Long time no blog

Sorry to those checking this blog more often than I do...since my last post (over a month ago now) I've done a lot. I traveled to Honolulu, the big city on Oahu where almost 3/4 of the people in the state, and most of the the tourists call home base. I went to the American Dietetic Association's annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo to hear the latest in nutrition research and learn more about the traditional Hawaiian diet. I also got to surf at Waikiki beach for about an hour and visited with one of my instructors from UND.

It was amazing to hear that traditionally Hawaiians ate nearly 3000-and sometimes as much as 8000-calories a day primarily from poi(taro root pounded into a purple paste) and coconuts. Their current lifes are much less active but they still are eating at least 3000 calories a day moslty from white rice, spam, portugese sausage, and othere adapted "american" foods. THe 'plate lunch' here is Hawaii's fast food, usually 2 scoops of rice, 3 or 4 servings of different meats(fried chicken wings, shredded kalua pork, spare ribs, spam and sometimes ono-which is a white fatty fish). a favorite rice topper is a hamburger patty, fried eggs, and gravy which is called the loco moco. These lunches are not very filling, especially if you skip breakfast, but can have more than enough fat and calories for a very active person for one day. One restaurant, Ken's house of pancakes, rings a big bell every time someone orders a "sumo Loco" that has 6 scoops of rice, 3 hamburger patties, and three fried eggs all smothered in brown gravy.

They were very fit people with all the canoeing and hiking they did, unfortunately native Hawaiians now have some of the worst type 2 diabetes rates in the world and one of the lowest life expectancies of any population group. Still Hawaii ranked 1st in the "longevity" study published in USA today a while back, beating out Minnesota who was second for average lifespan.

Another topic, I got wheels! I bought a 2003 Nissan Frontier 4 door pickup 4x4 with mud tires! no more walking to work in the rain or hitching rides to the DOctor's dinners I've been getting invited to. I can get anywhere on the island (a lot of the coolest places are accessible only by 4wd. The doc's dinner are put on by drug reps (pharmaceuticals, not the other drug 'reps' on the island) and are free dinner at some of the nicest restaurants on this side of the island. I get some funny looks from some of the reps because I look too young to be a doctor, but they don't mind that I'm just there for the free food! I've attended 3 so far, one on chronic kidney disease and hypertension, one on urinary frequency (ironically that one was very short, to allow for frequent bathroom breaks?), and the last one was on Lipitor at the Hilo yacht club-which has no yachts! Yachts or no yachts, I'll take a free lobster tail any day...I've got 3 more doctors dinners coming up before the end of the month. The picture of the little tree is taken in my backyard and my new truck is in the background. I think the tree is so cool, it grows right out of that rock it is on, kind of like all the trees starten on this island.

I took a drive out the ot Puna District south of Hilo last week on one of my days off to check out some 'beaches' around the area and found that those 'beaches' are really big black rocks with waves thundering against them 40 feet below you! They are pretty amazing but not for swimming. From that area I could see the steam plumes from where there is still lava flowing into the ocean...the newest land on the planet, I've been on the Island longer than that land!

Today I'm heading over to the Kona side to surf and snorkel with a traveling doc from texas and a couple of nurses whove been at the hospital for 10 years or more. it should be a good time, we are going to a beach that is a 4wd and hike in that is usually empty. I can't wait! I gotta get going... more later