Friday, October 13, 2017

Shadanhojinhokubuchiku - Yow !

Hospital in Nago, Okinawa

Prettiest Doctor on Planet Earth



Scared to visit doctors, from previous experiences, I only use them when I have to.

The past few months, I hadn't been feeling well but, try to hide it.

Finally, I got half scared to death and decided, it would be a good time to turn myself-in.

Almost three years ago, I had been in this hospital for surgery. It's up in Nago, Okinawa.

They cut me open and installed some mesh, to patch a blowout in my belly.

It was fun, joking with the nurses and sneaking off the fourth floor, to get outside.

No smoking rules, forced me to ground level, past the mortuary, to get outside and smoke.

The doctor let me cut my visit a few days short because, I recovered so quickly.

Shadanhojinhokubuchiku is the hospital, I was in and decided to go back there.



Attorneys Love Things Like This



Those mesh patches, feel sorta funny, when installed in your pelvis.

After awhile, you get used to it and, life goes on, as usual. It beats being dead, I think.

Some gal back in the USA, won 57 million dollars because of a mesh lawsuit.

It seems Johnson & Johnson, got caught selling defective patches and has to pay, now.

The woman, had all sorts of problems, with the mesh and, felt like she was on fire.

Back around June, of this year, my mesh started burning, down there in my lower tummy.

Not really interested in becoming a millionaire, I decided to get a checkup.

What if, they quit selling that mesh in the USA and, sent some to Japan ?




Surgery, Orthopaedics, sign, hospital, Nago, Okinawa


Hospital Visit



Certain, I was about to be admitted, I traveled light. Just carried a few extra smokes.

All appointments, for the next few weeks, were put on hold.

Keys, a few hundred dollars, cameras and, other junk I usually carry, were left at home.

Just the wife and a daughter, drove me to the hospital. The dog I said, "Later Stinky."


When you check-in at the front desk, they decide, where to send you next.

This, I'll call station #4.  There must have been 35 people, who arrived before me.

Orthopaedics, I had to google. I figured, it had something to do with bones.

An hour wait at the front desk and, another hour stuck here. Groan.

Blood pressure, heartbeat and a few other things, eventually got checked.

Poor little nurse, couldn't reach high enough to measure my height so, I did it myself.

Once, they decide, which doctor you need, you get to wait another hour.

Soon, I started telling the wife and daughter, "It's a miracle. I'm cured. Let's go home."



Beautiful Woman Doctor



A gorgeous, late twenties, almond-eyed, long-haired, gal in a blue uniform, greeted us.

The wife comes along, to help with the hearing and translation.

She gets informed about my last visit and, pulls up all my records on the computer.

Meanwhile, I do stuff like, look at her fingers and, see there are no rings.

She has me, get up on a table for examination and, I had to pull my shorts down, a little ways.

She started poking around, looking for the scar, from my last surgery.

Sort of a gorilla, it took her awhile to find the spot. Then, she pokes around there.

"Does this hurt?" she asks.  "Yeah. That's why I came here. It  burns, like fire." I told her.

She wanted my pants down lower and had me raise my fanny up a bit.

Then, she pulled everything down to my knees and had me spread my legs.

Holy crap. The gal started, sticking her hands all over my crotch, probing and squeezing !

"Does it hurt here? How about, when I do this? Pain here?" 

"No, sweetie. You're making everything feel fine. It doesn't hurt down there." I told her.



Off to the Echo Chamber




The doctor determined, some sort of internal images, should be taken and, away we went.

"That gal's too young to be a doctor. She's cute. Did you see what she did to me?" I asked the wife.

"Why didn't you punch her in the face?" I said, while we walked to the next station.

The wife said, "She's a doctor, doing her job. Maybe, she's an intern. That's why she's young."

Well, I sort of enjoyed it but if, I saw some young guy, do that to you, I'd knock them out."

At the EKKO Station, the missus, waited outside and, I went in with a 3/4 good-looking gal.

She slapped some grease on me and, watched a TV screen, while rubbing a machine around.

Both sides of my pelvis got viewed but, she kept away from the Tinker Toys. Yeah !

Another hour or, two and, we got to see my favorite doctor, again.

The doctor, after looking at the pictures, said everything looks normal. I could go home.

Duh. My belly's on fire. That's not normal, to me !



Let's Try a CT Scan



That's one, I have never experienced and told the doctor. MRI, I've done some.

She said it was similar to an MRI, just a different machine.

They gave me some sort of transfusion machine, hooked-up and taped to my arm.

Took some blood and, pumped juice in me and, I'd have to wait an hour.

No eating lunch. Dammit, it was going on two o'clock and, I was hungry.

"No smoking," a gal told us. But, the wife whispered, "She said, one was OK."





Radiology, Japanese, hospital, sign


The wife, couldn't stay there in the room. "No problem," I told her.

In case, they spoke Japanese only, I could understand, "Hold still and, hold your breath."

The machine, was similar to an MRI, just smaller. It wasn't like going into a coffin.

The gadget, on my arm, got colored juice, pumped into an artery.

The machine buzzed and, I spent about half an hour on the table, moving in and out.

When done, they unhooked me and, when I stood up, felt like a drunk.

That's something I've become accustomed to so, it was easy navigating through the hospital.

The results of the CT were delivered back to the nurses at my doctor's station.

Knowing it may take another hour, I had the wife and daughter waiting and, got more smokes.

The lady doctor, finally had us brought in but, didn't feel me, this time.

After looking at all the evidence and, consulting with the big doctors, she knew.

The burning sensation is caused by some nodules. I can get pain killers.

Nope. I don't want some drugs, to numb my brain so, I won't feel the burning.

We settled on some medicine, that's like Vitamin B 12. I got a month's supply.

And, I have another appointment, with the lady doctor in two weeks, for a checkup.

When she asks how I feel, I'll say, "I don't know. You tell me."




Total Damages



The wife knows, I like to clown around and, is happy to have me home.

She told the daughter about my thrilling experience with the young lady doctor.

They both had a good laugh and, we went out to dinner, while in the big city.

With my Japanese health insurance, it cost about 150 bucks, for everything, yesterday.

It would have totaled over $17,000 if, I had no health insurance. Probably more, in the USA.

When I go back, I'll ask the doctor, "Could you add a little Viagra, to that medicine?"

Then, start dancing around the room singing, "I'm the Hoochie Coochie Man."



Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Just a Halloween Reminder

Halloween scene;Okinawa

It's Almost Here


It seems like, the stores have been pushing Halloween since August.

Now is a good time to post something from last year and, a few reminders.

Some folks, have to go out and buy costumes for the event. Others, don't really need them.

For photographers: You might want to go out and catch some of the attractions, to photograph.

This image gave me an idea. I think I'll just stay home.

Saturday, October 7, 2017

GIF: Six Minutes of Clouds and October 2017 Moon

October 5 2017 full moon, GIF, clouds

Nine Image Animation



A lot can happen, when out shooting the full moon on Okinawa.

The series of photos, used to create this scene, were taken between 6:20 and 6:26 PM.

 The wind was blowing black clouds through the sky and shaking my camera lens.

The color of the moon, changed during that time period, too.

After downloading the camera and, posting images on the blog, I went out for a drink.

Joking with a guy in the bar, I said,"The moon's a moving target."

He agreed and said, "I know. I'm a meteorologist."

That was my chance to ask him, "How come the color of the moon changes, so fast?"

Well, about that time, a beautiful woman, walked into the bar.

So, I quit paying attention to the weatherman. Amen.

Friday, October 6, 2017

Problem Solved - It's the Girl with the Cutest Nose

Children drumming and dancing at Full Moon Festival

Children Perform Eisa at a Full Moon Festival



October 4th 2017 a Kangetsusai (moon viewing) Festival was held in Kin Town.

Wanting to travel light, I used a mono-pod and 18-250 MM lens, with the Pentax K1.

The mono-pod, would make it easier, to avoid having drunken revelers, shaking the camera.

The thing had been collecting dust, in my office for a few years.

It was my first time, using such a gadget and, it worked out pretty well.


I was standing at a level above most of the crowd and zooming-in on the stage.

Two younger grandchildren came along and said, "Jiji." That's Japanese for grandpa.

I hugged the girl and patted the boy. It started raining. I toweled his bald head, dry.

The granddaughter told me, "Kannon's up there doing Eisa."

Kannon, is a sixth grader and, daughter of my favorite daughter-in-law.

What kind of crappy grandfather, would I be if, I missed photographing her ?


A Busy Time of the Year



Celebrations, festivals and sports day events keep me going, around the clock.

There are probably thousands of images, waiting processing in my files.

The wind picked up, rain was falling down, on and off, during this matsuri (festival).

Some folks, ran off the field, seeking shelter. Others, popped open umbrellas.

The last time, I saw my granddaughter perform Eisa, she was wearing purple head-wear.

Assuming she'd be dressed in the same uniform, I concentrated on purple.

Then, used continuous firing on the camera's shutter button. Like a machine gun.

Frame the compositions, to include everybody in the crowd and, I couldn't miss her.

The weather or, something, even broke the loudspeaker system and, music stopped.

But, those spirited kids, kept on drumming, chanting and dancing. They were amazing.

At any Eisa event, there's always someone, whistling loud, like a whippoorwill on steroids.

Local men, fired-up on kettles of Okinawan spirits, contributed to the merrymaking.



After the Eisa



Along came my favorite daughter-in-law and, she saw that I had brought the camera.

"Papa, did you get photos of Kannon?" she asked me.

"Of course, I get photos of everybody. What sort of crappy grandpa, do you think I am?"

By the end of the event, I was exhausted. Dropped the camera by my office and, called it a day.

There were over 800 photos taken. I left a computer, downloading and, locked the door.

Out shooting the full moon, the past few nights, I haven't done much photo processing.

Here it is, a few days later and, everyone wants to see the pictures of Kannon.

Going through the image files, I couldn't find her. I looked at hundreds of photos.

Enlarging them on the screen and, looking at purple scarves, I didn't spot my granddaughter.



Bummed Out Grandpa



It's a good thing, I only have one daughter-in-law, in Okinawa. She's still my favorite, here.

The other one, in the USA is, my favorite American daughter-in-law.

It's also a good thing, I didn't delete all the photos, of those kids wearing purple.

After checking all the kids faces, on the stage, I noticed something.

Bouncing up and down, on the ground, were drummers, in red head bands.

All of a sudden, I spotted this doll, with a drum and a cute little nose, I'd recognize anywhere.

Why in the hell, didn't anyone tell me, the color of my granddaughter's uniform ?