The "C" Word, Spring Travel Plans, Long Johns

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

11/12/22

Aloha Guys  --

Neighbor's Tree Bling

Well, I see the mainland is getting a teensy preview of winter and that four letter word that begins with "s" and ends with "w.'  Here it got down to a frigid 65 degrees on Thursday night.  To avoid frostbite, I got out my sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt for the first few hours after I got up Friday morning.  How about you?   

On Wednesday I got the results of the biopsies on the skin growths I had cut off.  The one on my arm is just some kind of pre-cancer, but the one on my leg is a squamous cell carcinoma.  Fortunately we caught it early and the initial treatment is exactly what we did -- removal plus cauterization and scraping. If it comes back again I'll have Mohs surgery to get all the nasty cancer cells.  Gee, this getting older is such fun!  On a more positive medical note, today I'll see my retina doctor, and even if I have to have a shot, this has been a long time (3 months!) since the last one.  I don't think my vision in the bad eye has changed all that much, but the real indicator is the laser scan and it will be interesting to find out what it shows in the way of oozing.  Maybe I can go one more month, another new record!

I mentioned last week that we have made plans for a short trip to LA in early December.  This week we also made flight arrangements for a trip next spring to southern France and northern/central Italy.  These are two of our favorite countries and we've visited both of them a number of times over the years.  But it has been a long time since we were in either one and we're eager to return. Our plan is to fly into Marseilles and return from Rome.  Most of the time will be in northern and central Italy, but the first week will be in Provence and the area of France known as the Haut Var. We have spent a fair amount of time there, as well as along the French Riviera, but it is such a fabulous place we don't mind seeing (and tasting) it again.  Also, we know an expat living in Nimes that we may be able to get together with, and another in Menton, near Monte Carlo.  In Italy we'll start in the northwest area called Piemonte, around Turin and to the west where the Alps separate France and Italy.  We'll spend a few days  in Genoa,  then return to Tuscany and Umbria, staying in the towns of Voltara, Assisi, and Orvieto.  One goal near the end of the trip is to visit the festival of  Le Infiorate in the village of Spello, where each year the main street is carpeted with flowers arranged by local artists.  This is a trip entirely on our own and our plan is to travel mostly by car.  I'm making the reservations at hotels and mapping out the exact itinerary, and Karen has researched and made the flight arrangements and the car rental.  Both of us spend a lot of time doing this, but as I've said before, the effort is very educational and enjoyable.  In my case, I read guidebooks and research the internet to find out where we might want to go and what the attractions are, and within a specific town, what the accommodations are like, where they are located, and what other people have thought of them, including guidebook authors.  These days important issues have become things like parking, nearby transportation, and whether the hotel has an elevator.  By the time I'm done, I have really learned a lot, not only about the places on our itinerary, but also about the places I've rejected. You'll note I haven't mentioned destinations like Milan, Florence, Venice, Siena, Cinque Terre, etc.  This is because we've stayed in all of them on previous trips, so we've opted to focus on other places this time.

The radiology clinic that I mentioned last week is still closed down.  They've now admitted they were hacked but still haven't given any details about the nature of the problems nor when they might be resolved.  Seriously frustrating.  I suspect a ransomware attack, but if the clinic had been following best-practices regarding security and back-up, they would be recovered by now.  Given that ransom attacks aren't new, and that measures exist to both prevent them and mitigate their damage, it is simply no excuse to just blame the bad guys. 

On Thursday I went to Planet Fitness and Karen played golf.  Note that I'm on the alternate-week plan as far as the gym and golf are concerned.  No reason to overdo it, I figure.

I won't say anything about the election results, other than the observation that the overall outcome was mixed enough to make it a Rorschach test -- you can pretty much spin the outcome any way you want.  I have my preferred spin, of course, as I'm sure you do.

Off to market, beach breakfast, then to my eyeball exam.  Take care, stay safe, well, and warm.

Coffee Festival, A Golf Par"ish," Travel Plans, Clinic Problems

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

11/5/22

Aloha Everyone  --

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

No big house projects this week, just the usual whacking, trimming, and pest control chores.  Living in a sub-tropical climate is very pleasant for humans, but it also is ideal for other critters, too.  Co-existence requires routine control measures to keep the less desirable ones in check.  For instance, once a month or so I use an insecticide around the outside perimeter of the house to reduce the ant/cockroach/centipede/termite/mosquito problem that would otherwise develop.  We try to be reasonably environmentally conscious about this, but doing nothing would be a very bad idea.

This week is the annual Kona Coffee festival, which goes back to 1970.  It's a pretty big deal, with parades, a beauty contest, and a coffee cupping competition.  One event we've gone to in the past is held in the little artist's village near us named Holualoa.  Different coffee growers pair up with art shops and you can walk the main street tasting coffee and admiring the art.  We haven't gone for a few years, so we may stop by.  I've learned to go easy on the coffee, though.

Karen and I dropped off our ballots this week.  For us this a pretty easy task -- Hawai'i allows mail-in voting, as well as a few secure drop-boxes.  One of the boxes is at the Civic Center, right on the way to Costco, so it was a quick stop.  There aren't any big controversial issues this time, and the integrity of the voting procedure is very tight.  One of the candidates for governor, Josh Green, is a physician from our island and did a good job during the pandemic as Lieutenant Governor, so he's our favorite. He's also a rarity these days -- someone near the center. Otherwise the races are very local and thankfully focus more on competence and values that on identity politics.

I played golf this week with Karen and her usual golf buddy.  After my stellar performance on my last outing I was concerned I'd really blow it this time.  Actually, all three of us did pretty well, though my main moment of glory was a par on one hole -- actually it was par"ish" because I redid one stroke, which is legal under our group's rules.  I also got a couple of bogies, and most of the time played reasonably well.  The weather was gorgeous until the very end -- sunny and clear, pleasantly cool at that elevation.  Karen got a real par, and her friend got a birdie.  We finished all 18 holes and that effort made my usual afternoon beer taste extra good.

This week we finalized arrangements for a short trip to Los Angeles in December.  We're going to stay most of the time in downtown LA, something we've never done before.  It has a lot to offer there in terms of art deco architecture, museums, and some highly rated restaurants.  We'll then spend a couple of days visiting an old grad school friend who lives in Santa Barbara before returning home.  This is a whirlwind trip for us -- only about 10 days.  Besides being fun, we're going in part to kick up our airline miles to put us into a higher perk category for next year.  And these days you need all the perks you can get to make flying tolerable.

Finally, an illustration of the somewhat iffy state of our health care here is the sudden shutdown of one of the major clinics that does CTs, X-Rays, etc. About two weeks ago their computer systems that hold patient records and coordinate appointments crashed and still hasn't been restored.  I was supposed to have a chest CT as you may recall, but that is on hold for now.  I could go to the local hospital for the scan, but one of the main reasons for doing it is to compare the current results to the past scans I've had to track any changes, like the progression of my emphysema.  All those past records are with the closed clinic.  The organization has been suspiciously tight-lipped about what exactly happened and why it is taking so long to get the system restored.  Surely a medical facility with health information about thousands of people would have had a backup that would allow them to get back online almost immediately.  My geeky background leads me to suspect the organization was negligent either in securing the information or safeguarding it and they're scrambling to cover their asses from the legal fallout.  I'll keep you posted on this one.

Ok, off to market and the beach for breakfast.  Take care, vote while it still counts.

Getting Sliced & Shot, Pumping My Pecs

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

10/29/22

Aloha All  --

Our transition from fall to winter is continuing.  The snow birds are returning to roost for the season, the fall foliage is giving way to winter foliage, fewer repositioning cruise ships. and the coffee beans are nearly ready to harvest.  Oh, and the big box stores are pushing Christmas decorations.  Actually, that started a couple of weeks ago, well before Halloween.  I was going into Lowe's and found myself suddenly in a forest of artificial Christmas trees and an army of blow-up Santas -- on October 10th!  Geez. 

From This

One mark of early winter here is that our Plumeria trees stop blooming and lose their leaves. It doesn't exactly get drab here, though, because several other things start to flower during this period -- African Tulip trees, Silver Oaks, Jacaranda, Poinsettias.  One adjustment I have to make during winter is with the little flower arrangements we keep in our bathrooms and on the kitchen counter.  I usually use Plumeria collected during our morning walks in the neighborhood, but about now I switch to other flowers, most often

To This

the Pentas that grow voluntarily everywhere in our yard and bloom year around.  I like them because they're easy to pick, last a long time, and come in a variety of colors.

On Thursday we both got our flu shots.  We had to wait a few days because the pharmacy was out of the high-dose vaccine recommended for geezers and geezerettes. So far no big reaction. Also on Thursday I went to Planet Fitness for the first time in months. I did just a light workout to ease back into it, but even so my muscles are chiding me for laying off for so long. Karen played golf that day with her usual partner-- she got through 11 holes before rain and fog got them to quit.  I'm glad I didn't go this week, partly because of the weather, and partly because it saved me from the embarrassment and discouragement of doing far worse than I did last week.  However, I missed a very special experience of seeing not only the two white peahens that are often sighted on the course, but also a white *peacock* -- so far as Karen knows never before reported at Makalei.  It will be very interesting to see what kind of display feathers he develops this mating season.  I did a quick internet search and it's likely they will be all white, too. White peafowl aren't exceedingly rare, and maybe this new male will lead to more of them here.  I wonder what the regular peahens will think of him?

Both of us paid a visit to our dermatologist this week.  Karen went for her regular checkup, and I went to have a few spots checked out.  One was a mole on my leg that has come back after being cut off just before we went on our Eastern European trip. This time the PA not only cut it off but also fried the underlying tissue and scraped it away. Hopefully this will do the trick.  I also had a thingy cut off of my right forearm and a couple of spots frozen on my left -- she gave me the name of the ones on the left arm, something like Keratosis Halitosis.  She was much more concerned about the spot on my right forearm which might be a small squamous cell carcinoma.  She cut it off and it has been sent to a lab for identification.  All of these things are, of course, the legacy of a childhood without sunblock and a culture that made a suntan a desirable goal.

Ok, off to market and breakfast.  Take care. Vote while you still can.

 

Zero-Putt-Birdie, Volcano Duet

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

10/22/22

Aloha Everybody -- 

Looks like some of you mainlanders are getting a taste of fall. Our warm pattern has eased off somewhat, and we used our a.c. much less this week than last.  Good, thing, as our solar credit for the year was donated to Helco on Wednesday and we've started over from zero.

Makalei in Fall...

Last Sunday Karen's foot was improved enough that we went to the driving range and whacked a few balls, the first time in a couple of months.  We did well enough to go ahead and play on Thursday.  Karen's snowbird friend joined us.  She's also not been playing for awhile, so we were well matched.  Surprisingly, all three of us did very well.  The recent rain has made the Makalei course absolutely beautiful and the day we played was clear and cool.  We saw the usual resident bunch of peacocks, including the two white peahens, and we were treated to about 20 or more

A Standout

Nenes, who have returned for nesting season.  The best part for me was achieving the pinnacle of my golfing "career," a zero-putt-birdie on a par four hole!  This involved a rather amazing chip shot from about 30 feet off the green that rolled right into the hole! Damn!  It was almost like I knew what I was doing!  I did well on several other holes, too -- including 4 bogeys.  This performance will never be repeated, I'm sure, but it sure was sweet while it was happening.

You may have heard that Mauna Loa, our 13k foot volcano to the south, has been rumbling recently.  Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano in the world, and has erupted 33 times in the last 180 years. The last time was in 1984 and it will undoubtedly erupt again.  Although there isn't any direct danger to us because it's 100 miles away, it is a danger to Hilo and to smaller communities in the area.  An eruption is likely to take out the only road that circles the island and it would cut our internet and power links. You might think there would be plans in place to deal with this likelihood, right?  Sortakindamaybe. Mauna Loa is monitored very closely and starting last month there has been an increase in earthquake activity from the usual 10-20 to  40-50 per day caused by lava moving into system.  However, the scientists say that "The current increase in activity does not suggest that a progression to an eruption is certain, and there are no indications that an eruption is imminent."  Not sure that's very comforting.  Anyway, that means that at the moment we have two volcanoes doing their volcano thing -- Mauna Loa and Kilauea, which is still oozing lava at the summit-- now around 29 billion gallons since September of last year. That's a lotta lava!

Ok, off to market and the beach. Take care, enjoy your fall -- you know what's coming next.....

Using up Electrons, Good Eyeball News, Vaxed to the Max

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

10/15/22

Aloha All -- 

Hope you are all doing well.

Things are slowly getting back to normal (whatever that is these days).  Last Saturday my eyeball made me proud and passed its exam with flying colors!  No edema buildup at all, so I didn't have an injection.  My next appointment is in 4 weeks, which will be about 10 weeks out from the last shot.  It seems like this problem may at last be coming under control -- not cured, but something I can live with.  Now that the retina problem is less severe,  it might be time to consider cataract surgery.  My doctor recommends doing the problem eye first, mainly to see how it goes before risking the good eye.  He says the only extra consideration is that I should have a shot about a week before the cataract procedure to head off any leakage.  Other than that, future injections shouldn't be effected.  I did happen to think of one likely complication, though, that my retina guy and I didn't explore.  For the cataract surgery I'm sure they will flood my eye with numbing solution and therefore I'm likely to have a pretty rough time for 8-12 hours afterwards. Hmmmm.

Speaking of shots, Karen and I wound up having a reaction to the new booster after all.  The symptoms were the usual -- sore arm, joint aches for a few hours, feeling tired.  Even though our reactions were a bit more than those of other people we talked to, they were overall very mild compared to the previous shots. Anyway, we're once again vaxed to the max and glad to be so.

snowboots

This past week has been quite warm here -- afternoons have been in the mid-80's.  Given our current surplus of solar credit, we've had no qualms at all about cranking up the a.c. units in our study and in our bedroom at night.  At the end of the month our credit is reset to zero, so why not enjoy it while we can? Our contract with Helco starts over in November for the next 12 months.  I'm usually a little stingy until I can build up some credit again.

The Ironman dust is settling and all those firm, slim, bodies are starting to be replaced by our more normal snowbird crowd, most of whom are far from slim and trim. The two-day format caused so much disruption that there has been a lot of community push back about repeating it next year.  The problem is that the Thursday race requires many businesses to close because their workers can't get to their jobs while the race is using our one coastal road.  This is less of a problem on Saturday, when many have a day off anyway.  It will be interesting to see how this is resolved.

We've had a number of ships in port this week in addition to our usual Wednesday visit.  These are another sign of normality which we missed the last couple of years -- the ships are repositioning from their northern itineraries to the ones they do in the winter in the south and west.  Along with Ironman income, the last couple of weeks have been a much-welcomed economic boost for the businesses along the shore in town.

Ok, off to Farmer's Market and our breakfast picnic.  Take care and enjoy your fall. 

 

 

Aloha from ..... Home

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

10/8/22

Aloha Everyone--

Hope you are enjoying your early fall.

We got back a week ago Thursday from our 35-day trip.  The first few days were rough.  Our bodies were in Kona but our jet-lagged brains were somewhere else. A 12-hour time difference is difficult -- during the day your body thinks it should be asleep, and at night it wants to be active.  For me, though, the worst part is that I'm in a mental fog and unable to concentrate -- even fairly simply tasks seem extremely complex.

Anyway, we're mo' betta now.  It was a pretty good trip.  The river cruise was interesting, and the water levels rose enough that we were able to complete the whole stretch from Budapest to Regensberg.  However, we learned that we just aren't the cruising type.  There are certainly positive aspects to it, and we can see why so many people love it.  But it neither requires nor allows the kind of intimate interaction with a culture that we've found so appealing and rewarding over our years of independent travel.  There are no problems to solve, nothing that you are required to figure out, and no one you have to communicate with to accomplish something.  This, of course, is the appeal to many people.  But not us.

As I mentioned before, the cruise was actually only a minor part of our itinerary, and most of the time we were on our own as we drove through the Czech Republic and a bit of Germany, ending in Berlin. We definitely enjoyed this part of the trip, but we hadn't anticipated that the weather would turn against us.  For us Hawaiians it was c-o-l-d, often getting down to the low 40's at night and only reaching the high 50's during the day.  In contrast to my shorts and t-shirts that I wear here, I had to put on long pants, a t-shirt, a shirt (usually long-sleeved), a sweater, a fleece over that, a jacket, and a neck scarf.  And even then I was chilly most of the time.  There was also a fair amount of light rain that didn't necessarily make it impossible to sight-see, but certainly made it less pleasant.  Oh, well, this is part of travel that you can't really control, other than trying to time your visit according to seasonal weather patterns.

Parade

We got back just in time for the Iron Man Triathlon.  This is the first year since Covid that it has been held, and in order to deal with the backlog of athletes who had qualified for the last race, there are two days of competition this time  -- Thursday and today.  That extra day has meant additional disruption to the community, but we think it is worth it.  We volunteered to help with Monday's parade, as we have for the past several times, and it was fun to interact with so many people from all over the world.

Yesterday we got our special Covid boosters.  No huge reactions so far.  By the way, we were relieved that we were able to avoid getting sick on our trip, despite all the exposure.   Today I have an appointment with my retina doc.  I don't think I need an injection yet, but I'll find out for sure.

Ok, that's it for now.  We can't do our normal routine today because of the race,  but we may still be able to have a breakfast picnic at the shore.  If not, we'll just picnic by our pool!  Take care. Stay warm and healthy. Stay away from the crazies.

 

The Wheels on the Boat Go 'Round and 'Round

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

8/20/22

Aloha All --

This will be my last weekly email for awhile.  Our trip begins soon and I probably won't have time to keep you up to date, though if I can I'll send a travel summary or two as we go.

As you recall from last week, the low river levels on the Danube and the Rhine means that our river cruise may be more of a bus ride than the leisurely boat ride that many people have enjoyed in the past.

Nope

Previous boaters were fortunate to have done their travel in earlier times, because it is likely that these kind of conditions will prevail in the future.  Climate change will increasingly demonstrate its reality, and extreme weather patterns in Europe will be more frequent.  I think the golden age of river cruising may be about over, and that's one reason we've decided to go ahead with our plans now, rather than postpone the cruise in hopes conditions will be better at a later date. Besides, we already lost 2 geezer years of travel during Covid and we feel we can't afford to put this off any longer.  A final reason is that the river cruise is only about 1/4 of our itinerary -- even if it's a bust, we have lots of other experiences to look forward to when we travel on our own through the Czech Republic and Germany.

I saw my regular doctor on Monday and all is well, considering.  I did learn one disconcerting fact, though.  If you're over 77 insurance won't cover chest scans to screen for lung cancer, even if you were a heavy smoker for 40+ years and have emphysema, like me.  Also, if it's been more than 15 years since you quit smoking the scans aren't covered.  I had my last scan in 2019 and met the criteria at that time, but I don't now.  I told my doctor to order a scan anyway, and I'd pay for it myself. The only way to detect lung cancer early is with a scan -- if you wait until you or your doctor notice symptoms (like coughing, pain, etc.) your chances of living 5 more years are less than 50% and those years are likely to be hell as you go through aggressive treatment.  No thanks.  But note, this means that although it is possible to get good preventative care, you've got to have enough money to pay for it yourself.  Hmmmmm.

Speaking of medical matters, later today I have my retina exam and probably an eye injection. It has been 4 months since the last shot, a new record, and I might even be able to stretch it out a bit longer, but not as long as our trip.  My vision in the bad eye has deteriorated slightly, and an injection now will head off worse problems.  In this case my insurance has really stepped up and has covered most of my expenses.  Of course, my eyeball problem isn't life-threatening, whereas lung cancer certainly is.

Even though we have been busy with travel prep, Karen and I did manage to play 11 holes of golf on Wednesday.  I got one bogey and my putting was better, but my overall performance was a solid "meh."  Saw quite a few peacocks, including the two white peahens, but the males are looking pretty sad because they're losing their tail feathers, a process that takes time and before it is completed produces a rather pathetic bedraggled look compared to the glory days of those magnificent fans. Actually it's kind of endearing because I can certainly empathize.....

Next week we will celebrate our....ahem...55th wedding anniversary.  Wow! We'll be on the road in Ohio at the time, and we're planning on keeping it simple by getting together with a few close friends for dinner at a highly recommended restaurant in Cincinnati.  It seems particularly appropriate that we'll be traveling when we celebrate, because travel has been a major focus for us right from the beginning. We also will be celebrating the first day we didn't have to begin a new school year.  It's a treat to be traveling instead.

Ok.  We're skipping farmer's market today but we're having our last beach breakfast picnic before our trip.  Take care everyone.  Stay healthy, sane, cool, and unburnt.