Dad Aces His Physical

Dad had his biannual check-up today, just like the kitties. And Dad passed with flying colors! His blood pressure was 103/65 mmHg, so even with the new guidelines he's doing fine. Dr. Nakano also had a bunch of blood work done; almost everything was well within the normal range, except his cholesterol. Dad's cholesterol is a little high at 242 mg/dl; the standard range is <200 mg/dl. His HDL is 35 mg/dl which is just in the standard range of >34 mg/dl; while his LDL at 99 mg/dl is well below the standard range of <130 mg/dl. Overall his cholesterol-related numbers have improved over his results 6 months ago so Dr. Nakano just wants us to keep doing what we have been doing. His Vitamin D is 24 ng/ml, the standard is 30-100 ng/dl; Dr. Nakano is increasing his daily intake to 2000 IU to try to get it up to the standard. And he got his flu shot. As long as he has no falls or other issues, he doesn't have to come back until his next biannual check-up in May.


Today we went to breakfast at Diamond Head Market & Grill. The grill part has an outside order window and seating is also outside; this morning it was nice & sunny! I think the market is going to become a go-to place for quick comfort foods for Dad; they have breakfasts, lunches, & dinners to go. They also have a microwave there so you can heat it and eat it outside!

The sign is over the door way to the market portion.

The menu is posted across several windows.

Both Curtis and I had the Fluffy Omelet. I had mine with fried rice; Dad & I had my leftovers for dinner. I'll be back to try more of their offerings.


Kasondra left today. Her plane left about midday so in the morning she went with Sam to pick up more birds before she left. She was great helping Sam set up the place at the zoo to care for the birds. It was fun having her here! Sam & I now have her very interested in visiting Kohala; I invited her & her husband Cory to come and visit us there.

L to R: Sam & Kasondra with the Hawai'i Wildlife Center van.

After we returned from breakfast, Curtis & I started packing up more of the living room in preparation for the flooring project that starts in December. Mom had some really interesting things and some very mundane things. Here are photos of some of the interesting things.

On the top of the shelves I was working on are dolls that are too tall to fit on the shelves. Two of the dolls have glass cases to protect them; the 3rd does not. The 2 are dolls that were purchased, the 3rd was made by Big Aunty Judy, one of our calabash aunties. It is an Okinawan doll in traditional dress, which is much brighter than Japanese kimono. We are going to offer it to her sons if they don't have any of the dolls she made; if they do, I would like to keep it.

This is a Ryukyu Ningyo or Okinawan doll.

This is a Japanese doll.

Mom had 4 little plastic airplanes that are salt & pepper shakers. Looking closer I found that they were Aloha Airlines planes; they went out of business as a passenger airline in 2008 so we  are keeping them.


I also found the plaque Dad was given when he retired. I didn't know that he had worked at Hickam for 36 years!


Another interesting find was the 1971-1972 Who's Who in High Schools book; it has photos & biographies of the National Merit Scholars across the Nation for that year. Susan is in it; we're going to offer the book to Sarah & David. I had e-mailed the photos to Curtis; he called back, his wife Lori is also on that page! An interesting part was the Student Achievement Leaders Survey, that "registers the pulse and attitudes of America's leading young adults."

Susan is the last photo in the 2nd row; Lori is in the last row, 2nd from the end.

I also found 2 mini-kimonos. They are actually handkerchiefs that have been folded origami-style into kimono. There are instructions on the back on how to do the folding.

There was also a red brocade box. Inside was an unopened mahjong set. 

I also found an ashtray from Naito Service Station. I want to keep this one, Naito Service Station closed a while ago. One of the other Naito brothers had a grocery store, but that is now a mini-mart.


A curious find was a bunch of labware. I think these might have been Susan's.


Xander tried to help as I tried to take a photo of the shelf I was starting to work on.

He makes a better door than a window.

Here's what my reference photo looks like sans cat.

Happy Birthday to CJ! (Dear Reader, you should also thank CJ, it is because of her request that I started this blog.)