Escape From Mordor, Career In Used Car Sales ?

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

4/27/24

 

Aloha Folks -- 

Well, I did it!  On Monday I bought a new Subaru Outback.  But it wasn't easy and it certainly wasn't pleasant, and I really hope to not go through this again.  As you recall, last week I was trying to decide between the Outback and a Honda CRV.  On Saturday I went back to the Honda dealer to take another drive in the CRV., and if it felt good I was going to buy a blue model that I had looked at before. Turns out Saturdays are NOT a good day for car shopping because people who work use that day to look at cars.  The place was jammed, and even though I had texted my salesperson in advance, he was with other customers.  He was willing to get somebody to go with me for another test drive, but he informed me the blue car was already sold to a buyer over in Hilo, and it was on its way to the dealer there.  That meant there wasn't another one in that color on the island, and I'd have to wait weeks before another one was available.  Other colors just didn't interest me, so I left, somewhat disgusted that my shopping efforts had led to nothing.  On the way home, though, I thought I might stop one more time at the Subaru dealer and take another drive in the Outback, as well as see what colors were available.

Just like the Honda dealer, the Subaru place was busy, and a substitute salesperson went with me for a drive.  I was very impressed with the car again, and it turned out there was a bronze color that was kind of interesting.  I decided that if the price was right I'd make a commitment right then and there,  Unfortunately my original guy was still in the middle of concluding a sale and wasn't available for negotiations.  I left word I'd be back Monday and that I was very interested. On Monday he was *again* with another customer, so I negotiated with a substitute.  Very quickly we came to agreement on the

She's a Beauty, Eh?

bottom line and I agreed to the deal.  However, I said I was curious what the trade-in value of my old car might be, a reasonable straight-forward question that I thought might lead to a quick answer after an inspection of my car,  WRONG.  For the nexr two hours it was like I was swimming in molasses. First, I provided a lot of specific information about the car and the sales rep did a Car Fax assessment,  Then he and a mechanic took it for a drive.  So far this was a reasonable process that didn't take very long.  Then the Manager got involved and the three of them talked among themselves for at least 20 minutes, then they disappeared.  Finally the salesperson returned with a low-ball, almost insulting offer that I immediately refused,  He countered a smidge, then I countered with the addition of some accessories to the deal.  The sales guy disappeared for another 15 minutes to confer with the Manager and returned with another low-ball offer.  It was becoming clear that the "good deal" I had gotten for the original bottom line was being intentionally erased by the trade-in offer.  I decided to sell the car myself rather than be taken advantage of like that.  've done some research on selling a car here in Hawai'i and in a day or two I'll advertise it online.  Never thought I'd be a used car salesman at this stage of my life!  I'll let you know how it goes.

We picked up the new car yesterday, but there were some hiccups even in doing that -- including an extra trip to the dealer in the morning for them to verify the final check, adding the car to our current insurance at the last minute, and giving us the wrong key. These were things that could have and should have been avoided if the dealer was more organized,  GRRRR. 

Quickly, in other news:  blood test results looked very good, Wednesday's golf game was pleasantly almost competent, and my dental exam on Thursday was "excellent," in the words of my dentist.  These were pleasant counterbalances to my adventures in Mordor.

Ok, off to market and the beach.  Take care and stay calm.

Eye Shots, Golf Shots, Blood Draws & Test Drives

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

4/20/24

 

Aloha Guys--

 

This week was "interesting" in several respects.  For one thing, even though we had three consecutive days of clouds and rain, we also had days of complete sunshine and warmer weather.  The pool got warm enough that we didn't need to cover it for a couple of nights -- the first time in months.  However, yesterday we went back to the yuk pattern with clouds and rain starting by noon.

Also interesting was the visit to my eye doctor on Tuesday.There is almost no sign of the vein occlusion in the left eye, as determined by the tomographic scans (like CT's without radiation).  My acuity went from 20/60 a month ago to 20/40, which agrees with my subjective experience of slow improvement.  I just wish it would speed up.  My doctor is still optimistic about my eventual recovery, and wasn't disturbed by its slow pace.  Even though the retina itself has nearly healed, it will still take time for the original edema to clear out of the eye.  In the meantime I'll still have reduced acuity, particularly in bright conditions because light is being scattered by the old edema fluid. Anyway, as we had planned, I got a shot of Vabysmo and next month I'll have another.  It is a great relief to know there is now additional medication in my eyeball that is doing its magic.

 

Also in medical news, on Thursday I had my routine 6-month blood draw in advance of seeing my internist next week.  The results will be interesting because  they will indicate if there was any effect of going completely off my meds for a while during the Ethiopian trip.  (You may remember that I stopped taking pills, drinking coffee, and drinking alcohol to cope with my near constant nausea.)

Gorgeous George

Speaking of shots, on Wednesday we played golf and I did "way mo' betta," even getting two pars and three bogies.  Since I had to take far fewer strokes, I had the energy to complete 16 holes this time. We might have tried the last two holes as well, but it was starting to rain.  Maybe next time.  We saw a number of peacocks again, and even saw the white one. For some reason there were far more males than females, perhaps because the hens are nesting.  

My car shopping continued this week with a return visit to the Subaru dealer.  I test drove the Forester and also the Outback.  Both were very nice and equivalent to the Honda CRV,  I decided that the Forester just doesn't have the styling I'm looking for and so the decision is now between the CRV and the Outback.  The Subaru is a bit larger but has less headroom, and may have a teensy edge in terms of styling.  I'm not thrilled with either brand's colors, though, and still think my old car is more attractive than either of the new ones.  The Subaru and Honda are pretty close in terms of price, once I factor in accessories and dealer smoke and mirrors, so price probably won't be the deciding factor.  I may take another drive in each one to see if that tilts the scales, but right now I'm on a decision teeter-totter. I'm sure most people would have just gotten on with it by now, but I've never been known to make quick decisions,  Hopefully this will be over in another week.

Ok.  Enough for now.  Enjoy your spring and try not to get overwhelmed by the dire condition of humanity....

 

Back To Bogie-Land, Car Shopping

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

4/13/24

 

Aloha Everybody --

 

Hope you enjoyed the eclipse.  It was a non-event here for two reasons,   First, it was only a partial eclipse, unlike the total one that much of the midwest and northeast were treated to (assuming cloud cover didn't screw up the show).  Second, it occurred here very early in the morning, and the sun hadn't yet cleared the top of the mountain (i.e., volcano) to our east. Anyway, there were plenty of news stories and photos online, so we experienced it vicariously. 

 

The big event for me this week was getting back to golf after almost four months off.  We were joined by

Toll Collector

our usual golf partner, plus a visitor who was on the Wednesday cruise ship in port.  I was wary of having a fourth person in the group at first, but it worked out ok.  He was a friendly guy from Mexico City who  was consistently a notch better than us but not intimidatingly so.  Anyway, I did a solid "meh," with some decent shots and one bogie to go along with a lot of really lousy shots as well.  We invented a new Kona-Lago scorecard entry ---"AB," for "A Bunch."  With all the rain we've been getting the course was in great shape.  We didn't get any rain and it was pleasantly overcast most of the time.  We saw

I Need a Crowbar

quite a few Peacocks and also 13 Nenes.  Interestingly, the Nenes were in one flock, which is rare.  This might be because they are about to leave for the season and they take off as a group.  Unlike Canadian geese, they don't migrate far  -- just to another part of the island.  We made it through 12 holes before pooping out. Not bad for a first outing.  We'll try again next week.

 

It was a good thing we played on Wednesday because Thursday afternoon and all day yesterday were rainy and  cool. We opted not work out in the pool those days and instead went to the gym yesterday, just like a pair of mainlanders.

I'm considering getting a new SUV to replace my 2007 Honda CRV.  I bought the 2007 used after I totaled  my Honda Pilot about 12 years ago. It's been a great car and has no major issues at the moment, but it now has 60k miles and lacks nearly all of the safety features of the newer models.  After doing a lot research online and using Consumers Reports' latest evaluations, I've narrowed my choices to the new Honda CRV and the Subaru Forrester.  Last week I visited the Kona dealers for each brand to get a quick in-person look.  Walking onto each lot gave me the same feeling I bet Frodo had when he entered Mordor -- impending doom and abject helplessness and loss of control.  I didn't talk price at that time, I just focused on the physical features of the cars.  On Thursday I went back to the Honda dealer to get a very close look and to take a test drive. This went well.  But when I asked about the bottom line price I found I was in a land where nothing is what it seems, and the window sticker numbers are like my golf score -- illusory and lower than reality.  I'll go through this again with the Subaru dealer of course, but it remains to be seen whether I'll get a number I can compare to the Honda deal.  Yuk!!!!  I'll let you know, perhaps next week.

 

Off to something more pleasant -- market and breakfast picnic, though this morning we may get rained out. Take care, stay safe & sane......

Happy Hula, Muscles, Travel Plans

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

4/6/24

 

Aloha Ohana --

 

We're continuing in our damp/cool weather pattern and it's getting a bit old.  Imagine, brilliant sunshine in the morning, temperature barely a chilly 75d, followed by clouds and at least a sprinkle in the afternoon, topping out at only 80-82 degrees!  I'm sure your early spring weather is much better, right?  Oh, and the pool is a mere 84d these days.  Oh, how we suffer!!

 

This weekend is our annual Merrie Monarch hula festival, which is the World Series/Super Bowl/World

Miss Aloha Hula Competition

Cup equivalent of hula.  "Merrie Monarch" is the nickname of King David Kalakaua who ruled Hawaii in the late 1800's.  Hula was banned for many years under the influence of Christian missionaries, until Kalakaua openly supported it and promoted it as a unique expression of Hawaiian culture. The event is held in Hilo and has become a VERY big deal.  Tickets are severely restricted and hard to come by, in case you were thinking of zipping over to attend. Every minute of the competition is televised on local tv, and YouTube undoubtedly has videos of past performances in case you're interested.  You'll be amazed, I guarantee.

After a couple of rained-out attempts, we finally got in some time at Makalei putting, driving, and chipping.  Amazingly, we both could still hit the ball most of the time and a few shots were actually pretty good.  This was around noon on Monday, and we celebrated afterward with a burger and a beer at one of our favorite seaside restaurants in town.  We've contacted our golf partner and we are planning for a return to the course for next Wednesday, with Thursday as a rain backup.  We're doubtful we will be able to get in a complete round either because of exhaustion or rain, but it will still be great to be back to the game.  Recall that we play by "Kona-Lago" rules, in which aspirational score-keeping is allowed and rewarded.  

 

Continuing this week's physical emphasis, yesterday we went to the gym for a fairly vigorous workout. Note, that's TWO visits in seven days, plus whacking golf balls.  As usual, however, we immediately counteracted the benefits of this exercise by going for fried chicken, creamy coleslaw, and French fries after our workout. We might call it our "grunt & gorge" routine.

Now that we've recovered from our Ethiopia challenge, we have plans for several upcoming trips that we're kind of excited about.  One is my bucket-list birthday trip and another is Karen's (we both turn xx this year).  Mine will be in July, when we'll fly to Vancouver for a few days before taking the overnight train through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper, then traveling by car to Banff and Calgary.  I reserved the train months ago in order to book the first-class version with our own cabin and dining-car meals. From Calgary we will fly to Utah and spend about a week around Moab visiting some the National Parks there that we haven't explored before, including the highly touted Arches with its fantastic stone formations,  Should be quite a complement to the lush Canadian Rockies.  

 

Karen's bucket list trip will be delayed until November to optimize the destination weather conditions.  She chose to return to one of our favorite parts of the world, Southeast Asia.  The plan is to start on one of the southern islands of Thailand for about a week, most likely the island of Phi Phi.  Though Thailand may sound exotic, we will hardly be roughing it.  We know this because we've been to this area several times in the past and it has beautiful resort hotels, terrific snorkeling, delicious food, inexpensive massages (!) and wonderful local people. The other half of the trip will be in Cambodia, a country we have visited but only for a short time as part of a group tour to neighboring Vietnam.  This time we'll return on our own and travel at our own pace by pre-arranging a "tour for the two of us," which will allow us to fine-tune the itinerary to our personal interests. As you recall, this is our preferred way of traveling, and it will avoid many of the problems we encountered in Ethiopia.  We also have a couple of shorter domestic trips in the works, but I'll fill you in on those later.

Ok, off to market and breakfast picnic.  Enjoy your early spring.  As I recall it can be quite nice for a few minutes.......

Smoking Crossover, Golf"ish", Pool Proposal

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

3/30/24

 

Aloha Everybody --

 

Our fun guests left Tuesday evening and it has seemed awfully quiet since then.  Of course, we've kept busy with house and  personal projects, but we kind of miss being on the tourist circuit.  Our visit to the volcano area, which we haven't seen ourselves in quite a while, was interesting as always even though Pele is taking a deep snooze at the moment.  The rest of the trip around the island was likewise interesting, though it is quite a drive, far more than most tourists expect,

 

On Monday I passed a very significant personal milestone. It was my 30th anniversary of quitting smoking! As promised by the anti-smoking campaigns, my appetite returned, my sense of smell increased,

NastyHorribleYuck

I never got sick again, my hair grew back, my hangnails disappeared, I was able to bench-press 600 pounds, I became immensely popular, smart, and rich.  Well, maybe not all those, but after a year or two I definitely felt better, and my risk of lung cancer has declined almost to that of a non-smoker.  Of course, no one mentioned emphysema..... This year's anniversary is more significant than usual, because it marks the crossover point from years smoked to years not-smoked,  Believe it or not, I smoked a total of 40 years, starting when I was ten years old!  It's been 30 years since I quit, and 30 added to my 10 years of childhood innocence makes 40 smoke-free years,   Each day from now on will add to my smoke-free time and a celebratory excess over the smoking total.  Note, however, that I am likely to die before I can claim more consecutive smokeless than smoking years.  Sheesh.  Youth is definitely wasted on the young!

 

My recovery from my newest retina vein occlusion continues to be frustratingly slow.  I'm eager to get another shot, scheduled for 2 weeks from Tuesday. If it seems to be getting worse I may have to make an earlier appointment, even though that would mean being treated by someone other than my regular doc.

On Thursday we managed to get back to the gym for a light workout, followed by an antidote of salt and cholesterol at Taco Bell. Sure wish the stuff that is bad for you didn't taste so good!   We attempted to go to the driving range at Makalei on Friday but got rained out.  We may try again tomorrow or Monday.  I'd sure like to get back to whacking that little ball, though I'm pretty sure I won't be able to see where it goes with my current eye problems.

We got a proposal for replacing the pool solar heating system this week, and even though it is a bit more than we expected, we are likely to go ahead with it.  The work will include adding two more panels to the system.  This adds to the cost, of course, but it will also bump up the system's heating capacity.  The project will also include replacing all the old valves and gauges that control and monitor the system, something that might preempt problems in the future.  Now the next question will be how long we will have to wait before the work actually gets done.  Things tend to move a bit slowly here in near-paradise.

Ok, that's it for the week.  Off to market and picnic.  Hope you are well and in good enough shape to handle the upcoming election campaign! If not, now is the time to buy some good earplugs and blinders...body armor and a helmet might be a good idea, too, just in case rhetoric becomes reality.

20/60; Patience, Grasshopper

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

3/23/24

 

Aloha All---

 

We've had a great time this week with our mainland guests.  One of the sisters has never been to Hawai'i

Pu'uhonua O Honaunau

before, and the other was here 19 years ago, so everything is new or only vaguely recalled for them. We've been in full touring mode this week, visiting the iconic sights on the island, like Kealakekua Bay where Captain Cook met his fate when took one voyage too many, and several important pre-contact Hawaiian archeological sites. Today we are driving south to Volcanos Nariona.Park to see Kilauea, spend the night, and then continue around the island on Sunday. While we are in the volcano area we're going to have dinner with two other friends who are visiting from Colorado, even more fun.

Now for my eyeball update.  After my shot a week ago Thursday my vision quickly improved. By the time I saw my regular retina doctor on Tuesday just five days later my acuity had gone from 20/200 to 20/60.  The tomograph scans showed much less edema, but there was still a considerable amount left.  Since then my improvement has slowed to a crawl, though I think I notice a little improvement each day.  I sure wish it would pick up the pace, though, because I still have trouble reading small print that I used to see easily, and a number of daily tasks are frustratingly difficult when they used to be easy -- like writing this.  Oh well, I'll try to be patient.  My next injection is scheduled in 3 weeks.  I'll keep you posted.

Ok, got to hit the road.  Take care.  Focus on the important things, like enjoying a good beer.

Tax Back, Eye Woes, Pumping Iron

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

3/15/24

 

Aloha Everyone---

 

Definitely an "interesting" week for me. with both good news and bad news to share.  

 

First, some good news.  On Thursday we got our State tax refund, and yesterday we received our Fed refund.  Both of these were direct-deposited into our checking account, but will be soon reinvested in one of our mutual funds.  Getting our money was pretty fast -- just about two weeks from the time I submitted the returns online.  I've adjusted our required estimated payments to avoid being as generous this year.

Also in the good news department is that we managed to work out at Planet Fitness yesterday -- the first

Pump Those Pecs!

time in almost three months!  We took it easy -- less weight and fewer reps.  Even so,  I'm a bit stiff this morning.  We also managed to exercise in our pool several days this week -- definitely the most since we've been back.  Little by little we're recovering functionality after our back-to-basics Ethiopia "reset" experience.  The next challenge will be getting back to golf, but not for another week because we have more guests arriving tomorrow for a 10=day visit.  One is a dear friend from Ohio who has been here a number of times but not recently, and she will be accompanied by her sister, who will be new to the islands.  Should be great fun. We have really been enjoying hosting our visitors this  year, and these two will also a treat.

 

Speaking of the pool, I'll soon receive a quote for replacing the solar heating system.  On Thursday somebody from Hawaiian Solar, our first choice since they installed our PV system and also the replacement hot water solar system for us, came by and looked at the current setup.  We may even add one more panel to give the system a boost in heating capability.  I'll let you know next week how this turns out.

 

Now for the not-so-good news. Recall that I had an earlier-than-scheduled visit to my retina doc because my right eye had suddenly changed for the worse.  Sure enough, this necessitated a shot. It responded very well, to the point that it got back to as good as it can be in just a few days  However, recall that I was also concerned with a slight worsening of the vision in my left eye -- my good one that has always been 20/20 and the one I rely on to compensate for my weak one.  The exam that day didn't reveal anything obviously wrong, but we decided to keep the already scheduled appointment two weeks away  as a precaution.  Well in just a week Mr. 20/20 went very, very bad -- to the point where I could no longer read or see anything clearly -- it was like looking through crumpled, slightly opaque cellophane. Needless to say I was scared.  I made an appointment with the first available retina specialist in the clinic, and got to see someone on Thursday (my regular guy wasn't at the clinic this past week).  The exam showed massive edema in my "good" eye, caused by an occlusion (blockage plus bursting) of a vein in the center of the retina. No idea what led to this so at the moment it is just another case of "Sh*t happens in geezerhood." Anyway, I got a shot to reduce the edema and so far there is promising improvement even after just two days. The main question, which only time will tell, is how much permanent damage has been done.  At least I got on top this quickly and received aggressive treatment right away, unlike my right (bad) eye that languished for several weeks before I got my first shot because my doctor at the time was a bit conservative in his treatment.  We'll see.  At least that's what I hope - that I'll see.  I have a follow-up appointment with my regular doctor on Tuesday, so Ill let you know next week how this saga is playing out.

Ok, enough.  Hope you are coping with winter and with your own health matters.  Stay warm and well.