2022: Are We Having Fun Yet?

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

1/8/22

Aloha Everyone --

What a week!  Definitely a mixed start to 2022!

I hope you are staying warm and unburned.  We learned last weekend that some friends in Colorado had their house destroyed in the fires near Boulder, and some other friends whose house was ok had no power for about a day with the temperature falling to near zero.  Their main concern, besides not getting frostbite in bed, was to keep their pipes from freezing.  Welcome to 2022.

Our Covid situation here in paradise is similar to everywhere else.  Our new cases are "exploding," "surging," "sky-rocketing, "erupting," "record-shattering," and every other hyperbolic adjective the media has used to describe the spread of Omicron (I feel sorry for media people because they've nearly run out of scary words).  However, just like everywhere else, the new variant is proving to be quite mild and has resulted in only a modest uptick in hospitalizations, ICU usage, and deaths.  Right now our island facilities are doing just fine, although they suffer from the same staff shortages that mainland hospitals are experiencing. Finally, like everywhere else, our hospitalizations are mostly unvaccinated and/or people with preexisting conditions. I contend that contagiousness of Omicron may actually be a blessing in disguise because it will infect many anti-vaxers and give them some degree of immunity whether they accept the reality of Covid or not -- to the benefit of everyone else.

On the more positive home front, I've got all our outside decorations down and stowed away, and this weekend we will take down our Christmas tree.  It's kind of sad without the lights and tinsel, but I also am enjoying getting back to my normal routine.  On Monday I went to Planet Fitness (almost empty),  and Karen played golf on Thursday.  On Wednesday we had our neighbors over for dinner and were able to eat outside by our pool because we had a fair amount of sun in the afternoons this week and the temps were comfortable until later in the evening. We were even able to get in our pool a couple of times this week, thanks to the heat gain during the day.

This week I bought a couple of new toys to keep my mind off the continued disintegration of human civilization.  The first is a new barbecue grill, which I enjoyed putting together on Thursday and Friday.  I could have bought it pre-assembled, but where's the fun in that?  I went high-end this time, figuring this might last me until I won't be grilling anymore.  It was a joy to assemble -- for once the parts fit and were easy to identify, and the instructions were actually clear and easy to follow. My hat is off to the engineers and documentation folks.  Now, of course, I just have to see if it grills any better than my old one.  I expect that, as always there will be a period of learning the quirks and subtle tricks of using it that I'll have to master -- but this is still part of the fun....

The other new toy will arrive next week.  Costco Online featured a desktop computer that has all the features that I want and so I ordered it.  My old one is creaking along and not doing too badly for about 8 years old (a real geezer in the technoverse), but the handwriting is on the wall.  The new one is a Dell all-in-one, meaning very few wires to hassle with, and has a solid state drive, meaning fewer moving parts.  The main challenge will be configuring the new one to my liking, and transferring all of our files and programs.  I expect some snafus along the way, and the "fun" will be in solving issues as they come up.  The advantage of buying it online through Costco is that if there is a problem I can always return it to our local store rather than trying to ship it back.  I'll let you know next week how this goes.  I'm realistic and experienced enough to know that new isn't always better.

Finally, I visited my retina doctor yesterday, and as I expected I had an injection.  Fluid had built up and it was definitely time for chemical intervention.  Still, I was able to go about 3 months between shots, which is pretty good.  Also, the doctor said the retina itself looks pretty good (considering the dead cells), and so he expects a good result from the injection.  My pressures are staying well-controlled, and my left eye is still doing well (20/20), so I'm actually fortunate.

Ok, that's it for now.  Off to market and our beach breakfast picnic, plus some shopping. Look hard for whatever bright spots you can find and focus on them as much as you can.  Stay warm and healthy!

QR Codes and the Afterlife

They're everywhere -- those little squares with the squiggles inside called QR ("Quick Response") codes.  The Covid pandemic of the last couple of years has accelerated their spread (pun intended)

Links to a relevant article

mainly as a touchless way to obtain information.  For example, in many restaurants the menu can now be accessed by scanning a QR code with your cell phone which opens a web page displaying the items.  No contact with a potentially germy paper menu is required. During the height of the pandemic access by QR code was almost a necessity -- printed menus were provided only by pleading with the wait staff.  For restaurants, the QR-accessed menu has the added benefit of allowing the offerings and prices to be changed quickly, easily, and inexpensively.  Efficient and germ-free, though not particularly elegant, I suspect even after the pandemic many low to moderate-end restaurants will opt to keep the QR menu.

The QR code was invented in 1994 in Japan (see Stazzone, 2021) for industrial inventory and tracking purposes. Unlike the older bar code that we see on products in retail stores, a QR code can be read both horizontally and vertically, allowing it to encode much more information. Confusingly, QR codes are often referred to as 2d "Bar Codes," though they contain no bars.  The name "QR" is actually a trademarked name of a specific form of matrix code.  There are other types of matrix codes, but the QR version has become so common that the name has taken on the status of "Bandaid" to refer to all adhesive bandages, or "Kleenex" to refer to all facial tissues (Stazzone, 2021).

There are a number of advantages to QR codes over standard 1d codes.  The pattern of squiggles allows for increased error correction so that up to 30% of the code can be damaged and still allow accurate scanning. Also, they can store much more information within the code itself rather than having to consult an external data base.  In a retail application this might include colors available, warranty length, or component details. Another advantage is that QR codes can contain a wider variety of information, such as email addresses, geolocation data, names, website urls.

As with all new technology, there are also some potential downsides and misuses of QR codes. Morey Haber of Forbes Magazine has detailed a number of these (Haber, 2020).  Most stem from the fact that  it isn't obvious from the appearance of the code itself what will happen when you scan it.  It could, for instance automatically direct your phone to a website that installs tracking software or even malware, dials a sales-pitch phone number, or sends an email to request more information while also recording and selling your email address.  Ne'er-do-wells may also substitute their own QR code for the original, as happened recently in Australia.  An anti-vaxer pasted his own code over official ones located at the entrances to retail establishments.  The official codes registered shoppers to allow contact tracing if they came into contact with someone with Covid, whereas the substitute code presented misinformation concerning vaccine safety and efficacy.  The best approach to avoiding these problems is to limit our scans to codes offered only by reputable organizations, businesses, and individuals for purposes that are clearly stated, and to be wary of any codes that appear to have been altered or substituted.

The amount and type of information that can be contained in QR codes has led to a wide range of both commercial and personal applications.  For example, my wife and I recently stayed in a hotel where scanning a QR code displayed in the room automatically logged us into the hotel's wifi network. It's even possible to create a code for your own home network for guests to use -- my Android phone has this feature built into the latest operating system, and there are online code-generation services available (for example, see Code Generator or Scanova).  Advertisements for products and services often contain a QR code that will lead to additional information about the product, even to online sales portals.  Some electronic products I've recently purchased have codes that link to the owner's manual. In museums the display tags for items often contain QR codes that play audio explanations.  At the gym where my wife and I exercise, each machine has a QR code that links to a short video demonstrating the proper use of the equipment. Finally, many uses of QR codes occur when the code is stored on your phone and then scanned by others -- airline boarding passes, entertainment tickets, organizational membership information, even vaccination and testing status codes.

Some of these applications are very creative -- even if a bit odd.  My favorite example of this is

From Rome Monuments Co.

something I came across recently that resonated with my somewhat questionable appreciation for graveyards (see My Favorite Cemeteries).  There are now a number of companies that will place QR codes on...wait for it... tombstones (Bhatia, 2020).  Visitors paying their respects, or just curious weirdos like myself, can scan the tombstone code and have access to the deceased's life history, eulogies, photos, or even as one academic has done, a complete list of his publications and citation metrics (Matyszczk, 2020). It can get even more "interesting" if you imagine that the QR code might trigger a video message from the deceased themselves -- parting words of wisdom or a last harangue, perhaps.

The ultimate, though, would be if tombstone QR codes were linked to the latest AI technology that allows conversations with deceased people (Bantham, 2019).  James Vlahos was the first to use AI (but not QR codes) in this way to keep the memory of his father alive.  Before illness overcame his dad, Vlahos interviewed him about his life experiences, attitudes, and philosophy, and had him relate anecdotes and stories about his life. This content was then fed to an AI Chat Bot program that can respond to questions in a naturalistic way,  almost like having a conversation. Vlahos has since founded the company HereAfter, which offers the same service to others for a fee, and has continued to refine the technology.  Other companies have also picked up the idea and there are now a number of platforms which allow interaction with the avatars of people no longer with us.  An informative review of some of these efforts is available in an article by Russ Bantham in "Transformative Technologies."

It seems to my warped mind that it might be easy to connect a tombstone QR code to the deceased's HereAfter avatar. Scan the code with your phone and have a chat with the dead person! Neat, huh? A phone call to the afterlife! And why not go all in by incorporating VR or AR so that the person's image is right there with you! I have little doubt some enterprising coder is working on this right now, and it is simply a matter of time before tombstone QR codes to interact with the dead are available.

One group of people who might not find this idea very appealing are psychics, who make a living contacting the deceased. Another group are those with different sensibilities regarding death. As Bantham notes: "Not everyone will be delighted at the prospect of conversing with the ghostly vestiges of late friends and family members, perceiving it distasteful and maybe a bit creepy."  Of course internet technology, especially social media, is notoriously indifferent to matters of good taste and sensitivity, so I doubt these people will have much effect.

There is an issue here that should at least be mentioned.  Is having AI-mediated conversations with a loved one the healthiest way to grieve or to honor their memory?  The urge to keep the embodied memory of the departed alive is understandable.  But honoring their non-embodied influence on our current everyday lives and the quality of our current experiences is important, also.  This is a matter of living more fully in the present and being mindful of the many ways they affect us in our attitudes, values, and outlooks, rather than being focused on the past.

We live in an age when developments in technology, like AI and QR codes, are increasingly infiltrating what used to be non-technical aspects of our lives -- our beliefs regarding the afterlife, memories of loved ones, and what it means to be "real,"  "true,"  or even "human." Whether the outcome will be positive or negative for society and for individuals is yet to be determined, of course.  But the challenge of figuring this out may be the most important project humans have ever faced.

Happy (well, maybe, maybe-not) New Year!

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

12/31/21

Aloha All --

Happy New Year.  I guess.  My New Year's resolution is to not get my hopes up about 2022 like I did for 2021.  It (2021) started off, before January 6, with high hopes.  Then...well...not so much.  After bottoming out the roller coaster ride continued with a high point of getting vaccinated and breathing a sigh of relief. We relished our re-found freedom, including a trip to the mainland in the spring.  Then...Delta.  Sh*t.  Bottoming again. But then up we went with some fabulous demonstrations of what humans can do right -- like flying a drone on another planet!  Yay.  Even an international trip in late summer, wow!  And Christmas seemed to be going to be ok, when the roller coaster took another dive with Omicron.  I think I'm going to barf up my cotton candy. So this New Year's Eve I'm just going to wait and see what happens next. That way I figure I will either be pleasantly surprised or pre-resigned to more avoidable human folly.

Ok, we had a pretty good Christmas and I hope you did too.  I gave Karen a honu (turtle) pendant which she liked, and a blouse which didn't fit.  50% isn't bad.  My record of buying her something to wear hasn't been all that great, and you'd think I would learn my lesson.  I have managed to pull it off in the past, but not this time.  She gave me a golf shirt, a golf glove, and a nice fuzzy blanket to keep me

Abandoned Nene Egg

warm during my "contemplative naps."  I put the shirt and the glove to work on Tuesday, when I joined Karen and her usual golf partner for a round at Makalei.  I think the glove actually helped my long shots, and it looked really cool, too, almost like I knew what I was doing. We saw a fair number of peacocks and about 8 mating pairs of nenes.  The lower number of nenes has us worried a bit, because they might have had a difficult time with that big storm we had that brought down limbs and uprooted trees right where they

My Orange Ball To The Left

usually nest.  And then the clean-up effort involved lots of power saws and heavy equipment.  Hopefully most of them survived ok and simply decided to relocate somewhere with less damage and disruption.  At least one nest didn't make it, though, because we found an abandoned nene egg on the edge of one of the greens, not far from a stand of trees.  Oh, and I nearly whacked one nene with my tee-shot, which wound up lying next to it.  Maybe it was contemplating adopting it to replace the lost egg???

Tonight (New Year's Eve) we're having dinner at our house with my college friend and his wife.  This is the couple who own a small coffee farm not far from us in Holualoa.  They've decided to sell their place, however, to take advantage of the insane housing market and buy something more manageable that requires less work. They're in the process of prepping the house and "staging" it for the market, and it will be interesting to find out what this has involved.  I've decided that 2021 doesn't deserve a pyrotechnic send-off, so this year the dogs in the neighborhood will get a break from my usual noisy firework extravaganza.

Ok, I hope you have a fun, healthy, and reflective New Year's.  All the best for 2022.  We're all going to need it, I think.  Take care.

'Twas The Night... Bra, What Dat Clattah?

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

12/24/21

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wow, this really sneaked up on me.  For some reason (geezerhood, probably), I had the idea that

Christmas was Sunday.  Ho ho, huh?  So, on this Christmas Eve, I'll reprint a Hawaiian Pidgin version of the classic "'Twas the Night before Christmas."  There are a number of these around, so I chose one that gives you the idea and is still mostly decipherable. You still may have to do a little "googling" to understand some of the references. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Was da night bafo' Christmas,
and all ova' da place
Not even da geckos
was showin' their face.

Da stockings was hangin' on top da TV?
('Cause no mo' fireplace in Hawai'i)
Da kids stay all crashed, my old man too.
They leave all da work for you-know-who.

So me, I stay pickin' up alla their toys,
When - boom! - outside get only big noise!
I run to da window, I open 'em up,
I stick out my head and I yell, "Eh! Whassup?!"

And then, I no can ba-lieve what I seen!

Was so unreal, you know what I mean?
This fat haole guy get his reindeers in my yard!
And reindeers not housebroken, you know, as' why hard!

But nemmind, this Christmas, so I cut 'em some slack.
Plus, had uku pile presents pokin' outta his sack!
So I wait 'till he pau tie up his reindeer,
Then I yell out da window, "Huui! Brah, ova hea!"

An' I tell 'em first thing, when I open da door,
"Eh, Hemo your shoes! You going dirty my floor!"
He take off his boots, he tell, "You know who I am?"
I go, "Ho! From the smell, must be Mr. Toe Jam!"

He make mempachi eyes and he go, "Ho, ho, ho!"
By now, I stay thinking this guy kinda slow!
He look like my Tutu, but little less weight,
And his beard stay so white, mo' white than shark bait!

He stay all in red, specially his nose,
And get reindeer spit on top his nice clothes!
But him, he no care; he just smile at me,
And he start fo' put presents unda-neath da tree.

I tell 'em, "Eh, brah, no need make li'dat,
And watch where you step! You going ma-ke da cat!"
Then, out from his bag, he pull one brand new computah,
Choke video games, and one motorized scootah!

He try for fill up da Christmas socks too,
But had so much pukas, all da stuff went fall troo.
When he pau, I tell 'em, "Eh Santa, try wait!
I get plenty leftovahs, I go make you one plate!"

But he nevah like hang, he had so much fo' do;
Gotta make all them small kids' wishes come true.
So I wave 'em goodbye, and I flash 'em da shaka,
And I tell 'em, "Mele Kalikimaka!"

When he hear that, he stop and I telling you true,
He go, "Garans ball-barans! Merry Christmas to you!" (Originally Posted on Katy's Hawaii Adventure, 2008)

Schmutz In The Pool Pump, Coquis In Pots, Splinters On Fairways

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

12/18/21

Aloha Everybody --

Hope your Christmas season is going well.  Ours is ok, but our carpet cleaning disarray has put us bit behind on getting out our cards this year and we just got finished decorating the living room tree on Thursday.  I finally finished my shopping and found something for Karen, but I'll keep it secret in case she sees this.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll like the two things I got her.

On Wednesday my pool guy was able to fix our circulation problem.  I was worried that it might have been due to something clogging the suction line -- a real problem since cleaning it out would require a snake that could go around 90d corners.  The pipe, by the way, is encased in concrete and it isn't possible to get at it directly.  Well, it turned out that some debris had gotten past the filter and was partially clogging the pump itself.  My guy took the pump apart and cleaned out the schmutz.  Voila!  Problem solved.  Almost.  My little robot cleaner still wasn't working right so I took it apart again and found a small leaf blocking the water flow.  I removed it and that's all it took to get him back to his old self. All is well... for now.

The rain we've been having has really revved up the coqui frogs.  My neighbor has caught about 20 in the last week.  Our property isn't as attractive to them as his, but still I've caught 5.  Three of my recent kills were below our study window, near our vegetable garden.  One was a female who was being wooed by a male that up until now has been fairly quiet.  I got the female easily (the females are bigger and not as wary), but I couldn't spot the male until the next night, when I found him in a stack of garden pots (great place for brooding eggs). I caught him, then the next day I looked for eggs in the pots.  Damn if there wasn't another male hiding in there!  A regular coqui condo!  I sprayed him with citric acid and caught him by hand.  I went through all the pots and didn't find any more frogs or eggs, but I sprayed everything and bagged it up tight.  Hopefully this will take care of the problem for awhile.

Karen's golf course opened up again after the big storm and she was able to play on Wednesday with

Lots of Toothpicks

her snow-bird friend.  She said it looked like a tornado had gone through, with lots of limbs and even large trees down.  The workers had cleared the course but are still working on hauling away the trunks and limbs.  The wind must have been really powerful on those slopes.  She saw quite a few peacocks, so they seemed to have made it ok.  She also saw a fair number of Nenes, but nearly all were just solo.  We're hoping the mates are ok, and maybe just nesting.  Nesting usually doesn't happen this early, though, so we're still a little worried.  Karen will be monitoring the situation.

While Karen was playing golf I worked out at PF. I was pleased to see few people there, and as I've mentioned before, the mask and distancing policy is rigorously enforced.  Plus everyone is conscientious about wiping down the machines with disinfectant before and after using them.  This means that before I touch one it has been disinfected twice. In short, even with the new nasty variant around I felt pretty safe.  Oh, by the way, I ordered a couple of self-tests online and I'm keeping them handy in case we need a quick check.  I got the Lucira brand because it is nearly as accurate as a lab test in terms of correctly detecting both positive cases and negative cases  This kind costs more, but I think my insurance will reimburse me -- I'll let you know.

Off to market and the beach for our usual breakfast picnic.  Stay warm and healthy and be good for goodness sake -- Santa (and Alexa) is watching.....

Problems in Paradise: From Drought to Drowning

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

12/11/21

Aloha Everybody!

Last week I mentioned that we were getting some rain and that it had snowed on Mauna Kea. "Some" rain wound up being a total of 3.4" at our house and there was a bona fide blizzard on Mauna Kea.  However, the rain for us wasn't as much a problem as the wind that came with it. Our internet was knocked out for almost 2 days, and some nearby areas also lost power.  Both north and south of us the rainfall was much greater -- as much as 14 inches!  Things quieted down late Monday and starting Tuesday we were able to begin getting things cleaned up. However, as I write this our pool still isn't functioning the way it should -- our pool guy and I cleaned out the leaves that had blown in, but some debris must have gotten into the filtration system and messed up the pump or clogged the lines somewhere so that the water is barely recirculating.  And of course three days with very little sun has cooled the water to below our tolerance level.  Finally, no sun has also put us in the red for producing electricity so far this month.  We might be able to make that back up if we have enough sunny days over the next few weeks.

On more positive news, the carpet cleaners returned Thursday and finished the rest of our

!5 and Still Looking Good

carpeting.  We again lucked out on the weather, which was sunny while they were here and for most of the rest of the day.   We did get a little rain that night, but by then the carpet had pretty well dried out.  We'll move stuff back today, but yesterday we took the opportunity while the other part of the house was still drying to put up our Christmas tree in the living room.  No decorations other than lights yet, but it should be done by Monday. This is a pre-lit tree that is on its 15th season and still looking pretty good.  It comes in three sections that we can squish into a single box for storage -- with a LOT of effort.

Speaking of Christmas, I have to finish buying presents.  Ugh.  I find this more and more challenging, particularly when it comes to getting something for Karen.  And of course it means venturing into a store somewhere or even worse, going online and picking something based on just photos.  I really am a terrible shopper, to the point where I nearly have a panic attack when I'm faced with a huge selection of merchandise.  Where does all that stuff go, anyway?  Having lots of choices is my idea of hell. Karen says I really don't have to get her anything, but I've been married long enough to know that would NOT be a good idea....

No golf this week.  Karen's favorite course is closed while they try to fix the damage caused by the

Hope the Birds are OK

storm. We did get to Planet Fitness yesterday and worked out for the first time since before Thanksgiving.  It felt good, particularly since we haven't been able to exercise in our pool this week.  However, we immediately counteracted the health benefits of the workout by having lunch at Taco Bell.  A guilty pleasure if there ever was one.

Ok, off to market and our beach breakfast picnic.  Take care, stay warm, keep a grip on reality.

 

Snow On The Volcano, Carpet Chaos

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

12/4/21

Aloha All --

Winter has arrived in paradise!  This week we got our first snow of the season.  No shoveling for me,

Mauna Kea Summit

though, because it fell only on the top of 13k-foot Mauna Kea, where the telescopes are. Blizzard conditions are forecast for the weekend, with up to a foot of snow and 100 mph winds. The snow is visible from Kailua, and it has given a boost to the Holiday Spirit.  We finally have a decent rain that started last night and is still going on as I write this.  Haven't checked my rain gauge yet but it should be a fair amount. The timing isn't the best, though because this will cancel our usual Saturday morning beach breakfast and trip to the market,  another instance of our normal schedule being thrown off by the holidays.

I now have outdoor lights up and nearly all of my decorations, but the neighbors have been slow to get with the season.  So far there is just two others that have outdoor lights.

As if the rain and the usual Christmas discombobulation weren't enough, we had our carpets in the main part of the house cleaned on Thursday.  It was been many years since this was done, and we've been putting it off too long. Some people don't make this a big deal, and just clean in the "high traffic" areas. Not us. Karen insisted on moving a lot of the furniture and this in turn required relocating a lot of stuff temporarily.  And it takes a while for the carpet to dry before you can fully get back to normal. Thursday was sunny and helped a lot for partial drying,  and Friday wasn't bad until evening when the rain started. Today we will probably be able to move most of stuff back in and maybe get our Christmas tree up.  I can see the allure of the current fashion here which is to install stone tile everywhere in a house.  Last week we went through an open-house at a $1.8 million place nearby that even had concrete floors!  

We're not done with the carpet cleaning, either. On Thursday the crew will return and do the two guest bedrooms.  This will will require less effort to get things ready, thankfully

No golf this week for me, though Karen may play tomorrow with her Oregon friend who arrived Wednesday for a short visit.  Also, her regular golf partner is eager to go sometime next week, and they may make it a threesome. No Planet Fitness this week, either.  This is my yearly holidaze slugfest.

Ok, that's it. Take care. Stay warm. Stay safe. Avoid buggy people. Find something good to think about...