4th Blogaversary!

This is the first time I am celebrating my blogaversary on the correct date.  I nervously started this blog on a Leap Year on February 29th, 2008.

I have since written 1,351 posts.  I can hardly believe it.  It's now become my consuming hobby and my connection to a cyber family I've gotten to truly care about.

This is an especially HAPPY day because my son, Jonathan and his Sarah are coming today from Albuquerque for a 3 week visit.  It's been almost two years since we've last seen Sarah and a year since Jon surprised and visited with us at Yellowstone last year.

Oh happy day!

Snob?

Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum has been calling President Obama a snob for wishing all young Americans to have an opportunity to go to college.

Rick Santorum (Photo from Huffington Post)

Santorum said,

“Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image. I want to create jobs so people can remake their children into their image, not his,”

Seriously?  Seriously?  I'm absolutely flabbergasted.  My father dug ditches for the sugar plantation.  My mother was barely able to finish high school because of the war.  Not for one moment did they want me NOT to go to college.  They did all they could to insure that both my brother and I went to college.  Art's parents worked 12+ hour days at their restaurant to make sure their children went to college also.

The thing is, maybe Art would want to run a restaurant like his parents.  (Oops!  He said, "NO way!")  Maybe I'd want to work in the fields digging ditches or be a newspaper typesetter like my mother.  For one thing, newspapers no longer need typesetters.

Our parents never wanted to make us over in their own image, they wanted us to have a choice to do whatever we wanted to do.  Higher education is a means to getting more choices.  Unfortunately, a college education these days is astronomical!  My daughter and her husband don't want more kids because they don't think they can afford to send more than our precious KC to college.

I won't even go into how the U.S. has been falling behind educationally.  And with that failure comes our falling behind in our economic and technological advances but that's all I want to say about that.

A snob?  Really?  Oh there's all kinds of other reasons why Santorum has been annoying me lately.  Mitt Romney has annoyed me too, but I can't seem to just ignore Santorum.

Also in the Huffington Post:

"The GOP candidate was responding to comments he made last October. He had said that he "almost threw up" after reading JFK's 1960 speech in which he declared his commitment to the separation of church and state."

 OK... I have to stop here before I throw up!

Blogger Lunch

We had such a great time at lunch with Glenda (GigiHawaii) and David, Marianna (Hattie's Web) and Terry, Henry and his son, Chip.  Glenda and David hosted a fabulous luncheon before their outing to the Opera.  Art and I stayed home to watch the Oscars.

I'm actually more introverted and have the Briggs Myers test to prove it.  Still, we were once again thrilled to meet new, friendly and interesting people.  We already knew Glenda and David but had never met Marianna in person.  Henry does not have a blog.  He should.  They're all such brainy people, but it's terrific that they don't intimidate you.  Everyone was so down-to-earth and friendly.   Within a few minutes I felt like I'd know them forever.  Never mind the fact that I got the time wrong and we arrived over a half hour late.  Oops!  They're also all very forgiving people.

Back row:  Chip, Gigi, Henry, Terry, Kay;  Seated:   David, Hattie

Sorry, but Art is not in this photo because he acted as the photographer.

Art and Terry have so much in common they could have sat together for hours more  talking about their climbs up Kilimanjaro and Mt. Fuji and their various races.  They even have the same mustache, for goodness sake!

I got this photo from Gigi.

Glenda set out an amazing buffet and frankly, I was still not hungry at 5:00 even though mom had dinner ready downstairs. 

Being bloggers, when our plates were filled, we all whipped out our cameras and took a photo.
Thank you, Glenda and David for the scrumptious luncheon!  Thank you Marianna and Terry for the Big Island treat!

Thank you, everybody for a lovely day.

That "E" Word

What helps to prevent dementia?
What keeps diabetes at bay?
What is supposed to chase away the blues?
What keeps your sex life healthy?
What keeps your weight down?
What makes your bones strong?
What might help prevent some cancers?
What cures insomnia?
What builds your immune system?

Sigh...

I know. I know.  Exercise.

So why don't I love it?  Art feels he's got to get out regularly to run or jog or walk. He does this without music and mostly alone.  He says it helps him concentrate.

I do far better with exercise if there are friends around.  I guess that's why I like Zumba and Tai chi.  Friends distract me from feeling like I'm exercising.  Music also helps.  I'm moving while I write this post standing up.

Hey!  Wait a minute.  Maybe the answer to all those above questions was actually dark chocolate!  No?  Ah well... I can dream.

Sparkle

I've always liked things that sparkle.  I was drawn to diamonds because... well... they sparkle!  When I see a ring on somebody's hand that sparkles, it draws my admiration.  Art did get me a lovely engagement ring that I wore while I was working.

However, now that I'm retired and living in Hawaii I don't want anything on my fingers.  I wear Art's old wedding band that no longer fits him because his knuckles have gotten a little larger for some reason.  I like it because it's smooth and unobtrusive.

My original engagement ring is in the bank safety deposit box along with a few other pieces that I want to keep safe for Tif and Jon some day.  If a burglar were to come to our  house, they would be sadly disappointed... unless they were craving race training and finisher t-shirts, that is.

If there are occasions where I should wear something a little dressier, I have this cubic zirconium that we bought a couple of decades ago for travel.

I like it because it sparkles and that's good enough for me.

I Need Molokai

If you look way down on my side bar, you'll see I have a Feedjit Live Traffic Feed widget.

According to Feedjit,

"Feedjit's live traffic map shows the geographic locations of the last 100 visitors to your blog or website on a small map. If you move your mouse over any point on the map the city and country for that visitor will be displayed."

I've ignored it for a long time, but lately it's been fun to see where the latest person who checked on my blog was from.  There is no way to know who the person is.

Since I'm now living in Hawaii, I've been wanting to see how many islands I can get.  There are 8 main islands in Hawaii.   They are Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, Kahoolawe and Hawaii (also known as the Big Island).  Only 6 of the islands have more than a 1,000 people.  Kahoolawe used to be used for target practice by the military.   Niihau is privately owned. 

Yesterday, I was thrilled and excited to see that I had someone from FIVE islands who dropped in to check out the blog.  Woohoo!  If only somebody from Molokai would log on I could stop looking all the time.  I've never been to Molokai.  For one thing, the air fare is astronomical!

So if somebody on all the other 5 islands would join in our worldwide comment conversation that would be even more fun, don't you think?

Pidgin English: Hawaiian Style

My mainland friends used to ask me to speak Hawaiian pidgin and I couldn't get it out.  In the 35 years that we lived in Illinois I managed to lose the "touch" within a couple of years.  I remember listening to a recording of myself when we first arrived in Chicago and was surprised to hear my pidgin accent.  Now I'm trying to get it back, but my brother and sister-in-law tell me I have a ways to go yet. Still, Tiffany and Jonathan chuckle when they call from the mainland and I say, "Eh...howzit?"

shave ice or ice shave

 Art and I were going over some pidgin that we remembered from our childhood.  Granted our pidgin is different because he's from the Big Island and I'm from Oahu. Pidgin actually evolved with their own distinctions on different islands.  For instance, snow cones are called Shave Ice on Oahu and Ice Shave on the Big Island.

Here's an explanation from Wikipedia.

Here are some other fun phrases that Art and I thought of.  Ron of Waikiki,  L. from W., Cloudia and my other Hawaiian buddies, go come jump in any time you like, yeah.


Shut da light or Go pio da light.  (Turn off the light.)
You like go kau kau? (Would you like to go and get something to eat?)
No stay here.  (It's not here.  The here is pronounced more like heeah.)
Stay come.  (It's arrived.)  example: "The letter stay come."
No stay come.  (It or he or she hasn't arrived.) 
Stuck nose.  (Congestion) example:  "You get stuck nose or what?"
Buckaloose  (I don't remember using this phrase but Joanne, my childhood buddy says we do use it.  It means mayhem or being out of control.)  "It went go buckaloose."
Stink-eye (Nasty look) Example:  "He when give me the stink eye."
Poi dog (Mutt)
Talk story (Have a  conversation, discuss)  "I go talk story with all my blogger friends."

I guess that's all pau for now.  Pau is finished in Hawaiian.

Travel Boo Boos

When I think of great, grand, bone head type mistakes I've made while traveling, this heads the list.

Page 1 of our Egypt-Jordan 2007 photo journal

We'd just gotten off the 12 hour flight from Chicago to Amman, Jordan on a stop-over en route to Cairo, Egypt.

I needed to use the bathroom so I left Art with my things and went to search for the facilities.

Well... blame it on the 12 hour flight.  Blame it on the cylinders in my brain not firing properly.

Sigh...

I passed by a closed door because I (for some reason) thought it was a family room for parents with children.

The other washroom door was wide open and nobody was there.  I guess I must not have looked at the Men-Women symbols carefully or whatever.  I went into the stall and sat down.

Uh oh...

Somebody came in and that person had a deep voice.  More deep voices speaking Arabic.  What to do?  What to do?  I sat there thinking about the lower status of women.  I started thinking of the International incident I could be causing for daring to invade the MEN'S bathroom.  Would they maybe leave so I could come out without anybody knowing?

No such luck!

I realized that I would need to leave before Art got worried and started looking for me.

I opened the door, dropped my head and ran out saying, "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  I'm sorry" while a torrent of shocked Arabic exclamations followed me out to the hall.  I scooted into the Women's bathroom and was completely floored by the difference in atmosphere.  The Men's bathroom was austere and rather smoke free.  I think.  (I don't remember clearly.)  The Women's bathroom was packed and cloudy with cigarette smoke.  Women were in various stages of dishabille, relaxing with cigarettes and chatting happily.  Many had removed their abayas and were enjoying the freedom.  I could barely get to the sink to wash my hands.  Nobody seemed to pay any attention to me.

Back at the terminal gate, I met Aya who was returning to Egypt after getting her PhD. in the states and Mari from Peru.  It was the BEST fun!  Aya loved telling me about her beautiful country and offering lots of helpful advice.  Mari was meeting her tour group in Cairo and we compared what each of our tours were covering.  My heartbeats returned to normal.

After that bathroom incident, I felt that the worst part of the trip was behind me.  Little did I know about the camel ride that awaited...

POSTSCRIPT:  Many of you kindly asked about that camel ride.  I've added links to that post.

Endearments

There was an episode of Chuck where his wife was captured by nefarious enemy agents.  I can't remember exactly what the situation was, but Chuck was able to figure out it wasn't really her calling him because she called him, "Dear."

If Art or I ever called each other "Dear" we'd know the other person was really an alien clone or something like that.  We've always used the endearment, "Sweetie."  I don't know why.  It just happened.

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law call each other "Dear."  I've heard "Honey" used a lot by friends.  Then there's "Lovey Lumps" that another good friend uses.  I like "Darling" but it sounds too intimate for us to use.

What endearment do you favor?

POSTSCRIPT 1:  Awww... Thank you for asking about our after-race condition, everybody.  Art says his legs are a little tight,  but he's otherwise fine.  I got up this morning feeling surprisingly OK.  Knees are a little sore.  I'll have to call my brother later and find out if he's hobbling on one foot.

POSTSCRIPT 2:  OK... Talked to Dennis and he said he's not suffering any ill effects.  I just took another Motrin.  :-)

2012 Great Aloha Run

We FINISHED!  Dennis' gouty toe aches.  My knee is complaining, but we finished the darn 8.15 miles.  Art is perfectly fine and is happy with his running time.

Aloha Stadium Shuttle buses to Honolulu Aloha Tower

We got up early this morning, picked up Dennis and arrived with plenty of time to spare at the Aloha Stadium near Pearl Harbor.

My brother, Dennis and I were feeling OK.  Art was raring to go.

We caught the shuttle to Honolulu's Aloha Tower.

Aloha Tower lighted up

  
There were a whole LOT of runners, walkers, strollers, etc.  Everyone appeared happy and excited about participating in the race.  (Almost 30,000 runners/walkers signed up for the race.  Over 21,000 actually completed the race.)

The Great Aloha Run is a terrific charity race that supports various needy causes in Hawaii.

It was very dark, but we could see the military marching ahead to signal the start of the race.

Dennis and Art

It was soon time for Art to leave us as he walked to the front of the pack where runners were gathered.  Dennis and I stayed behind with the walkers.

We waited alongside these two gigantic Chinese dragon balloons.

They were very impressive, held aloft on poles by several walkers.

Starting gate

 At 7:00 AM the sun was rising, the Star Spangled Banner and Hawaii Ponoi (our state anthem) were sung and we walked slowly toward the Starting Gate.

This group had the ALOHA spirit.

These soldiers were carrying full packs!

Volunteers manned the watering stations along the way.  I ran into a Zumba buddy at one of the water stations.

Of course, if you drink a lot of water you need to make a pit stop.  Our pit stop cost us 20 minutes of waiting.  Sheesh!

I was pretty darn astonished that we made it to the 5th mile mark.

At the 6th mile, Dennis' toe was starting to ache.  The Motrin I took before the race and the knee brace that I borrowed from mom seemed to help.  However, I could feel my knees getting ready to complain.

Taiko drummers encouraged us along.

And suddenly we were in the Pearl Harbor area and we were determined to finish the race.

There were lots of volunteers motivating us to stay the course.

It was unnerving to see a couple of people on the side of the road who were overcome by what appeared to be heat exhaustion.

Aides were calling for support.

And at last.... there it was!  Aloha Stadium!

Art finished the race in 1 hour 16 minutes.  Dennis and I did it in 2 hours 46 minutes.  (Don't forget that 20 minute bathroom break.)

My times in past were:
2009- 2:56:12
2010- 3:01:21
2011- 2:42:44

Art has been very consistent through out the years and came in 12th in his age group this year.

I can't believe it!  We finished!

For TWO years they ran out of Medium t-shirts so I had to give away the Large size they gave me.  This time, they had the Medium.  Would you believe my brain went to sleep and I collected a Small size finisher t-shirt.  Doggone it!

Art thinks I'll do this again next year to get the right size.  (LOL)

After the race we stopped at Mapunapuna's Mini Garden and bought some plate lunches.

We were so hungry, everything was delicious!

And now that I've posted this, I'm taking a long nap....

Day Before the Aloha Run

We went to the Great Aloha Run (Walk) Expo yesterday and picked up our racing bibs.

We'll be getting up at 3:25 tomorrow morning and leave the house by 4:25.

We'll pick up Dennis at his home at 4:45 and then on to Aloha Stadium.

Photo from 2011 Great Aloha Run

From there we'll catch the 5:15 AM shuttle bus for Honolulu.  The starting gate is at the Aloha Tower.

Art will run the race.

However, it's going to be a challenge for Dennis and me.  Dennis tells me he's got a little flare up of his gout. Wouldn't you know it?  My knees are aching a bit from trying not to be sedentary and doing my computer work/play while standing up and occasionally dancing to Pandora music.  We're both planning to take some anti-inflammatory before the race.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I'd cross my toes, but I don't want to strain them.

Hawaii Fruit Trees

Whenever we walk around the neighborhood Art is always noticing the fruit trees and wishing we could have more trees on our property.  If you left it up to him he'd have giant mango, avocado, tangerine, lemon, papaya trees surrounding the house.  Unfortunately or fortunately, we don't have that kind of space.

So here's what we noticed in everybody else's yard tonight.

Art talked to this neighbor who had a pomegranate tree with a lilikoi (passion fruit) vine wrapped around its trunk.

Quite a number of neighbors have banana trees.  Did you know banana trees are actually a giant grass?

We prefer the Apple banana to the usual Bluefields because the Apple bananas last longer.

Art said there were lots of fig trees on the Big Island.  We had them when I was growing up on Oahu, but never thought to eat the fruit.

Seeing this mango tree covered with flowers had Art drooling.  In fact a lot of mango trees have blossoms on it.  I'll bet there's going to be a bumper crop.  I sure hope our neighbors remember that we love mangoes!

There's also a guava tree in front of that mango tree.

This is a Star Fruit tree.  We used to call it a Five Finger when I was little.

My brother and I used to walk home from school passing by a neighbor's house with bushels of Star Fruit dripping over the side of the fence.  I never much cared for Star Fruit, but when we were walking home for miles and miles, uphill in blinding snow... I mean sun, the fruit tasted pretty good.

Art says he likes Star fruit but then I don't think he's met a fruit he doesn't like.

And yes, of course there are neighbors with coconut trees.  We were offered a coconut, but we declined since we really didn't quite know what to do with it.

Sorry about the picture quality, but we only walk in the evening when it's not too hot.

Art's not giving up.  He's got his eyes open for a miniature mango tree!

Asian Cultural No No: Bragging About Your Children

I was raised never to brag about our children.  Our parents definitely didn't brag about us.  It was considered shameful to do so.

I've been searching for a Chinese commercial I saw on YouTube a while ago that starts with 4 grandmothers sitting outside some kind of care home.  Three of the elderly ladies start to complain about how their children are too busy to call or spend time with them because they were extremely successful and busy doctors or bankers or what-have-you.  One lady is very quiet.  You get the sense that she has nothing to complain/brag about.  Then a car pulls up with young children waiting expectantly in the back seat.

The quiet lady says,  "Ah... there's my son and his family.  They come to pick me up every weekend even though I am too tired.  He insists they want to spend time with me."  Her son comes up to her and she gaily walks off with him to their car while the other grandmothers sit with their mouths open.

This is a difference between the East and West, I think.  I remember my daughter commenting on it when she was a teenager.

I think we (Art, me or Mom) complain enough though.

Photo by my brother, Dennis

"Tiffany is too busy with KC, always on the go and wearing herself out."
Translation:  Tif has an active, full life and is devoted to her daughter."

"Tiffany keeps spending too much on us, constantly sending us packages when she should save her money."
Translation:  Always thoughtful and generous, we love getting these care packages from Tiffany.

"Jon is so busy we hardly hear from him because he is studying every chance he gets and works the rest of the time."
Translation:  We're proud of the fact that Jon is doing so well at the university and funding his education on his own.

"Jon is absolutely crazy.  He is constantly careening around the world, living much too dangerously."
Translation:  Jon is absolutely crazy.  He is constantly careening around the world, living much too dangerously."

However, I'm sure you've all noticed that I'm now perfectly capable of bragging (noting the accomplishments of my loved ones) without resorting to subterfuge. 

The Best Husbands

When I was still young and fancy free my mother warned me not to marry a man from Japan.  She said Japanese men are allowed to think they don't need to help out in the home.  "Wives have to do everything," she warned.  "Marry an American," she insisted.  "He will help you and your life will be much happier."

I did marry an American.  My mother was ecstatic because after meeting Art, she felt she was proven right.  Now actually living with Art these past 4 years and with everyone constantly telling her how lucky she is to have such a wonderful, loving son-in-law she's feeling mighty proud of herself thinking that I must have listened to her.

My brother, Dennis is just like Art.  He cooks, cleans, does the laundry, etc.

So yes, I agree that most American men know what they should be doing.

However, things must be really changing in Japan.  When we went to Japan in 2008 and 2010, we stayed with my aunt and uncle in Sendai.  Auntie is my mother's youngest sister.  Her husband was a reporter and editor of a major newspaper in Sendai.  Since he retired, he took a cooking class and is now an amazing cook!  During both our visits, he served us dish after delectable dish while my aunt visited with us.  He was in the kitchen almost the entire time.

Art's college friend, Osamu is from Tokyo.  Sam went to school in Peoria where he met Art at the University.  I know for a fact that Osamu is a model husband by American standards.

So, mom may not be entirely correct.  However, I won't argue the point with her since she's so happy about being right.

When you get right down to it, don't you think we as wives have to take some part of the blame if our husbands don't help out?   We have to put our foot down gently and explain what we would like of our spouses and come to a compromise.

I am grateful that I didn't have to.

How Clean Are Your Veggies?

How do you clean your veggies?  That's something I've always wondered about.  I remember Joe, the custodian at our school in Illinois telling me that he worked in a restaurant once and he only orders cooked veggies.  He used to tell me that I'd be ordering salad at my own peril.  He also told me that it's better to air dry my dishes rather than using a dish towel which can harbor germs.

Anyway, recently a 22-year-old Minnesota fellow contracted a rare and sometimes fatal form of meningitis.  He was in Hilo hospital on the Big Island for 7 weeks.  Apparently he must have ingested a rat lungworm that might have been on some guavas or other fruit on the island.  Apparently, the worms are extremely tiny and pretty much impossible to see.  They've been having (rare) incidences of this parasitic disease since 2005 on the Big Island from people eating local produce.

I use a veggie wash most of the time for my veggies, but I've heard that research showed it doesn't do a whole lot of good.  When I took a cooking class from a doctor, he said rinsing the veggies three times will do the trick.  But will it?

What do you do?

POSTSCRIPT:  Oops!  From your comments, I'm seeing people thinking of not eating fresh veggies.  I didn't intend that.  Fresh veggies are excellent for you.  However, we really need to make sure we wash them carefully.   I spray my veggies with veggie wash, lightly rub them and then drop them into a large bowl of water and swoosh it around.  Then I rinse them twice more in clean water and finally run a spray of water over them.  I'm pretty confident, but I wondered what the rest of you did.

Saying "I Love You" in Japanese

I can tell you honestly that my mother has never said the words, "I love you" to anyone.  It's a Japanese thing.  Mom says modern Japan has changed, but for her generation people were far too embarrassed to say the words.  Instead, they'd say, "Anata o suki"  which actually means "I like you," but can infer "I love you."  (She did say they could WRITE the words "Watashi wa anata wo aishite imasu." which is the more complete form of "I love you.")

Art's parents were the same way.  Therefore we've both been raised feeling uncomfortable saying the actual words.  Parents also didn't hug their children after a certain age.  Much of this changed for me when I moved to the mainland.  As a teacher, how could I not hug my students?  I also happily learned to hug my friends.  Art and I are good at hugging now.

However, Art and I very rarely say the words to each other and have to make an effort to say it to our children.  It does not come naturally.

Still, Art and I always knew we were cherished when we were growing up.  I know our children knew it too.  And yes, I know Art loves me and he knows I love him.  It's more in what he does than what he says.

I do try to remember to say the words to my granddaughter, but I think Art has a harder time with it.  Recently, KC started to show the sign language for "I love you."  We could be at a restaurant and she'd flash the sign across the table to us.  It meant a great deal.  Every time we see it,  we do feel the love.

So to all of you out there... here goes! 

                    I love you!

Happy Valentines Day!

POSTSCRIPT:  I just saw this in the newspaper and had to add it. 

Our Dinner

I thought our dinner tonight looked so pretty that I should take a photo of it.  It really was absolutely scrumptious.  We invited my brother and his family to join us at the last minute, but they couldn't  come because...... are you ready?  Arrrghhhh!  He's walking five miles home from work again to train for the Aloha Run.  I've still barely managed 2 miles.  Arrrghhh!

Anyway,  back to our dinner:

Mom kept laughing, "You're blogging our dinner?"

Yup.  Here's what we ate.  The Manoa lettuce salad was grown organically by Auntie Grace.  She also made her super duper sushi for us.  (Mom is saving you some, Dennis.)  Mom made the miso soup full of seaweed and fresh tofu from Honda Tofu that we bought from the factory.  She also fried the saba (mackerel) which stunk up the house.  Thank goodness we live in Hawaii so we could open the windows to air it out.  I steamed the fresh asparagus.  We topped it off with a little White Zinfandel.

We were so full I could hardly finish my Fuji apple slices we had for dessert.

What did you eat for dinner?

Hawaii Plastic Bag Law

There's a bill in the works right now to help limit the use of plastic bags.  They are proposing to put a 10 cent fee on plastic bags in Hawaii.  A group of students in support of the law festooned the state capitol with the amount of plastic bags that one person receives in a year.  It certainly makes a statement.

I don't use that many because as you all know I keep a couple of nylon bags attached to my backpack at all times for when we go shopping.

When we go grocery shopping where we buy more than a couple of bags worth of items, I save the bags and fold them up for reuse.

I learned how to do this from my college classmate, Gail.  She folds the bag in half and then in half again.  Then you fold them into triangles.

This way we always have a ready supply when we bring things over for friends and relatives.  They're also great for potlucks so guests can carry food containers in them to bring home.

I really think the plastic bag law is an excellent one.  We have become too much of a throw away society and need to take a step back and do what is right for the environment that we're leaving for our grandchildren.  We can help do this one less plastic bag at a time.

The Maze of Long Term Care Insurance

One of the first things you learn when you start researching Long Term Care Insurance is that you were supposed to sign up in your 40s and 50s.  We're well beyond that.  Art has always felt that we should just save up for it (self-insure) because:
1.  The premiums are pretty expensive.
2.  The rates do go up.
3.  There's usually a time limit for how long it covers.
4.  Sometimes there's a cap on how much you can receive.
5.  There's also limitations on what it covers.
6.  If you don't need it, you lose what you put into it.  It's like term insurance.

For all these reasons we weren't sure we needed to learn more about it.  However, we've become friends with Calvin Taketa (calvintaketa@rocketmail.com) who is a wonderful, low-key, no-pressure type fellow that we met at Tai-Chi.  He also happens to be a financial planner. We told him upfront that we don't like to mix business with friendships/relatives.  We've been burned before.

However, we treated Calvin to lunch and enjoyed picking his brain for everything he knew.  Calvin is really an expert on a lot of different LTC insurance plans.  And by golly!  We did learn quite a bit from him.

1.  The premiums are based on your age, length of stay, etc.  You can tell Cal what you want and he can find the plan that would best fit your budget and needs.

2.  I'd already learned that you might be able to get discounts for being married, be in good health, etc.

3.  We pay exorbitant amounts for hurricane insurance and hope we don't need to use it.  LTC is something we hope we don't need to use too.  I never looked at it that way.

4.  Full care nursing home prices are climbing and astronomical in Hawaii ranging from $8,000. to $12,000. a month.  Sheesh!

5.  There are plans where you turn in receipts and they pay them or they pay you a lump sum up front for care of a loved one.

6.  It's probably a good idea to dedicate 1% of your income a year to LTC to protect 99% of your estate.

7.  You have to make sure the company you pick is stable and will be around when you need to collect.

I asked what the premiums would cost.  He said he didn't know yet until he figured it out because so many factors come into play.  For one thing, Art was happy to know that Cal thought he was a lot younger.  On the other hand, being older makes the premiums higher.  I asked Cal what the range might be.  He said it could go from $1,000. a year to $5,000. depending...

We haven't totally decided yet what we want to do.  Perhaps we'll get it for just one person.  There's so much to think about and research.  Cal says many people get hit with "Analysis Paralysis."  I can well imagine.

Well... much as we don't like doing business with friends, I'm glad we're learning from Cal.  Besides, if we get too stressed out, there's always Tai-Chi.

You Gotta Ask

We've been paying $31.24 for our Internet service with Hawaiian Telcom and another $27.02 for our basic land line with no frills.  Works out to $58.26.  We've been watching all these ads for Internet service for $24.99, etc.  Hawaiian Telcom is in competition with Road Runner and I don't know who else.  When we bought into our service for the $31.24 (for life) price we thought we were getting a good deal.  I wanted to call to see if we could get the better price, but I saw someplace that the better price was not applicable for those who were already signed up.  I gave up disappointed.

This weekend, my brother and sister-in-law mentioned that they were getting a great Bundle deal where they were going to pay about $100. for phone, Internet and cable.

Then I saw an ad on line from Hawaiian Telcom about the Bundling deal.  That clinched it!  I decided to call and ask them if I could better our monthly charges or should I switch to another carrier and then try to come back.

I called 643-0812 expecting to be unhappy, but wanting to give it a shot.  I spoke to a very friendly, cheerful fellow named JC.  He told me that I was presently paying for an ala carte service.  However, for the speed of Internet service I was getting plus the phone I could Bundle them and pay $56.80.  Ooooookaaay....  So that's only a $1.46 savings, but what the heck!  It's still a savings!

"But wait!" says JC.  "Not only do you get your Internet and phone service, but now you ALSO get call waiting and caller ID and....."

"OK, sign us up,"  I tried to tell him.

"But wait!" chuckles JC.  "You also get unlimited 411 (Information) calls."  JC said we don't get the cable bundle in our area yet, but it'll be coming. I told him about our antennae in the attic.  He was ummm... a little surprised. 

One problem.  We don't have a phone with the Caller ID feature so we're going to have to go get one.  "Just go to the garage sales," said JC.  "You can find them for cheap."

Turns out we get 13 additional calling features from the basic plan we had before.  He's going to send me a booklet explaining what they are. 

One thing I learned from this experience is that you should always check with your utility companies to see if you can get a better price.  It never hurts to ask.

You might meet someone like JC.

But wait... Doggone it!  I forgot to ask if they give Senior discounts.  Juuust kidding.