When Aunty gets sick…

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Aunty

Aunty and Kay at the tail end of the cold. Notice Aunty wearing a scarf to protect the back of her neck?

It has been years, maybe even decades, since Aunty got sick. This week, Aunty got sick and felt like she was a 100 year old near dead dog.

However, there are actually some good things about getting sick. One of them is having empathy (the ability to feel what others feel) when other people are sick. It feels like the pits. Sore throat, sore body, weak, depressed, listless, headachey, junk.

Another is being able to try what Aunty preaches to her kids when they get sick. These are:

Stay at home! Not just to get better, but also to contain your germs and not spread them.
Don’t eat solids and/or greasy foods. Soups are best. The best of the best is the Hot and Sour soup from Hale Vietnam for fevers/flu in the first day. If done early enough, the fever and flu like symptoms are GONE.
Rub Vicks Vaporub on your chest at night.
Spray Air Detox (from Herbdoc.com) on paper towels and use to wipe your hands before and after touching “community” items such as door knobs, keys, etc. Keep your germs, especially from your hands, to yourself.
Use a cotton neck wrap, like a big handkerchief around your neck, especially keeping the back of your neck protected. Spray it with Air Detox throughout the day.
Drink hot liquids, NO sugar-y or artificial drinks. Aunty started putting kalamunggay leaves in a teapot and adding hot water as her basic daily drink.
Eat ginger – that’s what friend Rayna said to do. It is actually good advice – the li hing dried ginger that isn’t too tough.
Starve a fever, feed a cold? Not sure about that but one concoction that Aunty believes in is maple syrup (or honey), lemon juice (fresh squeezed), and cayenne powder in hot water. This is a delicious hot drink that has everything in it to get through the hard times in place of eating. [note: Herbdoc.com has a Cold and Flu Shot in a shot glass type bottle but Aunty is allergic to alcohol and hasn’t tried it.]
Keep your body, especially your neck and feet warm, but not hot. Aunty’s magic socks are wonderful and comfortable for her feet, and anything will do as a neck wrap to protect the back of our necks from drafts and losing warmth.
Eliminate the toxins. In other words, poop. Aunty’s daily regimen includes Intestinal Formula #1, so regularity is her norm. If you aren’t pooping, you aren’t getting rid of the bad stuff in your body, and you will remain sick longer. Here’s a story that will embarrass one of our daughters, so she will be called Bozu, for anonymity. Bozu got sick and didn’t take care of herself – went out, took meds, got sicker and sicker with a constant fever. Ah! You might think that she needed antibiotics, right? Except her mother doesn’t believe in those because of how it blasts everything, even our immune systems. Meanwhile, she felt lousier and lousier. She kept refusing Aunty’s advice about having an enema even though she was running a fever, hardly pooping and not eating much. Finally, after several days of feeling really sick and missing school, she agreed to an enema. Longs Drugs sells pre-bottled saline water enemas, easy to use by inserting and squeezing. Aunty warmed a bottle up by standing it in hottish/warm water and let Bozu have it.

The trick to enemas is to hold the liquid in for as long as possible, but keep close to the toilet. After a few minutes, Bozu WENT. It was not pretty, but it was super effective. It was as if a toxic dump was cleared out of her. The entire house reeked of a smell that was like over ripe raw daikon (Japanese turnip) for what seemed like days.

She was quite weak after and went to sleep under covers. We did not see her for the rest of the day and night, and when we did, her fever was gone and she felt better. Still weak, but no more fever, and able to eat some chazuke rice (white rice with tea) and ume (picked fermented plum). She was herself in a few more days and mother prided herself on the merits of the glorified enema.

Stay out of air conditioning, if possible. Fresh air is best, sea air on a sunny non windy day is even better.
Rest and take it easy. Watch tv, movies, Korean dramas. Just don’t do much. Your body’s immune system is working overtime to get you well and it doesn’t need additional stress or demands added to its workload. Be a couch potato. Take naps. This time around, Aunty didn’t follow this piece of advice and after feeling a bit better, decided to trim a few trees branches, uproot a couple of papayas and start a patch of kalamunggay trees. This was followed by weeding an irritating spot in the yard. Although it felt good to be doing such useful yardwork at the time, Aunty had a slight relapse later that evening.
One of the worst symptoms of a cold is not being able to breathe easily. Use a neti pot with warm water and Himalayan sea salt or colloidal silver to flush each nostril gently.
Give yourself time to heal. Our bodies are truly miracles that can heal itself. Some people count on their doctors and modern medicine to fix them. If that is what you believe, then go for it.
When you feel that it is the worst that it can be, it probably is. Little by little, you will get better.

Now that Aunty is just about over this dang irritating cold, life is good again. Aunty met with fellow blogger Kay of Musings over at travelerswife.blogspot.com for lunch at To Thai For in Kaimuki. Aunty loves their delicious greasy tasty Thai pork chops but settled for Chicken pad thai instead (avoid greasy foods when sick).

Aunty also wore a scarf around her neck and dressed warmly with long pants (Aunty usually wears a skirt) and magic socks.

It was delightful to finally meet Kay and her cute husband Art in person. Almost like being rewarded for getting over the dang cold that gave Aunty a lesson in life. It forced Aunty to try a neti pot, thus discovering the benefits of it! Next time it will be one of the first things done, with salted water and a few drops of wild oregano oil. It really clears the nasal passages and hastens the healing.

Our bodies CAN heal itself, which is a wondrous and invisible blessing that we don’t always realize until we get sick or hurt. Take care of it, thank it, and please, be well.

Tap tap tap to feel good

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Aunty

Decades ago, Aunty took tap dance lessons from Jack Cione with pal Cookie and Gayln. It was fun making feet noise in time with other feet in the room, but it wasn’t a life passion for any of us.

During a tidying session (still to come: Aunty’s review of Marie Kondo’s Life Changing Magic of Tidying), Aunty found 2 thick print outs of Jack Cione’s dance steps and songs. These did bring a sense of joy because of the memories – though not sure whether to toss or keep, yet.

Then, serendipitously (fortunate chance), an email link about tapping for health came into Aunty’s email box this morning. It was like a sign to pay attention, doodoodoodoo doodoodoo (theme from Twilight Zone).

Tapping is part of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) that Aunty had heard about and was curious as to its success and results. Instead of tapping with clinking shoes, one taps gently on specific points on the body with fingertips. It seemed like a God/Universe given gift, so Aunty opened up the link and tried it.

Just like Mikey in the Life Cereal commercial (if you are old enough to remember), Aunty liked it! Ups to you if you want to try it – this first link explains the different point to tap: http://thetappingsolution.com/2016tws/how-to-tap-video.html

And this one will guide you through a 20 minute exercise to tap away stress/fears and begin a great day: http://www.thetappingsolution.com/2016event/R00Ms/D1-MR-3654.php [Update: this was only available for 24 hours – so solly. The Tapping World Summit event is going on for the next 10 (and counting down) days and events can be listened to for free during a 24 hour period, daily. So, once one presentation is up, it then goes away and the next day’s event is up, then away – UNLESS one buys the packages. Aunty is not planning to buy the packages but perhaps will continue tapping and adjusting the affirmations/confirmations/etc. specific to her own situations.]

[Further update: Although the packages are available for purchase for those who want permanent access to the Tapping World Summit 2016, Aunty feels that these are good folks because of the limited sharing of some rather excellent material – limited because of the 24 hour FREE online access for each day’s events. Here is a list of the upcoming topics and speakers: http://thetappingsolution.com/2016tws/schedule.html which included Jack Canfield (pau already, solly), but some rather excellent subjects such as healing relationships with mother on March 1, Tapping for self confidence on February 29, Personal peace procedure on March 3, etc. Aunty plans to “attend” some of those freebies and has to write the days down on her calendar in order not to miss them. Here is the link to access each live daily (available for 24 hours) event: http://www.thetappingsolution.com/2016event/live.php – hope this helps everyone!]

It is quite pleasant, something that is free to do, and in line with socks being magic in Aunty’s quest for excellent health and well being. There are other links to different tapping modes but for now Aunty felt very good about this starter tapping exercise and is now motivated to gather all the books in the house in one big pile and sort with Marie Kondo’s criteria of joy. Aunty’s fear of having a clutter-free house is soon to be conquered.

Happy feet, tapping fingers, clean house. Sounds quite wonderful, doesn’t it?

No get huhu

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Aunty

angrybird You know the feeling – getting huhu is when you get all mad and ticked off. One of Aunty’s jobs is answering the phone, like a dispatcher or receptionist. Most people are nice – especially sales people until you inform them that you aren’t interested in claiming your millions of dollars from the Reader’s Digest sweepstakes.

Some people are quite rude because they only want to speak with the boss instead of the receptionist. Aunty usually bites her lip and holds back. However, during her peak menopausal days of hormone changes and self-righteousness, Aunty was guilty of snapping at them and losing customers. Ho! da terrible, yeah? Maybe so, but it felt good at the time.

On the other side of the counter, back in the day when Aunty was a youngster, going into stores like Carol and Mary or McInerny’s (you remember them?) was like entering a freezer – the cold shoulder, the degrading looks, the down their nose attitude because their radars could tell that Aunty didn’t have money.

So Aunty would feel huhu, as well as hurt. Not good – snapping back at rude people or getting mad and shame because of rude salespeople. All water under the bridge, as they say, but still, those experiences left some scars and regrets.

Solution

Each work day, Aunty gets an email from Paul Tamashiro’s Daily Market Update. Aunty subscribes to his free email service because he sends out the most current mortgage rates for 15 year/30 year/Jumbo/VA, etc. loans as well as an interesting article related to real estate and/or the economy. He also provides some pretty wonderful quotes from known and unknown sources.

One of today’s quotes (from an anonymous source) was:

“When someone is nasty or treats you poorly, don’t take it personally. It says nothing about you and a lot about them.”

Oh man! Is that a good one, or is that a good one!?!

Mahalo to Paul, who can be reached at paul.tamashiro@guaranteedrate.com. Aunty never met or spoke with him, but would bet that he is a nice person.

Answer the question, please.

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Aunty

There was drama of the highest OOPS! factor during the 2015 Miss Universe pageant with Miss Columbia being first tapped, then untapped as the winner, and Steve Harvey becoming the biggest blunder man on the planet.

Aunty used to watch these pageants in the past, but stopped watching decades ago. It happened after an episode in which each contestant was asked the same question. Each of them took a breath, breezed through their answers, were greeted with applause and cheers as they smiled, waved and glided back to their places in line.

The contestants were all beautiful, poised and had the same fixed smiles on their perfect faces. If based on looks in their gowns or bathing suits, each of them was qualified to be the winner. The revealing of their quality of thinking was in the question and answer portion of the competition.

That year, the question that was asked to each of them was, “If you could have anything that you wanted for yourself, what would it be?”

Without fail, every one of them answered perfectly. “World peace.”

It drove Aunty batty. You see, it wasn’t that their answer was wrong. It was that they did not listen to the question being asked, and instead gave an answer that was incomplete, lacking thought, and impersonal.

A destination

That simple sounding question is one that requires a lot of soul searching, and complete honesty. The answer is one asking for our individual selfish desires – if you could have anything that you wanted for yourself.

It is one that can be broken down into different timelines – today, this week, this month, this year, the next 5 years, a lifetime.

It can cover one or several categories – food, health, wealth, happiness, status, relationships, living arrangements, career choices, etc.

It is a question asking about your dreams and goals, your aspirations, your destiny.

Quiet place, deep thoughts

It is not a spur of the moment question for beauty queens vying for the Miss Universe title. If they were completely honest and paid attention to what was being asked, each of their answers would be, “To win the crown.” An answer that might paint them as shallow shells of beauty, but at least they were telling the truth.

It was a question that haunted Aunty for a long time (during her pre-Aunty days). What if Aunty were put on the spot, and the winner got what they wanted.

This was before Aunty started going to investment seminars, self improvement courses, subscriptions to newsletters, or picking up books on life skills, success, etc. The first task required from those gurus, authors, and mentors is to identify and define your goals in order to design your life’s roadmap to a targeted destination.

“If I could have anything I wanted for myself, what would it be?”

Aunty Batty

Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Sort of like Betty but just a smidgeon off.

One day, out of nowhere, the answer to that irritatingly haunting question came, like a bat (heh heh, sorry) from who knows where. It is wildly unrealistic and improbable, it has been frustratingly non-existent in my hands during trying times, the ramifications of it may be troubling, but still, it is Aunty Batty’s answer. Final answer and still holding true.

It would be to have the touch of healing.

Amen

What about you? If you could have anything you wanted for yourself, what would it be?

All answers are acceptable, crowns included.

Make like a tree and ….

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Aunty

Aunty received an email from Nick of The Sacred Science team (no – not Scientology or wizard stuff) and it quoted Rumi. Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet, scholar and mystic. One beautiful quote attributed to him is “Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.”

Another less beautiful but very wise quote is “Make like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.”

Nick’s January 7 blog post was about carrying around emotional and/or physical baggage that drag us down and prevent us from getting better, stronger, or more capable of moving forward. His suggestion was to have a fire ceremony to get rid of our bad stuff, our dead leaves. This will allow new growth without our past and present hindrances.

He suggests:

Cut 10 strips of paper to write on – the thinner the paper the better. On each strip, write down a memory, habit, fear, or thought that is bothering you or something that you realize you need to let go because it is harmful or limiting you in your life. Use a pen for this exercise.
Light a small fire – it can be a fireplace (in Hawaii, a hibachi would work). Please be safe.
One by one, read aloud each word on each strip of paper. Intensity of emotion is good – this is the junk stuff that we want out of our life.
After you read each note, hold it over the flame and say “It is time for us to part ways. Goodbye.” Exhale as each piece of paper ignites and disappears.

According to Nick, this has helped him create an inner shift within himself and has been used for centuries by others to assist in healing of spiritual and physical wounds, as well as helping to unblock our inner traffic jams.

Aunty has plenty of traffic jams. This is the start of a new year, and Aunty has yet to sit down to reflect and write down goals or resolutions. One that would be foremost on that list would be getting rid of clutter and physical excesses in every room and closet. Marie Kondo’s “The life-changing magic of tidying up” is helping (and will be in a future post).

Perhaps having the fire ceremony with one of the strips being “fear of getting rid of things that I don’t use because I might need it one of these days” will help speed along the process.

Perhaps writing down Aunty’s other negative thoughts and emotions that have been pushed far back and away will bring it unwelcomingly to light, so that they can be released and removed upon burning and bidding them farewell.

Aunty will be doing this soon, when nobody is in earshot (or the neighbors might think that Aunty is batty).

Perhaps Aunty will then Make like a tree and leaf, anew.

Night Leg Cramp Reliever

Posted on October 24, 2015 by Aunty

book giveaway Winnah update:

Congrats Jalna!

Aunty has been sorting and clearing piles of papers and books, determined to tidy up. One of the booklets that will go into the donate pile was from Bottom Line Publications in 2000 – “Retirement Secrets – What They Don’t Want You To Know”. Aunty skimmed through and was under-impressed, BUT found an interesting solution to leg cramps.

The source was from a former US Olympic team doctor, Donald Cooper. Here it is:

Nightime leg-cramp relief: “Acupinch.” How it works: With thumb and forefinger, pinch your upper lip – yes, lip – just below the nose for 20 to 30 seconds. This works about 80% of the time.

Hmmm. Almost makes Aunty wish that she will get a leg cramp soon. These actually have been occurring once a blue moon and applying tiger balm and massaging like crazy to get blood circulation going does work after quite a lot of time and effort.

Please let Aunty know if it works or if you have other solutions.

Also, if anyone wants to have this booklet as well as this pile of other booklets/books, comment below, or email Aunty at Aunty@hawaii.rr.com. If there are more than 1 interested party, Aunty will draw a winner on next Sunday (sorta like how Jalna gives away her goodie bags). If no takers, it goes to the library and hopefully others will enjoy them.

What a man wants

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Aunty

Answer: Slim and nun

Us women all know what we want and most men are mystified about that, but do we know what men want, other than just about their testosterone?

Perhaps this explains the honeymoon syndrome, when the relationship is bliss and wonderful. Some couples are able to continue that state of bliss, while others fall off of it quite quickly. Once off, it is hard to get back on the bliss wagon – but not impossible.

Here’s the answer, from a podcast of James Altchuler and his guest, Brett McKay from The Art of Manliness:

James Altchuler: What do you think is the most important thing a woman should know about a man that a woman probably doesn’t know?

Brett McKay: Here’s one thing and they have research to back this up. Men are very sensitive or attuned to status. We all know that. Men are hierarchal. But men actually respond more adversely to status defeat or status slights than women do. There are parts of brain that fire up. We release more adrenaline and cortisol whenever we experience some sort of status defeat. That’s when we look bad in front of others.

So yeah, that whole thing that men want more respect and women want love, there’s some truth to that. There’s some scientific truth to back that up. So understand that status and how a man feels other people are perceiving them as, that’s important. You can laugh at it as a sensitive male ego but that’s the thing. That’s how we’re hardwired. So just keep that in consideration whenever you’re interacting with your menfolk.

What do you think? Pretty simple and Aunty thinks, pretty true. On the other side, for men to figure out what a woman wants is not so simple, not simple at all.

Old lady bike

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Aunty

Townie Aunty

Aunty is no longer young. But she can still ride a bike. And now, beginning her golden years, she wanted to have a good bike with all the bells, whistles and specs that fit her short, flat butted senior body. A folding bike seemed like a very usable and adaptable choice, and so, the search was on.

First potential

Giant Expressway2 McCully Bike $560

Initial stop was the old standard – McCully Bike on King Street. It was overwhelming to see rows of bicycles, all of them looking huge and youthful. The friendliest looking bike was a folding bike (!) – Giant Expressway2. It was also the smallest adult bike.

Aunty loved its look. Cute and sassy. It had 20″ wheels, 7 speeds (which wasn’t important), handle bars were adjustable in height and the seat could be lowered to Aunty’s short size.

Trying to be cool, Aunty swung her left leg over the low center bar (21.5″) and almost died as her non stretch skirt failed to give enough slack for the up and over leg. Pride and determination won out, and Aunty barely escaped crash mounting in the store by jumping into the seat and luckily finding her balance. A test drive down 4′ of crowded aisle was excruciating because of the stiff little seat of torture. How do people ride on those? A week later, Aunty’s tailbone was still feeling abused from the seat and her near mishap.

The Expressway2 was pricey at $560 before tax, a nice cushy seat would cost about $50 more, and a basket would be another additional expense.

Plethora of potential

Dahon Speed Uno $402.96 Amazon

After a google search of “folding bikes” and reviews, Aunty focused in on the Dahon Speed Uno because it had some good reviews and it was simple, simple, simple, like the bikes from Aunty’s hanabata days in Palolo Valley. One speed, pedal brakes. No wires and levers on handle bars. Lightweight and foldable, though a bit macho and sparse looking.

This was one of the lightest folding bikes – 24lbs. Small and tough looking.

NYCEwheels.com has a video review of the Dahon Speed Uno. The reviewer, Dave, is a very tall man and Aunty was trying to see if that horizontal bar between the handle and seat was low enough for Aunty to throw her leg over without getting embarrassed and eating it on the asphalt. In the video, the bar barely met the mid part of his lower leg, so maybe it was nice and low, or maybe he was a giant and double the height of Aunty. Dave rode with ease, whipping through U-turns and stopping on a dime.

This bike is bare bones and cool. No fenders, no basket – just bike, fun and simple.

Schwinn

Schwinn 20″ Loop $247.86 on Amazon

One of the top rated folding bikes on Amazon was the Schwinn 20″ folding Loop Bike. It is 32 lbs, heavier than the Dahon Speed Uno, with shifts and cables for its 7 speed and handle bar brakes.

Notice how the frame dips low? This is called a step-through because one can easily step through the frame to get on. Nice feature for Aunty and her skirts. The back rack is part of the frame, handy for cargo or a basket or purse.

Searching “folding bikes” on Amazon will pull this Schwinn up first, but not too many websites even mentioned the Schwinn as a top 10 contender. Still, it is small and cute, has some nice standard features such as front and rear plastic fenders and the rear rack. It comes in several color choices, and it has the Schwinn brand name, which used to mean something in the old days. Free shipping on Amazon makes this a contender.

Brits have it

More google searching for “best folding bikes” opened up several great reviews, but most of them were British and European models, too pricey and shipping to Hawaii was not an option, or if shipping was an option, it would cost an arm and a leg.

“Best bikes for seniors”

Another google search for bikes for seniors was pretty interesting, but not many caught Aunty’s eye since the Dahon Speed Uno was flirting as the numero uno in Aunty’s head. A helpful website is boomerinas.com with an article about bikes for boomer women. She suggested searching “old lady bikes”, so Aunty did. One of the best articles was a 2009 one from AARP about terminology and choosing a bike. Aunty advises potential bike buyers to check out this great article.

Citizen

Citizen Bike’s Barcelona
$399 plus shipping

Reading through many online reviews took Aunty to the website of Citizen Bikes. O. M. G…. Talk about pretty! The Barcelona folding bike in the champagne color was SO beautiful! It looked like something that Katherine Hepburn would ride. Options include a nifty wicker basket in the front mounted just above the front wheels, classy looking 2-tone seats, a bell ringer, and even a mount for smart phones (though how smart is it to use your smart phone while biking).

The rear rack and fenders were standard. Shipping from Florida to Hawaii was $152 via USPS – yikes! Florida is a continent and ocean away. Customer service closed early – 4:00 EST. Total cost with shipping, nifty basket and a 2-tone comfy seat was just under $600. This needed some serious back pedaling of thought. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the only color in stock was black, not this yummy ivory color. Katherine Hepburn would insist on the ivory because black would not suit her style. Aunty only wanted ivory.

Cheapo option

Stowaway 20″ 6 speed Amazon $149.99

What is most difficult is not being able to actually sit on a bike and take it for a spin. How many people would buy a car without a test drive? Of course, the difference in price of thousands of dollars for a car vs. hundreds of dollars for a bike makes it 100 times less critical, or that’s what Aunty tells herself.

One cheapo (Aunty needs to learn to say “economical”) folding bike is the Stowaway 20″ 6 speed folding bike. It actually looks decent with a back rack, slightly lowered middle bar and pretty silver color. It comes with fenders that have dents in it (?) and weighs 38 lbs. Zooming in on the pictures on Amazon showed rather messy welding.

Reviews about this bike are mixed on Amazon – some have no problems and love it, some encountered problems with poor customer service and quality. Aunty was leery of speed shifting on bikes and this bike might not fit Aunty’s cup of tea because of the lack of hand holding support. Still, it was ~~cheapo~~ economical with free (!) shipping.

Changing strategy

A folding bike was a top priority because of the cool factor as well as being able to fold it up and take it almost anywhere one would take a really big rather heavy contraption. They tended to be lighter and smaller than non-folding bikes, but many of the negative reviews on Amazon about ANY bike was damage during shipment, missed parts, etc. Some companies required a qualified bike shop to put it together once the disassembled bike arrived.

Hmmm. Aunty decided to check out more local bike shops to see what could be bought already put together.

Ebikes Hawaii

A2b folding electric bike, prices vary

John and Roy Cho are a father and son team running 2 stores (Kapahulu and Hickam AFB), specializing in electric bikes. Aunty went to the Kapahulu store on Campbell Avenue, a couple of blocks from Rainbow’s Drive Inn and close to Zippy’s.

Son Roy showed Aunty some nifty looking folding electric bikes. These run quiet and work on an assist mode combined with pedaling for easy power. They are a bit expensive from around $800, but you pay for what you get.

One kinda neat option is being able to rent an electric bike for a day for $40-50, which a lot of tourists do. Aunty was tempted, but not quite ready to hop on one of these bikes, especially since her tailbone was still aching from her first try out attempt at McCully Bike.

Customer service at Ebikes Hawaii is excellent. Son Roy is super nice, no pressure, and treated Aunty with gentle respect. Maybe Aunty will be back one of these days when taking on hills becomes part of Aunty’s bike riding experience.

Aunty’s search continued, venturing into the possibilities of non-folding bikes that are comfortable, pretty, and easy.

Trek Bikes

Trek Pure S Lowstep $419 list

The Pure S Trek Bike was one found online that was single speed, pedal brakes, and step-through chassis. Trek is a good bike brand with a nice website. They are sold in Hawaii, at the BikeFactory on the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Cooke Street. Aunty had to go.

Terrifically, the BikeFactory has lots and lots of bikes! Salesman/expert Tyler really knew his bikes and was a patient guide to a wishy washy yet determined Aunty. He pulled down a Trek bike that looked huge. It was not a Pure S Lowstep, which he said was a slightly recumbent bike, meaning the seat was behind the pedals rather than right above them. It was not a folding bike. Aunty didn’t like it and looked at other bikes in the bike crowded store.

Dahon Boardwalk

Dahon folding Boardwalk $349 at the BikeFactory

Ooooh! The BikeFactory had Dahon bikes! They had the Dahon Boardwalk, a less expensive model than the Speed Uno, and was complete with hand brakes, fenders, and a rack! It was really spiffy looking, though a little heavier than the Speed Uno. Plus, it wasn’t as simple because it had the hand brake cable and lever, which Tyler said could be removed. It really was a cool looking bike and the seat could adjust really low to compensate for Aunty’s lack of height. Aunty liked it!

Excitedly, Aunty took it out in the parking lot out back, ready to ride. They say that once you know how to ride a bike, you never forget how. It’s true, but since it was almost 50 years since Aunty had ridden on a borrowed bike in Palolo Valley, it was like entering uncharted territory. The ride wasn’t as easy as hoped. It was stiff Aunty could only go straight, timidly. Turning was not going to happen with the rather skinny front end and shaky ride. Aunty felt like a chicken.

The Dahon Speed Uno suddenly was not an option anymore based on Aunty’s test drive of the Dahon Boardwalk. Dave, the New York bike reviewer of the Speed Uno was a biking pro whipping along with confidence – and Aunty was not.

The Townie 3i by Electra in Champagne Pearl

Electra Townie 3i $549

Tyler knew just what Aunty needed. The Electra Townie. Just the name of it was delicious. The color was delicious. It was not a folding bike, but a one piece low step through and rather light because of its aluminum frame. The seat goes way down for shorties. It was a 3 speed bike, 20″ wheels with both pedal and hand brakes.

Aunty took it for a spin out back. It felt much more stable than the Dahon. Aunty almost completed a U turn going at snail speed, the seat was surprisingly comfy, and the hand brake had a mean bite which took a bit of getting used to.

This was an old lady bike that Aunty felt good about. It was also one that Aunty could feel proud to ride around the neighborhood. A rear rack was added ($49), the bike was given an all points checkout, registration paper signed, and Aunty was ready for the road!

*Update: It has been a week since Aunty got her new wheels. Every day when there are hardly any cars on the road, Aunty would pedal down the block, going just a little further each day, making a U turn without stopping, and then pedal back home. At this rate, it may take a long time before Aunty is ready for the main road and a trip to the post office, bank, or mall – but that is the goal. It will take some time getting comfortable with riding on the edge of the roads and sharing it with cars – but it will happen.

When you are driving, please be nice to bike riders.

If you do see Aunty perched on her bike with her hat banded hair streaming in the wind and cruising along, please don’t honk. Aunty might fall off.

Rat Lungworm Alert!

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Aunty

Parmarion martensi

Do you have “symptoms that are flu-like and usually start with a headache, most often severe, and stiffness in the neck? There may be fever, joint pain, fatigue and nausea. The skin may feel itchy, like something crawling under it, and then become extremely sensitive to touch.”

Aunty has a little garden that is somewhat successful and sometimes not. Currently there are 3 kale “trees”, chili plants, Thai basil, and a crop of manoa lettuce. The other day we harvested 3 heads of lettuce and had a fresh salad with dinner.

Rosie’s boyfriend had a little cute slug on his leaf and we threw it out. Daughter #1 had rinsed the leaves off minimally in a colander and was chided to carefully wash each leaf next time.

Serendipity

The very next day, Aunty’s good friend Bocho sent an email about the invasion of Rat Lungworms in Hawaii. Yeow!! That cute little slug kinda looked like the one in the picture…

The good news for Honolulu folks is that problem seems endemic to the Big Island, the carriers are rats and flatworms. It is not so much the species of slugs and/or worms that are the problem. It is the parasite that they contain, even in their slime trails.

Information shared

Aunty sent off the link to the Rat Lungworm article to the kids, and daughter #3 reported having a headache and swollen gums. Yikes!

Fortunately swollen gums are not listed as a symptom, BUT, better to be safe and treat it as a possibility of disorder.

Parasites, parasites, everywhere

We ALL have parasites. Some scientists that believe that parasites cause all diseases. When our bodies are in balance with a strong immune system, parasites are kept at bay. Sometimes, parasites can become invasive to the point of disease.

When Aunty was a little girl growing up in Palolo Valley, Mother used to make us take a powdered concoction in a paper envelope whenever “worms” were suspected. The telltale signs were skin trails that showed up under our skin. Not sure what kind of worms we had – possibly ring worms from running around barefoot, climbing trees and wading in streams – but we downed the powder, and worms be gone.

Boost and Blast

Aunty has a cabinet full of herbs and supplements waiting for their day of usefulness. Daughter #3 will be de-wormed and de-parasited with a product called “Paratox”. Her immune system will be boosted with echinacea and other immune boosting supplements. She will be detoxified with teas and drink a lot of water.

This protocol will have the effect of blasting, cleansing and boosting, which is good in any situation.

Nature

Our bodies are amazing creations of complex workings. Nature is amazingly marvelous, and simple. Living in Hawaii, Aunty’s only beef with Nature is, why do we have mosquitos and flies?

Humans are both productive and destructive. Wonderful man made discoveries are sometimes re-engineered, warped, or overused. Antibiotics fit this description.

IAO (in Aunty’s opinion), we are straying too far away from nature for our problems. But, that is a post that will fill another page in the future.

To do

For now, Aunty will ask that you make sure you wash each leaf of lettuce thoroughly before eating. If you have any of the above symptoms, please seek treatment.

Update

The link to the rat lungworm article is no longer working. Not sure what happened. It may be that the number of cases is very limited – seems like there was one bad case in 2009 and 9 more in 2011, all of them from the Big Island – so the powers that be decided to pull the article.

Anywho, here’s a link to a health alert article from a Public Health LabLog about Hawaii’s rat lungworm problem.

Stretch! for your Health

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Aunty

Aunty is getting to the age of having her mother’s body. Slow, achy, stiff, and sedentary. Lately, this happens in the morning, then disappears during the day once activities get going.

It isn’t fun, becoming one’s mother. We rather be forever young, but it isn’t going to happen without some help.

Today’s email from LiveInTheNow.com was about a muscle (fascia) causing pain, and the answer to it was stretching. Somehow, we all know that stretching is good for us, but how many of us actually do it?

An handy pictorial chart of stretches had Aunty whipping through most of them. Many were familiar, all of them easy. The credits went to a site that was no longer accessible, so mahalo anyways to the uncredited originator.

Here’s the chart, happy stretching, to your youthful health!

Stretchin

by Aunty

a lot of stuff about almost everything

Category Archives: Health