I'LL LIVE: EUPHORIA 3

My blog around eight months ago introduced Euphoria One, which ended when I went to France for what turned out to be a fabulous tour to taste Chateau Lafite Rothschild Bordeaux and Louis XIII Cognac, plus several memorable meals.  However, the stress level was too dominant for anything like continued euphoria.

But back in Honolulu, euphoria returned.  Call that E2.  But only weeks later, on to the Orient.  While that too was fabulous, I can't maintain a comfortably enjoyable state of mind on the road.  Then when I came home after 42 days of travel, all my medical treatment deadlines arrived, procedures I should have addressed many years ago, summarized in my 1June2019 posting.

Well, this past weekend my skin tag removal doctor left a message on my phone and said all went well.  The polyps (or skin tags) were not malignant.  So that called for a minor celebration.  I went out for lunch at Merriman's, followed by a movie:

I ordered what looks like escargot, but this time with octopus, a far more desirable victual.  With snails, you wonder if they are poisonous or not.  The garlic bread was also sensational, and they brought an extra slice, for a good part of the consumption is to absorb the butter concoction with the bread.  Perfect with a Pinot Noir and Oahu-crafted beer.

However, they can still improve this preparation, for the essence of octopus was only barely there.  If they fry, dry or otherwise eliminate more water, the taste should intensify.  Growing up we could actually afford a whole dried abalone--where you need a pocket knife to thinly slice a portion--which has a flavor totally absent from the abalone you now have in restaurants.  Same for scallops.  Yuki was my server, and he did well, allowing for variations.

So, anyway, next on to Rocketman, the story of Elton John.  The Tomatometer showed 91% (reviewers) and 88% (audiences).  Taron Egerton does a decent job as the matured Elton John, singing 100% of the songs.  While he does not quite mimic John's voice, that was okay, and Egerton is a bit better looking.  I just couldn't quite figure out who was Elton's mother, and she turned out to be 38-year old Bryce Dallas Howard, of Jurassic Park fame, and daughter of Ron.

Yesterday was potentially the most important day for the rest of my life, as I was scheduled to meet my colonoscopy doctor to get the results of the lab test. The previous afternoon, I got a call from her office, reminding me of this appointment.  That spooked me, for never before has any of my doctors ever called for that reason.  Unfortunately, my mind worked overtime, and I thought, the message must be bad, for why would they do this unless it was really important.  I had difficulty sleeping.

I've been so lucky all my life, and have long been expecting some balance occurring, meaning unlucky news.  Thus, with trepidation, I showed up early.

We met.  You quickly look for special body language, or some sign on her face to alert you on what to expect.  Well, the two polyps turned out to be benign.  The news were all good.  I don't know why, but we talked for more than 20 minutes, very little about my health.  At the end she indicated I should return in three years, not necessarily for another colonoscopy, but just to see how I'm doing.  I am the happiest human on Planet Earth, and entered into a state of Euphoria 3.

So where  do I go for lunch to celebrate?  I couldn't think of even one restaurant to match my elation.  Plus, as I would be driving, can't have any wine or beer.   What about my 15 Craigside lanai, where the view is wonderful, and I'm surrounded by my herb garden?

So I went to  Tamashiro's and Marukai.  I noted that there were several varieties of "cheap" fish at Tamashiro's, as for example, to the right, $1.98/pound.  But that is tilapia from China.  I can't think of something I would more want to avoid.  But awa chunks for less than $4...yet, those bones.  Even oio, which can only be made into fishcake. I picked out a dungeness crab.

At Marukai I bought some Miyazaki wagyu beef and a pound of local ahi chu-toro.  Guess which one?

They were both caught in local waters, and the one on the left certainly looked close to being real chu-toro (the relative whiteness indicates fattiness, a desirable trait of tuna, with more omega-3 fatty acid).  However, I purchased a pound of the left yellow-fin tuna and saved $26.

I had the crab and some sashimi for lunch on my lanai, with cold beer and hot sake.  Note that package of potato chips, which will later be explained.

I noticed my apartment flowers were also particularly cheerful.  Water lily (and, if you look closely, with two new buds popping up--in the year here, there has been a bloom 90% of those days, and, always, only one), anthuriums and honohono orchids (and, remember, this is June):

As a quick aside, I bought a new version of Terro ant trap, and this one definitely works:

Ants bring aphids and disease, and my battle with them is constant.

Also new, which I had for lunch (see photo above), Foodland now produces its own potato chips, which get awfully close to Maui's Original Kitch'n Cook'd  legend.  I thought it was no longer around, but, apparently must still be available, at double the cost of the one on the left.

I then for dinner splurged on the wagyu / onions and chu-toro over ogo (seaweed), with the latest Stanford Cabernet Sauvignon, spot of hot sake and cold beer:

What a lunch-dinner combination on my lanai, enhanced by Euphoria 3.  Then in the evening, I promptly lost my initial poker buy-in (all of $5).  However, E3 evokes an attitude of indulgence, for, after all, we're laughing all the time.

To further amplify E3, I'll join the Pan-Pacific Festival this weekend in Waikiki.  All events are free to the public, ending with a parade on Sunday.

I tried to get a room for June 8 and 9, but those Starwood properties on the beach went for close to $1000 for those two days, after you add all those exorbitant and outrageous fees.  So I'll be staying at the Princess Kaiulani (right), which still had Kamaaina (only for people who live here) rates.  And, just think, my transport cost will be free, for our 15 Craigside Photo Club has an outing to the Honolulu Zoo Saturday morning.  I'll have the van hold my roller, and at 11:30AM walk over to the PK.  Most tourists spend a fortune and lose two days getting here and back.

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MY FAVORITE DOCTOR

I have had many doctors in my life.  My next door neighbor, John, is one, but we have no professional relationship, only a personal one, so he does not qualify for this analysis.  My personal physician, Joey, is another, who graduated seven years ago from the University Hawaii.  He will outlive me.  My previous one, Melvin, was some years younger, but one day got tired of what he was doing and just retired.  I'm using first names to somewhat respect their privacy.

I thank Kristi, my colonoscopy specialist, more correctly called a gastroenterologist, and dermatologist Ryan, for with their procedures showed nothing cancerous from their excisions, catalyzing more or less a constant state of euphoria since early June.  There are more, but not as many as most I know at 15 Craigside, for they in sum experienced all chapters of any anatomy book, the most common subject discussed at dinner.

My favorite doctor is new.  I've had a number of postings on cutting nails.  Here is just one with a quote:

15 Craigside actually has a foot doctor that comes a couple of times a month, and several residents have her cut their toenails.  When you get old, it is painful to do this yourself.  However, I think that is too much of an insult to have a medical doctor do this.  Plus, I hear that she does a terrible job.

So I was referred by friends and my personal doctor to Dr. Ricky Sukita (those are my feet, and I can use his full name because I asked if I could).  He is among the best podiatrists in Hawaii.  More so, he is one of the top three.  

As I more and more had difficulty bending down to cut my toenails, I went to a series of manicurist/pedicurist shops, some costing as much as $50, for it seemed too menial to use a real physician just for toenail cutting.   But desperation has a way of overcoming embarrassment, so I finally succumbed earlier this year.

One of the best decisions I made in my life.  For one, my medical plan pays for this service.  Also, too, Ricky is one of the nicest people you can meet.    

He solved one of the bigger problems in my life.  In addition I made a friend.  With the others, all we talk about is my body and health.  With Dr. Sukita, during my 15 minutes every five weeks with him, we discuss our lives and philosophies.  He is my favorite doctor because we have this more personal relationship

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COVID-19: One Year of Continuous Euphoria

From Worldometer,  COVID-19 new deaths:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil   India   South Africa

May     27    1535     5283         1148     190         28

            28    1223     4612         1067     177         25
            29    1212     4873         1180     269         34
            30    1015     4084           890     205         32
June      1      638     3189          480      223         40
              2      730     3053          732      200         22
              3    1134    4669         1232      221          50
             4     1083    4928         1269      259         37
             5     1031    5511         1492      275         56

Summary:  The new deaths trend seems to be on an upswing, especially for the current epicenter, South America, and possibly next one, Africa.

From The New York Times in their daily briefing today:

If you look at one of the charts tracking the coronavirus in the U.S., you’ll probably notice a disturbing pattern: The number of new cases has virtually stopped falling, hovering around 20,000 for the past 10 days. However, there are now more tests than before, resulting in a dropping positive test rate: The World, especially the USA, is struggling.  Me?  I'm happy. For the first ever, from 2018 entered a state of sinusoidal euphoria.  It was exactly a year ago that this feeling became continuous, into today.  As reported in my posting of 6 October 2018, the first eight months had a few minor bumps.  Two examples: I woke up one night and couldn't walk.  My right hip had locked.  A few minutes later, all became well, and this fearful experience never returned.  I nevertheless the next day I ordered a walker from Amazon, and it came not quite all put together.  That was a challenge, but if I become incapacitated, I have awaiting a spiffy aide...which is taking up space in my small apartment. Then there was that alert about a missile from North Korea heading for Hawaii.  That turned out to be just a bureaucratic blunder, but it was tense for a few minutes.

Early in 2019 an additional aggravation was my trip to France, for I almost fear going there.  There are too many things that can go wrong in places like Paris, Milan, Nairobi and certain cities of the world.  However, it was more than made up for with visits to Chateau Lafite Rochschild and Remy Martin.  The caviar/champagne lunch at the Los Angeles Airport and Chaise Monet in Cognac were also memorable.

Actually, the road to euphoria goes back even further, to four years ago, when I finally decided to...give up on trying to organize or run anything....my enjoyment of life subsequently materially increased.  Combined with cataract surgery, which restored my eyesight to 20-20, the mostly disappearance of my tinnitus, a colonoscopy to verify that I was free of possible cancer, and good enough knees that did not prevent me from walking 18 holes at the Ala Wai Golf Course twice per week.  I'm less stressed, feeling good and do whatever I want.

This metamorphosis came on the sudden realization that my end was not that far away, and I felt I had sacrificed enough for my one and only life.  I have been a giving person, and don't know anyone who has donated more to Humanity and Planet Earth.  Whether it was my time and attitude to make people better, sacrificing credit for the sake of accomplishing group and their personal goals, or even like endowing my penthouse apartment to the University of Hawaii to initiate the Blue Revolution.

I now don't bother with giving gifts and am rather obtuse to volunteering for anything or merely only doing the right thing.  Perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit, for I remain somewhat charitable on a limited basis.  Mind you, I still generally smile and try to be reasonably kind and helpful, and most might not even recognize how much I have actually changed.  But don't expect anything consequential from me....except maybe towards my Blue Revolution crusade.  I have an important meeting scheduled soon, but will most likely delay it because of the current pandemic limitations on gatherings.

I continue to post this blog because, after some introspection, realized that I'm doing this mostly for myself.  My global platform allows me to gloat and pontificate.  Sometimes I get pedantic, for I've been in education all my life.  There is something to this site being visited by 221 countries, 45.5% from foreign sites:

The highlights during my continuous euphoria were bountiful, but this ecstatic feeling now and then was challenged by adversity:

• 1 June 2019:  MY WORST WEEK IN DECADES ENDS REASONABLY OKAY
• 30 June 2019:  WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY ABOUT DONALD TRUMP? (Just had to insert something about The Donald.)

• 3 July 2019:  CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE HEADING STRAIGHT FOR HAWAII
• 8 August 2019:  HOW THE USA CAN STOP MASS SHOOTINGS (Of course, there were mass shootings.)
• 14 August 2019:  FUTURE FATE OF HONG KONG and TMT (Getting worse for Hong Kong today and the Thirty Meter Telescope appears to be on a perpetual hold.)

• 22 August 2019:  DONALD TRUMP versus GLOBAL WARMING (Trump again, for we do have this other pandemic regarding our environment.)
• 24 October 2019:  ARE THESE SIGNS OF DEMENTIA? (Am I entering an early phase of dementia?)

• 5 December 2019:  SO HOW WAS THE DIAMOND PRINCESS?  (Yes, I was on the ship that started COVID-19...but a month before it began to happen.)
• 2 February 2020:  COULD THE WUHAN CORONAVIRUS BE A SIGN OF DOOMSDAY? (Then the world knew for sure where this pandemic started.)

• 20 February 2020:  DAYS 8 and 9: Phuket to Chiang Mai (Our trip to Thailand was wonderful.  I include these days because Phuket was not worthy of a stop and on the flight to Chiang Mai, a person from China was seated between us.  Not only was he slightly coughing, but he said he had luckily sneaked into Thailand for a visit.)
• 30 May 2020:  COVID-19: Riots in Time of Pandemic (Not only the coronavirus matter, but now racial protests.)

Donald Trump was an irritant, but none of the more serious domestic and international crises kicked me out of my euphoric state.  An occasional hangnail, sore joints and such, sure.  I reveled in quarantine, for life was stressless, meals were delivered to my room, I had an angel in town who bought me wagyu beef and sake and sashimi and stuff, enjoyed watching Netflix/Amazon Prime, loved naps (one of my coming postings) and felt I actually got healthier.   Turned out that walking on golf courses had cause those ankle swells, for they were back to normal as I prepare for golf today. 

My plants and fish survived.  In fact I was getting worried that the aquarium was getting covered with algae so I could not see inside.  I tried scraping and wiping the growth off, but got nowhere.  Then, one day in my neon tank, small snails suddenly appeared and in a month completely cleaned up the glass.  Where they came from I had no idea.  So I transferred some to the water lily tub.  Same thing happened.  The wonders of ecology:

It took a month to get this far in the water lily container.  A couple more weeks and this aquarium will look like the neon tank.

Year 2004:

• Mark Zukerberg creates Facebook.
• The first Southern Hemisphere hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean ever, Hurricane Catarina, makes landfall over Brazil.  The reason why never before is wind shear.  Sixteen years later, still no #2.

• European Union adds 10 members:  Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
• End of Soviet Union passport.

• Summer Olympics in Athens.
• Edvard Munch's The Scream and other paintings stolen in Oslo.  If this sounds familar, it's because there is more than one of them.  Another was stolen in 2004
• The four deepest caves in the world are in the country of Georgia:
• Veryovkina Cave is the deepest at 7,257 feet, but the entrance starts from 7,497 feet above sea level.
• For the first time, explorers reached the bottom, 7208 feet, of #2, Krubera-Voronza Cave.  The bottom is 5610 below sea level, the deepest ever reached.  A mile is 5280 feet.

• NASA Scramjet reaches a velocity of 7366 MPH.
• The Great Sumatra Earthquake (Indonesia) of 9.1-9.3 magnitude sent tsunamis around the world, killing over 200,000.  Nearshore waves exceeded 100 feet high.

Top 50 of 2004, in 16 minutes.  Have a great weekend.

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