A-Fib Club, Escape from Canada, Pele Perks Up

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

7/25/24

 

Aloha  Everybody --

 

Well, just two days after my 80th birthday train trip in Canada, I joined the not-so-exclusive A-Fib Club.

We were starting to take a hike in Jasper National Park when I felt light-headed and passed out,  I recovered enough to get back to town, but later in the Jasper ER I did it again.  An EKG showed I was in A-Fib -- an extreme form of heart arrhythmia. I was also dehydrated and had contracted Covid a few days earlier, plus something triggered a weird allergic reaction in which my tongue swelled up and my hands and feet itched.  Sound like fun, eh? Both the allergic reaction and Covid symptoms passed quickly, but the A-Fib is still with me -- a surprise birthday present I'd rather not have received.

 

We cut our trip short after a few days in nearby Banff -- a stunningly beautiful place overrun with summertime tourists and unfortunately grey and hazy from wildfires in the area. It was also very hot -- 95d one of the days we were there. We realized that continuing to Utah was out of the question, given the even greater heat there, plus my ticker issues. We managed to cancel our arrangements and fly back to Kona directly from Calgary through Denver.  You may have seen the news about the wildfires in Canada, which just a few days after we were in Jasper burned though the town and caused evacuation of the National Park.  The ER where I received treatment just 10 days ago is possibly gone now.We definitely made the right decision to leave.

On Thursday I saw my doctor and another EKG confirmed my problem.  I'll spare you the details (of which many of you are probably personally aware), but I'm now on four additional drugs to control the A-Fib and prevent a stroke -- a blood thinner. a heart rate regulator, a diuretic, and a potassium supplement (the last two hopefully will be temporary once my BP is lowered to a safe level).  

All in all I'd say this hasn't been the best birthday I've had, but it wasn't all a lost cause.  We loved the several days we stayed in Vancouver.  It is a beautiful city with great architecture, art, transportation system, food, and excellent beer.  Also, my train adventure through the Canadian Rockies was just what I wanted, including having dinner as the scenery rolled by and sleeping in our own comfortable compartment. Oh, and I should add that even though both of us got Covid, the symptoms were milder than an ordinary cold and only lasted a few days, something we attribute at least in part to our recent booster shots.

Returning home may not have insulated us from nature's current global fury.  Kilauea activity has just recently taken a significant jump.Volcanologists have detected swarms of  hundreds of small earthquakes near the summit that have come in several pulses.  This is an indication that magma is welling up and recharging the system to the point that there may be an eruption soon.  However, the magma has moved from the summit caldera to a fault region just south and east, so an eruption right at the summit is less likely now.  Of course, the recent activity might also stop once the reservoir beneath the summit is drained.  Time to sing a lullaby for Pele ...

Ok, that's it for now.  Off to market and our beach breakfast picnic.  Carpe diem!

 

Guest, Fireworks, More Travel Plans

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

7/6/24

 

Aloha  Folks  -- 

Happy 4th of July!  We spent most of ours whacking a golf ball and feeding the course peacocks atMakalei.  For the first time in quite a while we did all 18 holes -- aspirationally, that is.  On a few holes

Kona's Little Big Bang

we cut the frustration short, but otherwise it was an enjoyable outing. We wanted to get in as much as we could because we'll be gone on our Canada/Utah trip coming up and won't play until we return.  Doing all 18 was rather tiring (remember, this represents A LOT of strokes for us duffers) but the effort gave us a sense of accomplishment. After dinner we made a quick trip down to the waterfront for the town fireworks display -- all 7 minutes of it.  Though very short, the display was surprisingly good, with a few giant ones that filled to sky above Kailua Bay.  This was certainly a low-effort outing.  It took about 10 minutes to drive to the Lowe's parking lot above town, then we managed to avoid any heavy traffic returning home after the show.  Round trip was about 30 minutes!

Earlier in the week we had a short visit from our friend from France, the expat we visited last year who moved to Nimes after the 2016 election,  She only stayed a couple of nights, but it was great showing her around a little bit.  We first met her when we crossed paths on our tour of Bhutan.  Like us, she had a guide and driver, and was going to areas less frequented by tourists.  The limited infrastructure of the country meant that we followed the same route and sometimes wound up in the same hotels.  She's an avid independent traveler, an approach to travel we definitely share.  We've stayed in touch all these years and it was great fun to compare travel notes from adventures since we met in Bhutan.

 

Speaking of travel, we are continuing to make arrangements for upcoming trips.  It probably sounds like a lot of planning because for various reasons we've found ourselves making plans for three trips at once --usually the planning is much more spread out. Our Thailand/Cambodia trip in November is nearly done.  We have decided to stay in a coastal resort area called Khao Lak, about an hour north of Phuket. Just off the coast there are a couple of National Underwater Parks that have highly rated snorkeling and diving. We've booked a hotel in Khao Lak and we'll soon book one in Bangkok for a few days upon arriving in Thailand.  Still left to do are the flights from Bangkok to Phuket, and from there to Phnom Penh and finally our international flights between here and SE Asia. Whew!  We're also going to be making our yearly quick trip to Ohio to visit friends in September, with a stopover for a few days in Colorado on the way back. This one doesn't require quite as much planning, but it needs to be done soon.

 

Ok, that's about it.  This may be the last missive for a while, depending on how busy we are during our trip. In the meantime, carpe diem and resist the gaslighting attempts all around us these days.........

Warm Water, "AA" Golf, Pigs & Mangos

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

6/29/24

 

Aloha  Guys  -- 

I wrote last week that our solar pool panel replacement had fallen through the cracks and the person who was supposed to finish the job didn't get the word until late in the week.  As promised, he and a helper showed up Saturday morning about 7:45 and by 10 am we had warm water flowing into the pool for the first time in several weeks.  Of course, it was bright and sunny right up until then, then promptly clouded over for the rest of the day. We still got some heat gain, though, and in the next few days the temperature of the pool increased by 2-3 degrees, definitely into the geezer comfort zone.  Yay! This long-term project has finally been finished!

 

Another thing that got resolved this week was my driver's license renewal.  On Tuesday when I got my injection I told my retina guy that I was worried about the eye exam.  He determined that I was qualified to drive as long as I wear my glasses and filled out a form for the DMV saying that.  Bingo -- 4 more years and maybe by then I'll be improved enough that it won't be an issue.

 

On Wednesday I played golf with Karen and our golf buddy. My goal in playing golf is enjoy it and not to take it too seriously. Lately, though, I've been getting frustrated when I don't do well, a sure sign of taking it too seriously. I just want to enjoy the outing and hit the ball well enough to appreciate the accomplishment. This time I played "Aspirational Golf."  If I liked my shot I'd play it from where it landed.  If I didn't like it I would apply an "Aspirational Adjustment," which involves repositioning the ball to where you think it should have gone. You probably recognize this as being in the same spirit as "Kon-a-Lago" rules, which I've described before.  AA Golf definitely reduces frustration, though it makes score-keeping kind of an exercise in wishful thinking.  I figure that's ok, though, given that our culture no longer seems to care much about reality.

My final tidbit of the week is about the mangos we've been enjoying from our neighbor's tree. Turns out

Somebody Say Mangos?

we're not the only ones who are enjoying them -- birds, mongoose, rats, and particularly the feral pigs in the area, have also.  The pigs aren't native, of course.  They were first introduced to the islands by the Polynesians who brought a domesticated variety with them for food.  Much later wild boar were brought in by Europeans and American settlers to hunt for sport and for food.  Without any natural enemies except humans to keep their population in check, feral decedents of the first pigs have become a real environmental problem. Our house borders an undeveloped strip of land that is home to probably dozens of them.  It's a pig paradise with plenty of wooded cover and easy access to tasty and nutritious food, especially macadamia nuts, avocados and mangos that drop either from trees in the strip or, as in this case, from somebody's yard that is accessible from the strip.  My neighbor makes absolutely no attempt to harvest the mangos, so they are easily available when they drop.  We've seen as many as 15 pigs in several groups chowing down, sometimes with loud disagreement over whose mango is whose.  There is one pig that we see regularly that is very interesting.  It is always in the company of the same feral chicken --- they seem to be buddies, and may have been together since last year, when we spotted a young pig and a chicken that seemed to be hanging out together.  Kind of cute,  By the way, I'm giving that area a wide birth at night when I'm coqui hunting -- I really don't want to tangle with a wild boar. Wishful thinking might not be enough to keep me from getting turned into a pile of bloody pulp.

Ok, that's it for now.  Stay well, safe, and sane.

vAX Whack, Travel Plans, Mango Mania

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

6/22/24

 

Aloha Folks --

 

Shortly after sending last week's missive, Karen and I had our Covid booster vaccinations. We generally get our shots at the Safeway Pharmacy because it's convenient and we get a 10% shopping discount coupon. The shot itself was so painless that at the time I wondered if the pharmacist had done it correctly.  NOT TO WORRY!  By that evening my body was in full Intruder Alert Mode as my immune system sent out the security forces to do battle.  Sore arm, aching joints, muscle pain, blahs. Since this was a vaccine and not the real thing, the good guys were guaranteed to win, and in the process they have made anti-body preparations that should be effective if I contract the real disease.  By the way, Covid (the latest strain) is still on the uptick here, though not in numbers that are alarming yet. For people who had been previously vaccinated and/or had Covid before, the symptoms are usually unpleasant but not too bad.  On Monday at my rescheduled haircut, my barber reported the same thing.  We were both masked, by the way. My worst symptoms abated in about 12 hours, but the whole next day I was not a happy camper, and for the next few days I felt out of sorts.  No reqrets, though, and my strong reaction means my geezer immune system is still working pretty well.

 

After a few more iterations of our Cambodia itinerary we put down a deposit this week on that portion of our SE Asia November trip.  As you recall, our plan is to spend about a week in Thailand first, mainly in the southern islands, then fly to Phnom Penh  to begin our personalized tour.  We haven't decided yet which island in Thailand we'll visit, but it will definitely not be one of the several where we've stayed before.  The main itinerary of activities there will be eating, snorkeling and getting massages.  The Cambodia part will be far more adventurous and active, but we've designed it to allow for a fair amount of leisure time, too.  We begin in Phnom Pehn for several days, then travel overland to the far north, visiting lesser-known temple complexes that should have far fewer tourists than Angkor Wat. At one of these temples we've arranged to stay just outside the complex in a luxury tent for one night, and tour part of it by torch-light. We'll then spend several days in Siem Reap and of course tour the Angkor complex, one of the most tourist-clogged  sites in the world. Our tour, though, has been designed to avoid the crowds as much as possible by spreading it out over several days, visiting temples before most people arrive or after they've left, and traveling between sites along less well-traveled routes, for example by e-bikes along jungle paths.  We'll also stay a couple of nights in a colonial-era town a few hours from Siem Reap called Battambang before flying down to the Cardamon Mountains in the south for 3 nights in a tented camp inside a national park. We'll finish the trip with a couple of nights in a southern town called Kom Pot, noted for its nearby pepper plantations.  This itinerary is fairly pricey but we think it's good value for the money, and it certainly fulfills the bucket-list requirement.

All week long we've been harvesting mangos from our neighbor's tree that projects over the property line.

Thanks, Neighbor!

This year it is almost touching the roof above our bedroom lanai, and we've been able to reach a lot of the mangos by either leaning over a little, or by using our pool cleaner net with its long handle. There are many varieties of mango that are grown here and ripen at different times.  These are Hayden mangos and this variety is one of our favorites.  The weather this year has produced a bumper crop and we're trying to take advantage of the bounty -- including giving quite a few away to friends, freezing some, and even making mango chutney -- in addition to having mango every morning at breakfast.  After the mangos are all gone we'll have the branches cut back to the property line so that the tree doesn't become a nuisance.  No worries -- mango trees are very vigorous and in a couple of years it will be back.

The saga of our roof solar system may finally be about over.  Recall that everything is in place and ready to go except for one fitting that needs to be repaired.  Yesterday was three weeks (!) in that state.  I contacted the company last week and asked when it would be finished.  The answer was sometime this week.  Well, by yesterday it still was in limbo, but I got a call yesterday morning saying someone would be there Saturday morning, along with an apology because nobody had told the guy to work it in during the week. He was quite upset that the job hadn't been finished and that nobody had told him about it (he was on vacation the week before).  So we're holding our breath this morning to see if it actually gets done.  Geez!

Ok, that's it for this week.  As I scan the news of climate woes, wars, political bs, and the general lack of civility and consideration these days, there's a saying that comes to mind that is in the spirit of an unpleasant  carnival or amusement park ride (I don't remember the source):  "Stop the world, I want to get off....."

Take care. Stay cool (both physically and mentally).

Horse Leis, New Car AC Woes, Double Eye Shots

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

6/15/24

 

Aloha Guys l --

 

Last time I forgot to mention that Saturday was King Kamehameha Day.  Festivities all over the state commemorate Kamehameha's

Happy Horse!

unification of Hawai'i, including one of our favorite parades of the year here. The parade features groups of horseback riders representing each of the islands -- an honorary Princess and her court.  The riders wear dresses and leis in the island's colors, and the horses themselves are decorated with leis around their necks and sometimes on their foreheads,  It is a uniquely local celebration and we enjoyed it this year, after missing it for the past few times.

 

Well, at less than 400 miles and only 6 weeks old my Subaru Outback's a.c.has serious problems.  It happened on Monday when we went to Costco.  The a.c, was working, but it seemed kind of weak. When we started home the driver's side vents weren't cool at all and the passenger's were luke-cool. Naturally I wasn't happy about this.  It was late in the afternoon so the next morning I called the Subaru dealership service department to make an appointment.  I was expecting a few days out at the most but was told the first available slot was --- get this -- July 8th!! I started to unload on the young woman doing the scheduling but realized she was just doing her job -- apparently they are short staffed and several mechanics have been out with Covid.  Still.......  I decided to drop in on the sales department and complain. I at least got a sympathetic response, plus verification that this wasn't just dufus-geezer error in adjusting the settings.  The salesman offered to try to get me in for service earlier, and to give him until the next day (Wednesday) to see if he could do this.  Nope, the best he could do was suggest I take it to the dealership branch in Hilo, a round trip of 250 miles!  In the meantime the a.c. has begun to work a little better but is still weak and obviously there is something wrong.  Since there is no other Subaru dealer on the island, I have no alternative and will just have to wait until July!!  Hopefully  this isn't a portent for future problems with this car! 

Continuing my tales of woe, I got my new prescription glasses on Monday but they don't seem to be much better. Then on Tuesday my retina doctor confirmed that there is edema buildup in my left eye.  This was not a surprise since this is the site of the recent vein occlusion.  My right eye also showed signs edema, also not too surprising since it has been nearly three months since my last injection.  So, double shots for me.  I got one in the left eye Tuesday and I'll get one in the right in two weeks.  The reason for not doing both at the same time is that it's best to have one good one in case the other gets infected or has some other problem from the injection.  My concern right now is that I have to renew my driver's license before the middle of July and I want to have the best vision I can so that I can pass the test.  Hmmm.  The challenges of  Geezerhood never let up, do they!

Speaking of shots, later this morning we will have our Covid boosters.  We wanted to do this before our trip, but also Covid is on the upswing here (like the sick mechanics mentioned above) and we want to be as protected as we can be.  We know a number of people here who have had it recently -- besides our golf partner and her husband, my barber just contracted it and had to reschedule my haircut until next week.  This is sobering because she has pre-existing health issues that make her super careful. I may start masking up in crowded or up close situations.

 

Our solar pool system is still not operable.  The  guy who can fix it is out of town until next week -- not sure why someone else couldn't do the job, but in the meantime the pool temperature continues to be tolerable because of our warm weather and because we cover it at night.  This is another one of those problems that seem to be taking way too long to be corrected.

Ok, on that note of frustration I'll sign off for the week.  Hope things are going well and that you;re dodging those tornadoes!

Pele Burps up a Passport, Solar Panels Almost!

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

6/8/24

 

Aloha All --

 

Another eventful week here!  No tornadoes or heat domes, however.  Sure hope your mainland weather settles down.

 

On Monday two significant events occurred,  First, Pele spit up a little lava.  The eruption only lasted a few hours and was in an area to the south of the main caldera, so few people were able to see it.  The last eruption in this area was in 1974 and was also very short, which turns out to be characteristic of the region.  The explanation is that nearby Mauna Loa pinches off the lava supply channels whereas the supply is less obstructed in other areas.  Anyway, if you saw any video or photos of the eruption they were from a quick helicopter overflight by the volcanologists. They also deployed a web cam but all it has been showing is some smoke.  While the eruption was occurring the SO2 emissions hit 15k tons per day, but quickly backed off to their current 2k tons.  This was enough, however, to give us some vog for a few days -- a reminder of the more normal state of affairs. The official word is now that this is over and done, unlikely to resume at that same location.  However, signs of magma movement are still present, so another burp may soon occur elsewhere.  

 

A second significant event on Monday was the arrival in the mail of Karen;s passport!  Wow, that was impressively fast -- just under two weeks!  So that officially ends the saga of the lost passports.  The new ones have an alert on the opening page that says "This is a replacement for a lost passport." I hope this doesn't trigger any special treatment going through Customs and Immigration.  We'll see.  Otherwise, we're good to go and our trip to exotic Canada is on track for July.

Speaking of travel, we have begun to do some serious planning for our November return to SE Asia.  I've contacted a company that does custom tours of Cambodia and we'll be going back and forth to see what they can put together for us.  

The last of our big events this week was yesterday, when the crew returned to put our new solar pool

So Close!!!

panels on the roof. It took a few hours and rain kept threatening to interrupt the job, but they got it done.  Unfortunately, when they tested he system by running water through it they discovered one of the fittings from the old installation was leaking.  They think they can fix it, but it will require returning with a special tool for removing the old fitting, which  they didn't have with them.  So, we have new valves, new panels, and NO hot water.  The return visit will of course have to be rescheduled, and we haven't heard when that will be yet.  Our warmer weather (particularly at night) has kept the pool temperature at an acceptable level,  so we really don't need much solar heating at the moment. Still, it would be nice to get this project done -- we agreed to the terms last March.

I paid an earlier-than-scheduled visit to my optometrist on Wednesday because my current prescription just isn't helping the way I think it should, especially for far distance and for close up work.  He tweaked the prescription and I  have a new pair of cheap-o's on the way.  I sure hope they help.. I will be seeing my retina doctor on Tuesday and will likely have another injection in the left eye.  Both my retina doc and the optometrist are still optimistic but my subjective experience doesn't match.  If I do get back near my previous level I'll never take it for granted again!

Ok, that's enough for now.  Off for our usual Saturday morning jaunt to market and the beach.  Take care, and keep in mind that assertions about reality require evidence, not just opinion. 

First Car Wash, Retirement Anniversary, Ride-Along Golf

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

6/1/24

 

Aloha Everyone -- 

Wow, June already! Our Memorial Day weekend was pretty quiet. I celebrated by giving my new car its first wash -- definitely a bonding experience,  I also took the extra step of applying a coat of "ceramic paint sealant," aka polish.  This is the latest and greatest type of finish protection, even for new cars -- at least that's the claim,  The particular product I used was lightweight compared to some, and it went on super-easy, with very little buffing required. Even though the new paint has something called "clear coat" on it, this ceramic coating is supposed to give the finish added protection.  We'll see. Of course, it only took a few days before I had to drive in the rain coming home from Makalei on Wednesday. The next washing won't won't be as much fun as the first, of course......

Speaking of Makalei, on Wednesday I went with Karen and mostly acted as her caddy and cart driver. I

Kind of Sad

decided I'm getting too serious about the game, so I'm backing off a bit.  I did play the last two holes -- ones we usually skip -- and did pretty good until I got into some tall grass and tried unsuccessfully to bush-whack my way out,  With all the rain lately the mowing crew is having a tough time keeping up. If our usual golf partner was available I wouldn't have gone along, but she and her husband both are recovering from Covid, which is definitely on the uptick here. We saw all three of the white peacocks, including one female with her baby -- not white, by the way.  The normal males are still displaying but are looking pretty bad. They don't seem to realize it, though -- sort of like the guys we see here at the beach with pot belly's strutting around in their Speedo's).  Anyway, Karen finished all 18 holes (!) and played consistently very, very well. 

Yesterday was a significant anniversary for us -- the last day of our contracts before retiring.  That was 24 years ago -- hard to believe! We didn't do anything special, other than joining some friends for Happy Hour at a beach side park. Each year we also celebrate the anniversary of our first day of retirement, which of course is today.  Neither of us has regrets, and we both agree that retiring while we were still young enough to enjoy it was the right thing to do.  We've been able to have enriching, rewarding, and enjoyable experiences that are getting increasingly difficult to come by, given that the world, especially our own country, appears to be coming apart at the seams.

Ok. Market and breakfast picnic.  Take care and stay the course.