Back to Alex

We helped Mom get new glasses at Sam's Club because she wanted to get transitions for the bright Hawaiian sun. I wrote a post earlier about meeting Alex, the optician at Sam's. We were astonished to hear how beautifully he spoke Japanese.

Well the glasses came in and she wore them around the house and outside. We told her she looked great in them, but she just didn't like how it felt. She said she had to keep dropping the lens to watch TV and then raising it to read. She pronounced this new shape too terrible to get used to.

I contacted Alex about this problem and he told me that we should bring her in and make it right.

"NO," said Mom. "It's too much trouble." Then came the battle of wills.

"If you don't like it that much, Mom," I said, "You need to bring it in. Those are expensive glasses and Alex said he would help you."

"No," she wouldn't budge. I wouldn't describe the look she gave me mulish, but...

"Arrrrghhhh...."

In the end Art told her we were going and that's that!


Alex was as sweet and understanding as could be. He hunted down another pair of frames that were almost identical to her old pair and said there would be no charge. He assured me that they would make it right.

He even said the pair he found is cheaper so we would be getting a refund on the frames. And he also added that "If there are any changes to the prescription or otherwise within the warrantied time, there is no charge to you for a prescription change."

I know Costco was reputed to be the best place for glasses, but at Costco you can only buy new glasses if you are the card holder and I don't know if they have the same warranty. Sam's Club lets you buy a pair for another family member. Besides, Costco doesn't have Alex.

As we were returning home, Mom kept telling us how that other pair was driving her crazy and that the shape was all wrong and how she's been noticing other people's glasses and rounder ones are better and how when you're watching TV it's a bother to adjust it up and down and when you're pulling weeds, you can't see right, and the frames were too skinny, and........

Arrrrrrghhhhhhh!

I've got all my fingers and toes crossed tight that this next pair will be perfect for her. Alex chuckled and said, "We'll make it right."

With an optician as wonderful and kind as Alex, plus that guarantee, this is where I'd be getting any new glasses I need. (And yes, their prices were the best of several places I checked out.)

Boys to Men

In Sunday's Star Advertiser, there was another long article about the J.Crew pink toe-nailed little boy controversy.

Yahoo News summed it up this way:

"The images in question fall under pages titled "Saturday with Jenna" -- featuring products personally favored by J. Crew president and creative director Jenna Lyons and her family. This particular Saturday for Jenna includes painting her five-year-old son Beckett's toenails pink. The caption reads, "Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon."


My son, Jon used to follow his big sister, Tiffany around everywhere when he was a kid. He would sometimes allow her to use him as a doll, dressing him up in her clothes. He didn't mind at all, wanting to do everything she was doing. If I painted her nails, I know he would have wanted a toenail painted too. I don't know if I did, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did. I never worried about any transgender confusion.

This is a controversy that started a month or more ago. I can't believe it would still be in the news. What are those conservatives worried about? Are they so unsure of their masculinity that they consider this worthy of such outrage?

Here's something funny from the Daily Show.

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

My son was a fire fighter in New Mexico and is a rough and tumble sort of fellow. He doesn't even remember wearing his sister's clothes and he doesn't care if he did.

What he does remember is the fun and camaraderie that he and his sister shared.

And that my friends, is the most important thing.

Mothers Day With Near and Far

We had a lovely Mothers Day celebration with my brother, Dennis, sister-in-law, Nancy and our nephew, Barry.

They brought over a whole bunch of delicious Chinese food and we got more to add to our feast. We also added a green salad and some tofu and cucumber namasu (pickled cucumbers) that mom made. I also made a flan and jello with fruit. Barry brought over an amazing Mothers Day cake and Dennis and Nancy had a fruit bouquet delivered to us. It was such a fabulous surprise!


I have to confess I had two of those chocolate covered strawberries before I touched any of the other desserts. Barry's cake was fantastic. He said the chef who made it also baked the cake for the Emperor and Empress of Japan when they visited Hawaii a couple of years ago.

Ummm... all the other food was yummy too, by the way.

I sure do miss having my children nearby to celebrate this holiday. Tiffany and her family sent both mom and me a whole bunch of fun gifts. Mom has a sweet tooth, so Tif got her Trader Joes chocolate covered raspberry squares and some nice face cream. I received these Victoria Secret underwear. I was a little surprised to see this very shiny, sparkly, perky underwear. The picture doesn't do it justice.

"Guess who picked that one for you, mom." Tif laughed.

Hmmmm.... I guess it must have been my sparkly granddaughter. You know what? It's perfect for me to wear to my Zumba class. Just knowing I'm wearing it might give me more energy.

HAPPY Mother's Day!

We actually celebrated a special Mother's Day outing on Friday. We told Mom that we would be taking her to the Honolulu Zoo for a Mother's Day treat.

If we're going to make that long 30 minute trek (This is Hawaii. Anything over 15 minutes is far away.) into Honolulu, Mom asked that we stop by at the Nuuanu Memorial Park where she wanted to bring orchids that she'd grown for my father and grandmother. She especially wanted to let her late mother-in-law know that she hadn't forgotten her on Mother's Day.

It had been raining all morning and on the ride there. However, the rain stopped just in time for us to put the flowers on the grave and columbarium.


Mom does love Japanese food so we took her to one of our favorite restaurants in Kaimuki. It's a small restaurant called Maguroya at 3565 Waialae Ave.


We think they have the tastiest and most generous serving of butterfish we've had on Oahu. Unfortunately, they did not serve chawan mushi with our teishoku lunch. A teishoku is usually composed of a main item, a bowl of rice, some miso soup, and a bowl of Japanese pickles. Chawan mushi is a custard like dish which I love, but they said they only serve it at night. The butterfish teishoku was $17.95 (I think.) Everyone there was so friendly and Mom said she really loved her luncheon.


It downpoured while we were eating lunch, but stopped in time for us to make our way to the Honolulu Zoo which is in Waikiki. I have no idea why they didn't just call it the Waikiki Zoo.

Mom smiled and said, "You're bringing me here to prepare for our Yellowstone trip, aren't you? You can't fool me."


The Zoo had really changed since we came many years ago. We were happy to see all the renovations. Mom said she hadn't been to the Zoo in decades.

We didn't just look at the animals. The plants were also a lot of fun. This cactus plant with it's different colors really captivated us.


All the Starlings in Illinois are just purplish black. I didn't much care for them. However, we thought this Golden Breasted Starling was really spectacular!


We had one little sprinkle and the skies remained gray, but we were able to see everything without getting wet. Because of the rain threat, most people stayed away from the zoo. There were loads of free parking and the zoo was empty.


The Aldabra tortoises were eating mango! How lucky is that! They have no idea how expensive they are now.


The Nene goose is the state bird of Hawaii. There was a sign warning us that the Nenes could bite.

We spent THREE hours walking around the zoo and Mom said she had a great time. She never noticed the time passing and loved every minute. She's ready for Yellowstone now!

We left at around 3:00 and traffic was already backed up. It took us 45 minutes (in the rain) to get home! I told you we live very far from the city.

My brother, Dennis and his family will be coming to celebrate Mother's Day with us today.

HAPPY Mother's Day everybody! I want your day to be as perfect as ours was (despite the traffic).

Art's Kindle?

Since I'm reading my library books that I bought a couple of weeks ago, Art picked up my Kindle and started reading Elisha's Bones by Don Hoesel. It's supposed to be like Dan Brown without the controversy.

I have to tell you that Art usually falls asleep reading. This made me a little nervous since I didn't think it would be great to see my Kindle falling to the floor when his hands went limp. I've actually sometimes seen him asleep still holding a book. This is very weird. Perhaps this explains why my son was able to fall asleep anywhere, too.

Anyway, I was surprised to see Art reading for over an hour and then picking the Kindle up the next several days and staying up while reading! He was totally glued to the story I'd downloaded from the Kindle Free (Limited Time Offers) site. I just checked and found the book is no longer free. It costs $2.39 now.

Well... I'm almost done with my book so I was going to read this magical book that could keep Art up reading. However, Art has now started reading Moby Dick on the Kindle.

Ah wellll......

The Death of an Evil Man

When I first heard about the death of Osama bin Laden several days ago, like most everyone in the world, I was glad of it. He was the apparent mastermind of evil mass destruction and killing of innocent people. His hatred filled the world with fear and war.

After hearing the initial news I was nervous that his hatred has built up a following of people who will now want revenge and wish to continue their leader's evil cause.

More news coverage of people in the streets rejoicing and chanting made me very uncomfortable. The world is better with Osama bin Laden gone, but I don't like the joyous celebration either. I'm thinking it will only inflame the al Qaeda.

I heard a Jewish rabbi say something on NPR that echoed my feelings. When the Israelites started rejoicing and singing as the waters of the Red Sea drowned the enemy Egyptians who were trying to kill them, God rebuked them saying “My creatures are drowning in the sea, yet you have now decided to sing about it?” I read something in The Jerusalem Post along the same lines.

I'm sure some will say that al Qaeda has gloated and shown terrible photos of their victims. I hope that we as a people can be much better than that.

Another person said the chanting was done by young people to show their feelings of unity. Perhaps... but I don't have to approve of it. I've seen clips of comedians making fun of the killing. I don't like that either. I don't like to make fun or a joke of any killing.

I think this is a time to be grateful that an evil man has been stopped. We also need to prepare ourselves because he was not the only leader. There are many al Qaeda franchise cells in different countries operating independently. It's not over.

Could we use this time to reflect and research how this kind of hatred came to be in order to prevent it in the future?

I agree with the Dalai Lama who said "it is necessary to take counter measures." However, let's do it soberly, respectfully and with dignity.

I hope that the death of Osama bin Laden brings some measure of closure for the survivors of all the innocent people who died by his hands. When the War on Terror is over, I will be the first one to loudly cheer, chant and celebrate with abandon!

Mom's Weeping Cherry Tree

My daughter, Tiffany just posted a couple of photos on her Flickr page of the Weeping Cherry tree Art and I planted while we were babysitting KC for a week in May of last year in Illnois.

On the second day after we arrived in Illinois a ferocious gust of wind blew our giant chestnut tree down. Incredibly, it did not fall on our old house or the neighbor's.

While Tif and Ed went on a cruise, we decided to plant a Weeping Cherry tree where the Horse Chestnut once stood. Our good friends recommended the Japanese Weeping Cherry for its dramatic blooms and graceful shape. Tif and Ed said they had no preferences on what kind of tree we could plant.



KC had fun helping Grandpa plant the tree. Although, Tif calls it Mom's tree, it really is truly Art's tree. He is the supreme lover of trees. People are often surprised to hear that on the not very big property, Art had a Locust, Swamp Oak, Golden Delicious Apple, Sour Cherry, Japanese Maple, Purple Ash and now a Weeping Cherry tree.

What a surprise to already see the amazing display of gorgeous blossoms on the one year old cherry tree! We'll now be able to see little KC and the cherry tree grow more beautiful with each year.

Our home here in Hawaii has a lot of concrete. It is a major frustration for Art that he can't plant more trees. He did still manage to plant a lemon and papaya, but there's no room for a mango or avocado or what have you. Everytime I see him walking around outside, I can see the wheels in his brain clacking away. He hasn't given up yet. Nope, not by a long shot.

Happy Cinco de Mayo (Mexico) and Children's Day (Japan), everybody!

Frozen on Kukulkan

In 1995, Art decided that a New Years trip to Cancun might be fun to do. Chicago was freezing, and warm Cancun seemed inviting and cheaper to get to than Hawaii.

The day after we got there, we took a trip to the 800 A.D.Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Several years later, I was excited to see the For Better or Worse comic strip reflect my experiences perfectly! Please click on the comics so you can read it more easily.


The Pyramid of Kukulkan was awesome!

Each of the four faces has 91 steps up to the top platform. Counting the top platform as an additional step gives a total of 365 steps: 1 step for each day of the year.


Art and the kids went up first because I wanted to video tape them making the climb. Then I followed, occasionally stopping to video tape their progress. I got a bit winded from the steep climb and about a dozen steps from the top I sat down. That's when I looked down and nearly lost my breakfast.

I froze. I couldn't go up or down. Finally, Art noticed I was missing and looked over at me. "Come on up," he yelled.

"I can't," I yelled back. I wanted to just lie back and never move again. I envisioned a helicopter coming and picking me up to bring me down. I was seriously not planning to take another step.

Finally Art said, "You can do it. Stop looking down! Focus on me, look at the steps and come up."

I held my breath and breakfast and did it.


When I got to the top, I plastered myself to the temple. I was still trying to figure out how they could bring me food and water so I could survive up there. Maybe they'd have a bathroom in the temple? I was so scared I felt I needed one.


The kids sat at the edge looking down and having a great time. I saw a few other people who were plastered to the temple like I was, but not Art and not the kids. I wanted to pull them over, but I couldn't reach them without ungluing myself.


Art insisted on taking this photo so I pulled myself away for a second for this photo. This is a fake smile, by the way.


I kept telling Art I couldn't go down, but he insisted I could if I just looked at my feet. I did, and it was surprisingly easy. I almost ran down!


I could hear Jon behind me yelling, "Hurry up, Tif! Do you want mom to beat us?"


I could have kissed the ground once I reached it! Then I noticed kids who looked like first graders running up and down the pyramid selling oranges totally unfazed by the height.


We went into Cancun City a couple of days later and... you will notice I had a salad. Do not eat salads when you're outside of the hotel area! Montezuma's Revenge hit with terrible savagery. Everything I managed to hold in climbing the Pyramid of Kukulkan left me that night (ummmm...from the other end).

Despite my little difficulties in Cancun, I would recommend everyone go to Chichen Itza to see that amazing historical site. Just remember...

Don't look down! Don't eat the salad!

How to Get a Child to Take Medication

My daughter, Tiffany called to tell me that KC was ill and had a temperature of 105-106. KC was disgruntled and not willing to take the Tylenol they were trying to give her to bring down the fever. Luckily, she finally relented and my stubborn granddaughter agreed to take her medicine.

She asked Tif if she could talk to me on her cellphone. Just like her mother she was honest. "Hi Grandma," she said seriously. "I didn't want to take the medicine at first, but I did." We then had a conversation about why it was important to listen to her parents.

This reminded me of the summer of 1980. We came back to Hawaii for a visit with Tiffany and Jonathan. The day after we got there, we took the kids to Ala Moana beach. They had a fabulous time. Jon was nearly two years old.

He promptly got sick that night and came down with a terrible fever, about 105. We put him in a tepid bath and brought him to Tripler Army Hospital the next morning. We were taken to an office and told to wait. We were a bit concerned when a doctor with a colonel's eagle insignia walked in to seriously tell us there was a problem. Jon had pneumonia. Walking pneumonia. It was the first time we'd heard of walking pneumonia. I guess it must be better since it intimates that you can still walk. However, the fact that they sent a colonel in to tell us was a bit attention getting.

We were given pink colored Amoxicillin (antibiotic) to administer to him. Well... Jon refused to take it. He just didn't like the flavor. We mashed bananas and put it in. Nope, he spit it out.

We tried mixing it with ice cream. Nope, out it came.

I can't remember all the combinations we tried. He just wouldn't swallow enough of it.

Bribery didn't work either. I still can't make him do things he doesn't want to.

We called Tripler and finally gave up. Somehow he managed to recuperate on his own rather quickly.

I'm glad KC took her medication after just two tries.

The surprising thing is Jon will now eat and drink almost anything. He's learned to do that from all his travels and his Peace Corps time in Mali. However, he sure didn't make it easy on us when he was a toddler.

Any good ideas for getting a child to take their medicine?

Art's Dr. Visit

Art just went for his annual physical after a year and a half. The doctor's first question was, "Why are you here?" No smile. Did I mention before that he sort of reminds me of the grumpy Dr. House? He's obviously very smart, but I really don't get the feeling he cares a whole lot for his patients.

He went through a list of things. "When was your last colonoscopy?" Art couldn't remember. The doctor told him he might need to get one. "It's 3-5 years if they found a polyp and 5-10 years if you haven't had a problem. Good luck trying to find a doctor to do a colonoscopy since you're on Medicare," he warned us.

"Would you like a prostrate test, checking your PSA? I wouldn't recommend it. It's very controversial and much more often than not lead to unnecessary further testing and treatments. You don't really need a cholesterol check since you run."

"How about a skin check?" he asked.

"Could he see a dermatologist?" I asked. "Art runs in the sun and he's got a lot of dark spots on his skin. Moles?"

"On Medicare, I doubt it. The medical profession in the U.S. is not perfect. Doctors don't want to take Medicare patients."

"Maybe Art should go to Kaiser then," I asked. I figured my mother belongs to the Kaiser HMO and her doctor really seems to care for her, is personable, and refers her to all kinds of specialists when she needs to see one without a problem.

The doctor was affronted. I didn't think he would care. "Maybe I shouldn't schedule so many blood tests for you then, since you might go to Kaiser like your wife says."

The bottom line was that he felt Art didn't need to see a doctor so often because he doesn't smoke, isn't overweight, and eats healthy foods. He felt that seeing a doctor too often just causes unnecessary testing and sometimes leads to unnecessary treatment. He did the skin check for Art and did not find abnormalities, just age spots. Art will go for some blood tests tomorrow and a follow up next week. His last words were that "Clean living is what keeps you healthy."

I left the office not very thrilled, with a matching scowl to the doctor. I like my doctors to care. I like my doctors to be warm and smile occasionally. I also like my doctors to be smart. Well this doctor hit one out of three.

On the way home, Art said, "You know what? I like this doctor. He doesn't want to see me often. He's against unnecessary testing and he's smart."

I guess as far as Art is concerned, the good doctor hit three out of three.

I'm going to see my nurse practitioner, Kathy at Tripler in a couple of weeks. I love Kathy. She always hits 10 out of 10 for me.

Paradise? Not Necessarily...

Some people might think Hawaii is paradise. Well... maybe...

However, we have a number of issues that you have to take into account:
Highest gas prices in the nation, cockroaches, high real estate prices, last one to do everything (ie. voting, celebrating New Years, etc.), tsunamis, hurricanes, super high shipping prices to Hawaii, photos fading and deteriorating from the sun, vog, plastic crumbling too quickly, Dengue fever from mosquitoes, top five highest state taxes after New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Maryland and then there's.... ta dah... RUST!!! Arrrghhhh!

Remember me posting about our rusting screen door and mailbox? I recommended Loctite after being told it was the answer to all my problems. Well... not so quick! The screen door is showing some rust again and here's my mailbox! Arrrrghhhh!

And if that wasn't bad enough, look at the sprayer!

I didn't know what Art was talking about when he said the sprayer was leaking and that it had cracked. We hardly use it. My mother likes to water her plants the hard way with a cup and bucket. She uses the rinse water from the washing machine.

How can the sprayer crack this way?

It was rather fun to see how it sprayed now. This did necessitate another trip to Home Depot.

Now we've got another sprayer, but I've noticed that it's got plastic or vinyl on it. That's going to crack too, someday soon. Maybe they should have made it out of wood.

Wait! I forgot to mention.... TERMITES!

Arrrghhhh!

Merrie Monarch Festival

My cousin, Larry e-mailed me a couple of days ago to tell me that his wife, Yumiko would be in the Merrie Monarch Festival which is being held in Hilo on the Big Island. Yumiko is actually from Japan, but has been dancing with this halau (hula group) for several years. This explains why she's so graceful and coordinated.

I had another cousin named Peter (Pohaku) who passed away suddenly a couple of years ago. He was a kumu hula who established the Halau Kanikapahuolohi‘au in Kapa‘a in 1980 on the island of Kauai. I'm told that the halau performed a beautiful hula at his funeral. My mother says my aunt used to call her from Kauai to remind her to watch her son on TV when they performed at the Merrie Monarch Festival.

The Merrie Monarch is a big occassion in Hawaii where the halaus come together for a hula competition.


"Begun forty-seven years ago by the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and continued by the private Merrie Monarch Festival community organization, the major purpose of the festival is the perpetuation, preservation, and promotion of the art of hula and the Hawaiian culture through education. The festival is considered the world's premier forum for people of all ages to display their skills and knowledge of the art of ancient and modern hula.

The annual presentation of the Merrie Monarch Festival has led to a renaissance of the Hawaiian culture that is being passed on from generation to generation. The week-long festival includes art exhibits, craft fairs, demonstrations, performances, a parade that emphasizes the cultures of Hawaii, and a three-day hula competition that has received worldwide recognition for its historic and cultural significance."

It was so much fun trying to pick out Yumiko in the group. This is from last night. They'll be performing again tonight. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for their halau since the competition is stiff.

Before you ask... No, I have no idea how to do a hula aside from what I learned from Nona Beamer at a hula workshop almost 35 years ago. Let's face it. Learning to do line dancing with mostly my feet is enough of a challenge for me. Can you imagine how much harder it would be to add the all important hand movements that tell the story? I'd rather just watch Yumiko.

Flawless Fairy Tale Wedding

OK... I admit it. I stayed up until 2:00 AM watching William and Catherine's wedding. I wasn't sure I was going to, but Art turned the TV on and said, "Go on... I know you want to." And then he went to sleep.

The first thing that struck me was the modern technology we have now. The cameras were everywhere and caught every detail. You were far better off watching it on TV than being there to see what was going on.


I really loved seeing the love between the siblings. The commentators mentioned what good friends William and Harry were and how they tease each other mercilessly. Harry teases William about his balding and William teases Harry about having "ginger" hair.

Catherine's sister, Pippa looked beautiful as well and it's heart warming to know they are also very close.

I was interested in seeing the Step Mother-in-Law and Mother-of-the-Bride dresses. Both mothers really looked fabuous!

I loved seeing all the fancy big hats. Ummm... But why was the Prime Minister's wife not wearing a hat? Her head looked naked.

It was nice to see the Royal family looking so cordial and hearing how Charles and Camilla were happy and how William and Harry now really loved her. Forgiveness is a lovely thing.

And then Kate appeared and we could all see her mystery dress. I was a little disappointed. I thought she'd choose something without the lace, something not quite so old fashioned looking.

Then it grew on me. They say it is reminiscent of Grace Kelly's dress. Actually, any wedding gown would have looked great on Princess Catherine. She was stunning!


It just amazed me how we could see the wedding from every single angle, crystal clear and super close up. How scary is that for the couple to know every single gesture or squirm would be caught and Twittered?


I loved it when William who was the last one to see his bride whispered, "You look beautiful," when he finally did.

It was lovely to know Kate had kept her hair down than putting it up unnaturally because she wanted her future husband to see her as she really was on this important day.

We also got that close up view of William having difficulty getting the ring on her finger. Like I said before... the technology is incredible!

They rode to Buckingham Palace after the wedding, but it was after 2:00 and I just couldn't stay up for The Kiss.

I went to bed.

Art opened one eye and said, "Did you enjoy it?"

I did.