to be shut off to the entire house, and turning it back on requires a successful job.  I know, I could call a professional plumber, right?  But where is the fun in that?!  Stay tuned for a report next time.

That’s all.  Reality lurches forward.  Off to the market and the beach.

Stay warm, stay safe, stay healthy!

Reports from Earth: Agent Zynt Recovers!

 [Message from Intergalactic Council:  The following messages were received as a burst relay after we had lost contact with agent Zork Zynt stationed on subject planet "Earth" in a political unit named "USA." We feared for Zork's safety when he went dark for many cycles after a final message describing his possible symptoms of our experimental pandemic virus. The transmorgified bodies of all Earth agents should have been immune, of course, but something apparently went wrong, a matter currently under careful investigation.]

 Encrypted Transmission #017 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 11.15.20 

Tell the bio guys I take back all my previous kudoes, and that I'm going to kick them in their sperm-buds when I get back! Human body completely shut down from virus for at least 14 Earth cycles.  Lost consciousness and woke up in a puddle of body fluids, weak and without any body fat left and a very bad pain in digestive organ called "stomach." Felt better after a dozen Krispy Kremes. What happened to our special immunity!!! This assignment gets more and more dangerous -- both from the humans and now even our own kind! You idiots!

Encrypted Transmission #018 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 11.16.20

So, the pandemic experiment protocol hadn't planned on the ineptitude of human response, particularly in my zone.  Current leader denies it's real, ignores facts, encourages followers to ignore measures for curbing viral spread, claiming they violate something called "constitutional rights." Situation completely out of control.  Casualty count way more than we wanted. This isn't going well at all.

Encrypted Transmission #019 Agent ZZ to IEC Local Date 11.18.20 

Almost sorry I woke up.  Election in US zone now over, but these humans are still self-destructing and acting even crazier than before I lost consciousness. Leader and his followers claim victory, yet challenger received 6 million more votes and many more of votes of "Electoral College," a strange part of election process left over from days when citizens here enslaved each other.  Losers claim election rigged, but can't point to any evidence that holds up under scrutiny.  This is almost as bad as my assignment on Castix 4, where the inhabitants wound up eating each other....

Tastes Like Chicken, Send The Outrigger Ark

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

11/28/20

Aloha Everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you had a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving.  Ours was quiet, just the two of us, but we tried to enjoy it, all things considered.  Our turkey looked and tasted like a Costco rotisserie chicken.  Hmmm.  Anyway, it was good and we watched a Christmas movie afterward. Earlier in the day I put up a few Christmas decorations outside and I’ll do more this weekend. Feels kind of weird this year, though.  I usually have an ambivalent feeling about the Holidays and it seems particularly strong this time around [see Bah, Humbug! (Sort Of)].  The idea of Black Friday is for me a glaring example of the struggle between the desire to make money versus the desire (and need this year) to spend as little of it as possible.  I’m staying as far away as I can.  Then there is the emotional roller-coaster of anticipation followed by despondency, fueled by relentless Muzak and Holiday entertainment specials.  Somewhere in there I do find a warm fuzzy feeling or two, so it isn’t all bad.

The Impostor

This week has been wet. An understatement, I think.  Thanksgiving day was very nice up until about 4, then it began to sprinkle, then to rain. Hard. All night. Buckets. Our pool overflowed (there’s a special drain for that, so there wasn’t any problems) and the coquis in the neighborhood were very, very, happy.  That night’s total was 3.2" preceded early in the week by overnight dumps of 1.1" and 1.4" for a total of 5.7 inches. Santa arrives here each year in an outrigger canoe, but this year he needs to come in an outrigger ark with central heating and load us up. It has also been downright chilly at night – 66d!  Karen had her heating pad on Thursday night to keep her feet warm, and for the last two mornings I’ve had on my sweat pants instead of my usual shorts.

Karen played golf Tuesday and escaped the worst of the rain, and Planet Fitness was very quiet yesterday, though for some reason everyone seemed to be trying to use the same machines.  We handled this by varying our routine and using machines further away. Received one of the estimates for our termite tenting, and it was much less than I feared, though still big bucks. The other company’s estimate should come any day, then we’ll see how far out their schedules are. May not get it done until June. Still waiting for my new phone from Amazon, so no movement on my project to cut the landline.  I did take advantage of Costco’s sale on a new system and I’ve been playing with it while waiting on the new phone, One new promising feature is that it automatically screens calls not in your personal phonebook and asks the caller to enter a code.  If they are human and can enter it, the phones will ring (you can still block the caller if it is a telemarketer). If not, it hangs up but keeps track of the number and if by chance it was a legitimate robocall, say from your pharmacy, you can whitelist it for the future.  We’ve been getting a lot of non-legit robocalls lately, and this should stop them cold. I’ll keep you updated.

That’s about it.  As far as the national scene, reality seems to be getting the upper hand, but not without serious damage from deniers. The legacy of this mess will be long-lasting and very negative, I fear.

Take care.  Hang in there.  Stay healthy and warm.

Hawai'i Snow! Cutting More Cords, Drive-Through Doctoring

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

11/21/20

Aloha All –

Well, we’re definitely heading into winter here.  More mainland refugees are arriving for the season, and Christmas decorations are prominent in the big box stores (actually, stuff appeared at Lowe’s well before Halloween).  Our neighbors across the street put up an artificial tree a week ago, and live-but-soon-to-be-dead trees are now on sale at several places (ours come in refrigerated shipping containers from the mainland and some sellers, like Costco, only put out a few to choose from at a time).  We saw the first poinsettias for sale today and quickly bought three.  We’ve learned here not to dilly-dally – things sell quickly and won’t be restocked. Not sure what happened to Halloween and Thanksgiving this year – oh, that’s right, Thanksgiving is next week, isn’t it.....  One thing missing this year is the arrival of cruise ship repositioning cruises, for obvious and very good reasons, of course.

Another seasonal sign is that last Saturday we had a big influx of moist air and “cold” temperatures that deposited the first snow on our two 13k foot volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.  It wasn’t much, but it certainly looked nice, and it was a bit unusual to see it on both at the same time. Even though it didn’t last long, it was a diversion from the news these days.

Got my landline telephone bill early this week and noticed they have increased the amount for standard service...again.  I’ve been considering dropping it altogether for about a year now like many other people have done – seems like a lot of money for nothing.  We can’t make long distance calls without extra charges, it doesn’t have caller id, call blocking or any other features that a cell phone does. We kept it because it seemed like a good idea to have a backup to cell service, and the number is one that we’ve given out as our primary contact in all kinds of places. This includes the many cases where we didn’t want to be called on our cell phones.  But the latest price increase can’t justify that anymore.  My plan is to buy a cheapo cell phone and assign it the old number, then link it to our current cordless phones that are arrayed around the house.  The new cell phone would remain near the cordless base unit and be dedicated just to receiving house calls, the same as our landline is now.  I can get an additional cell plan for $15 per month, and a decent phone for $70. In the first year alone this will save me nearly $200, including the cost of adding a few new cordless handsets. Plus, I get a new techno-toy to play with.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Karen and I go to the same internist here.  A few months ago I had a video conference with him to go over my routine bloodwork.  Doing this remotely was a response to the pandemic, of course.  Yesterday Karen needed to have him examine a cut on her leg that isn’t healing properly.  In her case she had the "interesting" experience of drive-through-doctoring.  She arrived in the parking lot and called the office.  The doctor came out in full hazmat gear and made her stay in the car while he took a look and did a quick swab of the wound.  I’ll leave it to your imagination as to how he could do this from outside the car. Anyway, she got an antibiotic prescription and was on her way.

I won’t comment on our current political scene nor our mainland health crisis, other than to say that reality always wins in the end, no matter how much someone says it isn’t true. But the cost of denial in this case is terrible.

Hang in there.  Stay safe, sane, and warm.