The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

John Anderson my jo, John,
When we were first acquent;
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bony brow was brent;
But now your brow is beld, John,
Your locks are like the snaw;
But blessings on your frosty pow,
John Anderson my Jo.

Robert Burns

Great pleasure from sitting down and chewing the fat with old friends. I have known Bebo for over 30 years and Jonathan for over 20. We have been through a lot of stuff together.

The restaurant we had planned to grace turned out to be closed. We wander aimlessly around the Sunset and end up in a nondescript Chinese restaurant that turns out to be a big success.

Anyway the food is great and we have the best time.

A couple of days later, I am with Jonathan and Renee in Bistro Vida in Menlo Park. https://www.bistrovida.com We have a perfect lunch and much reminiscing.

Unfortunately I back into another car whilst leaving the parking lot.

My birthday looms and delightful housemate Elaine makes me Cock a Leekie soup in celebration.

Burns also wrote about Cock a Leekie:

How mony hearts this day converts 
O' sinners and o' lasses! 
Their hearts o' stane, gin night, are gane 
As saft as ony flesh is: 
There's some are fou o' love divine; 
There's some are fou o' brandy; 
An' mony jobs that day begin, 
May end in Cock a Leekie 
Some ither day.

I get another health insurance card. I am now a fully signed up member of the San Francisco Health Network, which I believe means free health care. Yay! Thank you San Francisco.

At OIST I learnt about the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae. Neither organism can survive without the healthy presence of the other. I feel much more research should be done on the symbiotic relationship between man and his truck.

Arriving in San Francisco, I became sick. In sympathy my truck set up an accident that caused significant damage.

When I finally get the truck into a shop for repair, I start to feel much better.

I make an excursion to Point Reyes.

Emboldened by my trip to Point Reyes, I set off for a two day birdwatching adventure to the Sacramento and Colusa Wildlife Reserves. Wonderful weather, tons of birds but I forget to take my camera!

I am still remarkably feeble and my eye problem is clearly not fully fixed but the truck is in great health so I expect imminent recovery.

How amazing is that! Congratulations James, thank you for being such a good son.

We celebrate: champagne and tiramisu, handmade by new house mate Elaine!

We go to San Francisco’s oldest restaurant, or one of them. https://theoldclamhouse.com Fantastic sea food!

Anyway, great restaurant! It has been at the same location since 1861; inconceivably ancient in these parts.

We travel by Waymo, driverless cab, this is incredible!

I am still recovering from the whooping cough. I no longer whoop nor cough up swampland but do feel remarkably weakened. I have also lost 15 kilos since I got to California. This makes me look less Michelin but I think adds to febrility. However, I am on the mend and will soon resume training for the Paris Olympics.

I spend a lot of time watching birds through my open window. They have become very tame.

Peter Higgs goes to it. Much of my career at CERN was spent with my pen hovering over the,”CERN Discovers Higgs Boson.” press release. Not to be. I never met him, he was a very private chap. The whole world’s science media badgered me incessantly, wanting to speak to him. I finally got to talk to Higgs with collusion from Edinburgh University. He had no phone nor email.

“Professor Higgs, would you like to talk to the press about your work?

Oh, I don’t think that would be a good idea. Thank you for telephoning Mr Calder. Goodbye.”

RIP Peter Higgs

I have to get a police report from the SFPD to launch the whole “can I get the truck repaired?” procedure.

I go down to the HQ on 3rd St. It is a beautiful, shiny building. This area used to be called the Dog Patch but has come up in the world. The interior of the police station is like the atrium of 5 star hotel. Everyone is charming and after 5 minutes I leave clutching the police report. Thank you SFPD.

The police report allocates the blame equally between the drivers. Their insurance companies refuse to admit liability and I am stuck in the middle. This is complex and gives me a headache.

We decide to try to move the truck as parking tickets are acummulating like hummingbirds on a feeder. We bend back bodywork that is fouling the tires, and set off.

I think she is OK! Lots of grating noise on turns but she steers straight and does not leak essential bodily fluids. How long it will take for the insurance companies to come to some sort of arbitration is anyone’s guess.

Looking on the bright side of life, my eye and leg are much improved. However to balance the scales of misery, the supreme being gives me Whooping Cough. For the last week I have been very ill. I lie on my filthy, foetid pallett, coughing up the great, grey, green, Limpopo River, suitably set about by fever trees.

When I collided with my eye problem, James encouraged me to apply for Medi-Cal.

This is free health care for low income folks. It is true that I have very low income in California, on the other hand I have lots of money. I see no reason why I should be admitted to Medi-Cal.

I have lived in California, on and off, for over 20 years. A core belief has been that poor people are victims of a terrible, vindictive health service. Wrong.

They are selling the other apartments in our house!

I tread on my MacBook, smashing the screen. 3 minutes later, I am in a Lyft heading for the Apple Store on Chestnut. 30 minutes later I am leaving the store with a brand new Airbook. It is fully installed with my data and Apps. Amazing customer service.

The same guy that works in the Apple Store also runs a restaurant in Okinawa.

Someone is backing out of their garage on Hayes when a truck hurtling down the street smashes into them. The truck careers across the road straight into my gently sleeping, beautiful, Tacoma.

This is truly a disaster. We now have to launch into the distressing tedium of police reports, insurance claims, towing and eventually a new truck as I guess and fear that my beautiful truck will be condemned. Such a shame as she is/was the last of an era of Tacoma trucks – single cab, manual transmission, bench seat, no electronic gadgets. Fingers crossed the she can be repaired. How ironic that after mastering frozen mountains, scorching deserts, the most remote trails in the U.S and Mexico that she should meet her maker on a leafy suburb street in San Francisco. To add another bucket of misery, the radiator on James’ Kawasaki sprung a leak and he has to wait for a replacement part. We are transportless.

The house has been under restoration for 2 years. Nothing much happened until the last couple of months when the guys, all from Ukraine, Bielorussia and other former Soviet states, have really got the bit between their communal teeth.

We now live in a very smart NoPa house. https://www.tripsavvy.com/guide-to-nopa-4084567#:~:text=NoPa%20stands%20for%20North%20of,entrance%20to%20Golden%20Gate%20Park. So lucky!

James points out that if I buy a big screen, I could link it up to my laptop and so watch movies, rugby matches etc. Once again, many thanks to James who is able to work out how to remotely connect my laptop to the new monitor using Apple AirPlay. I could not have done it in a thousand years.

I have not sat on a sofa watching movies for more than 10 years. In Japan I sit on an office chair in front of my Big Mac screen. Very different experience.

I am invited down to Stanford to attend the 30th anniversary of the BaBar experiment.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BaBar_experiment Babar was a fabulous success bringing together an uniquely efficient and fun team from all over the world. I am so privileged to have taken part and honoured by the invite. Lots of old friends; most of us showing the ravages of time, but still in great spirit. Very nostalgic.

We go up to Clement to buy new plates and bowls. Clement is very Chinese and has amazing stores and restaurants. It is always a blast to wander around and, of course, eat.

All in all, despite various setbacks, life is fabulous. I can also see much better. I think the eye drops are working. I’m now just old, fat, bald with a limp, rather than blind, old, fat, bald with a limp.

Loath to leave Okinawa, the morning of departure my body revolts. My leg is very painful in a new area – hamstringish. My right eye is very red and vaguely painful. By the time I get to Haneda, I have great difficulty walking, my eye is very painful and I have poor vision with lots of floaters.

Stumbling around in Haneda, a kind disabled truck driver asks if he can help.

This is the first time I have been driven around an airport since I broke my leg in 1980.

Hooray! Back in San Francisco but definitely under the weather. I hope that my eye condition, which seems identical to a previous complaint I had in Mexico a couple of years ago, will go away, https://thequietripple.com/2019/01/22/huatabampito/

It does not so I go to the Emergency Room (ER) at UCSF hospital. I point out that I have no health insurance and would like to know how much debt I am letting myself in for. They avoid the question. Anyway, I wait for 7 hours with very painful eye before a disinterested eye doctor shows up.

He recommends a whole series of further appointments and tests. I have a strong feeling that he is fishing for business camouflaged by concern for my health. I ask how much the treatment he suggests will cost but says he does not know. Dreadful experience; something badly wrong here.

Apart from that it is great to be back in San Francisco.

The guys restoring the house immediately cover the front of the house with scaffolding.

Very rapid progress is being made on the house, which is a pity as we have paid half rent for the last 2 years because of the restoration disturbance.

I go to the Pork Store for breakfast.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pork+Store+Cafe/@37.77,-122.5183501,13z/data=!4m10!1m2!2m1!1sthe+pork+store!3m6!1s0x808580acc910b809:0x9387ec1e9c3c598d!8m2!3d37.77!4d-122.4462523!15sCg50aGUgcG9yayBzdG9yZVoQIg50aGUgcG9yayBzdG9yZZIBFGJyZWFrZmFzdF9yZXN0YXVyYW50mgEjQ2haRFNVaE5NRzluUzBWSlEwRm5TVVJ3ZG5adVVGcDNFQUXgAQA!16s%2Fg%2F1tddx_j2?entry=ttu

Such a great place serving non pretentious Californian food.

Fingers crossed that both eye and leg make rapid progress so I can burst out into the wilderness soon.

So tomorrow I set off for San Francisco. Many things to do to make sure that things do not fall apart while I am away. The most important thing is to wrap up the boat as snugly as possible so that the rain does not get in. If it does, it fills up the cockpit, the engine compartment, the bilge, the cabin and eventually the boat sinks. This should be avoided.

I have a very good cover but typhoons are tough opposition. If the cover blows off then all the above mentioned awfulness ensues. I have had the cover strengthened to avoid rips and also have replaced the elastic rope with hooks that attached the cover to the boat. Now there is much stronger cord.

I go to my last physiotherapy session at the wonderful Ginowan Sports Lab, https://ginowanspolab.com

They are great people and we have had a lot of fun, not to mention serious, proffesional treatment of my leg.

Anyway, I am waiting for my treatment when a beautiful young woman comes in, walks straight up to me and gives me hug. I like this sort of thing.

Jonathan and Renee return to OIST. Great to see them! We reminisce on the first years of the university. We did a good job, especially Jonathan..

Nothing very interesting I am afraid but I like to keep up the diary.

My personal health supervisor, the magnificent Komesu san https://thequietripple.com/2023/11/15/how-much-is-that-doggy-in-the-window/ summons me for an audience. She has the results from recent diabetes, arteriosclerosis and other stuff tests. I expect the usual, “Eat less, drink less, do more exercise” but get a 2 hour medicine tutorial instead. Very detailed explanations of the science behind the conditions mentioned. I knew nothing about this stuff before.

Komesu san’s English is limited and she is aided by the charming Hitomi san whose English is good. As usual we giggle a lot.

Thank you Komesu san, thank you Ginowan City Health Service!

I renew my tenancy of the berth at the Marina.

The bakery https://thequietripple.com/2022/12/29/fresh-bread/ that is a short hobble, my calf is still painful, from my apartment now does delicious mentaiko rolls.

I will be returning to California soonish and am setting the boat up to resist typhoons that might blast through in my absence.

The weather is beautiful by the way.

Is a festival that marks the end of winter. Hooray, well not so hooray, as I prefer the climate in winter to the dreadful heat and humility of summer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun

We run around shouting, ‘Devils out! Fortune in!’ and throwing soya beans around.

Much beloved Greta is here. https://thequietripple.com/2017/03/25/great-is-an-anagram-of-which-womans-name/

We have a wonderful dinner in Ichiro san’s studio in Ada. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ada+Garden+Hotel+Okinawa/@26.7508995,128.2983789,460m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!3m8!1s0x34e4401ed330e98f:0x2c018f8bcf9fe175!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d26.751331!4d128.2985728!16s%2Fg%2F1tgrzpgq?entry=ttu

Tomomi has prepared an amazing Setsubun meal characterized by lots of wrapped up stuff and minced sardines.

Incredible meal, thank you Tomomi san !

We go for a stroll around 11:30. It is beautifully cool and fresh. The stars are blazing. It is silent apart from the hooting of Scops owls. Ichiro san immediately spots an Okinawan Rail in a tree.

We go for a ramble the next morning.

It is cherry blossom time in Okinawa. There are blooming trees and butterflies everywhere.

The party continues the next day. The plan is that Arisa san, Greta and I will have a night picnic on the boat under the blazing stars. It does not work out like that. It rains all day and by the time we get to the boat, it is very windy, cold, damp and the stars are hidden by cloud.

We scuttle back to the shelter of the apartment. We have the best time.

We also eat lamb chops and Mentaiko Salmon and drink lots of good wine. Suddenly it is one a clock in the morning! I rarely make it past 10:00!

Off to Chubu Hospital to get the result of the pathology on my late lamented polyps and have the usual deep scrutiny blood test. As soon as you arrive you nip up to the blood test place on the second floor. They are super efficient and the throughput is very fast.

Down stairs to wait to see the doctor. This is usually about an hour but I enjoy the wait as there is a big screen TV. This is only time I get to watch Japanese TV. It is wild! In fact I haven’t watched Tv for over 13 years.

The doc gives me some disappointing black and white shots of my intestines. They used to be colour!

Anyway he reassures me that there is no evidence of cancer.

He also goes over the blood test results in detail and remarkably there seems to be nothing wrong.

Well. not quite true, as my torn calf muscle is painful so I stumble and hobble around. I go to the Sports Health Clinic twice a week and they plug me into the strong ju ju electrotherapy machine and make me do exercises,

You will remember that every 3 years the boat must be inspected for safety equipment and general seaworthiness. https://thequietripple.com/2021/07/19/an-inspector-calls/

That time has come again. The Inspector calls on Monday morning, I ask Kiyuna san if he can be there in case of language difficulties. The Inspector is a hilarious person and the inspection, which I imagine would be fairly formal in most places, soon becomes a party.

The next day I go down to the JCI office in Tomari Harbor to pick up my new stickers.

It is so cold – 14C! We go for a winter meal.