Hawaii Day 8 and Observations

 

Hawaii, Day 8

Weather: blue skies, mid-80s, a little windy, same as it ever was

Annals of Medicine: nothing to report

Department of Remediation: the Loft looks remediated, part of the sub-flooring has been removed, and there is an amazing amount of clutter given that only one wall of stuff has been relocated to another part of the Loft. Appears livable...so for now, we are in Emeryville; not sure Sandy will say the same

Before finishing packing and heading to the airport, K and the twins and THB head to the beach for a bit more snorkeling and floatie rides.

And, it turns into a real surprise: a turtle and eel rescue, with weekend volunteers helping the twins (and adults) understand what is going on. An early morning snorkeler called in a turtle-in-distress message. By the time the rescue team arrived, got set up ad headed out, that turtle was gone. A different turtle needed help and was brought to shore along with an eel that also needed help and appeared dead. Here's the tale in pictures:

the eel in distress, wrapped up in fishing line and a large hook

not easy to see, the large hook from the turtle rescue

the mini-zodiac raft used to bring in the animals

the eel being shuttled back to the ocean, nobody wanted to actually pick it up once it was de-hooked

the turtle is ready to return to the ocean: a "tattoo" has been painted into the shell and a chip implanted with the date and what was done, weighted, measured, etc

the blue device is just a small fan to dry the tattoo

the turtle is wheeled down to shoreline, it is heavy! 

the flippers are moving like crazy

all fixed up and gone!

No King protest just outside the main Maui airport - maybe a few hundred people in good spirits and despair at same time

Observations:

• All that pool time at beginning of the week when murky water mean low visibility in the ocean really benefitted the twins in getting a better feel for keeping their heads in the water when finally in the ocean
• The adults all ended up getting more sun than was advised; the twins did  too yet it did not slow them down in the least
• Coral Tree turned into a very nice spot for the week: plenty of room in the condo, privacy when needed, we ate in most of the time, the pool was terrific, and it's a small world when we ran into a bunch of Head-Royce families and ex-employees. Plus they were playing American mah jongg, something DB had been doing up until a year ago.
• Hawaiian Airlines switches aircraft and (departure) times from Maui to Oakland multiple times, causing some people to lose their travel partners to other seats and/or extra wait time at the airport if they don't see that the plane is leaving later than expected.

Book Review: If I Die In A Combat Zone, Box Me Up And Shim Me Home, Tim O'Brien (read by Dan John Miller, pub'd 1973 : a memoir of O'Brien's 13 months in the American War in Viet Nam, and an obvious source for Alex Vernon's biography, so a bit redundant if you listen to that book first (or vice versa). There's an interview with O'Brien in thsi audiobook, worth listening to as well. Recommended if you start an O'Brien binge like THB

Hawaii Day 6 and 7

 

Hawaii, Day 6

Annals of Medicine: THB talks to a human from Stanford Patient Care, she understands the situation: THB only wants one MRI and if that one is in Redwood City, sobeit; if it is a "regular" MRI then it should be in E-ville.

{ed. note: DB and THB and Sandy don't know where we will living! All depends on how hard it will be at the Loft; the Beach House spiffing-up should be all done.

ps: at the end of Day 7we got the all clear to move into the Loft, everything brought in to remediate the unit has been removed}

Department of Remediation: if all is dry then remediation can be closed and then Restoration can be approved and started.

Hawaii  Most of morning (starting at 7am) is spent at next beach over to the south (?) wiping out KM, EM and THB. LB and DB save themselves from excessive sun by driving off to a half-day at spa (reported: lovely) and lunch. 

Dinner for 6 at Gather, the restaurant in a nearby country club. Casual luxury, a wedding below the restaurant, a lot of food, and the end of a very enjoyable day.

note the turtle head at top...3 or 4 real turtles were spotted

the wedding

Brussel sprouts

imported oysters, local variety is out of season

family pics

Hawaii, Day 7

Dept of Epiphanies: Persistence and patience pay off. Yes they do. Today, after a week of practicing in the pool and one short session in the ocean on Day 6, the twins are now officially snorkelers. They saw their first fish while floating in the ocean. 

They saw them in a perfect area where there was a small spot where fish congregate within an odd circular arrangement of small rocks, no waves, very clear water, within 20 feet of the shore. Perfectly safe. And a not uncomfortable number of other beginners interacting with experience snorkelers. 

The twins were glowing with the idea of close association with what they had only seen in aquariums. 

Auntie, Mom and grandpa took turns holding the twins hands...next up, possibly the twins holding hands with each other? That will take another training session, maybe in the pool at the Beach House. 

The twins now have a new mantra: snorkel slow, breathe slow. Works for them (and their trainers)

Lots of sun for the adults,  a slow afternoon, partial packing for the  flight home tomorrow early afternoon? 

And the things we carried

Hawaii Day 3 and 4

 

Hawaii, Day 3 and 4

Weather: Windy, temps from low 70s to mid 80s, ocean too murky to snorkel

Annals of Medicine  only more frustration (on day 4, THB sent a note to Patient Care for Stanford Health asking for help)

Mostly hanging out at the pool, and trying to teach the twins the art of boogie boarding

 

twins looking roooster and chicks

using wifi, the twins now know how to facetime with each other. on their i-pads. Dad is getting a live performance. And here he thought it was so quiet because one of the twins was resting in their shared bedroom

twins chatting up a much younger kid in the shallow end of the pool

is this the same red-spotted gecko THB saw on Day 3?

twins modeling their new  Blue Ginger outfits: a dress with built-in shorts?

On day 4 after lunch the M's (twins and parental units)  fly off to Honolulu to spend the night and tomorrow morning with friends. 

Sushi at OAS

THB and DB - using Uber - go out for a nice omakase dinner, with sake, $300, followed by walking back from dinner (about a mile) with a stop in the middle for a rich scoop of ice cream. THB, who has been doing little walking, feels like a cripple by the time they get back to Coral Tree.

THB decide to ice down his head instead of his knee

Hawaii, Day 5

Annals of Medicine more frustration (is that possible?). THB sent a note to Patient Care for Stanford Health asking for help). A phone message said to call a number to schedule the MRI. THB called the number and explained to the scheduler that the order had to be for Emeryville Radiology. Okay, then the  20 minute interview starts, the scheduler says here at the times available in Redwood City...hey, that's even further away than Pleasanton. The scheduler says she's just a trainee, nothing she can do. CLICK

THB gives LB the short version and offers to call the docs' number. with the first transfer and 20 minutes of active questioning, it turns out one of the docs put in a plain MRI and the other puts in a MRI with injection. Thew latter is the one only done in Redwood City.

Still no phone call from either doc (let alone an e-mail message on what either had done) and no phone call  from the Stanford Patient Care line. 

The aloha rooster seeing us off to Molokini 

the snorkeling in front of Coral Tree looks a lot better today, the murky line is much close to the shoreline

Back to Hawaii: LB books DB, THB and LB on the 2 hour Molokini 7am snorkel tour. All agree it was awesome: super clear water, big fish, not too many species, and the coral is on its last legs. The boat leaves from a small jetty 2 minutes from Coral Tree. LB's mask may be on its last legs. THB and DB's equipment is trouble free.

Breakfast at Kihei Caffe: French toast for DB (made with sweet Hawaiian bread), bagel and cream cheese with a side of home fries for LB, and scrambled eggs and chorizo with side if beans abd tortillas for THB, one pog, $53.

Rest of day: recovery mode. Some time at poolside (in shade), some time watching the final episode 9 of Dept Q. DB and THB know they got too much sun. Twins and parental units return from their jaunt to Honolulu. 

Book Review: Peace Is A Shy Thing, the Life and Art of Tim O’briend, Alex Vernon (read by Shawn Compton): For those of you near the same age as THB, this book will make you relive the anguish of the American War in Viet Nam all over again, plus give everyone a terrific overview of O’Brien, author of one of the great books that came out of the war, The Things They Carried. THB has some experience with what an author’s life is like: revision,  revision, revision, hard work, dedication, endless anxiety, and if you have success, living with the pressure of how to deliver another gem, over and over.

In the Something Else Category

 An article in the NYT on William Kentridge

HI Day 1 and 2, Tom Fanoe

Hawaii, Day 1

Annals of Medicine

THB's right knee is still sore a month plus after returning from Turkey. He's now in HI, icing the knee after a long day in transit and a pool swim with the twins in the afternoon. MRI scheduling mishap has not cleared up In meantime, the Radiology dept 4.5 minutes from the loft has not reached out!!

Department of Remediation

THB and DB decide to no longer use Emergency Restoration, first hired by  our neighbor whose burst pipe caused the tsunami, and hired the company sent by State Farm to document the damage. The new company, Dansel, seems miles more professional and they arrived Saturday morning to start the remediation of the damage. Here are the pics:

they have sealed off the damage from the undamaged

removed the damp part of wall

set up the right machines 

Not shown: ther have also taken up some of the flooring. More floor removal tomorrow will help us estimate how much needs to be replaced. We are still hoping to limit the repairs rather than replace the entire floor. 

One of our upstairs neighbors, MM, is "managing" the project while we are in HI and doing a great job!!

How to occupy the twins after a very early and long flight to Maui? Yep, get them in front of animals.

KM captured THB doing his thing prepping for a future post

KM arranged a tasting for us after our tour. This is the charcuterie platter (no pic of many goat cheese tastes or the chocolate truffles for dessert) - all excellent)

A three bedroom condo Coral Tree Residence, perfect for 6. Our unit wasn't ready yet so we hung out one of the pools, THB testing the twins on their knowledge of snorkel gear, they seem ready for calm shoreline snorkels 

Hawaii, Day 2

Department of Remediation (cont'd):  MM is the man! Floors that appeared damaged were deplanked, fans and humidifiers set up and now there is a 3 day drying out period. All those machines running day and night and we are getting a good night's sleep on Maui. 

Breakfast on the deck for THB and C

No snorkeling today, still strong currents and the high winds of yesterday loaded the shoreline with sand. Maybe tomorrow if we go to the beach early, the twins might get their first salt water snorkel. Backup plan: they get to ride their boogie boards on a flat ocean.

• ow text  is from Tom F's son Ankar, as Tom passed away recently.  Pretty sure Tom grew up in Gonzalez, as he once told us he held the school's record in the 100. Also, Tom and I exchanged e-mails over the last few years as he help lead the Red Tab Foundation (always a good spot to make a donation)...thx, Ralph

  
  

  "The funeral will be on June 27th. The service will be at St Theodore’s Church in Gonzales starting at 10am. The burial at the Gonzales cemetery right after the service.  There will be a Celebration of Life at Corral de Tierra Country Club from 1-4pm.  Spread the word to his friends. Anker