Time flies

Last time I posted was Christmas and now here it is, Easter. Time flies, whether you're havin' fun or not . . . Reasons for not posting for such a long time might be that I was too busy to write or, there was nothing going on and nothing to write about. . . and that's it - nothin' hap'nin out here . . . Back around the holidays, I was working on a job that required a lot of kneeling, mostly on concrete. The result was prepatellar bursitis, better known as water on the knee. It doesn't hurt much, but it swelled quite a bit. They drained 45ccs, then 28 ccs, shot it up, drained it again and shot it up again. They, they being the doctors here on Kwaj, also restricted my activities - no diving, no gym, no golf, for a while, no bicycling. No strenuous activities. I wasn't even to walk any more than necessary. Of course, it was necessary that I keep working . . . just 'light duty' - translation, don't kneel or squat, but keep working. For one two-week stretch I even worked at a desk, but nothing changed . . . Weekends were the worst. It wasn't too bad in January when there was football to watch. And I went back to Roi-Namur for Dennis Calhoun's wedding. Dennis was at Pole the same winter I was. Then after the Superbowl, things started to go downhill. . . I spent one weekend reviewing the 2008 changes to the National Electrical Code. Now, THAT is bored. Another weekend I completed the test to renew my journeyman electrician's license on line. You know you're bored when you look back and those are highlights. . . I even began going to the bi-weekly bingo nights . . . WOW - I've played bingo in two countries and an international territory!! . . . After the third draining, second steroid shot and the two weeks on the desk, one doctor wanted to totally immobilize my knee for a couple weeks. I asked how? He answered that I would be hospitalized. I ask if he planned on inducing a coma. I also asked for a second opinion which resulted in a trip to Honolulu for an MRI and an exam by an orthopedic surgeon. Two days in Hono, as they call it here, sure beat two weeks in a hospital bed. . . so a few weeks ago I flew over, arriving about 4 AM. MRI at 8:30. Doc at 1:30. His opinion was, in a nutshell, time heals all wounds. He said give it more time to go down. However, his restrictions only extended to using the elliptical machine in the gym and no bicycling, but I explained that I could ride without using my right leg, just kick the pedal far enough to allow my left leg to do the work. . . MAN! Without the restrictions, I felt like a weight had been lifted, even if my knee hadn't improved. . . That was a Wednesday. There are only three flights a week from Hono to Kwaj and the next one wasn't until Friday. I was stuck on Hawaii - oh darn. . . My hotel wasn't far from Waikiki, so Thursday morning I wandered over and walked almost the length of the beach. There weren't a lot of people out because it was overcast. There weren't a lot of fish in the water, from what I could see, but I guess that's because it's a usually a very busy beach AND I'm spoiled from being over here and seeing dozens and dozens of fish all the time . . . From there I strolled along until I got to the entrance to the Diamond Head State Memorial, which is to say, the crater of Diamond Head. This is my kind of park, not too touristy, a whole $1.00 entrance fee and not overly crowded. At least not at first. At this point I was glad it was overcast. Even without the sun, it was getting hot. For those of you that haven't been to Honolulu for a medical exam, the trail at Diamond Head is a .8 mile walk uphill. The trail isn't particularly steep - or wide. It includes three sets of steps, definitely not wide, a barely lit tunnel, and a circular staircase. Much of this was left from the military's artillery observation post . . . You have to realize that, on Kwajalein, I wear shoes when I'm working, golfing or working out at the gym. The rest of the time, it's flipflops which is all I wore on the plane, to the MRI and the exam - and everywhere else. I had a pair of boatshoes with me, but I didn't even considered wearing them. It occurred to me that flipflops might not have been the wisest choice to walk at trail, especially since I'd already been walking a couple hours. No matter, I trudged on, noticing the folks in hiking boots, tennis shoes, a couple oriental women in low heels - and all the other folk in flipflops. Anyway, it was about 1/2 hour to the top. On the stairs, the staircase and around the top it was a little crowded, but with a little patience we all did okay. I looked around, took a couple photos, and then it was all downhill! . . . Once out of the crater, I decided my feet could use a rest and hopped on a bus back to Waikiki. Waikiki is full of high-end retail stores and the pedestrians are definitely interesting, both the 'locals' and the visitors. It was about 3 PM and I figured I'd get a bite to eat. The first place I came to that really had outside seating was Planet Hollywood. About an hour later after a burger and a couple beers, I headed back to my hotel. . . . I got back to Kwaj on a Saturday - that international date line thing, if you're wondering why I left Hono on Friday morning and didn't arrive until Saturday . . . I went diving on Sunday. A (not so) funny thing happened. Most of the fluid on my knee disappeared. I had an appointment with the Kwaj doctor the following Tuesday. He said it wasn't impossible that the increased pressure at depths could have pushed the fluid out. He advised me to keep diving. Wish he'd said that back in January . . . Anyway, since then I have been doing all the diving I can as well as some golfing. Since I can't use the elliptical machine, I began walking around the airfield as often as possible. My knee? It goes up, it goes down, it never goes completely away. . . I suspect I'll wait a while longer. Both the Kwaj and Hono doctors said the bursar's sack could be removed, but the Kwaj doc says that if I walked for an extended period, like my jaunt around Waikiki and Diamond Head, my knee would be inflamed. Since I like to take 'jaunts', I hope it goes away on it's own. . . Until then, I'm gonna keep diving . . . It's just a sacrifice I'll have to make . . . Things have been a bit more interesting since my Hono trip. The Friday after my return, I took a trip to Legan, a small island about two hours up the atoll. Two hours in the LCM I rode anyway. The grounds crew was headed up there, so I went with them. After the crew loaded a couple riding mowers, a telescoping forklift and a man basket full of weedwackers, coolers and box lunches, we headed out. The 8 or 10 grounds men and the 3 man boat crew were all Marshallese. I was the only American - no problem, except I didn't understand much of the conversation, but then, I couldn't hear much over the engines. Didn't both some of the Marshallese. They were asleep on the benches in no time. Like wise, in no time, almost before we were out of the Marina, the boat's engineer had a hand line off the stern fishing. . . There are some buildings and equipment for the missile range on Legan. Two technicians are helicoptered in daily. That's about all I know about the place. . . After we arrived, I had a few hours work changing some light fixtures and air conditioner disconnects. The ground crew mowed and wacked, trimming the helicopter pad and paths and generally keeping the jungle from growing over the facilities. . . Apparently the reason for the forklift and man basket was to enable the two technicians to work on one of their antennas. So for a couple hours while they were working, I just wandered around. About half the Marshallese had fishing rods with them, but I don't think they caught many. . . About 4 PM we finally got loaded back on the LCM. This time I found I could put in earplugs, stretch out on a bench and check my eyelids while we chugged back home. . . Last weekend was the Spring Break Music Festival - the kids are out of school. I don't know about the music, but there were competitions for chili, bbq and home brew. I missed the bbq, the chili was okay and the beers were very good, well most of them. Somehow I forgot to take my camera; that's my story and I'm stickin' to it . . . This weekend I attended another wedding, this time here on Kwaj. Must be something in the water out here, that's more weddings than I've ever attended in that short a period of time. . . Mike works in the construction shop. Like Antarctica, if you aren't a plumber, electrician, metal worker, or air condition worker, you're in 'construction' -carpenters, masons, drywall hangers and finishers, carpet and tilemen . . . Anyway, Mike's been here about 1 1/2 years. Jane has been teaching art at the elementary school for about 10 years. It was a nice sunset ceremony at the Yacht Club on Saturday evening, followed by dinner and dancing - a good time was had by all . . . and here it is Monday morning, Easter afternoon for you folks in the States. Tomorrow I'm headed out again to yet another island. Maybe I'll have something to write about a little sooner next time. For you folks around Johnstown, I ought to be in town at the end of June, early July so I may see you then. For the rest of you, I'll see you whenever . . .