My Summer Vacation: Mammogram

I started out the day going in to Kaiser to get a mammogram; I was supposed to go in tomorrow but rescheduled since it would have been in the middle of class. There are a lot of changes that they have instituted, starting in the garage with protocols for how many people can be in the elevator and a bunch of signs in the elevator. Then when you get to the lobby they take your temperature and ask you a bunch of questions. And there are other signs in the waiting room, as well as chairs at least 6 feet apart.

But one of the big changes that I couldn't take a photo of was in the diagnostic imaging section. Before you would be shown to changing rooms; they would come by a few minutes later to escort you to the imaging room. Now you change in the imaging room behind a curtain that has been installed since COVID-19; it cuts down on the number of areas that need to be disinfected between patients. They have also found that it is faster when the patient changes in the imaging room. I think they will probably keep this in place even after COVID-19 is no longer an issue.

On the way back I stopped at Longs; I needed some contact lens solution. I also got another bottle of hand sanitizer; I've been taking it to Kohala for friends who haven't been able to find any there. It looks like the ketogenic diet is the new in thing; I saw a magazine devoted to keto eating.

Later in the afternoon I went up to Maunalani for their "Aloha from 10 Feet Away Program". I wore a face shield instead of a mask so Dad could see my face; when Marissa wheeled him out he recognized me quickly. As Marissa was wheeling him out Pōpokilani, the Maunalani cat, came by to see what was happening. When I used to take Dad out to the courtyard we would always look for Pōpokilani & feed her treats.

Marissa filled me in on what they do when they come to sign in to work; she said it takes about 10 minutes to go through the whole process. Going from their car to the building they must wear a cloth face mask. At the break room where they check in they get asked a series of questions about whether they have symptoms, their travel history, the travel history of people in their household, actual & potential exposures, and more. If they pass all those questions, then they get a temperature check. If they work with residents they are issued a new surgical mask, if not they use a non-surgical disposable mask. I already know they have hand sanitizer at every resident room, at the main desk, and at each of the bathrooms; I'm not sure if they have added more. I know they were already doing a lot of cleaning & disinfecting but I suspect now the housekeeping staff is doing more disinfecting along with regular cleaning.

Today in Papa ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi we did a review of what we covered during Papa Kau Wela; there was a lot. We ended with Kumu 'Āina leading people through playing of the mele Aloha Kaua'i. They did not say exactly when class would start up again, but they did say it would continue online.

They explained the history of the ʻukulele and why pronouncing it properly is important.

Today's practice incorporated new words related to the topic of songs. The dialog asks what is your favorite song.

We learned a lot during Papa Kauwela!

I have found that I can now understand more words when I listen to songs that are in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. It was interesting to learn what different types of things are contained in songs but not unexpected since Hawaiian is not a written language. The written words I have shared with you were developed after the arrival of missionaries; they needed a way to teach locals about the Bible. Which is why you will sometimes see Hawaiian words spelled differently.

This is the mele used for the Hawaiʻinuiakea program. It was written by one of the professors in the program and uses the hiʻohiʻona mele listed above.

Kumu Paige used this song to also show us the hiʻohiʻona mele that were used. We also learned that kuahiwi refers to a range of mountains, while mauna refers to a specific peak.

If you remember the numbers, you will know what this slide means.

These 4 verses were added later.

Here is the entire mele.

Kumu ʻĀina taught us this song and played it for us.

There is a new storm system forming in the East Pacific region; it is close to where Hurricane Douglas formed. Since Douglas traveled nearly 3000 miles before reaching us I have been watching the East Pacific region to see what might be coming our way. Right now they are predicting a 70% chance of formation of a tropical depression within the next 5 days. If anything should come of it, I will let you know.

There was a surge of 173 new COVID-19 cases today. I am pretty sure we are headed for more measures to curb the spread. Which means pulling back on some of the activities that have been allowed. Some people are still not taking this seriously.

Here's how bad it's getting, the models are predicting that local hospital's could reach capacity within a week and definitely by the end of the month unless things slow down dramatically.

Mayor Caldwell has warned that there will be a return to restrictions due to the surge; I think it should have been done earlier when they were seeing that some people weren't taking this seriously. They also need to do better enforcement.

The surge has affected jury trials; they are now being postponed. Non-jury trials, however, will go on as scheduled.

And high school sports have also been postponed. Right now they are holding off until 2021.

Outbreaks are occurring in first responders as well; a sheriff tested positive, along with a bunch of firefighters. If this continues there will be fewer first responders left to respond!

I big question has been the military count. Apparently, the military does not want information about how many have tested positive; they are falling back on the "National Secutiry" excuse. But a lot of people feel that the community needs to know since soldiers have been implicated in large gatherings where distancing and mask wearing protocols were not followed even though military leaders here say they are supposed to be followed.