9th Blogaversary!

Wow! I've been blogging for 9 years! I can hardly believe it! I've written 2678 posts and met such interesting, brilliant, diverse, truly kind people. I have learned so much from all of you and you've made my life richer and a whole lot more fun. I've been very grateful for the advice and caring I've received from all of you.

Thank you, Thank you! Your comments and friendship always bring sunshine to my days even when it sometimes looks cloudy.

Little Notes From Big Hearts

Last week, a dear friend of mine had her granddaughters visiting from the Northwest coast. She'd mentioned to me that they loved macaroni and cheese. It made me chuckle because my granddaughter (in Illinois) LOVES macaroni and cheese too. I mean really, really loves it. Whenever we go out to a restaurant, that's what she orders.

My friend had never made macaroni and cheese. I don't think it's as big a deal here in Hawaii. I don't think I had macaroni and cheese until I moved to the mainland.  I offered to make some macaroni and cheese (from the box) since it's quick and easy. It's the only way I know how to make this dish.

Well, these sweet little girls said they loved it. When we stopped by a few days ago, I got smiles, hugs and these thank you notes.

At a time when thank you notes are often thought unnecessary (actually a thank you email makes me happy these days), I can't tell you how charmed and absolutely touched we were to get these precious cards.

And you know what? I'm going to make them some more macaroni and cheese before they go home. Definitely!

A Blog Post About Nothing

There was a day last week when I did almost nothing. How did that happen?

Mom was puttering all over the place with her gardening and house things. Art had gone walking with his classmate all morning and then off to do whatever.

I started reading a book, took a nap and sat around and did nothing. I was going to write some blog posts. I didn't.

I didn't do any chores. I didn't cook anything. I didn't exercise. I did nothing.

When dinner time rolled around I was surprised that the whole day had just slipped by.

Have you ever done this?

I felt a little guilty about it and wondered if I'd wasted a day in my life.

I'm thinking about it now though and have to confess... well... I enjoyed it. So that's that.

Checking Out the New Rail Cars

Building the rail system on the island of Oahu has been a bone of huge contention in Hawaii. Although many of us favored the building of a train system to lessen the congestion on Oahu, opponents felt it would be far too expensive. And it turned out that they were right. They started construction in 2012 and the costs have gone higher and higher. I think the latest I heard was that it could run about 9.5 BILLION!

Still...  It has been fascinating to see the concrete supports going up. Art and his classmate, Morris have even gone out to see the construction going on at night. The fact that there were other guys out there might indicate that this is a guy thing.

There was a recent invitation by HART (Honolulu Authority Rapid Transit) to see one of the new rail cars that had been delivered to the island.

Did we go? Well, of course!

We picked up Morris and his wife and headed out to Leeward Community College where a trolley drove us to the train location.

Yes, yes... We know it's crazy expensive. However, the thought that there would be a rail system to take us from our home to the airport some day is something we'd been looking forward to. Taking a taxi is super expensive.

Rush hour on Oahu is nuts!

There will be lots of space for luggage!

Woo hoo!

So I asked when the connection would be made to the airport. I was told 2025! Hunh?
2025?

Eight years????

Arrrrghhhh? Will we be traveling then?

While riding on the trolley back to Leeward College, we passed Pearl Harbor and saw these old ships that Art says are just "moth balled" for now.

All in all, it was a fun morning and we'll look forward to taking a ride on the very expensive rail whenever it gets more or less done. Meanwhile we'll just enjoy the trains in so many of the other major cities on the mainland and world.

Some Things I Learned at the TCOYD Conference

I was just looking through my TCOYD (Taking Control Of Your Diabetes) notes and found some things I learned that were interesting. For one thing, I've been holding my cooking knife incorrectly for my entire life.

THIS is how you're supposed to hold your knife!

Do you?

The chef also told us that we should use kosher salt when cooking because its granules are consistent in size.

Really? I thought it was for pickling.

He said sea salt is table salt or finishing salt.

Another helpful hint is to get all your ingredients chopped, diced, cut, prepared before you start cooking so that the cooking times won't be delayed. I do try to do this.

I also learned that if you're planning to eat a carb loaded food like pizza or bagel or whatever, you should eat something fibrous first. They suggested a bean soup, bean appetizer, salads, etc. because fiber will help to trap carbs in the intestines so they aren't absorbed into the bloodstream.

You should also not lie down and take a nap after eating a carb laden meal. You should get up and move around to burn off the glucose.

Another advice was to eat a safe and healthy diet 90% of the time.

Ummm.... about that pizza... Remember the Superbowl? I had 4 slices. Sigh... It was so good and I was so hungry.  Well... I learned that I was only supposed to have a pizza the size of my hand... and only one slice.

I'll need to make sure I have some bean soup ready first next year.

Great Aloha Run (Walk) #9

We did our 9th Great Aloha Run (Walk) yesterday. I can hardly believe we've done this 9 years in a row. I gripe and groan every year prior to the GAR. Art insists we do it so that I will force myself to prepare for it and stay in shape throughout the year.

We set out our gear the night before. Art offered to once again carry my cookies, Advil, toilet tissues and antibacterial hand cleaner, 1 small package of fruit chews, IDs, light wind breaker and hat.

We attached our racing bibs to our favorite good luck t-shirts and went to bed as early as we could.

3:30 AM We woke up, changed, ate breakfast and got ready to leave.

5:00 We left the house for the Aloha Stadium in Halawa. There was a lot of traffic but it took us just 16 minutes to get there.








5:16 We arrived at the stadium and joined the very long line to the buses. The line moved very quickly and we were soon on our way to Honolulu.


5:43 We were dropped off a bit of a distance from the Aloha Tower and had to walk the rest of the way.

Although, the race course is about 8.15 miles I add on this bit of walking to make it more like 8.5 miles for me.

We hoped to see our friends, Terry and Craig on Bishop Street, but couldn't spot them. We waited near the tower and saw the military march by in preparation for starting the race.

One group waiting in front of us had this strange blue and white flag with a blue stripe going across. We couldn't figure out what it was. I looked online and found this on the Flags Unlimited website:

Meaning of the Thin Blue Line Flag: The Blue represents the officers and the courage they find deep inside when faced with insurmountable odds. The Black background was designed as a constant reminder of our fallen brother and sister officers. The Line is what police officers protect, the barrier between anarchy and a civilized society, between order and chaos, between respect for decency and lawlessness. Together they symbolize the camaraderie law enforcement officers all share, a brotherhood like none other.

While we waited for the race to begin at 7:00, our friends, Al and Kris found us. We'd gone to Vietnam several years ago and I discovered that Kris was the sister of another one of my high school classmates.

Al, Kris and their neighbor, Eleanor had participated in the race for over 30 years.


The Star Spangled Banner was sung followed by Hawaii Ponoi, Hawaii's state song.


And then the soldiers started running and the race began.

Kris and Eleanor said they would take the race slower. Al said he would join us because we planned to go at a little faster pace.

Al and Art are both runners. I don't run but I'm willing to walk a little faster.

The crowd surged forward to the starting line where the timing chip on our racing bids were activated by the timing pad that we stepped over.

This dragon raced past us at a fast clip.

I missed taking a photo of a fellow dressed in a fabulous Superman costume.




I did enjoy these girls wearing tutus and this fellow dressed as Cowman.

Al said he's at many of the races in Hawaii.

We also saw that big GAR sign made entirely of balloons.

There were water stations to insure everybody stayed hydrated and high school bands to cheer everybody on.

The nice thing about the beginning of the race is that the sun isn't fully up yet. There was also a brisk 40 mph wind that kept us cool.

We saw a couple of Chinese lion dancers.

We were now happily under the viaduct which provided cool shade.

It was sad to see that a lot of homeless people were living there.

Yay! We're at the five mile mark! I started to really feel tired so I ate my fruit chew snack which really perked me up.

Taiko drums added a beat to our walking.

And then we were out in the sun!

We got to the 6th and 7th mile without a problem. I did have three cookies and an Advil for my knees. There was also a 10 kilometer marker this year.

Alas! I'm afraid my picture taking did slow us down.

This was the only downer in the race.

And then suddenly there was the Aloha Stadium again!

Woo hoo!

We were hoping to better our finish times, but I'm afraid we actually came in slower than the previous years. Ummm... It's true that this is the first year that I didn't train before the race.

2014: 2:35:55
2015: 2:35:24
2016: 2:29:05
2017: 2:36:30


On the other hand, we really enjoyed walking with Al this year and hope we get to walk together next year.

Maybe I can convince some other friends to join us. The proceeds from the race goes to numerous charities around the islands and there's such a feeling of camaraderie among all the participants.

And now we've got two more t-shirts to add to our collection!

OK... That's it. I'm going to go to bed now. I'm exhausted. I've actually walked over 25,000 steps today. I think that's good enough for two days!

Two Worrisome Weeks

It's been a crazy two weeks! Could it be that we're at the age where suddenly health issues start popping up constantly to ourselves, our friends and relatives?

In the last two weeks, this is what has occupied our time:
1. We spent time with Marianna of Hattie's Web who is battling lung cancer.
2. We drove my cousin's son to the hospital for an operation two days later.
3. Art fell and badly skinned his knee and leg.
4. A Zumba friend's husband got a diagnosis for lung and brain cancer.
5. I found what looked like bleeding in my urine and had to go in for a blood and urine check. (I'm OK. My new doctor called right away to reassure me.)
6. Dianne of Schmidleysscribbling suffered a stroke. Her daughter has been kindly keeping readers posted on her progress.

Which brings us to this past Friday.

I went downstairs to check on mom and found her sitting on the sofa. When I walked in she tried to stand and stumbled. She couldn't put any weight on her left foot without excruciating pain.

She'd fallen last week and skinned her left knee, but it had healed and she had been walking around without any problem. She's even been walking on her treadmill!

Now she couldn't walk! Her foot was also a little swollen.

Called Kaiser Hospital and was told I should bring her to the Emergency Room. I was envisioning all kinds of catastrophic scenarios. Who me? Panic?

When I told mom we were taking her to the ER, she balked, but I insisted. She said she didn't want to tell me two hours ago because she didn't want to bother us. Arrrrrghhhh! Who me? Panic?

Mom insisted she had to change her clothes. I told her she didn't have to. She put her foot down... well... not literally. I told her to wait and I would get her clothes. When I chose the new capris we bought her about three weeks ago which she still hadn't worn, she said no. She said they were too new and she was saving it for some place special to wear it to.

Arrrrghhhhh.... I put my foot down and told her she was wearing it and that's that. With quite a bit of difficulty, I managed to get her changed. Now... how to get her to the car.

Arrrrgghhhh....

I'd given away the wheelchair to her sister last week who needed it badly. I couldn't believe the ironic timing of this. Art and I both managed to get her to the car by holding her and using a cane my brother had left at the house.

Mom had applied Salonpas medicated plasters to her foot. The new, young doctor looked at them and asked what they were. Ummm... She didn't know what Salonpas were? Turned out she's from the west coast and hadn't come into contact with them.

Cold packs were applied to her foot, X-rays were taken and she got two Tylenol pills. They also gave her a post op shoe which they said would support her foot. Then they somehow thought she'd be able to walk since X-rays showed she did not have a fracture. As soon as she put weight on the foot she crumpled so they got the wheelchair and we brought her home.

We picked up her favorite Panda Express entrees for dinner and went home. We also told her to stay put and NOT move and definitely NOT walk. I gave her a bell to call me. Then the Tylenol kicked in and she said she was feeling much better.

"DO NOT WALK!" I told her.

She went to bed very early since I'm sure she was figuring I'd catch her trying to walk.

The following day, she insisted her foot was much better. By the afternoon, she said there was no pain. This is a head scratcher. We don't exactly know what happened.

Whatever the case, Art is now looking online for a lighter weight wheelchair, just in case.

Trying to Take Control

This past Saturday, Art and I attended a TCOYD (Take Control Of Your Diabetes) Conference at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Wouldn't you know there was a torrential downpour that we had to drive through in order to get to the Convention Center.


The morning session began with visits to a lot of interesting booths where different companies gave samples and/or brochures of their products.


The opening session gave recognition to partners who were trying to keep loved ones healthy.

The joke was to remind care givers not to be too much of an aggressive Diabetes Police because it could cause some rebellious behavior. Who me? Rebel? Of course not.

Cellphone flood alerts kept going off during the session which had many of us worried.

There was one very hopeful statistic they mentioned.

Apparently there has been a LOT of progress in developing new medications and treatments for diabetes in the last 30 years.

These graphs show how complications from Severe Vision Loss, Amputations, Nephropathy, Fatal MIs has gone down substantially because of that progress.

A chef then did a demonstration to show us how to cook what was served to us for lunch.

Our elegant lunch menu was paprika roasted chicken on a bed of tomato, arugula and roasted eggplant quinoa (342 calories) along with almond panna cotta topped with mango and fresh berries (170 calories) for dessert.

Our carbs for lunch was just 42 grams which was amazing!

Servers kept us filled to the brim with tea and coffee.

It's hard to believe that registration for all this was just $15 a person (per couple) or $20 if coming alone.

Then came the afternoon sessions.

Art and I split up to attend different workshops.

He went to Microbiotics and Good Bacteria: How Your Gut Flora Affects Your Blood Sugars.

I went to Danger and Safer Foods: The Mystery Beneath. It was informative but too short.

Sigh.... I knew the mocha frappuccino wouldn't be good for me because it just tastes decadent. However, just to know that it contains 13-14 teaspoons of sugar confirmed that I should never have it.

Smoothies are also not good for me. I asked if it was still not good if I made it myself. They said it didn't make a difference.

Sigh....

I can do without scones, but I love smoothies.

The conference closed with Hawaii's own Frank De Lima. He is a comedian we have always loved and he kept us in stitches for over half an hour with his hilarious insights into our diverse Hawaiian culture. Frank sent us on our way with a sweet taste to our memories of a wonderful day.

When we left the convention center, the sun was shining again and traffic was moving smoothly. Oh yes! All in all, an excellent day.... even if I can't have a mocha frappuccino.

Going Down the Drain

I did a post last week about the drain protector we got from Bed, Bath and Beyond as well as the one I adapted myself.

One blogger buddy mentioned how her hair dresser advised putting baking soda and vinegar down the drain to clear it. I decided to put it to the test.

I thought at first that I would have to wait until our next haircut.

However, then I remembered the bag of hair I collected when I cut my grandson's hair last month.

It's fine and very soft, but I had a lot of it to use for my test.

I found a glass bottle and put in the hair, then the baking soda and then the vinegar.

It bubbled like crazy.

And then it settled at the bottom.

I waited and waited.

Nothing happened.

After about three hours, I emptied the vinegar and was left with this paste which I think could clog your pipes even worse.

I looked online and saw that someone had tried it on their own slow drain and found it did seem to make it worse. I found this YouTube video.

That looked interesting, so I decided to try the bleach as another blogger buddy suggested since the video seemed to confirm the theory.

Luckily, I had lots more of my grandson's hair.

I added my 17 month old grandson's hair into the bottle.

I added the bleach.

And I waited.

An hour later, bubbles began to appear. I shook it and the bubbles rose to the top. Maybe I shouldn't have shaken it.

I let it sit and sit.

Nothing seemed to have happened.

I checked two days later and the bleach looked a little cloudy.

Three days later, a little more cloudy.

But JD's hair is still intact.

What the heck?

Ever the scientist, Art said, "Even a failed experiment can be significant."

So here are my conclusions:

1. I might have had defective (old) bleach.

2. Perhaps I added too much of JD's hair.

3. Maybe shaking the bottle when bubbles were forming was not good to do.

4. Maybe JD is a Superbaby and his hair is indestructible!

I do have more of JD's hair an I could redo the experiment, but I'm going to let the results stand. I like having a Superbaby for a grandson.

The Day the Prius Keyless Remote Died

Lately, whenever we need batteries for our little electronics, we've been going to Batteries and Bulbs.

My Prius keyless remote thingy died the other day. It does have a little key you can pull out to open the door, but there no way to start the car if the remote dies.

We decided to try the Batteries and Bulbs place and loved how friendly the fellow at the counter was. He said he would be more than happy to replace our battery for us. It cost about $5. Yes, I probably could get it cheaper online or whatever, but he put the battery in for me and did it with a smile. It made me happy and I'm good to go.

I did hear the person before me ask if the store could replace the battery in his Samsung cellphone. He was told it would be about $60. I wonder how much the iPhone battery would be. Ah well.... I won't worry about that now.

Ikura

Ikura was plentiful and cheap when we were little. Our family used to have it all the time with our dinners. Ikura is the Japanese term for salmon roe.

I didn't have it for decades while we were living in Illinois. It's not something you find readily in Midwest supermarkets. Meanwhile, the cost for ikura had skyrocketed and mom never bought it in Hawaii anymore.

The other day we were at the Pearl Harbor commissary and saw a small tub of ikura. It cost about $12 which I thought was reasonable considering the prices I've seen for it elsewhere.

When mom saw it, she was shocked.

First she said, "It's too expensive!"

Then she said, "It has too much cholesterol."

However, at dinner time I noticed that she had scooped a healthy portion onto her hot rice as we all did.

It tastes like salty bubbles of fish... sort of. Perhaps it's not to everybody's taste, but since we grew up on it...

Yummmm....

POSTSCRIPT: I looked up the nutritional value of ikura and found this on CalorieSlism. It looks like it does have a lot of nutritional value. But yes, it does have cholesterol...
Sigh...

I Needed a Rocket Scientist

Our landline and Internet have been with Hawaiiantel for the last 7 years. It was the lifetime deal where they would never raise our rates and we would get the fastest speed of Internet which was 7 mbps. This was on a copper line which meant that even if the cellphones or electricity goes down during an emergency, our copper landline would be operational.

We never got cable TV because we had an antennae in the attic which gave us FREE TV. However, when mom's sister passed away almost two years ago, we decided to bite the bullet and get cable for her so she could get the premium Japanese channel. We were told then that we should switch to their new FiberOptics option and combine phone, Internet and TV. Art said no because he wanted to make sure mom was always able to call out during an emergency.

So we kept the landline and Internet with the 7mbps and got the TV on a separate account.

Then my techie son-in-law came and told us that our Internet speed was very slow. Sigh... I was beginning to see that. Photos were taking a long time to upload or download and wifi was weak. We were told that it was due to the copper line not being able to transmit with faster speeds.

Arrrrrghhhhhh....

Sooooo.... I called Hawaiiantel and asked them about their choices. Arrrghhhhh... Bundle this? Lifetime that? FiberOptics? TV and Internet together? Copper landline alone + TV Internet separate?

Arrrrghhhhh.... My brain was screaming. I needed a rocket scientist to figure this all out. I settled for a retired engineer.

I called Art, put the Hawaiiantel salesperson on speaker and had him listen in and ask questions too.

That person told us that we couldn't have everything together if we wanted the copper landline as well.

Sooooo...

We said OK, we'll have to pay for two phone lines, one copper and one bundled FiberOptics for the phone, Internet with 300 mbps and the TV.

Sigh....

So we get transferred then to another department to finalize the agreement and she says, "Why are you getting two phone lines? It'll be cheaper if you get just one if we keep the accounts separate."

Sigh....

Well... in the end, we did get a better deal. Still not overly cheap, but better.

A couple weeks later, the nicest, sweetest, kindest installer came to connect the FiberOptics wires.

He let us choose where to put the modem and wifi router as well as where to put the socket thing in the wall.

OK....

We went from 7 mbps to 300 mbps. The salesperson said it was going to knock our socks off when we see how much faster it is.

Well... it is faster. I get photos I take on my iPhone uploaded to the computer much, much, much faster now.

As for using the Internet on my desktop, it's better but how much is hard to say. The wifi router transmits signals faster and Art says he can really see it on his cellphone and desktop computer in the other room.

So are we happy? Yes. Definitely. I can't wait for my son-in-law to come and visit next time. He's already checked the speed all the way from Illinois and was impressed.

So I'm good for two years... sigh... Some things were lifetime, some not. Arrrghhh....

Sleep Talking

In the early days of our marriage over 40 years ago, Art and I had a standing joke where he wouldn't tell me if he'd voted for Nixon or McGovern. He said he didn't want to tell me who he voted for because he wanted me to make up my own mind and not rely on his opinion. We now know, of course, that we are on the same page politically and in all the ways that count.

But back then? I wasn't 100% sure.

Art has always been able to fall asleep quickly which I've been very jealous of. One night, I heard his snoring turning to mumbling. Hmmmm...

"Art?" I whispered.
"Mmm..." he answered.
"Are you awake?" I asked.

I quickly realized he really was asleep so I thought I'd ask the big question. No, I didn't ask who he dated before me.

"Did you vote for Nixon?" I asked softly.
"No." came the slow answer.
"Did you vote for McGovern?" I prodded.
"Yes..." he answered.

When the sun rose, I know I had a smug smile on my face. Art was really taken aback. He now knew he could never be a spy.

On the other hand, this little trick didn't work again and to be honest I didn't even try (after two more tries, that is). I didn't think he had anymore secrets to hide from me.

I think.

It Made Me Cry

My daughter, Tiffany and 10 year old granddaughter went to see Hidden Figures and loved it. Tiffany said KC and her friends were in tears and told Art he should see it too. I told Tif that telling her father he should see a movie because it will make him cry was not the way to recommend a movie to him.

Nonetheless, we did go because Tiffany said this is the sort of movie that needs to be supported, especially at a time in our country when racism seems to be poking its head out of the ground where it's been trying to hide.

This story, based on true events about three amazing mathematicians does not show gratuitous violence. There are no sex scenes. And yet, the film is compelling and even though I knew the history of space flight, found it still gripping.

The evil monster in this film is racism and at the end of the film I actually did have tears in my eyes.

I wanted to clap, but there were only 5 people in the theater which included us and I would probably look a little silly. We went on a Thursday afternoon matinee.

Since there were so few people in the theater, I did check the sound level on my iPhone app. It was about 85 db which is right on the border of being damaging. I still thought it sounded too loud.

My Zumba class is 90+ so I'm glad I use my ear plugs there. Art used his ear plugs in the theater this time since we just saw his audiologist and she said he should protect his ears from those loud sounds which would worsen his hearing loss.

I'm really glad we went to see this movie. Other bloggers have mentioned loving it too. I hope it wins the Academy Awards. I really do.

Lunch With "Hattie" and Hubby

Marianna of Hattie's Web came to Oahu with her husband for a health issue. Medical services are not as extensive on the neighboring islands and patients often have to travel to Oahu to get help. We were more than happy to pick Marianna and her husband up at the hospital after her procedure and go to lunch together.

Just to show you yet again what a small state this is, Marianna gave us a glowing report about the wonderful doctor who treated her and we quickly realized he was the younger brother of a friend of mine who was my roommate and dorm-mate at the University of Hawaii for several years. We were also bridesmaids for each other. His parents also took tai-chi with us until it became too difficult.

After lunch we had a wonderful time catching up until it was time to take them back to the airport to fly home. Art took this selfie with my iPhone. Ummmm.... I'm not a fan of selfie's because at our age, I don't love close ups.... but it is a remembrance of a happy time together.

Marianna said she was feeling much better than she did before she came which is very, very hopeful. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Drain Dilemma

We were having a problem with our bathroom drains.

Art and I sadly lose quite a bit of hair and don't want it to clog the bathtub drain so we use a sink net to cover it. It's not pretty and it moves around quite a bit. It is designed for the kitchen sink after all, but we made do.

The one drain that was more of a problem is in the second bathroom which is a shower stall.

My daughter, granddaughter and daughter-in-law all have long hair so we really want to make sure the drain is protected when they come to visit. We put the same kitchen drain net there too, but it was rather irritating every time you stepped on it. It's in the middle of the stall so it's difficult to avoid.

We were at Bed, Bath and Beyond the other day and came across this display.

We measured them to see if they would fit our bathroom drains.

We were happy to see that the smaller one would fit our bathtub drain, but the larger one was too big. Our shower stall has a 4.25 inch drain diameter and the protector is 4.75.

Doggone it!

Well, we were happy with the drain protector in our tub. The rubbery edge keeps the protector pretty much in place.

But the shower stall drain really bothered me.

Art was rather dubious about my idea thinking I would just cause wires to break and poke everybody's feet, but I was determined.

He probably figured that if he didn't let me try, it would just drive me crazy and then pester him.

Well... it worked and I didn't break anything. It's sort of almost totally flat.

Woo hoo!