Uncontrollable Shifts in Life

I started to think more about how events  change our lives.  Often these events are out of our control, like a heart attack.  Then I thought about the perception of one's status in life.  I got a little perturbed the other day listening to a Kaiser Permanente Ad for health care.  It talked about their program for the older generation, designed to help prevent typical accidents that occur in the later stages of life.  I got upset about how the commercial perceived the category of being a Grandparent.  You mention that term and you automatically envision elderly folks walking with canes,  and repeating themselves about the old days.

Of course the reason I got upset was that I now find myself in that category.  And apparently I am one of the first of my age group that is becoming a part of that group.  I always maintained that I rather be a young grandparent rather than one in a wheel chair, but now I am classified not as a parent of married children, but a grandparent.  Am I that old?  Do I look that old?  Do I feel that old?   I know I act that old, but really, am I that old?

I guess I have until April 26th to prepare mentally.  Did I mention I am still getting used to being called dad by my daughter in law?

Gayle and I, Howard and Bing Chu are pleased (thrilled with a little shock factor) to announce that Tiff and Jeff are expecting their first born in April :)

Anticipation

As the one year anniversary of my bypass surgery approaches, these are my observations.

I had anticipated full recovery by this time. In one word: Oops. I look and feel better, but still have lingering issues.


I had planned to take Gayle and the boys out to dinner to celebrate my surgery.

I had thoughts of something forbidden. I didn’t anticipate my diminishing craving for those items. So Gayle has decided we will eat at a Veggie type restaurant. I guess the boys will be escaping to In n Out for a late night snack.


There are still times where I get these pains in my chest. They are very brief and few and far between. But they constantly poke at me with a reminder of my mortality. And for some reason It provokes me to think about grandkids…….



I didn’t anticipate the psychological imprint of the event. I still haven’t become accustomed to the chest incision scar. I can feel it every day, at every moment. It is more of a presence that I am not sure ever goes away. It gets irritated when it is hot, it rubs against the seat belt where I have to hold the belt away from my chest as I drive, certain clothing materials irritates it more than others and I still don’t like touching it in the shower. I have not yet acknowledged the visual in the mirror as a permanent part of my body.



Of course I never anticipated a Heart Attack, but I do anticipate living for awhile.

Daily Reminders

I'm currently working on my top ten list for why I'm still alive for the one year anniversary of my bypass surgery.  I have developed a morbid outlook at times as I encounter stories of others with grave health problems or have passed on.  The Heart Attack Club is slowly growing.

These are some of the daily reminders of the surgery:

The visual each day of the scar after a shower
The reluctance to touch the scar (touching around it is OK)
The chaffing of the scar on the car's chest seat belt
The irritation of the scar on some shirt materials (synthetics are  the worse)
The itchiness during the heat of the summer

But the biggest constant reminder of the surgery is the sensation of your skin patched together where it feels that both sides of the chest were just not quite aligned exactly when it was sewn up.
The best example I can think of is when you take a sheet of paper, cut it in half length wise, then tape it back together.  You can never get it exactly right.  At some point in the middle it just does not align right.  Flip it over and you can still see the cut and where it is off. 

Sweet and Sour

Jeff has been playing basketball in the JEMS Church League with Lighthouse.  Often they run short of players as they play Sunday nights, sometimes at 10pm.  When that occurs, Jeff recruits his brothers to play.  Often that means Jared.  So this past Sunday, Gayle and I took him down to the gym for a 9pm game.

It was mixed emotions as we watched Jeff run up and down the court, sometimes driving to the basket, going for a loose ball, etc.  Gayle constantly worried about his back, questioning if he is walking OK,  whether he should be doing those moves, etc.   I on the other hand was bent over with my hands on my mouth biting my tongue.  We were soon relieved of our tension when Jeff sprained his ankle late in the first half.  It was more of a relief to see him laying on the ground with his foot propped up on a chair than watching him play.  We could then relax and concentrate on yelling at Jared who ended up spraining his ankle in the last seconds of the game.

Sweet: We actually got to see Jeff play basketball, something he loves to do. He has made wonderful progress from that day after his back surgery.

Sour: It is almost like anticipating a train wreck, worried that he might some how re injure his back. That worried feeling never leaves your stomach.

This mixture of emotions never ends as a parent.

This Monday marks Jeff and Tiff's first year wedding anniversary.  As usual, Jeff will not tell anyone what he has planned, not even Tiff.

9 Lives

In the show Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray's wife Debra often refers to him with contempt when he goofs up with one word.  Idiot.  It is a proven theory that husbands are often idiots, especially when it comes to our health.

Last weekend, from across the room, both my wife and daughter in law noticed that my right leg was swollen and red.   After some badgering and an admission on my part that their reasoning was valid (it's kind of hard to argue when it's swollen to where my sock and shoe were restricting the bloated ankle and calf, the heat emanating from the tender, sensitive red area and the fact that it was indeed painful to walk on).  Ok, I admit that when Jeff agreed with them, was when I gave in.  Gayle was soon driving me to Urgent Care on a late Sunday afternoon to have it evaluated.

Even when the doctor was drawing an outline map of the infected area and commenting that if it spreads beyond those lines that I was to immediately go to ER; it didn't hit me how serious the condition was until Gayle blurted "Do people die from this?".  The Doc looked surprised by her question and answered yes.   Uh oh.......

After a days rest, I decided it was ok to go to work.  Dr. orders were to rest, and elevate my leg.  Now after being restricted for months after bypass surgery, this did not sit well with me.  I figured, I would sit in my cube and work the phone and computer.  After two meetings (I did prop my leg up) something didn't feel right, so I pulled up my pants leg and checked my calf.  All I could think of was Uh oh......  Needless to say, I went home, called Gayle and my Dr. (in that order) and elevated my leg, higher than my heart.

Now even as it is going on 5 days with not a lot of improvement, a change in antibiotics, being shadowed by Gayle and constantly being tracked like a GPS by Jordan; I am still considering officiating a basketball game on Sunday.

This is the point where I start citing the many examples of those who did not listen to their wives and paid some dire consequences.  I am sure you can fill in your own story.  The common denominator seems to be we either drive ourselves to ER, alone; or we don't follow our Drs. orders.

As I visited a friend today who had a recent heart attack, we were commenting on how we are using up our 9 lives.  Only some of us only get one.

And no, I am not officiating this Sunday.  Of course I haven't told Gayle I even considered it.  I can hear it now......."idiot".

Things I Miss

Things I miss




Bagel with cream cheese, lox, onions tomatos and capers.

That second cup of coffee

Carnitas

Fillet of Fish, fries and a Coke (Extra Value Meal #8)

Get Smart

Portuguese Sausage and eggs

Auntie Kay's Saba (Japanese prepared Mackeral)

My old erector set

The freedom to eat anything without guilt

Winding a Watch

Some recent observations jogged my mind as to how times have changed.


Our family found ourselves scrambling one night to find enough wrist watches for Jordan and Jared to take their tests (LSAT and SAT respectively) the next day. The watches were needed to help them manage their time while taking the tests. Most test sites require you to turn the cell phones off during the test. Apparantly most of the younger generation do not wear watches. So how do they know the time? Every cell phone has the time displayed on its screen,. You should have seen the look on Jared’s face when I was trying to describe to him my watch that is set automatically from signals sent from Greenwich. It was like “why?”

We took a family trip up to San Jose for a wedding last weekend. One of the advantages of kids growing up is that you have multiple drivers taking shifts driving up the I5. I was watching as Jeff settled into the drivers seat, he made the usual adjustments of the seat, steering wheel and mirrors. But then he pulled out his Ipod and plugged it in. It was then I remembered Jordan and I doing the exact same thing. We all have our Ipods with our own selection of music programmed in. This is in addition to Jared in the back of the van with his headphones on connected to his Ipod. This did give Gayle a sampling of what everyone listens to as she never budged from the front passenger seat. And yes it was revealing to hear what they listen to.

At work, all of us are tied to our computers, We type up our own reports, email is the common mode of communication and the company has a version of Instant Messaging. But the younger co workers are able to interact with their content more than me. I for some reason have trouble reviewing spreadsheets and documents on a computer screen and prefer to kill a tree and print them out to read. I then take the hard copy all over the company reading, editing and forgetting where I left them. I then come back to my office computer to final edit. Everyone else either logs on to another computer or somehow looks it up on their Iphone.

I used to take the time to figure out technical problems. If the computer went down, I spent time figuring out why it’s not working and attempting to fix it. When Gayle starts yelling for help at 2am in the morning, we all silently lay in our beds seeing who she grabs first. It was like when we were new parents, it was a game of chicken to see who would get up out of bed to change the baby. If I have trouble with a program now, I yell for Jared and the boys scatter and hide.


By the way, they now have You Tube on how to wind a watch.

Comfort and Vin Scully

 I officiated my first games today for the FOR Candy League, 4th and 5th grade girls.  I had been assigned 3 games at Gardena Municipal gym with my son Jared.  It has been a long day due to a basketball clinic where I had to preside over two meetings explaining to new parents the ins and outs of starting a new team and navigating the waters of Asian Basketball.  And to be honest, I didn't think 3 games would be a problem, no major running up and down the court, just a nice low key 3 games.

When I first walked in the gym over to the score table the first question I heard from a friend was, "Are you OK to run?  I'm not calling the para medics if you fall down....." Of course I assured her I was OK and that all she had to do was to drag me out of the gym and across the street to the fire station.

The first time running down the court I could feel the chest pull.  It was at that moment I knew I would not last the full 3 games.  What I felt was the area on my left side of my incision in my chest.  I just saw my Cardiac Surgeon last week and asked about the numbness on that side.   He explained that that is where they took the mammary vein for two of the grafts and that it should take longer to get feeling back in that area.  When I run down the court, I feel the area of numbness pull on the area that has feeling.  Yuck.

That sensation and being winded after four times down the court made me realize I could easily be in trouble by the third game.  Apparently all these months of Cardiac Rehab have been more maintenance than building up my stamina.   The first thing I did during half time, was to call the young referee that had the shift after mine to come a game early.  He came into the gym just after the start of the third game.  Now if time flies when you are having fun, time crawls when you are waiting for your replacement.  My youthful replacement took his *%#& time getting dressed and ready to go as those girls started to fast break more.  How long does it take to put on a referee shirt and change your shoes and flirt with the girls, and......  I finally got to sit down after 5 minutes into the game (did I mention time crawls?).

My next mistake was sitting down next to Gayle.   The inquisition started.  How do you feel?  What do you mean your chest hurts?  I noticed you breathing hard running up and down the court, Haven't you been going to Cardiac Rehab?   You need to pull your shoulders back, stand straighter so you can breath easier.  Did you stretch before you ran on the court?  OK, she was making direct hits on cause and affect.  Damn.........

As I survived the questions with the acknowledgement of humility one of my nurses from Cardiac Rehab walked in the gym.  The one who threatened me in the hospital that she better not see me in the gym last year.  At least I dodged that bullet.  That is all I needed was another grilling.


If you are ever curious as to what the "zipper" looks like, there is currently a stop smoking commercial airing.  I shows an African American with his shirt off talking about the after affects of CABG surgery and the daily reminder of looking in the mirror. I  show two additional 1" horizontal slits at the bottom of the scar on both sides that were for the drainage tubes.

There are some mornings where you just don't want to swallow all those pills.  They don't seem to get smaller.  And its the supplements that are the ones that give me the most difficulty.  I can recite to you by memory my medications and their dosage, but I have difficulty remembering the everyday things like packing my Ipod and running shoes for the cardiac rehab days.

If there is any comfort in the world, it has been for me knowing that Vin Scully is back in the Dodger broadcast booth for another year.  Somehow his voice echoing through the stadium or through the TV on a summer night just seems right. 

Edit

I just spent some time reading over my previous postings.  I am appalled at the grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.  I'm not sure why, but I always figured as an engineer, I didn't need to pay attention to those trivial things.  When I see something published with those type of errors, I question the validity of what I am reading because I assume the author didn't take the time to do a spell check.  I hope to go back and at least correct the obvious errors. 

If I really want to do it right, I would have Gayle edit it like she did with the boy's homework assignments.  There is nothing like a teacher and her red pencil marking up the paper.  The only problem would be her editing more than punctuation.  She still has not read this blog because I won't tell her how to access it.  If she did, it would be like a government censor deleting the "sensitive" information.  Large sections of text would be blacked out.  She still has to hear about my writings from her friends.  I know when I'm in trouble when she comes home and yells "you wrote what?!!!"

Logic Statement

I was watching a video on the famous physicist, Richard Feinman. I only became familiar with him when I met someone who is married to his biographer. There are numerous references to Dr. Feinman by Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory, particularly in the bongo episode.  What struck me was this quote from the show: “Brilliant people are odd, but not all odd people are brilliant”.

When I first started working at Hughes Aircraft I sat in a cubicle next to the wall of Sr. Scientists. Now these were some of the most brilliant minds in the company, they were also some of the strangest behaving people. What made these people strange was their quirkiness. That also comes from the Big Bang Theory when Leonard tells people to use the term “quirky” when describing Sheldon. These days whenever I meet someone somewhat quirky, I start looking for glimpses of brilliancy. Sometimes I find them, sometimes not.

Now we all know that I do not fit the “brilliant” category, but I do find myself fitting the “odd” description. I don’t believe I look odd, or act overtly odd, I just think odd. The implication is that I usually find myself thinking differently than others and coming to different conclusions. And I'm not sure why. If you ask Gayle, she readily points to my heredity.

Feinman knew he saw things differently. he knew it was a part of him and he accepted it. He used it not only to satisfy his own curiosities, but to further impart his knowledge to others. He was great at explaining complex theories in a simple manner. Gayle’s frustration is that I have not found a use for it other than irritating her. She and a few others wait to see if I snap out of this current mode and break out for some usefulness. Most thought the bypass would have accomplished that feat. It has not. Apparently bypassing the clogged arteries does nothing to affect the clogging of my motivation.

Annual Reminder

This past weekend marks three years since Jeff’s back surgery. The yearly reminder is the FOR basketball tournament. We took him in the following Monday. It remains a constant reminder that basketball is not everything in life. Maybe that is why I dread the tournament every year. I hate being automatically forced to recognize the event annually. Sometimes it just takes the breath out of you and puts you in a deep state of hurt. Not pain, but a deep depressive ache.


As written in previous posts, he is about 85 % recovered from the surgery. He still has some loss of function on his left foot, but it does not affect his ability to walk. He says he just can’t wear the slip on flip flops. He doesn’t jump too well or have great lateral movement, but it does not keep him from playing half court basketball or playing touch football. Gayle and I prefer not to know about those activities

Jeff seems to have adjusted to his limitations… I on the other hand have not. As a parent, I still have pains of guilt of we should have done something different, responded faster, paid more attention to the symptoms, etc. I know I haven’t fully recovered. I still find difficult to accept.

Almost Forgotten

In review of my previous posts, I realized I never did reflect on Jeff's wedding to Tiff.  In the months leading up to the wedding date, it was a mix of running around.  A weekly request was made to do something new that accelerated as the date came near. On July 31, 2012 it all came together.

The wedding was planned by Tiff and Jeff through a mixture of friends and family.  What at times seemed chaotic, it all came together beautifully. 

 I will  be honest, I wished I had spent more time enjoying the event, but even now, I remember the event fondly and have used it as a benchmark.  Did I mention that their friends did a tremendous job in putting it all together? Further evidence that they are no longer kids, but young adults.

I have been told that these were delicious..... ;( 

My contributed efforts of PA supplemental equipment, Slide show equipment and Photo Booth was admittedly more than I should have committed to. Fortunately, family friends (Shojis and Hanayas) took over the Photo Booth, Tiffs brother Irving did a fantastic job in designing the backdrop.

One of Jeffs friends from high school Kevin Peng graciously helped me set up the slide show screen and projector.  Jeff and Tiff's friends from their church in San Diego did all of the PA set up both at the wedding site and reception area.

V Neck

One image that I haven’t seen yet is a open heart surgery veteran wearing tank tops or open shirts.  You just don’t see anyone advertising their scars proudly.  Yet the daily reminder of my mortality (seeing my scar in the mirror after my shower, the handful of meds and supplements taken twice a day, the stiffness of the right calf) has not changed my view on life.  It’s more of a why am I still here?   I have no desire to go out and flaunt the fact I survived.  Too many have passed or are suffering due to their surgeries.  I guess I better go watch a rerun of It’s a Wonderful Life.  In a bit of irony, his name is George.

Becoming a SME

At work there is a term called a SME (pronounced smeee), an acronym for Subject Matter Expert: is an individual with in-depth knowledge of the subject and the motivation to transfer their knowledge to others. Apparently I have become a Cardiac Bypass Survivor SME.
Gayle’s long time friend’s brother had bypass surgery on this past Thursday, quadruple. He had asked his sister to make sure I came by to visit.

What provoked him to ask for me was his frustration with the Dr.s answers to his questions. How long will this take, what happens next, etc. Except, I don’t remember much, but some of it is coming back……

In preparation for the visit, Gayle and I were trying to come up with a list of items that were of use to me in my recovery period.

Cocoa Butter stick: When Gayle first bought this at CVS, it was 99 cents. They have now discontinued it, reformulated it (adding Vitamin E) and charging more for less product. It was recommended by our dr practitioner. If you ever had a large scar, you will know at times feel like it crinkles like a peppermint candy wrapper. Well, this softens the area, especially after a hot shower in the morning.

Micro bead pillow: At little Co of Mary hospital, they gave me a heart shaped pillow to hold against my chest when I coughed. That helps hold things in and makes coughing less painful.

After a while my pillow was pretty filthy from various fluids leaking out of the various cutouts of my body. They also give you a pen for people to sign like a cast, so Gayle would not let me wash it for fear of washing out the ink.

I found a micro bead pillow helped a lot and I took it everywhere. It comes in handy especially in the car when you wife speeds through dips and you need a cushion between you and the seat belt. It also helps during those cat naps in the car. It is easily washed.

Long shoe horn**: These are typically found at Japanese stores or IKEA. It is a two foot long shoe horn so you don’t have to bend over to put your shoes on. They don’t want you using slippers when walking.

Oxygen sensor: It looks like a giant fat cloths pin that fits over the tip of your finger. It gives you readings on what percentage of oxygen is getting into your blood stream. When it got low, I would have to use the oxygen tank.

Picker**: these are those extension claws with a trigger handle that are marketed for the AARP generation. There are times when things are just out of your reach and you just can’t quite bend or extend to reach it. I found that it can also pull your socks up.

Aleve: I had reactions to Vicadin and therefore was told to use Aleve. It worked great and only had to take it twice a day.

Bath chair**: You are not allowed a bath until the incisions heal, and long showers is tough when you can’t stand long. We have a hand held shower head and I sat on a plastic stool that fit in the tub.

Handicap rails**: Another item from the Jeff days, we installed them in the front porch and bathroom which helped immensely.

Boxers: Tidy Widys (briefs) don’t work that well in terms of removing or putting them on. They are a lot easier to change without bending.

Hassock, Ottoman, foot rest, cushion, etc.: Something to prop the veinless leg up onto to keep it elevated.

Pillows, pillows, pillows and more pillows: I don’t think I laid flat for at least 3 months. You sleep slightly propped up. Some medical supply stores have triangle shaped cushions, I prefer pillows.

Loose t-shirts or Hawaiian shirts: Tight fitting tees don’t remove easily, when going out Hawaiian type shirts were great, they were loose and easy to put on and remove. But Hawaiian shirts and basketball shorts don’t make a fashion statement.

Things I didn’t use: Walkers, canes, sandals. I preferred to walk without assistance, even though Jordan would shadow me from a distance. When you walk without an aide, you walk like a 1 year old; you tend to occasionally veer to one side or for a split second lose your balance but not fall. “Whoa” or “oops” was a common utterance that would send anyone in earshot running.

Support hose: I didn’t use it but was told that it helps on the leg where they took out the vein. To this day, it is swollen and stiff in the morning



Note: The main limitation they impose is to not lift anything over one gallon of milk which is about 8 lbs. This seems like a redundant reminder, since you can easily feel the pain when trying to lift anything. But as rules go, you tend to ignore them. Even though it hurts, you for some reason still try to lift heavy items. And when you do, it sets back your healing just a bit until the next time you do it again.

** These items were already in place and were installed or purchased when Jeff had his back surgery. As stated in previous posts, if I ever move or remodel, these items will be incorporated. Especially the handicap rails.

In and Out

How does one celebrate 6 months since his heart surgery?  An In and Out burger with grilled onions, shared order of fries and a chocolate shake.  Did I mention that In and Out opened finally across Hawthorne Blvd and Del Amo (about a quarter mile away from home).  It was my first hamburger since the surgery and it will become my annual celebration, providing I walk there and back.......

Honoring A Life

There are quite a few things I never expected to happen in my life.  I never expected to officiate a memorial service (3 so far), under go open heart surgery, or make decisions on another's life.  I had promised my mother before she passed that I would take care of her husband (her second marriage, no blood relation),
I was in charge of his care and health decisions.  That would entail taking him to his Dr. appointments, Hospitalizations, picking up his prescriptions, dealing with the Care Home and the associated bills.

Tosh would end up in the hospital about every 4 to 6 months for various ailments, this last one was fatal.  (his hospitalizations would occur at the worst times, during Jeff's back surgery, right after my bypass surgery, are the major ones that come to mind). He always had a strong heart, but for some reason he contracted a bleeding disorder similar to Hemophilia.  It took Kaiser a little over a week to figure out what was causing the bleeding (14 units of blood later).  Once the Dr. determined the cause and course of action options, it was up to me to ultimately decide on how he will live out the rest of his life.

I had scheduled a meeting with the Dr's. to go over Hospice care after determining that any course of action to prolong his life, would actually cause major side affects or accelerate his death.  It was a surprise to get the call of his passing that morning, the previous night he was up, alert, responding to my questions and looking relatively well.  I had been having trouble getting  hold of his last surviving brother and finally left a note at his door about Tosh's condition.  He got to the hospital a few minutes after he passed.

The decisions I made were to ensure of his care, with little emotional attachment.  I did not really know Tosh, he kept his distance from the family.  My obligation was to my mother, in spite of our contentious relationship.  Making the decisions about his health was not difficult, emotional detachment allows for straight forward decisions not encumbered by feelings of guilt.  But seeing him laying in the bed after he passed bothered me.  It was like, things could have been done better......but we did the best we could.  I remember having to hospitalize him soon after my bypass surgery.  Visiting him during my recovery selfishly thinking was this the reason I was allowed to live?  To take care of a man that had little respect for me or my family?  I learned that living does not allow for free passes, life continues and you have to deal with it. 

For a man who was not gracious at times to those around him, his care givers did have an affection for him.  He gave them grief and was not easy to deal with.  But after delivering the news of his death, they were greatly saddened and asked about a viewing.  The Takahashi bothers have a history of quick cremation and scattering at sea of the ashes with little fanfare.

What this experience told me was that we affect people no matter our disposition.  As much as we say, just bury me with no fuss, it is those who have been left behind that need at least a little closure.  Even if the person was deeply hated (Tosh was not) an emotional bond was tied and closure is still required.  I am in a quandary as to how to provide this to those who knew him outside of the family.  For his brother, I have arranged a excursion to scatter his ashes at sea. 

I have a responsibility to still honor his life, not matter how he lived it.

Islands are Small

We recently came back from a quick trip to Hawaii.  It's not what you think.  let me explain.  My niece (my sister Phyllis' daughter) got married on the main Island of Oahu.  Due to Gayle's school schedule, it was only for three days over the President's weekend.  It was the first time for Gayle to Hawaii, my third.  Jordan and I hiked the big Island in 2000 for boy scouts, and I stopped in the airport for two hours on my way to Japan in 83. 

Now we know a lot of people from Hawaii, and let it be known, they are not necessarily the best people to ask about visiting the Island.  They lived there, stay at relatives and don't act or think like tourists.  They are not great on addresses, directions or descriptions.  But they do get excited you are going.

Now we stayed in Waikiki (I still have not figured out if this is a city or part of Honolulu) in a hotel next to the International Market on the main drag (don't even think of asking me to pronounce or remember the street name). In the 3 days, we never saw Waikiki beach or touched the water.

You treat Hawaii like visiting another country.  It has its own culture, food and language.  Point in case, I brought along our GPS because I wasn't going to pay extra in my economy car rental.  Magellan does not use a Hawaiian voice, so when she reads out the street, it is unrecognizable.  The only thing I remember is "ding ding, turn here......"  People working in Waikiki apparently only know Waikiki, or at least that is what they say. 

The Island is only so big, but when you make a wrong turn, it is not easily correctable.  We were on our way back to Waikiki from Pearl Harbor, I somehow misunderstood the GPS and ended up on Highway H3.  No problem, i will just get off on the next exit and turn around.   Ten miles later, through what I was told when I returned to the mainland, be haunted land, ending up on the other side of the Island......

Hawaii is like Seattle, everyone says it is only 20 minutes away, on the complete other side of town........We criss crossed that city more times than I want to think about.

The swap meet at Aloha Stadium is not a swap meet, it is a huge, long conglomeration of farmers market type booths that circle the stadium,,,,,,,3 times, in concentric circles.

Pearl Harbor was worth the trip.  I  originally didn't think it was worth the time, but it had a impact on me in that it was the critical point of the Japanese American Experience.  Due to the attack, my parents and grand parents were evacuated to camps, my dad enlisted in the US Army as an interpreter, mom was deported back to Japan after the war, both met in Nagoya as part of the occupation, etc. 

The other neat thing was we got to see the Battle Ship Missouri and the exact spot where they Japan surrendered as well as the documents they signed. 

Hawaii is beautiful, the descriptions are accurate, but...........only to visit.  It is still as the original McGarrett would call it, the Rock.  Only so big, surrounded by water, clear blue water, but none the less endless water.
How many people can you fit on a rock?

We spent more time at Zippys, Long's Drugs, Sams Club/Walmart and Don Quijote than anywhere else.
Just a note, when entering Don Quijote in the GPS, it is spelled with a J and not a X. Let it be known that the only place to get the pink, non stick spam musubi makers is at Longs, in Hawaii (not available on line).

Oddities

In anticipation of the Six month mark of my bypass surgery, I find myself searching the web for misc. stuff that peaks my interest. In my Google search, I found that the surgery is referred to as Coronary Arterial Bypass Graft (CABG) pronounced "cabbage".

Interesting enough, I haven't found too much in terms of physical chart on the bypass (that are affordable and not intended for a Med student). I printed out a diagram for a triple, and have read numerous articles on quadruple. I am currently searching for a poster that shows the quad bypass procedure.

What I have found are the following: Please note, these are not in the configuration of the typical valentine shaped heart.

Desk models of the heart: I have bookmarked one for $19, but have not hit the purchase button as I don't think it would go over well in my cube at work. I do have a spot between the borrowed Godzilla from Jared and my Boston Celtic Mr. Potato Head. " An excellent economical, life-size heart model...anatomically accurate....dissects into two parts......" In living color to boot.

Plush Beating Heart: yes, you read that right, "Anatomically correct plush heart, Beats and pulsates when shaken, Great for romantics and biologists....." I'm not sure of the gross out factor yet and if it is a medical doctor or engineer type romantic they are referring to. I was contemplating giving this to Gayle for Valentines Day, but came to my senses, sort of, there is always next year.....

Heart Hand Warmer: interesting but it was eliminated because it is in the shape of the Valentine Heart.

Giant Bleeding Heart Gummy candy. Enough said

Heart Bypass T-shirts and mugs: It is still not something I want to advertise. I still remember attending my first meeting after the surgery and was greeted with a round of applause. The first thing that came to my mind was "Gee, I'm being applauded for being an idiot, ignoring my cholesterol to the point of a heart attack and giving my wife more grief...." The shirts vary form pictures of the heart, chest zippers and catch phrases (zipper club, I survived my heart attack, etc.)

A color diagram of a single graft and where they pull a vein out of the leg. I haven't figured out yet how to print that out in a form I like. In other words it is not yet in a frame-able format.

Of course I have not ruled out creating something on my own.....Its either that or visit the shop on Oddities.