Crisis After Crisis Before a Trip

OK... This is the 3rd and last time I'll break my blog hiatus... 😳... mainly because I'm probably on the flight as you read this.

We've often had a crisis pop up just before we go on a trip. There was that time we were leaving on a trip to Japan and mom hurt her knee two days before. We had to get a wheelchair for her and she had a wonderful time. 

Then there was that trip a few years ago when Art and I were leaving on another trip. My brother was on his way to our house to take us to the airport. Mom fell on the sidewalk while sweeping leaves. Art and I were getting ready and neighbors brought her in with a bloody head. Dennis took her to the emergency room while our friend, Dave took us to the airport. Dennis kept us informed on what was happening as we waited at the airport. Thankfully, everything was OK and we were able to get on the flight.

So here we were preparing for this Hokkaido trip and I got that subconjunctival hemorrhage in my left eye last Friday. Happily, our optometrist squeezed me in to make sure everything would be OK to travel.

And THEN!  Arrrghhh! We had a crisis with that new Maytag impeller washer we bought from Costco! Arrghhh! We've never had an impeller washer before.

Would you believe mom's blouse got stuck under the impeller? No, the washer was not even full. The clothes were not stuffed in there. However, the blouse somehow was lodged. Art looked online and discovered that it had happened to other people who owned impeller washers and found instructions on what to do.

OK... That's fine and dandy.

Art was able to remove that center cap.

But then there was that bolt under it holding the impeller down.

I forgot to take a photo of that bolt so I had to get this online.

Well.... poor Art had the darndest time finding a socket wrench to put down into that long tube to try to unscrew that bolt.

And when he finally got the right tool, that bolt would NOT budge. 

Arrghhh...

So with all else failed... Art just figured the blouse would have to be sacrificed and he pulled it out slowly from between the impeller and drum, grateful that there wasn't a button holding it in.

Incredibly, the blouse did not tear.

But what if this happens again? This is so irritating. 

We didn't have time now to worry about getting a Costco repair person out here so we decided to wait until we returned from our trip.

OK... what else could go wrong?

POSTSCRIPT:  After I wrote this post I decided to call Costco Technical Support anyway. A repair person will be coming to loosen the bolt the day after we return from our trip. 😊

Breaking My Hiatus a 2nd Time

Sigh...

I know I said I was taking a Blog Hiatus, but I just had to record this.

We were out walking with friends last Friday and Art told me later that he noticed redness on the inside of my eye.

After coming home and having lunch he mentioned again that I needed to look at my left eye.

I looked in the mirror and saw some redness, BUT when I pulled down my lower lid, I was shocked to see what looked like a lot of blood.

I called my optometrist's office and they insisted I come in. I told them it's probably harmless and I could email them a photo, but no... they wanted me to come in. Dr. Tanaka did a whole bunch of tests and said it was a hemorrhage. He asked if I'd coughed a lot, carried something heavy, was irritated by the volcanic vog covering the islands, etc. No, I hadn't.

When I texted my daughter a photo of my eye, she texted back a photo of her eye from a while ago. Apparently she gets them too.

When I checked my blog, I saw that I'd written about this in 2020! 

https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2020/03/bloody-eye.html

I couldn't remember when this had happened before when Dr. Tanaka asked me. I should have checked my blog. It's a subconjunctival hemorrhage.

And this is why I'm recording this now. It's really a record for me. I'll have to tell him when I go in for my next appointment.

And my red eye? Dr. Tanaka says it will probably take a couple of weeks to go away. I'll just tell everybody on our Hokkaido tour that they don't have to worry. It's not catching. 😊

POSTSCRIPT: Art was telling his sister yesterday about my eye and she knew all about this condition. She said she gets them too! I didn't realize it was so common. Have you ever had this? Is this a female thing because Art, my brother and brother-in-law have never had this.

Being a Fan of Josh Groban

OK, I know I already announced last week that I would be on a blog hiatus because I'm leaving soon for Hokkaido.  However, I just had to mention this.

A lot of my friends know I've always loved Josh Groban's voice ever since I heard his music for the first time. That's got to be more than 20 years ago.

I wrote this blog post in 2012. This is a clip from it:

"Well... for some strange, incomprehensible reason my kids are not enamored of Josh.  Why is that?

Keola and his Sarah lived in Washington, D.C. many years ago, and Sarah worked for a bookstore.  She was offered free tickets to a Josh Groban concert.

Keola called to tell me they would go juuuust because they knew how much I liked him.  Keola said he'd tell me all about it.  When the call came, Keola said they lasted only until the half time intermission and that the audience was filled with middle aged women.

Puhleeeeze.....

A few days later he sent me a couple of pencils advertising the Josh Groban's concert. (I got this photo off of the Internet.)

My son was having fun with me.

A while later, my son-in-law, Ed received tickets for a Bears football game from his company. The Bears were playing against San Francisco.  My daughter, Tiffany said this was a BIG deal.  We were down front in the center of Soldier field  in Chicago." 

So yup. 

I texted this photo to Keola who loves sports along with Art and the rest of the family. And yes, he knows I'm not a big sports fan and that I was teasing him. And no, I didn't leave at half time.

So... here's the reason I'm having to write this post. 

Would you believe that the day after I leave for Hokkaido, Josh Groban is performing in Hawaii for the first time to kick off his World Tour in a one-night-only show right here in Honolulu?

Hmmm... I wonder where those pencils are. Hmmmm...

OK, I'm back on my hiatus.