Times Change... Or Have They?

Quite a while ago, I saw this Pearls Before Swine comic strip in the Star Advertiser but didn't have a story to post it with.

So now I have something to post about.

We were having our weekly Starbucks drink after finishing our mall walk with friends one morning. 

The Dodgers had won their 2nd World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Art was very happy the Dodgers won even though he had to send his $1.00 bet to our son overseas. 

They have a $1 bet over most of the major sports games.

I forget when Keola lost the bet and sent this foreign currency to Art. 

Anyway, there we were with our friend, Dave (who is not Japanese) who smiled and said, "Isn't it pretty amazing that Japanese-Americans were once put in Internment camps and now 3 Japanese players are World Series winners?" 

In fact Yoshinobu Yamamoto was even given the MVP title. 

Yup... Pretty amazing.

Dave went on to say, "Did you know that baseball was big in the Internment camps? In fact, they all had baseball leagues competing against each other?" 

No, I didn't know. I do know some friends and relatives who were incarcerated in Internment camps on the mainland. We even had an Internment camp here on Oahu called Honouliuli. 

I looked it up online and found this book.

I guess baseball was big in the camps and helped to keep spirits up at a time when it felt the country was against them even though they were Americans.

I saw this on a website called Baseball in American Concentration Camps: History, Photos, and Reading Recommendations.

I was surprised they called it a Concentration Camp. The correct term is Internment. Whatever the case. It was a terrible time. A couple of my uncles joined the 442nd Infantry Regiment. Another uncle's father and older brother were sent to an Internment camp on the mainland merely because they were reporters for a Japanese language newspaper. It was 83 years ago in 1942. Armed military came to their house and took them away... and this was in Hawaii!

But now we are happily celebrating the triumphs of 3 Japanese players who helped the Dodgers win the World Series.

We're thrilled, of course. But wow! Isn't it amazing? 

But then we're hearing from our daughter in Chicago about ICE raids. She sent us this photo taken safely (she reassured me) on her way to work.

Reeeally Scary AI

We were out walking with our photographer friend, Dave. His wife and I have been friends since kindergarten. 

Ever since John of The AC is On showed us that iPhone Portrait trick on his blog, Dave has taught us how to play with our iPhone also.

Well... he has now discovered something that Google photos can do which really freaked us out. 

Dave had taken this photo of us the last time we were out together.

Looks like it's taken on Portrait mode since the background is blurred.

Anyway, understand it's NOT a movie. He only took that one photo because he was teaching us how to use that Portrait mode on the iPhone. 

So here's what he showed us on Google Photos.

UH oh...

I hope this video comes out OK and you can see it. I've never tried to post a video from my computer before that wasn't from YouTube. If you’re able to see the video, you’ll notice that this Google AI video doesn't show Art’s left arm moving to place the mask on his face even though his arm is in the still photo. On the other hand, 🤣 you can’t see my hands, BUT the video manufactures hands for me putting on the mask. 

If this video is not able to be posted correctly, let me just explain that Google actually took the still and was able (with AI) show Art and me both putting on our masks. It was absolutely astonishing and looked totally real except for his missing left arm.

And frightening.

You really can't believe everything you see on the web anymore.

Sticker Shock and Awww...

Art got the safety check done on our Prius to get another sticker to put on our license plate for the year. The deadline was September to get it done.

He didn't relish the idea of standing in the long line at the City Hall Satellite Office. So he opted to pay the 78¢ stamp to mail in his check to get the sticker. 

Well... he waited and waited for the sticker to be sent to us but it didn't come. When he checked our bank account, it showed that the check had been cashed. So he waited some more but still, the sticker did not arrive in the mail.

Well... it was now September. 😬 So he called the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Consumer Advocate who answered said they got the check but could not tell him if the sticker was mailed so he just needed to wait for it. And if he still didn't get it, to go to the Satellite Office. Another week went by. 

No sticker.

With September almost over, he gave up and went to the Satellite Office. He was directed to a long line. When he got to the front, the person at the window directed him to another line. 

When he again got to the front of that line, he was told he should have stayed in the other line. 😵 He was then told he'd have to pay 50¢ for the replacement sticker EVEN THOUGH they'd already cashed his check. 😏

He paid it, got the sticker and put in on our license plate so we could be legally on the road. I hope it doesn't fall off. Well... if it does fall off, we should get another sticker in the mail someday, right?

Do the police really look for those stickers?

Well...

After all that, Art got a call from the Department of Motor Vehicles. She said she was following up on that call he made in September. 

OK, she got an earful from Art. He just told her EVERYTHING he went through to get that little sticker. She asked if he wanted to be reimbursed the 50¢. He told her, "yes" just on principle for this whole fiasco. And no, he wasn't nasty at all to her. He was very pleasant actually... (I was listening) just detailed. 🤣

A week later, he got this in the mail. 💗

*Translation: Mahalo is Hawaiian for thank you.

Learning from Blogger Buddies and Regular Buddies

There are so many wonderful things about blogging. 

1. For one thing, it keeps my mind active to come up with posts to write and I NEED to keep my brain active because I'm getting more and more forgetful. 

2. I really feel that special friendship with so many long time bloggers from all around the US, Canada, and England. There were even more from Australia, India and Japan but I don't see them as much now.

3. I love sharing and knowing about everyone's happy and fun times as well as sharing our difficulties and getting advice. Sharing and connection is a very valuable thing.

3. I also learn so much from everybody... which actually brings me to today. John in Canada has a blog called The AC in On. He did a post recently titled: 

Phone Portraits. https://anvilcloud.blogspot.com/2025/09/phone-portraits.html

John took a photo with his iPhone on the Portrait mode of his friend with a darkened background. I thought that was the coolest thing. But I just couldn't figure it out.

OK, well... luckily we do have a SUPER photographer friend who we walk with every Friday. Dave just happens to be married to my childhood friend, Diane since kindergarten. 

I mentioned this cool thing I'd seen on John's blog site and of course, Dave would know how to do it too.

As the four of us sat in the food court of the mall one Friday, Dave took this photo of me using that feature and showed me how to do it.

So I went home and promptly forgot how he did it. 🙄

I told you I'm getting forgetful. 

But I didn't give up.

One morning, Art told me to check out the orchids that were now blooming.

They were so pretty that I took a photo of it.

Then... I wondered.

Dave said in order to do that darkened background, I had to take the photo in Portrait mode.

So I did.

And through trial and error, I did get this effect.

And then I forgot how I did it.

However, being able to look things up online is really helpful for forgetful people so I found this.

OK... this must be how I did it.

And that's another reason why it's great to blog. If I forget (which I will) and want to know how to do this again, I can just look it up on my blog. 😁

Pee Collection

I was feeling OK at my last appointment a few months ago but my wonderful primary care doctor, Dr. P-- saw something in my blood sample that he apparently really didn't like. He said my sodium and chloride were too low. And the Serum Osmol (whatever that is) was really, really low. He had me redo the test and it was apparently still not good. 

So he sent me to a nephrologist. I had to look that up to see what he was. He's a kidney specialist.

Well, Dr. J-- felt the numbers weren't good but not horrible. Still...he saw that Dr. P-- had done quite a bit of the appropriate testing and thought I should redo the tests yet again. 

Sigh...

Well.. he wasn't satisfied with those test results either. 😟

So he said he wanted me to do a blood and pee collection at the lab, be tested, drink 1.5 liters of water, and then have my blood and pee tested again in 4 hours.

Sigh...

The Tripler lab however said they didn't do the test Dr. J asked for so they had me do at 24 hour pee collection instead. Seriously? And they stressed getting EVERY drop. If I lose any, I had to start over again. Arrghhh...

For the guys: Just know it's a lot harder for a woman to collect pee than a man. I won't go into detail on this. You'll have to use your imagination.

Well... actually that's OK. Never mind.

Anyway, I was happy that they give you a little plastic pee-catcher which made it a lot easier.

So yes, I did it.

And I didn't drop any. 😁

However, when Dr. J saw what the lab did, he was not happy. 

Sigh...

So he's going around them and saying he wants me to go back, get blood and pee tested, drink 1.5 liters of water and go back and be tested again. 

Sigh...

He says this will be the LAST test... for now.

But in all this, there's a bright side.

Mom's doctor has asked for a pee sample from mom. 

This would have been REALLLLLLY difficult. I KNOW you can imagine why.

My brother went to the Kaiser Lab and got the little bottle to put her pee in. 😏 I'm sure he's glad he doesn't have to do it. 

And here's the bright side. 😄 I have that plastic pee collection thing. Woo hoo! What a relief! 

Sigh...

And yes, the results for her test were perfect. The doctor says she’s doing well. Aside from her memory problem, she’s healthier than I am. 😆

Life and Death of a Balloon

This is how it all started.

Our son and family were here for a month this summer. And in that time we incredibly celebrated 4 birthdays: our daughter-in-law, Art, me and our grandson. 

Our son bought a balloon and lei for Art. For JK's birthday, Keola also bought a balloon and lei for him. Two days later which happened to be the day before they left in August, we celebrated my birthday. 

JK told me I could have his lei and balloon since the flowers were still fresh and the balloon couldn't be taken with them on the airplane.

Here I am with JK's orchid lei and balloon.

Well...

Art attached the balloon to the back of the dining room chair and we were surprised that it was still gently swaying in September.

As I watched it's slow descent throughout the months I figured I'd take photos to see just how long the helium would stay alive and keep that balloon afloat.

Would you believe this was on Halloween, October 31st? It was still desperately trying to keep afloat.

But guess what.

Our dear cousins brought over several gifts for mom to celebrate her 96th birthday a couple of weeks ago.

And one of the things they brought...

Yup.

Another balloon! 

It makes mom smile when she sees it along with the flowers they also brought.

POSTSCRIPT: 

With all the worry for those in need during the government shutdown, etc. we did make monetary donations to the Food Bank.  However, we were at Costco and thought we could actually add something that felt even more substantial. The Hawaii Libraries were all partnering with the Hawaii Food Bank to collect food for those in need until Friday.

It was fun looking through the aisles for something that we thought would be quickly used. KOKUA is Hawaiian for help.

What kind of food would you donate?

Profusion of Pigeons!

Pigeons on our roof a few years ago was a terrible problem. They were building nests under our solar panels, pooping and leaving nesting garbage all over our roof. I was also getting a lot of bites from bird mites. 

We had to have our roof cleaned several times just to get the mess off. This is Ku. He was up on our roof for quite a while just getting all the debris off from the pigeons. Their poop and mess was also in the gutters and weeds started growing in it. All that had to be removed.

We then had netting installed to bird proof the solar panels a couple of years ago. A few pigeons still come by but they don't stay long. 

I think.

And then a good friend of ours sent this photo that he took on one of his daily walks. It absolutely sent shivers up my spine.

We see people in our neighborhood sometimes feeding pigeons outside and I wonder how their neighbors are feeling about that.

The Legend of Naupaka

There are a lot of legends involving the beach and mountain naupaka. This one comes closest to the version I was told during a botany class I took at the University of Hawaii many decades ago. This is from the Waikoloa website.

The Story of the Naupaka

There are two varieties of the Naupaka, one growing near the sea called Naupaka Kahakai, the other in the mountain is called Naupaka Kauihiwa. Each bears what appears to be half of a blossom and when placed together, they form a perfect flower.

There are several Hawaiian legends about these curious blossoms.  One story tells of two lovers, forever separated by the vengeful wrath of the Volcano Goddess Pele (pronounced peh-le).

Pele’s home is believed to be Halema`uma`u Crate at the summit of Kilauea on Hawai`i Island.  Pele had a very beautiful and loving sister named Princess Naupaka who she was jealous of because the people loved her.

One day Princess Naupaka was walking on the beach and noticed a very handsome young man standing in the water.  When their eyes met, he smiled and told her his name was Kaui and she fell instantly in love with him.  Naupaka went to her sister Pele to ask permission to marry Kaui. Pele told her sister she would go down to the beach the next day to meet this young man and would make her decision then.

The next day when Pele saw Kaui, she found him very pleasing and decided she wanted him for herself.  Pele told Kaui he had to come live with her.  Kaui replied, “I cannot for I met your sister, Princess Naupaka, the day before and I love her.”  Enraged, Pele chased the couple up to the mountain, hurling fiery lava after them.  

Princess Naupaka, took a blossom from her hair, ripped it in two and gave Kaui half. Pele’s other gentler sisters, took pity on the young man and transformed him into the Mountain Naupaka, the same blossom Princess Naupaka was wearing in her hair.  Pele then turned her vengeance on her sister, chasing her down to the ocean. Once again her sisters intervened and transformed the princess into Beach Naupaka.

Both Naupaka plants exist today; one on the shore and the other up on the mountains, each blooming as half flowers.  It is said that the lovers can be reunited when the flower of the Naupaka Kuaihiwi and the Naupaka Kahakai are joined together after they have been picked.

https://www.waikoloabeachgolf.com/the-story-of-the-naupaka/

I've often wondered if the beach and mountain naupakas were very different from each other.

When we were on the Big Island with Keola and family in July, I happened to see some naupaka along the beach and  took a photo of it so I could compare it with what grows on our neighborhood on the mountain.

I don't know... Maybe the beach naupaka has more rounded petals? I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for another naupaka next time we're at the beach.

Do Not Stand By My Grave and Weep

I wrote before how I was captivated by this Japanese boy singing a song that Josh Groban made famous, You Raise Me Up.

So anyway, I decided to look up more of his YouTube videos and was listening to this one called, Sen No Kaze ni Natte. Kawai Yuto is the young Japanese boy and he's singing at a Korean TV show. It looks something like America's Got Talent. So the judges are speaking in Korean but Yuto is singing in Japanese.

As I listened to the words, it suddenly struck me that the lyrics are awfully, awfully familiar. My Japanese is VERY faulty. Mom tells me not to speak Japanese if I'm in Japan. However, I recognized the first words as sounding like Do not cry at my grave.  And then I'm hearing words like snow, then a star in the sky to watch over you, a bird, and wind in the sky...

It reminded me of the poem I'd heard a long time ago. I thought it was from the Civil War. My brain must be mixed up. Anyway, Just to prove you can find anything on the web, I looked online for the possible translation from Japanese to English.

Well... looking further I discovered it was not written during the Civil War. AI said it was attributed to Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905–2004). This is not true either.

When I looked it up on Wikipedia it said that Frye claimed she'd written it and said it was confirmed by Dear Abby. However, 

"Pauline Phillips and her daughter Jeanne Phillips, writing as Abigail van Buren, repeatedly confessed to their readers that they could not confirm who had written the popular poem."

This is also from Wikipedia:

Kansas native Clare Harner (1909–1977) first published "Immortality" in the December 1934 issue of poetry magazine The Gypsy and was reprinted in their February 1935 issue:

Clare Harner wrote it after the sad, sudden death of her brother.

When I looked further on YouTube, it turned out singer, Akikawa, Masafumi had written the Japanese version of the poem and made it into this beautiful song, "Sen no Kaze in Natte" which Yuto sang later.

All this just proves you can find out anything on the web, BUT you can't rely on just AI. You have to dig further on your own. 

And to close, here are the original words to Clare Harner's beautiful poem:

 Do not stand

          By my grave, and weep.

     I am not there,

   I do not sleep—

I am the thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints in snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle, autumn rain.

As you awake with morning's hush,

I am the swift, up-flinging rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight,

I am the day transcending night.

  Do not stand

        By my grave, and cry—

      I am not there,

    I did not die.

— Clare Harner, The Gypsy, December 1934

POSTSCRIPT:

I did more digging. I still had that Civil War thing on my mind so I looked up Ken Burns' Civil War series which is where I thought I'd heard this poem. 

OK, it wasn't this poem by Clare Harner, but part of a letter written by Sullivan Ballou to his wife, Sarah that was read during the Ken Burns series. The letter was never mailed because he was killed the week after at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 21, 1861. It was found later after Sarah had already passed away.

"But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights … always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again …"

Here's a link to read more about it.  https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-civil-war/sullivan-ballou-letter

Stuck Fitbit Charge 6

I bought a Fitbit Charge 2 many years ago and used it especially to record my sleep. I used an Apple watch in the daytime. But since I've lost way too much weight lately after installing Invisalign to get my teeth back where it should after my front tooth snapped off, my wrist got too thin to hold a big Apple Watch. I therefore handed down my Apple Watch to my granddaughter who is happily using it at college.

I'm now using my Fitbit Charge 2 for the whole day. It obviously doesn't do what the Apple Watch could, but I don't care.

When I first got that Charge 2, the color of the font was weird so they sent me a second one. 

Art's Charge 2 died so he got a Charge 6 a little over a year ago.

But then his Charge 6 suddenly developed another problem. Notice the difference between the Charge 2 and Charge 6.

For a sleeker look, I suppose, Fitbit installed a shorter button.

Well his button is stuck inside the watch. It won't retract.

He's tried alcohol and then WD40 and I don't know what else to loosen it.

You can see from this photo that I tried to pry it out with a needle, but no luck. It's stuck! He's looked online and nothing helps.

The warranty is 2 months over so the Fitbit is dead.

He's now using my extra Charge 2 (to chart his sleep) and I don't think I'll ever replace it with a 6 no matter how good the reviews might be. 😏