Dental Mystery Solved!

Last Friday, when I went to the dentist, I asked them about a sensation in the lower molars on the right side of my mouth. Though it was sensitive it wasn't painful but still a little unpleasant; it only happened when I brushed my teeth on the top surface of my molars in that area. I did not notice if hot or cold or chewing affected it; my homework was to try those & see if any affected it. Nothing did. Today, during lunch, I discovered the source of the sensation. My crown came off! And all I was eating was a quesadilla.

I called Dr. Azuma's office immediately. They got me in for a 4 p.m. appointment to fix it. The repair took about 30 minutes. Dr. Azuma cleaned off both surfaces, then rebonded the crown to my tooth. I need to avoid chewing on that side for a few days. I brushed but not to vigorously so I donʻt know if it is still sensitive.

I made a frozen lau ʻuala proothie this morning. One thing I have noticed is that the lau ʻuala does not get as thoroughly blended when it has been blanched & frozen as when it is fresh. I think it is more "brittle" when it is fresh so it breaks up in to finer pieces. I have also found that the unthawed blanched lau ʻuala blends better than the thawed blanched lau ʻuala; once again I think that is because it is more "brittle" when it is still frozen.

Michelle emailed me this morning about Kai's car insurance. I am changing our policy to Progressive, they're cheaper & don't seem to mind that the person paying for the policy lives in a different state than where the car is located. 

This was my email reminder from Duolingo about practicing ʻolelo Hawaiʻi today. They are pretty persistent, which is good. But I still need a real live practice partner to get better.

There is a new Gastro Obscura book coming out next month. To encourage people to pre-order, they are offering cookie cutters! But not just any old cookie cutters, these are specially-designed tessellation cookie cutters that allow you to stamp out cookies & not have any leftover dough! Winner!

On my way back from the dentist I stopped at Kokua Market. I have decided to stop by about once every 4 days & do a little shopping to give them some business during this time when there are less people in the store due to COVID. Why once every 4 days? The size of cottage cheese that I get for my evening high protein snack is 4 servings. Yes, I could buy a larger container or more than 1 container so I make less frequent trips, but I feel like I am doing more to help them out by coming in more frequently & making smaller purchases; ultimately I will be spending more money in the long run but in a way that is easier for me to sustain. Here is the deli menu for today.

Most of the menu stays the same.

For dinner I had some Shakshuka that I had picked up at Kokua Market. But once again I forgot to take a photo. I am kinda sensing that when I am really hungry I am mainly focused on eating instead of blogging.

After dinner I got a call from Lois. She had made some mango bread & was going to drop off a loaf for us. As it turns out, she gave us both loaves since there are 4 of us here. The Roommates were very appreciative of her generosity!

The Aix weather app forecast morning drizzle in Honolulu followed by partly cloudy skies throughout the evening. I don't remember any drizzle in the morning but the skies were partly cloudy. For Kapaʻau, Aix forecast rain in the early morning followed by drizzle throughout the day with no accumulation; the local paper forecast partly sunny with scattered showers & a 40% chance of rain. The local paper seemed to be more accurate. For Marysville, Aix forecast partly cloudy skies; on the traffic cam it appeared to be mainly sunny. 

Kaimukī looking westerly at 7:50 a.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 7:50 a.m.

Marysville looking northerly at 7:50 a.m. HST.

Nā Koʻolau at 3:37 p.m.

 

The surf remains best along the south facing shorelines as is generally true for this time of the year. FYI Screenshots are taken at whenever I am near the laptop & I have time; I do not check for the low tide to get a shot with more breaking waves. Also, since the Hilo Bay & Waikoloa cams were not set up specifically for the surf, there are trees in the way of the best viewing of the water.

Chun's Reef (N) at 7:52 a.m.

Hilo Bay (E) at 7:53 a.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 7:53 p.m.

Waikoloa (W) at 7:53 a.m.

This afternoon the Governor unveiled the Hawaiʻi SMART Health Card; it will go live on Friday, 09/10. It will be a digital version of your vaccination card that will be accessed via the Safe Travels website via a QR code. At this time, you will have to re-enter your vaccination card photo even if you had entered it before; in the future they hope to have it automatically apply to both. The mandate requiring vaccine cards in order to go to certain venues on Oʻahu goes in to effect on Monday, 09/13. Currently, the system will only work for most cards issued in Hawaiʻi since the verification is linked through the state database; they are working to make it compatible with other states as more states also begin to require proof of vaccination for various reasons. (Cards issued through the military & some other Federal programs are apparently not entered in the State system so cannot be automatically verified.)

The Mu variant has been detected here; it appears to be causing about 1% of cases. It is currently considered a "variant of interest," meaning it is something for the medical community to watch out for as the CDC and others determine more about its ability to infect people & how well vaccines protect against severe illness caused by this variant. 

There were 380 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, bringing the total known cases up to 69,144; we're going in the right direction for these last 2 days. There were no new deaths reported today so the number of fatalities remains at 626; currently there are 11,067 cases considered to be active. As of yesterday 1,908,298 doses of vaccine have been administered, providing 64.7% of the population with full vaccination and 72.9% with at least one dose. The 7-day new case average on Oʻahu is 470 with a positivity rate of 8.2%.

Hauʻoli lā Hoʻomanaʻo makahiki kanakolu kumamāhiku e Joan & Gary!