Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
Us, December 25, 2021: Leo, Roy, Ondine, John, Shadow
OK, here it is, the World Famous (ha!) Kuraoka Family Year In Review!
In international news, there's a new Pope, former Chicago Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. Russia's war of aggression and conquest continues in Ukraine, with the U.S. under President Donald Trump positioning itself as a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin. In a similar vein, Israel's genocidal invasion of Gaza is also strongly backed by the U.S. Not to be left out in this expansionist party, the U.S. is rattling its sabers at Venezuela in an effort to secure that country's oil reserves. The swing toward right-wing, white nationalist fascism continues around the globe, with Nigel Farage's Reform UK party and the AfD in Germany both picking up massive gains. Everywhere, the billionaires are winning, and winning solidly. There is very little positive news for the planet. A daring daylight heist at the Louvre offered a bit of somewhat comedic relief.
In U.S. news, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president taking over from Joe Biden. Now, just 11 months in, Trump's oligarchical, white christian nationalist dictatorship is all but secured; he controls all the branches of government including Congress and the Supreme Court, and even the news media. Trump's economic policies, including punitive tariffs, have driven up prices for ordinary people and padded the profits of many corporate donors. Gun violence is a daily event, with left-leaning lawmakers and influencers targeted for assassination. American science, public health, environmental and educational agencies have been closed down, resulting in multiple air crashes, record corporate profits, and a generational rise in preventable disease, ignorance, and poverty. American citizens are being attacked and detained by unidentified federal agents. Huge protests against the administration in every city have proven utterly ineffective. Meanwhile, the Epstein Files, which may show criminal behavior at the highest levels of government and business, are suppressed.
In California, the big news was the L.A. Wildfires, which destroyed entire communities. Real estate syndicates have already swooped in to buy many, if not most, of the homes destroyed, ensuring even more transfer of wealth from working people to profiteers. The L.A. Dodgers won the World Series. Governor Gavin Newsom provided something of a national bright spot, parodying Trump's social media accounts while also moving, a bit, to preserve civil rights, provide affordable medical care, and protect the environment.
Here in San Diego, a plane crashed in a suburban Tierrasanta neighborhood, killing six. We participated in several No Kings marches, both downtown and in El Cajon.
Ondine began the year on strike against Kaiser with NUHW, which continued into early May. However, Ondine returned to work in mid-February, after being off work and on the picket line for over four months. In a bookendish thing, Ondine is ending the year off work because (this is the Big News of 2025 for us) she had a TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT in early December! She's been conscientiously doing her exercises and stretching, and is way ahead of all her PT milestones. She's already stopped taking the pain meds, and walks around the house without a cane.
Thankfully, John worked steadily through the year, a lucky thing because he's still only employed on-call, albeit for a number of companies. He started the year working on a massive archaeological dig. He rolled from that to a long-term local pipeline project, and from that to another long-term pipeline project, with several small projects in between. He also got hired as an on-call at another company. He took off work for four weeks after Ondine had her knee replacement.
We've both been learning German on Duolingo, although for Ondine it's a refresher. John is about up to reading Mama Muh Fahrt Schlitten.
Roy is still with Danielle, and still working for Resilient Roofing. Roy and Danielle had their BIG TRIP TO JAPAN this year, which began in early December and is still going on! They return next week. They went to Tokyo, Osaka, Monbetsu, and other spots. Highlights so far seem to have been the glacial ice at Monbetsu, and the Osaka aquarium. In other news, Roy started a new venture selling used Kindle Keyboards.
Leo is doing great at Grossmont College, and just wrapped up his application to transfer to UCSD for electrical engineering. He has a 4.0 GPA, and just got a position as a math tutor! He had his own trip this year, a 7-DAY MEXICAN RIVIERA CRUISE with his friend Trent on the Carnival Panorama. The itinerary was almost the same as the cruise we all took with Barbara and Bill way back in 2010, which was our very first cruise! Amazingly, Carnival had Leo on record as a returning passenger, so they scored some additional discounts. They selected an inside cabin, though, to keep costs down, and didn't spend much time in there. His favorite stop was Puerto Vallarta.
Shadow got bitten by a RATTLESNAKE in the back yard! He needed two rounds of antivenin and an overnight stay at the emergency pet hospital, about $5k. After that, we had him get the rattlesnake vaccine, which helps reduce the effects of a rattlesnake bite. We also lowkey switched vets.
Barbara fell and broke her hip in February. After surgery, despite a valiant effort by the rehab team and all of us, she was not interested in physical therapy. She has been on hospice since that time at a lovely board and care; she is bed-bound and minimally verbal, with end-stage Alzheimer's. Ondine visits generally once a week, plus Barbara's cousin Bea visits regularly. Ondine has been reading to Barbara from her beloved Oz books.
Frances turned 98, and just keeps going, although her walking and moving around have become a bit unsteady. She still gets around with just a cane, though. When we gathered for Christmas, Frances and Ondine had almost matching purple floral canes! She flew to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving week with John's sister Patty, Daryl, and Gene.
TRAVEL: Well, Leo went to Mexico and Roy and Danielle went to Japan. But also, Ondine and Leo joined the Cohen family for over a week up at Sand Pond in August! They stayed at Berger Campground, sharing cooking and cleanup duties. It was very hot! Leo went up the Buttes, though. The trip was made extra memorable because a bear tried to get into the Cohens' ice chest, clawing or biting off a chunk of it. (It had no food in it at the time, but the bear couldn't know that.)
We went to a retirement planning course at Grossmont College but put on by a private financial planning firm. It included some one-on-one individual planning sessions, and we ended up deciding to go with the company, Pur Financial, and the advisor, Sumit, for our financial planning stuff moving forward. We're trying to get our ducks in a row for retirement, possibly in a couple years! (Although, while Ondine wants to retire from social work, John is happy to keep working because he loves being an archaeologist.)
New acquisitions: Ondine has a new titanium left knee! John (and Leo) got new phone screens after damaging theirs; they kept their old phones though (Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultras). We got air conditioning installed in the house, relatively eco-friendly, energy-efficient mini-splits in selected areas. John started taking one blood pressure med then switched to another after experiencing side effects. We also got new living room furniture! We got five tall bookshelves and two cabinets from Ikea. That meant we could finally organize our books so they're in definite sections, alphabetized by author! We also got two new Ikea Poang chairs, a regular one and a rocker, replacing our old loveseat/hideabed. John got a new CPAP, a Resmed Airsense 11, after exceeding the motor life on his old Airsense 10. We got our new passports. John bought a set of dumbells and weights off NextDoor. John got a new electric shaver, a Panasonic Arc 3, because the battery on his old Braun 3040s would no longer hold a charge. Speaking of batteries not holding a charge, his Nikon D3300 batteries failed, so he got two new ones. In networking, we got a much-needed new cable modem, an Arris Surfboard S33. And, John just got a Pillow Cube Ice Cube pillow, which is supposed to be ideal for side sleepers. John is also slowly and secretly inching his way back into film photography through bargain-priced used gear.
In other acquisitions, we furnished the two upstairs bedrooms at Barbara's old house, getting ready to rent them out. We got new beds, desks, and lamps from Ikea, plus new ceiling fans.
In dispositions, John sold almost all his old wristwatches and several high-grade pocket watches at bargain prices, after giving the kints first pick. And, he's been selling some of his outdoor clothing on Poshmark. We've taken several carloads of clothes and household goods to the Goodwill store. We also got rid of some of our old bookshelves.
Plays: we got a three-show pass at Coronado Playhouse as well as season tickets to Lamplighters. We saw Barbecue, Curtains, and Head Over Heels at the Coronado Playhouse; Wait Until Dark, A Perfect Ganesh, Bright Star (a real highlight, we saw it twice), Steel Magnolias, Lettice & Lovage, and Copenhagen at Lamplighters; and John sneaked off to see Noises Off at The Old Globe while Ondine and Leo were at Sand Pond.
Passages: John's Uncle Leon died at the age of 101.
Looking ahead to 2026, plans for our upcoming summer trip are slowly taking shape! We plan to go to Germany for a bit, and then England. Leo plans to join us! Also, plans are afoot for an extended clan weekend some time this summer.
Neighborhood gas prices remain unusual. A local independent G&M is still price warring and charging about $3.79 per gallon, while the Shell across the street is about $4.09, and a Chevron on the other corner is about $4.69, which is about what everyone else charges.
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