Staying Healthy

I have never felt "old", still lucid, flexible and energetic.  Yet, I must admit the years are catching up with me.  I am confident that I will eventually show my age more, but right now I feel great!  I am interested in what  science and experience has in store for me. 

I know I can maintain my mental ability as I age since I like puzzles and learning new things all the time.  I am working on how to keep my physical skills in shape, too.  I have actually thought about joining a "zumba" class held just down the road about twice a week.  We'll see.  As it is I have this hill to climb as much as I like. Even the driveway to the house is all uphill!  Just wish I had a companion to do it with.

Haleakala National Park

We have a free week of this National Park, so we decided to pull out our warm clothes and head up to the summit on Saturday.  Unfortunately Jeff has a head cold and he felt miserable most of the time up there, but had to admit the views were fantastic!  Will add new pictures soon.

Another Scam

Today Jeff got an e-mail generated by hackers from my friend's e-mail.  This reminded me of a similar one I got about 2 years ago.  Somebody had hacked my sister's e-mail account and sent the same message to all her contacts, me included.  It said it was from her, using her name, and that she was stuck in Europe without any money to get back, or get a hotel room, so it asked for some money.  It was well-written; using expressions an American would use.

It seemed plausible, but I knew I should first call her home to see if she was on some trip.  She was actually at home and not travelling.  She then had to report the hackers to her provider.  As for myself, had I responded, what would these hackers have tried to phish from me?

Well, this new e-mail was supposingly from some man in Cyprus taking care of his cousin.  He said "he" (the cousin) suffered from a critical uterine fibroid and that "he" needed to have hysterectomy surgery immediately.  He needed $2000 and would anxiously await any response on his e-mail.  The friend whose e-mail was hacked actually responded to the e-mail and she got a reply that requested for personal information such as name, address, social security number, etc.

My husband quickly saw the errors in the message.  Most adults know that men don't need a hysterectomy since they do not have a uterus!  Nor do doctors generally describe uterine fibroids as "critical" in English.  It is human tendencies to read e-mails from our friends, but be careful.  Do not respond to these e-mails, especially with all the ways to infiltrate your personal computer.

Let's try Helping Senior Citizens

Yesterday one I had a wonderful senior citizen friends told me something that recently happened to her and it made me want to help others like her.  At least she was lucid enough to do the right thing, but not every elderly person is, so this is for those of you getting on in age, for your protection.

My friend told me that she had gotten a telephone call from somebody claiming to be from Microsoft.  He wanted her to turn over the control of her computer to him so he could remove some "bugs" she may have gotten from surfing the internet.  I am sure you know what he meant.  If you have ever had some problem with your software, you go to the phone and talk with somebody at their site, and they ask for certain numbers, etc., and then they take control of your computer, and you watch your curser being moved about by the person on the other end.

It seems this is a new way to take advantage of people, since everybody has some form of computer nowadays.  We can only guess what information this person was seeking for, or his intentions.  Yet, it seems more and more senior citizens are falling victim to some sort of scam everyday.  There are some manys for these guys to get a quick hit on your phone, or your facebook page, etc. and even if you catch it, they have at least gotten away with a quick buck at your expense!  Please note the sites I have listed to help you if any of these ever happen to you.

Well, this friend was smart enough to know she didn't need anybody to clean her computer of "bugs" because she had just done a scan with her security system on her computer.  Being the person she is, she nicely said, "No, thank you" and hung up immediately.  Morale of this story, Microsoft never calls you out of the blue!

Swimming with the Sealife

Sea Turtles swimming around us.

Beautiful Angelfish all fish filmed by Lauren.

Colorful fishes, seen so clearly!

Red Sea Urchin

One Year on Maui

It's been a whole year since we left Michigan, and almost an entire year living on Maui.  The island is rather large so we definitely feel we're on solid ground.  We have seasonal changes, but minor, and we are now headed for warmer weather. 

Jeff has gotten an environmental consultant job with a small established environmental company, but it all depends on finding work related to the sale of land, the testing of old building materials, etc. and then getting the bid accepted.  It is definitely an entreprenuerial style of work versus working for a larger firm.

Our home is surrounded by litchi bushes and the fruit is now becoming ripe enough to be picked.  Soon the citrus fruit will ripen.  Most people have different sorts of fruit trees on their property and either sell, or share their excess.  It is also donated to the Maui Food Bank.  Those without are helped by many churches and food banks, especially with seasonal vegetables and fruit.

There are many different cultures on the Island to become acquainted with.  Jeff has enjoyed learning to eat the variety of cultural dishes available.  Yet, we sure are happy that there is real, authentic Mexican food here, from menudo to tamales.  Humm!

We have wonderful beaches here, but generally don't get there as often as we would like.  Having dinner at the beach with family and friends is very popular here.  Our nearest beach, Ho'okipa, is a wonderful one from which to watch wind surfers and to swim with sea turtles.  Since we live on the Northside of the island, we also have some really big waves from time to time.