Went to the service for my friend Cheryl's husband Dan this morning; it was a very nice service. Until today though, I never really thought about the differences between what Christians and Buddhists believe awaits one after death. I think it is because I will be going to my uncle's Buddhist service in a couple of weeks that I was thinking about that this morning. What I got from the service this morning was that Christians need to wait until they die to again see the departed loved one. Buddhists, on the other hand, get to see the departed loved one every year at Obon. The Buddhist way seems to me to be a more compassionate system. And I also learned something new today: Christians go through 3 levels before they reach the end of the journey (Buddhists have 7 levels). I was previously under the impression that it was a direct shot to Heaven or Hell.
There were about a dozen of us there from work (or retired from work). Although it was good to see everyone (especially the 2 other retired people), when Greg left he said, "See you Monday." I said, "Not!"
This afternoon was the annual meeting for the Communities of Color Coalition (C3). New officers were elected and plans for the future were discussed. I feel comfortable that C3 will be in good hands as I get ready to leave.
Happy Birthday to Brian and Todd!
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02/02/2016 Day 11 SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM
In this week’s grocery ads Don Quijote had a special on portuguese sausage SPAM among other things. Mom wanted some so I went in search of SPAM … and found about 36 feet of shelf space devoted to SPAM! I could not believe the different types of SPAM that are available but I guess Hawai’i would be the place to find them; I got some for Kai. According to the SPAM website there are 22 flavors of SPAM.
I got a magnetic dry erase calendar board to help keep me organized when I move here. This is not what my schedule is for the rest of my visit here, this is the photo on the front of the label. It only came with a black marker; I will be getting other colors since I like to color-code my notes.
Today was mahjong day; I talked to one of the ladies about Mom's playing ability and she said Mom was doing fine. Later the mahjong ladies went to Duk Kee Chinese Restaurant in honor of the upcoming Lunar New Years that starts on February 8th. Apparently Duk Kee has the best jai in the city. Gung Hay Fat Choy!
02/03/2016 Day 12 Xander & Chibi Go to the Vet
Xander and Chibi went to the vet today. For Xander it was a check-up to see how his feline asthma is doing. For Chibi it was her annual check-up. The great thing about The Cat Clinic of Honolulu is that they really understand cats; the vet tech saw that Chibi was very anxious so she reached into a drawer and grabbed a towel to throw over her so she could hide. Xander’s lungs are doing fine; the asthma is staying under control. Chibi is also doing well even though she is FIV positive. The only problem is that she lost her RFID tag sometime last night. I reprogrammed Shiro’s tag for her so she can eat and be monitored by the Wireless Whiskers. Shiro will now be able to eat from the Wireless Whiskers since it won’t get the signal that he is locked out. This might be good for now since his IR tag is not working and the WonderBowl won’t open up when he comes up to it - the WonderBowl people are sending me another IR tag since its still under warranty. It should arrive in about 5 days, which will be after I leave; my brother will have to put the new tag on Shiro.
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| Chibi and Xander |
I used the Fixa 7.2v drill today. One of the things I do on my visits is to check the smoke alarms. The one by the laundry room would go off whenever the dryer was used; the steam sets it off so I moved it farther down the hall so that it is nearer to the bedroom. I moved the one in the kitchen to the top of the cabinet since it was placed too low; we originally thought we would make it convenient for Mom and Dad to hit the reset button when they burn the toast but heat and smoke rise so that was not a good idea. (It is also a carbon monoxide alarm since they have a gas stove.) The last alarm, by the other bedrooms, just needed to be found; I did and put it back up. (When I first started making the multiple trips back 2&1/2 years ago all the smoke alarms were dead and sitting on the bookshelf because they kept forgetting to ask my brother to get more batteries and put them back up. And I also replaced their fire extinguisher, which was manufactured in 1996.)
I also picked up puppy pee pads. Mom has been asking me to pick them up since I arrived. She had one from a social worker who came to do an assessment; she thought it was a good thing to place on the couch to keep cat hair off it. She found another pee pad that I had in the cat carrier and used it when the other one got too worn. It sounds like a good idea since it would also come in handy later if anyone develops incontinence (or decides to hack up a hairball on the couch). This is a local product, ilio is Hawaiian for dog.
02/04/2016 Day 13 Sleepy Kitty
This morning I caught Xander taking advantage of the fact that Mom and Dad forgot to close their bedroom door. He’s not supposed to be up on the bed but apparently when Mom finds him there she thinks it is cute so she lets him stay. I think he will be very annoyed when I finally move here. He already gives me dirty looks when I take him to the vet and make him stay out of Shiro’s food. (If it turns out that he will need daily meds for the feline asthma I will become his least favorite human in this household!)
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| Naughty kitty |
We visited cousin Jane today. She’s the one that is the excellent cook; she invited us over for lunch. Once I move here she has promised to teach me how to make a lot of different types of dishes and baked goods. She lives in Hawaii Kai, east of Mom and Dad. On the way back we saw this familiar landmark from a not so familiar vantage point. Can you guess what it is?
We continued our early celebration of the Lunar New Year. We had gau as one of our dessert options this evening. (The hyperlinked article was written in 2008 so don’t go by the date given in the article. The Lunar New Year is on February 8th this year.)
A few days ago I included a photo of a TV show that Mom was watching and asked if people knew the actor and the show; it was interesting to see who responded (James Arness, Gunsmoke). Here’s another show that Mom was watching today. I think she watches the old reruns because she remembers them. Dementia is an interesting disease; in the early stages the older memories are very vivid while the recent memories are difficult to recall; so it may seem that the person has a “good” memory, when it really isn’t.
02/05/2016 Day 14 Mom's Second BP Check-up
Not quite sure what to make of it. On their machine Mom's blood pressure was 159/66 mmHg, which is similar to what it was last week. The nurse said Mom’s doctor will call if there is anything she wants me to do differently. On Mom's new BP monitor it recorded 141/66 this morning before breakfast and 145/75 when we took it just before they took the official one. The nurse said the difference between the 2 is acceptable. But I forgot to ask her how often I should be taking Mom's blood pressure and at which high or low threshold I should be contacting them.
On the way back from the doctor’s office, we stopped to pick up lunch. One of the things I know I will be enjoying is how easily good bento is to find. This is from the nearby supermarket, however, pretty much all the local supermarkets have a great selection.
After lunch we went to Nitrogenie with Mrs. Vea. I had a regular size Nutella Cornucopia. I think this will become a regular occurrence once I move here. With that (and the good bento) in mind I checked out the Wii. I got everything connected but could not figure out how to switch the TV in order that I could get to the Wii menu on the screen. I shall have to enlist the aid of my brother or his sons.
On the way back from Nitrogenie we saw a truck in front of the neighbor’s house. It said Deutschland Soup and Food which seemed to be a rather narrow niche market to be catering to, especially in Hawai'i. It sounds like it might be new. I signed up for their newsletter so I can find out more about them.
I went to dinner with high school friends Jackie and Lois (Alan couldn't make it). We went to Himalayan Kitchen; it’s up the stairs from Jamaican Irie Jerk Restaurant. We had opah korma curry, lamb madras, Kathmandu chicken chili, and naan. Sorry, it smelled so good we dived in as soon as it got there and I forgot to take a photo until we had eaten a bunch of it. I really need to get the Wii working; they are part of Room Service in Paradise, a restaurant food delivery service.
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| l to r: Opah korma curry, lamb madras, Kathmandu chicken chili |
While I was composing this, Chibi came running in to the family room hot on the trail of a very large German cockroach. This is the second large roach that I have found dead in the house. And I have seen less live roaches running around. So either they are becoming more secretive or the cats are killing them.
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| German cockroach (Blattella germanica) & Chibi |
02/06/2016 Day 15 Nat King Cole
Just returned from the opening night of the Honolulu African American Film Festival which is held at the Honolulu Museum of Art. This is the 5th year they have had it. The evening started with a reception dinner based on the song The Frim Fram Sauce. Following the reception, the opening movie was Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark, about his life and discrimination that he faced; I highly recommend it. I had dinner with Jolene, Kim, and Adrienne, whom I met there; Kim will be sending me information on joining the Honolulu chapter of NAACP. (Today is also Natalie Cole’s birthday, so they also honored her passing on December 31st.)
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| Clockwise from 12 o'clock: savory roasted chicken with Frim Fram sauce, peach bourbon crisp, kale & mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette, cornbread, oven "fried" red potatoes, strata "Lorraine" |
I started out the day at another Honolulu Museum of Art event, the sculpture show Spearfishing Omilu Ulua at the Spalding House Surface Gallery in the Makiki Heights area of Honolulu. The artist, Edward Clark, uses glass, mixed media, and found objects; “the installation focuses on spearfishing and explores its relationship to the modern fishing industry and the marine environment.” The installation is in what appears to be an old tennis or outdoor handball or one-wall racquetball court. The artist actually spent about 10 years in the Puget Sound area as a biologist and learned glass blowing there. (Omilu is the Hawaiian name for a type of carnivorous fish known in English as jack or crevally and in pidgin mix of Japanese and Hawaiian as hoshi ulua. Ulua is Hawaiian term identifying the individual as an adult as opposed to a juvenile, which is called papio. It is called hoshi, or star, due to the star-like neon blue speckles on the flanks of ulua.)
While waiting for the gallery to open I was treated to this view of Leahi, aka Diamond Head. It is also the mystery geographic feature that I shared a photo of a couple of days ago. Now I only need 33 more to have the “Thirty-six Views of Leahi” ala Hokusai (and Hiroshige). (I shared another view a couple of trips ago.) Leahi looks like its really far in the distance because there was a light drizzle; I think that’s why I was the only one in the outdoor sculpture gallery this morning.
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| #3 Misty day at Spalding House |
I thought it was very appropriate that I left the Spearfishing Omilu Ulua exhibit to have lunch with some of my dive buddies from college. We went to Nico’s Pier 38, a favorite meeting place for us; they have excellent seafood. Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take a photo of the Furikake Pan Seared Ahi that I had; it was so ono! (Three out of the four of us ordered it.)
Dengue fever 250, not dengue fever 1109. Only 3 of the cases are still infectious to mosquitoes. For more info click here.
02/07/2016 Day 16 Return Flight
Instead of my usual 9 am Alaska flight that I would take to get me back to Seattle around 5 pm and give me a good night’s rest before going to work the next day, I took the 1:45 pm flight which got in around 9 pm. I was hoping they would ask for volunteers to give up their seat but no luck, in fact there was an empty seat in the row just in front of me. My perspective on getting bumped has shifted since I have retired.
I think my timing on moving back to Hawai’i will be just about right. Mom is not totally incapable of doing things but needs help with other things. For example, she is way better than me at making a perfect sunny side up egg; I just can’t depend on her to turn the stove off after she is done with the last egg. She needs someone to make sure she is reliably taking her medication and motivate her to walk each morning. I can do these things. And now Dad is showing some early signs. So now is a good time to make the move.
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