Ol’ Lavahead Show 2023

Don’t miss the reruns!

Welcome back to the Ol’ Lavahead Show! The weather improved on Thursday, so the much needed haircut was finally obtained at the Institute of Hair Design. Later, an evening outing to Ala Moana Center was put on the agenda at the last minute. A meetup with Lori ensued, and she treated for dinner (prime rib courtesy Lahaina Chicken). The belated event was a small celebration of a Ol’ Lavahead Day. The Beats® Studio Buds + was donated to her for no particular reason.

A brief digression is in order. The deployment of “technology” to solve simple problems should be avoided. In this particular case, the Beats Studio Buds + was purchased to essentially use as earplugs to block out noise (specifically garbage trucks). While active noise cancellation is quite good, the noise attenuation is not much better than passive foam earplugs. In addition, the earbuds need to be cleaned and charged. The foam earplugs, at a fraction of the cost, are simply discarded.

The AirPods Pro 2 is approaching nearly a year in possession, yet it has been deployed … what, maybe 30 times total for only an hour duration each time. To say that the AirPods are “like new” would be an understatement. In fact, Saturday night was the first time that the AirPods actually were used outside of the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki. Yes, a brief evening outing to the ABC Store with the AirPods playing House Music … a great soundtrack to procure an overpriced can of Guinness® Stout.

Speaking of the “old folks home,” the recertification process has stalled (as it does every year) because of incompetence. The nonsense about requiring more current financial documentation is the annual theme. This year, though, the process was further complicated by Aunty Lyn’s annuity death benefit. There has been endless requests for statements and other documents, but the dolts just can’t understand that Aunty Lyn is the account/contract holder. Thus, Aunty Lyn received statements and had all of the paperwork. The death benefit claim only required the submission of one form (on-line option was chosen). The only “documents” received were the payment summary and the 1099 form. Is that just too difficult to comprehend?

Dinner at Panda Express® is no longer limited to one day per week. The price went up by 40 cents, and the serving size has increased slightly. The homeless are now sitting outside the establishment on a regular basis. The restrooms are almost always occupied by the homeless. Some of them frequently go through the trash receptacles in the dining room. The ambiance is “fucked up.” Today, a huge decrepit camper van with Cali license plates was in the parking lot. Obviously, the occupants are homeless. Why did they spend thousands of dollars to ship that POS to Hawai’i just to be homeless?

While eating the delicious Panda Express® meal, fellow senior citizen, Bernard, walked up. He had been sitting at another table. He had just finished with an MRI scan at the hospital and had an early dinner. Bernard is apparently having problems with his liver. “The liver is folding on itself,” he said. “Only about 25 percent is functioning.” He does not plan to elect for any kind of surgery. “I’m 82 years old,” he said. “I’m fine with a couple more years.”

Miscellany: Ten days have elapsed since the new billing period for Visible+ service commenced. So far, only 1.9 GB of cellular data has been consumed, already far lower than last month.

Addendum: Recent contemplation about procuring a robot vacuum cleaner (e.g., Roomba®) was quickly mummified. Again, another pathetic attempt to substitute “technology” for common sense. Can a robot vacuum cleaner effectively replace the Swiffer®? No way!