I Helped Three Dozen Faculty Members at UH Manoa with Career Development and Academic Promotion

In June, 1977, I was flushed with excitement over my first full-time professional job as an academic pediatrician at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children and the John A Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). I had just completed my fellowship in Neonatology with one of the foremost US pioneers of Neonatology, Dr. Louis Gluck. But my entrance into the in Honolulu academic medical scene was chaotic and challenging. As a result, the experiences that both buttressed and stymied my early academic journey subsequently sparked the choices and direction of my nearly 50-year career. While I am now technically retired, as a professor emeritus, I continue my involvement with helping faculty members achieve their goals for scholarship and promotion in 2026.  

Upon my arrival, I sought help from the JABSOM basic science faculty to advance my research career: promises were plentiful, but they went mostly ignored or conveniently forgotten. It took another 18 years before I identified a suitable mentor, Fred Greenwood Ph.D, and he was not even in the medical school. This and subsequent observations left a lasting impression: the lack of any formal mentoring and or coaching program, the apparent lack of concern for junior faculty career development, and the siloed, narrowly focused mentality of the medical school faculty. This disengaged culture, especially as it related to the clinical versus the basic science faculty was in part due to the location of medical school clinical departments in several outlying community hospitals, while the basic science, administrative offices and laboratories were isolated to the Manoa campus in the Biomedical Science Building. You needed to earnestly make an effort to get to know one another to foster a collaborative and collegial working environment. Apparently, JABSOM had other pressing priorities in those early years closer to its establishment.  

While I participated in both clinical and laboratory research throughout my career, it was my leadership roles on several major NIH grants and in the Dean’s Office that provided the broader exposure to JABSOM’s junior faculty members in need of guidance, mentoring and research funding. Thanks to Dr. Greenwood who recruited me for the role of Program Director for a new NIH sponsored Clinical Research Center at JABSOM, my role positioned me to support several hundred clinical studies, by vetting and funding seed grants to junior faculty over the subsequent 13 years. A few years later, another opportunity came my way called the Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN) which expanded JABSOM’s research infrastructure, facilitated research proposal development and submission, and later was the rationale to establish a JABSOM Grants Development Office as well as a satellite Office of Research Services at the Kakaako campus. It was also the forerunner to the IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) infrastructure grant, now in its fifth five-year cycle of funding. 

My career continued into more complex administrative, research, and research infrastructure roles that are irrelevant to the focus of this present essay.  For now, I ask the question - Is there any obligation, tacit or mandated, that senior and seasoned academic faculty members contribute to the academic well-being of their junior faculty? The fact that I had little to no help on my entry to academics at JABSOM begs the question of how siloed the JABSOM faculty was at the time, and whether any of them felt even a nominal sense of obligation to assist the emerging junior faculty. This gesture and support not only help individual faculty members in need, by its nature and emerging culture, it also contributes to the overall progress and future of the medical school. 

My journey into assisting faculty members with their research proposal development started when I was Director of the Clinical Research Center over 30 years ago.  But it was in the last 10 years of my career that I dove head first into the role of career development counseling and faculty promotion. Most Universities have laborious and time-consuming application procedures that require faculty members who are seeking promotion to document their achievements as well as to provide the necessary documentation. At UH Manoa, a Statement of Endeavors (SOE), ranging from nine pages to not more than 15 pages is required. But the construction of the SOE, the content, the hyperlinks necessary to document accomplishments, and particularly all of the student, resident, fellow, and faculty evaluations of teaching covering the critical period since the last promotion can be an arduous task to compile especially if faculty members have not been keeping track of their teaching sessions and evaluations. In short, the SOE is the most important component of the application when seeking promotion. How faculty members, who are already consumed by their daily obligations, have little to no experience in this realm, author this document is critical to its success. My role was not to adjudicate the merit of the faculty member’s quest for promotion, but to help them get the job done at their request. In the end, although unwittingly, I was responsible for discouraging many of the faculty members who came to me seeking assistance who clearly did not have the accomplishments needed for promotion. Sadly, more than a few faculty members thought that all you needed to do was remain in good standing for a reasonable number of years for promotion to automatically be granted. 

Promotion at UHM is a laborious five-step process. Vetting proceeds as follows: first in the respective Department, then the Department Chair, the Dean’s Promotion Committee and Dean, the Tenure and Promotion Review Committee (TPRC) situated on the Manoa campus, and the Chancellor who all have to review and approve of each application. Applications are due in early October and the faculty members are notified about the outcome about 9 months later. 

My passion to help junior faculty members was driven by a junior faculty member who found their way to me on another faculty member’s recommendation. She was situated in the JABSOM basic sciences. English was not her first language and she had previously applied for and was denied promotion. She wanted to contest this decision and provided me with a poorly written rebuttal that would have most certainly failed in its original state. She was more than qualified to be promoted in my assessment but for some reason, a disagreement and a deep misunderstanding with her Department Chair led to his failure to recommend her, which subsequently trickled down to the Dean’s recommendation to not support her promotion request as well. This was in conflict with the TPRC who felt her accomplishments were sufficient to recommend her for promotion. For my part, I rewrote the rebuttal document for her and she was subsequently promoted. Was it wrong of me to do this? Some might consider it overreach, and I am somewhat conflicted about how much rewriting I end up doing when helping faculty members compose their SOE. This situation has gone unresolved at least in my own mind.

I haven’t kept ongoing records of how many faculty members that I counseled on career development and or promotion. However, my best estimate is it was many more than the roughly three dozen faculty members I helped write their SOE’s and other dossier documents.  Except for one faculty member who brilliantly wrote her SOE in near final form in three weeks, the rest of the faculty members I helped needed months to complete the job, as well as a considerable effort on my part to finalize a polished, convincing, and well documented SOE.   

My effort extended way beyond offering comments, helping to clarify, rearrange, or rewrite confusing or poorly written sections, and/or correcting simple typos. Each faculty member had their own preference on how the feedback would be delivered – in person, in edited versions of drafts of each of the 4-5 sections of the SOE, or a combination of both. At least one meeting was held to initiate the process and to allow me to appreciate the general sense of the faculty member’s values and aspirations. In general, my contribution to the SOE was substantial. Twenty or more edited versions could pass between us in its development. I could easily spend 50-100 hours, although I’m not certain whether this approximation is an under or overestimation. Faculty members were typically from the Department of Pediatrics or the Department of Medicine, although I have assisted faculty in other departments both in and out of JABSOM including the College of Engineering.  The majority of the faculty members were applying for promotion to associate professor although about 15% were applying for full professor. Moreover, since my promotion dossier preparation support lasted about a decade, I assisted two faculty members at UH Manoa with both their associate and full professor promotion applications.   

At first, I was simply motivated to help faculty members in need, recalling that I received very little to none at their stage of development. However, the SOE included sections that introduced the faculty member’s background and educational and career development, described teaching philosophy, and showcased some of the positive reviews that faculty members receive for their teaching and mentoring. Callously believing that faculty members my junior would seldom measure up to the accomplishments that I along with other senior academics had accomplished, I was shocked by their interesting histories, their backgrounds, their interests, abilities, and prior achievements!  Indeed, it was very soon thereafter that I realized how much I derived pleasure and joy and tremendous respect for the faculty members that I assisted in the process.  

While I continue to ask myself whether my contribution sometimes constituted an excessive overreach, I have no doubt that almost all of the faculty members that I helped were worthy of promotion. Some faculty members naively came to me thinking all they needed for promotion was to fulfill the minimum employment requirement. That was disheartening, especially since it was sometimes left to me to instill some stark reality into this notion. Scholarship was usually the main shortcoming of the clinical faculty, and again, it was left up to me to suggest strategies to boost their publications by working with residents and medical students or in collaboration with basic scientists at JABSOM or beyond. One faculty member wanted to go up for promotion but had no chance of success. Each year this faculty member would return without any major progress to showcase, but with a persistence that seemed out of touch with reality. Finally, after several years of rejecting this plea and some progress in advancing academic accomplishments, I agreed to help. In the end, this was one of two faculty members that I helped that I felt didn’t deserve promotion. I still feel this nagging truth when I think about my overall positive experience. In any case, my success rate remained at 100% throughout the decade of my faculty promotion support. 

A few faculty outliers deserve mention. One was recruited to JABSOM as an associate professor and amassed over 120 publications over a twenty-year period before deciding to apply for promotion. Another productive faculty member who easily qualified for promotion had a midcareer stretch of several years with little to no publications. When we explained in the SOE that this was due to a temporary refocus of attention from academics to her conflicted teenage daughter, we successfully dispelled any notion that she was not legitimately fulfilling her duties as a faculty member. It also served as a wonderful example of how academic productivity need not trump one’s responsibly to family since her publication productivity was exceptional both before and after that interlude. 

It’s difficult to judge the overall effect of my contribution. Indeed, it’s not clear whether my contribution dictated the outcome between promotion and rejection. Most of the faculty members lacked the wherewithal to properly understand what should be included in the SOE, as well as the writing skills for this type of a document. Some felt a need to air out their dirty laundry, others went off on tangents that were off the mark. With a few exceptions, faculty members underplayed their contributions and status at JABSOM. To be sure, having a senior faculty member interpret each of the faculty members achievements as a disinterested party facilitated a more realistic and appropriate representation of a faculty members accomplishments. 

I had my own biases in writing the SOE that I passed on to the faculty I was assisting.  Composing a document that is entirely narrative is often boring to read.  Inserting a few tables of learner reviews, glowing comments from student learners, and even a relevant graph or cartoon makes the document a lot more readable and interesting. The introduction should be more than a recap of historical landmarks, sprinkled and highlighted with references to important events that shaped one’s life, the influence of family, and outside interests and talents that may be relevant to one’s perseverance and fortitude such as being an accomplished musician. I counsel the faculty that a beautifully written introduction is all that is needed to bias the reviewer in favor of promotion. 

Regarding the central question posed in this essay: Should senior faculty members be obliged in any way to assist junior faculty members with career development activities? Of course, I would answer affirmatively to this question. Speaking for myself, and including my decades of clinical work, research experience and leadership roles I have occupied in my near ½ century tenure at JABSOM, the role I played assisting the faculty in career development and promotion activities was immensely rewarding and a fitting final chapter to a long and challenging career.  

Finally, I must confess that my involvement in faculty development and promotion was much more than an academic exercise, or in just fulfilling my stated role at the time. For each promotion application that I assisted with, I experienced a strong comradery with the faculty member I was assisting (with few exceptions), and a great sense of accomplishment. Moreover, every time our efforts were rewarded with success – promotion, I felt I was vicariously being promoted as well. It made me truly happy and my memories of all of the grateful faculty members continues to linger brightly on my aging brain.  

My Life Long Friend Barry Bassik

 

I looked everywhere but couldn’t find a picture to serve in a last farewell to my good friend Barry Bassik.  Taking pictures in the 60’s was a real chore, Kodak film, careful to not overexpose, drop off to process, wait for much too long to develop and hope for the best.  I have a million pictures but none that I can find from high school. I’m sure I could find some in the West Hempstead High School yearbook of 1964 – the year we graduated, but locating my yearbook, now 62 years old proved unsuccessful.  I also remembered seeing a class picture at the foot of the Washington Monument on our Senior Trip to Washington DC also in 1964, but I likewise failed to relocate it.  But while a picture might serve the readers of this writing, I continue to possess a vivid mental image of my good friend Barry as a towering teenager buried deep enough but not too deep in my aging brain. 

A few inches taller than me, he was big and strong, he walked with purpose, never bashful to exert his will on the football field or on the street, or to right any wrong.  Happily, I never worried about being bullied when Barry was around because he always had my back.  Part of a strange quartet of friends that included me – a Christian Arab, Sid – a Christian who was the handsome jock of the group, and Barry and Phil who were both Jewish.  I truly do not remember what brought us together in high school, but I remember walking home often from high school with Barry at one side while he was inhaling deeply on his camel cigarette like he knew what he was doing.  

The foursome participated in a lot of tomfoolery during those later high school years that are too embarrassing and puerile to detail. Indeed, Barry was probably one of the least enthusiastic participants in the pranks and behavioral deviations, while I was not so guiltless. Barry was clearly the most mature, moral and responsible member of the group. By virtue of his size and high moral standing, he could and did veto many of the activities that might have been problematic with the law and probably saved us on numerous occasions from getting into hot water with our families. I’m absolutely certain this moral high ground had a positive impact on my life, both at the time and over the next 2/3rds of a century. 

We were interested in having fun, girls, beer, but NOT drugs! I don’t remember how much but we did drink alcohol, but we were not crazy drunks or known to cause or condone any serious personal or community damage. The quartet was a loose band of comrades whose goal was solidarity and to share happy moments. We were not part of the high school intelligentsia. We were average students with uncertain futures who spent time together at school functions, at private parties, at sporting events, at home, at the beach, etc, etc.  Moreover, Barry spent time at my home, knew my mother and sister, and was always a gentleman and a loyal friend despite my mother’s inability to communicate - speaking only about 100 words of English. 

We seldom dwelled on our lives beyond high school. And for a stretch we lost touch with one another after high school until our careers were set, partners chosen, and children born. Accordingly, I was very happy to discover that Barry’s post high school years were focused and motivated. In the end, Barry ended up with a law degree, and I finished my educational journey with an MD degree. 

Over the next half century, Barry spent his life on Long Island while I departed the state for college, medical school, residency, fellowship and my final resting place in Honolulu. We were 5–6-hour times zones apart from one another.  Still - Barry and I rekindled our friendship by communicating by email, by phone, visiting intermittently (Barry never came to Hawaii), at dinner and even as weekend guests at his home. During this most recent period of our friendship, I referred a few relatives to him for help with legal matters. Once he and Elaine met us at the Edison Ballroom in NYC for an elegant four course meal and ballroom dancing in a venue that was intended to replace the Rainbow Room atmosphere that no longer existed for common folks to attend. I was very pleased that they made the effort to come, although I couldn’t get Barry and Elaine on the dance floor.  

During our conversations, we talked about life; Barry had too many medical problems but held a positive spirit of someone who sees life’s blessings as a cup half full rather than half empty. His life was further spirited, bolstered and supported when he married a wonderful woman and life partner, Elaine. And he was ALWAYS positive no matter how many failed surgeries he experienced to fix his heart and major blood vessels. He always greeted me with warmth and appreciation; he always gave me a hug when said goodbye.  We talked about our various medical ailments, family matters, politics.  Nothing seemed out of bounds. Barry was my only real friend from high school whose friendship endured the test of time. I loved the man! And he loved me. 

Barry loved to work but no matter how many times I called or when I called during his work hours, Barry always had time for me. The last few years I could hear his voice weakening but he never complained. His weight dropped and I could sense that his lifeblood was slowly draining and I sensed the inevitable.  However, I was shocked when I received the text from Elaine, and to this day, I cannot believe that Barry has departed the world of the living.

Barry lived life to the fullest.  He was the best son, husband, father, friend and I imagine colleague that anyone could have. He was a truly loyal and good human, always there to listen and always wanting to do the right thing in life, for himself, for his family for his friends and for humanity. My girlfriend of 25 year remarked that Barry always had a smile on his face and had this wonderful, comforting voice. Barry had a way of making us feel more at ease, more at home, and happier to be with one another. I will truly miss my lifelong friend Barry Bassik. 

Realizing you have only 15% of your Life left to Live

 

I am within 6 months of turning 80!

Sometimes I wake up wondering how much longer my aging body has to live, while appreciating that real time moment in time is a gift of life not to be taken lightly. Other times I wake up thinking woefully how my life is not so slowly creeping to its last chapter, while calculating how much longer I have on this earth before my death.  In the former, I am like any other aging male who is grateful for an additional minute, day, month, year that destiny has bequeathed them.  In the later, my position stems from my life’s experience as a physician, having witnessed over a half century of both birth and death much more frequently than most including other physicians.  And on the opposite end of life’s spectrum, I am all too familiar with the improbability of humans, especially those of the male gender, living beyond 80, to 90, and even more improbably to 100 y/o – with percentages sinking from 50% to 1%. My father lived to 102, my maternal grandmother to 105, and my oldest sister is living at 97. But my 4-fold increase in Lipoprotein a level all but assures me a quicker path to the grave, at least my academic hat tells me so. Maybe my Repatha injections will save me, but a clean coronary artery scan would have reassured me much more convincingly. 

Not everyone ruminates their life and death the way I do, obsessing at every street corner, sometimes to reassure myself that my relatively healthy lifestyle will carry me forward beyond my gloomy projections. Conversely, I reflect that at the very best, I probably have 15% of my life left to live even if I’m lucky. Living to 100 is so unlikely, especially for men, and it’s legend that my toothless skeleton of a father had some magical potions that kept him alive to 102, that would be difficult for me to duplicate even on my best health conscious behavior. 

I think most people live their lives not thinking about death, but of life. I’m getting tired of reading essays from aging commentators, journal editors, book authors, doctors, and other pseudo-dignitaries about how best to age and enjoy the remaining moments.  For them, I’m sure their reflections have personal value, but reading these essays prompts a certain level of disdain for the intellectual arrogance that these authors display in sharing something they conjure is either of interest to readers or is even generalizable beyond their own life. 

It also begs the question of whether ruminating on one’s life, rather than living one’s life is a fitting pathway forward.  Does it serve any purpose even if you could calculate how many days, minutes and seconds you have to live?  Live your life to the fullest doesn’t include the concept of living longer or longest, unless of course you were unlucky like my wife of 25 years who died at 54, never to have witnessed her children get married or to enjoy her five grandchildren. And I think maybe the choices of spouse for both my son and daughter would have been better thought out if she were alive to guide and mother them at such a critical stage. Anyway, that notion is for another time and another essay or maybe not. 

Of course, there is nothing wrong with recounting your life’s experiences including your successes and failures. Youth live mostly in the present, while adults usually craft a life balance strategy that incorporates the past, present and future. But I’m mostly interested in my phase of life; the last few chapters. Do the elderly live in the present; they must.  Do they live in the past; they do. Do they live in the future; only if they are exceptionally content!  I suppose the most frightening adult senior lives entirely in the past: they have lived their life for better or worse not wanting to focus on today or the day that will turn out to be their last. 

I also know a growing number of folks my age who avoid at all costs any deeper reflection of their human condition.  It’s as if they know what they are doing that will eventually cost them a year or more of their life but are unwilling to make any changes in these twilight years. One 80 y/o friend admits to occasionally drinking a few too many beers, but he is unwilling to sacrifice the alcohol induced euphoria for the possibility of another day of life without that buzz. On the other extreme, are you really happy if your glucose monitor is reading in a good range as you carefully plot out your daily eating habits, or your iWatch telling you your VO2 max is in above average range for your age, or it telling you that you had a good night sleep even when you know you didn’t?  Should we make our gadgets happy at all costs? Should we die with perfect labs? 

I suppose at 80 years old, its difficult to know the right answer about most anything. Maybe there is no right or wrong answer when you’re 80. And maybe the best thing we can do is to keep on asking questions, staying awake, and refining our view of our health, of the world, of our family and friends and living the life we lived yesterday for today, hoping for tomorrow to bring some further enlightenment. 

The Future Potential of Human Knowledge Plundered by AI

I asked Gemini - how many orders of magnitude greater is the sum total of humanity's human knowledge as compared to what AI's have access to from the digital world? The answer below is something that is truly frightening. What if the assimilation of human knowledge was only the first step in "plundering" the knowledge and skills of all living things? 

The sum total of humanity's knowledge is estimated to be roughly 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater (100 to 1,000 times larger) than what leading AIs can currently access from the digital world.

While AI has ingested a staggering portion of the public internet, it remains bottlenecked by the fact that the vast majority of human knowledge has never been digitized. 

Why Human Knowledge Dwarfs the Digital AI World

• The Dark Data Gap: The internet only captures a fraction of what humans know. Millions of physical books, proprietary corporate databases, classified government archives, and highly specialized academic research sit behind strict firewalls or physical shelves where AI crawlers cannot reach them. 
• Undocumented Human Intuition: A massive share of human knowledge is procedural and tacit. The hyper-specific, real-time intuition of an elite surgeon, a master mechanic, or a seasoned structural engineer cannot be fully scraped from a webpage, representing an enormous pool of unindexed information.
• Oral and Experiential Histories: Entire cultural traditions, localized languages, historical accounts, and geographical insights exist purely within individual human memory and oral storytelling, completely invisible to the digital web.
• Private and Dark Web Data: The vast majority of daily human communication occurs in private channels—encrypted messaging apps, internal corporate Slacks, family emails, and offline conversations. AI is legally and technically barred from accessing this massive, growing reservoir of human data.

The Data Math

• AI's Digital Sandbox: The absolute upper limit of high-quality text and multimodal data used to train the world's largest frontier models is measured in the tens to hundreds of Terabytes (extending to a few Petabytes if counting heavily filtered video and audio).
• The Human Mind Reservoir: Neuroscientists estimate a single human brain's functional memory capacity to be anywhere from 10 to 100 Terabytes. Multiplied across 8 billion living minds, the total raw data, unique perspectives, and experiential knowledge locked inside humanity sits well into the Zettabyte range—making our collective intelligence vastly superior in volume to the narrow slice of the web AI feeds on. 

Attending a WNBA game: A Once in a Lifetime Experience!

Living in Hawaii for 50 years has MANY advantage as well as a few disadvantages.  Honolulu is a relatively small city,  the 55th largest city in the country.  One thing it lacks is a professional sports team of any consequence. Consequently, I have flown to watch professional tennis matches including several at the US Open in Flushing Meadows. I have been to only one professional basketball game, two football games, probably a handful of baseball games in my younger days, and recently, one hockey game.  

A few days ago, I flew to Portland to visit my son and attend a WNBA game between the Indianapolis Fever and the Portland Fire.  While the game didn’t go my way and CC had one of the worst games of her career, it was still an extraordinary experience overall. Being there provided a much more animated experience than watching the game on my TV screen at home. People were laughing and cheering and yelling and dancing and showing their love for the home team. We had good seats that my son DJ got from a season’s ticket owner who generously gave them to him gratis. Still, it had limited viewing, close as we were to the court but behind one of the baskets, forcing us to default to view the large screen overhead when the ball was challenging the basket on the near side. Still, in all, it was a once in a lifetime experience. 

Why was it a once in a lifetime experience? Was it because I live in Hawaii and I can’t afford to travel to the mainland to attend? Was it because the tickets that provide a decent view are not a good value? Or is it for other reasons? 

There are actually several reasons. First, while tickets sell from 30-2500+ dollars, I expect that a decent seat with a good view near the court would cost in the hundreds of dollars – for two hours of basketball playing time and about another hour that fills in the breaks with a bunch of entertainment activities that ostensibly appealed to the crowd. To me, it’s not worth the money!  Siting anywhere else would be also problematic. Indeed, I wonder why anyone would come to sit in the reasonably priced high bleachers when visibility is so poor and the players appear antlike in size.  Perhaps they are paying for the overall experience and to participate in the infectious communal hysteria, while resorting to viewing the actual game on the TV screen above. 

Cost wasn’t  the only factor. What bothered me the most was the noise. While I didn’t measure it, I’m certain that the decibel level easily reached grater than 100 with the baseline at about 80+. Truly the noise level was deafening! That decibel level is enough, if repeated enough in time and place, to cause measurable hearing damage in adults, not to mention how vulnerable children are to the effects of loud noises.  And low and behold, I saw several small infants there in the sports arena (literally small infants being carried by their parents) which blew my mind. And there were also many, MANY children ages 5-10 there as well. It seems that the louder the crowd got, the more hysterical and animated the behavior. I can see how infectious this atmosphere could be - for the masses of humans crowded into this acoustic echo chamber that maximizes the resonance and amplification of the sound already louder than safe for human health, that is particularly at odds with the normal development of children’s hearing. To be sure, while the critical phase of hearing development in children occurs over the first three years of life, the entire first decade of life is also a period of vulnerability for environmentally related hearing damage. 

And in adults, it’s a poorly-kept secret that hearing loss is nearly ubiquitous by the age of 80, doubling in prevalence each decade from the 5th to affect nearly every 80 year old and older. To what degree a lifetime of excessively loud noises makes on this progressive hearing loss is subject to conjecture, although there is no debate that it does contribute to some degree to hearing loss.  

For me, the noise was excessively loud and uncomfortable. I was forced to cover my ears with my hands several times when the sounds were painful, and I privately wanted to get the hell out of there a few times when the explosive sounds were intolerable. It was a surreal experience that left me shocked and dismayed with concern over what I was witnessing. It was an atmosphere that was manufactured by the WNBA,  and the tolerance and acceptance of the fans, who would surely return for the next game and the game after that to support their home team. This is a truly burgeoning sport that has grown exponentially since the emergence of CC as the catalyzing factor in its evolution. 

While I was disappointed with the results, I will probably continue to watch some of the games on TV.  I have given up watching the NBA – it’s just boring, the players look bored, and the most athletic moves of the players look too easy or too predictable. Conversely, you never know what will happen in the WNBA, who will win, who will play well, how many great assists CC will make, how many long 3 pointers CC will shoot, and how many turn overs CC will have. 

For the game I watched, the Portland Fire was on fire, they totally outplayed the Fever in every aspect and deserved to win.  In basketball and in life, the team that wants to win the most usually wins or is this just a wishful metaphor?  Either way, it’s exciting to witness the ebbs and tides of the game, the changes in momentum and the ultimate outcome that can be decided by a single bucket at the last second. For me, I will watch the game at home where I can control the volume of the broadcast. I’m already affected by enough hearing loss to risk any further damage.  

I just wish the rest of humanity would understand the risks of high intensity sound exposure on their long-term health and hearing.  We might someday live in a world of AI generated subtitles if our hearing progressively deteriorates over generations because of a passive acceptance of unhealthy and damaging sound levels. Or maybe Elon Musk will come up with an advance acoustic hearing systems implant that will be commonplace in adults over 60.   

Turning 80!

I’m so old

I’ve been told

What can I do

It’s nothing to you!

It’s day-by-day

Before I waste away

or live life one more day

For another day 

I can only pray

Is turning 80 a blessing or a curse?

Ask your best friend or your caretaker nurse

Or take a good long look in the mirror and think

Is my life daisies and lilacs or does it utterly stink

On this rare occasion I write this poem

Fingers dancing the keyboard at home

Searching for wisdom to truly explain

How I see myself at 80

while racking my brain

Nothing works as it did in the past

Everyone knows that humans don’t last 

I exercise, laugh and continue my fast

Compared to most, my life is a blast

Still I don’t want to become an outcast

But I’m blessed I’ve lived this long

These words I’ll stress 

My belief is strong

I want to make sense of this moment in time

But I struggle to convey these words in rhyme

I was once young and one 

My focus laser sharp

Now I’m sometimes 1, 2, or 3, or none

Looking at myself in different ways 

On different days

What’s this confusion?

Is this a delusion? 

When the light is strong and my face shines bright 

Everything looks old, nothing looks right

My scalp is bare where hair was there

To claim I look young, not even AI would dare 

When the light grows dim and even everywhere

I look so much younger, you just can’t compare

And then I paint my beard to purge the gray

Donning a baseball cap keeps the skeptics at bay 

I look and feel younger, that’s no cliché 

And another me is strong and agile

And another me is arthritic and fragile

Drugs mask my aches and the ravages of time 

But at 80, nothing can reverse the aging paradigm 

And another me feels like an anthology of labs

The product of blood work done after mucho stabs

Ouch, ouch, ouch, this REALLY pains me

Cholesterol, LDL, Triglycerides and Apoprotein B

So many tests for my doctors to see

Let me go home, please set me free

I worry muchly waiting for labs to get done

This part of getting old is totally not fun

My right foot is week, my left knee is bad

Celebrex make things better by only a tad

And my dancing worsens which makes me sad 

My right ear can’t hear, and my right eye can’t see

I have one broken tooth, and dribble when I pee

With all that I’ve said, I am still alive and well

I walk, dance, swim, ski and as often, lift a barbell

Considering my limits, I feel awesomely swell 

Except for the few times that I unexpectedly fell

When and then it felt like hell!

I forget more than I want to claim

I have no one else to blame

Exercise the body, exercise the mind

I should not need to have this remind

If I forget, please kick my behind

I love my life

I have no choice

To make do with the leftovers

I should rejoice 

At my age its best to 

Stay away from the news

Which is vile and depressing

Rather stay positive and ecstatic

And avoid being erratic 

This is worth expressing

Yes, this is what I’m stressing

And every day

That you can walk without pain

That you can remember your name

And not trip on the terrain

And not slip on snow or in the rain

And every day

That you can pee and p….p

That you can finish your chicken soup

That your tummy doesn’t droop

That you don’t behave like a nincompoop

Read on for the final scoop

Drink a cup of green tea

Eat blackberries and stay carefree

Laugh with your friends

Forget about the trends

Embrace the freedom 

To plan the rest of your day 

And to say and do it your way

And when you turn 80 like me

Write a poem for others to see

Think about why it’s good to be alive

Think about how you can prosper and thrive

And eat more blackberries 

Which will help you survive

AND SO I ASKED GEMINI TO SHORTEN and IMPROVE THE POEM - IT TOOK ONLY 2 SECONDS.......

At eighty years old, I’ve been frequently told,

That body parts weaken and stories unfold.

Is eighty a blessing, or is it a curse?

Go ask your reflection, your friend, or your nurse.

Nothing quite works as it did in the past,

But compared to the alternative, life is a blast!

Though when the light’s bright, it’s a bit of a scare:

My scalp is quite bare where the hair should be there.

So I paint up my beard just to purge all the gray,

And a tight baseball cap keeps the skeptics at bay.

One version of me is still agile and strong,

While the arthritic version is dragging along.

I’m an anthology of labs from too many stabs,

With doctors obsessing o'er medical tabs.

Cholesterol, readings, and Apoprotein B—

Ouch, ouch, and thrice ouch! Just please set me free!

My right ear is deaf, and my right eye is blind,

I forget half the things that pass through my mind.

My left knee is shot, and I leak when I pee,

But I still lift a barbell and ski carefreely!

So stay off the news, it is vile and depressing,

Count all of the functions you're currently blessing.

If you can still walk without pain in the rain,

And finish your soup, and remember your name—

Then drink your green tea, eat a fresh blackberry,

Ignore all the trends and resolve to be merry!

Embrace the sweet freedom to do it your way,

And toast to the triumph of one more great day.

Mitsui Ocean Fuji (MOF) –Golden Week Cruise 2026

David Easa & Geraldine Chock

Introduction: It was in 1884 that a shipping company was founded with important roles in Japanese commerce and national security eventually spawned the Mitsui Ocean Cruise line 142 years later in 2024. Presently in 2026, this passenger cruise line is one of only two that are fully owned and operated by entities in Japan. 

The Mitsui Ocean Fuji (MOF) is a renovated cruise ship purchased from the luxury  cruise line – Seabourn, formally known as the Odessey. The intent was to primarily support a Japanese following while introducing funatabi – “a beautiful encounter in Japan” to an international mix of Westerners at a ratio of about 3:1 (Japanese:Westerner). For our 2026 Golden Week cruise, out of a potential occupancy of 458 patrons, 220 signed up for the cruise. One source told us 25 were Westerners, which was unofficially confirmed by our own untrained observations. We were also told that the crew numbered between 300-350, constituting an abundant mass of diligent, energetic, and enthusiastic cruise staff to serve our needs and concerns. 

Opinion: While the overall goal was to inspire interaction between Japanese and Western guests and staff, this goal was not entirely successful. We were not satisfied that enough westerners participated in the MOF’s daily activities (see below in Entertainment). It was there that you were most likely to meet and interact with other guests, including the Japanese majority. It was there that you would meet new friends, learn about each other, and enjoy each other’s company. 

Why Mitsui Ocean Fuji (MOF)?: Why would anyone chose to cruise on the MOF?  The Mitsui Ocean Fuji is focused primarily but not exclusively on cruises in and around Japan.  Included in these cruise itineraries is at least one outside country that includes Korea, Taiwan, etc. Busan is a favorite stop. In general, Japan cruising typically involves travelling along the coastline to popular, internationally renowned Japanese destinations. A few years ago, we were passengers on a Silversea cruise that circled Japan and stopped at well-known destinations such as Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Aomori, Hakodate, Yokohama, etc. It was an enjoyable cruise except that, by its very nature, the greatest proportion of time was spent on the cruise ship which was western in all aspects and respects. The Mitsui Ocean Fuji experience allowed us to be in Japan for the entire experience!  

Moreover, rather than visiting large cities with an overabundance of raucous tourists crowding the streets and competing for position in queues, our ports consisted of towns and cities we had not previously heard of, small in nature, but with cultural and natural treasures that were revealed during our daily excursions (minus the 3 sea days out of 11).  Clearly, this type of Japan cruise would be most attractive to visitors who have previously visited the major Japan cities and attractions, as well as any tourist seeking to experience Japan and Japanese culture in a controlled, Japanese centric environment devoid of large crowds.

Opinion: We believe this goal was unequivocally achieved! 

The Cruise Port:  We were excited to get to the cruise port and start our adventure. Unlike our somewhat haphazard experience during the cruise port check in and boarding procedures, we were met by agents who seated us in designated areas by arrival time, who later directed us to the available passport station, and finally personally escorted us through the terminal to the MOF.  It was a far cry from the often-disorganized scene experienced with many of our past cruises and was greatly appreciated. 

Opinion: We love how organized and efficient the MOF staff were. The check in and boarding process probably took half the time it would have had it been a Western organized cruise!

Initial Impressions: We were overall favorably impressed with the MOF.  The upscale common areas were pleasantly decorated and comfortable including the Ocean Stage where we enjoyed most of the entertainment. The restaurants, lounges and bars were particularly cozy and appealing. In terms of the cabins, most were balcony suites that were recently renovated. They were nicely adorned, organized, and fresh feeling. Further, we loved the renovations in the bathroom that included both a bathtub and a separate shower, two sinks, and the wonderful Japanese style toilet that does all your dirty work for you as standard in every cabin. Clearly, the renovations on the MOF have transformed this aging cruise ship to appeal especially to Japanese guests. 

The one complaint was that the door to the balcony was not user friendly, not easy to lock, and not easy to open.  Regrettably, another guest complained about the same problem including temporarily being locked out of their cabin from the balcony.

Opinion: Despite the renovations, the MOF is still a17 year old cruise ship, compared to the average age of high-end cruise ships = 12 years. Like an aging senior citizen undergoing plastic surgery, it was only partially successful in disguising its age. 

Excursions: As seasoned travelers and cruisers, it’s a dream to arrive at a cruise destination without having to worry about other cruise ship arrivals competing for space and resources. Our Golden Week cruise avoided these very popular destinations (with one exception). We were entirely unfamiliar with the small ports in Japan that we were exploring.  But it was quite a delightful experience visiting Miyako, Matsumae, Akita, Nanao, Busan (South Korea), Matsuyama, and Shimizu. When we arrived at each port in Japan, we were greeted by friendly locals who waved to us, entertained us with dancing and/or music, fireworks (1 port), and with local wares, packaged food, and specialty crafts for purchase. 

The excursions were balanced and enjoyable. The buses were new, clean and comfortable, the English-speaking guides and drivers were professional and friendly. Moreover, the guides were duly talented, knowledgeable, and engaging, going beyond the customary general description and guidance roles that included sharing personal stories, giving presentations using printed slides, and some sang songs. One was a rakugo artist and performed several stories using only a fan and a small cloth! Some of the notable tours included the 1st and 2nd hand history of the most recent and past Japanese tsunamis, visiting a samurai village, learning about the 20+ festivals in Nanao, touring the Matsuyama Castle, several truly magnificent views of Mt Fuji, participating in a Japanese tea ceremony, and free time spent at a variety of local shopping venues to purchase local wares, foods and imabari towels. 

One cruise destination deserves noteworthy distinction as an exceptional example of the rich cultural values and heritage, and the degree of community engagement in Japan. Nanao, a town of around 50,000 people, hosts 20 festivals each year in their little town. Largely through community volunteers with very little to no outside funding, one festival is hosted about every 2 ½ weeks. Festivals are so important to this community that a museum we visited on tour was focused entirely on this town’s festivals. Moreover, the spirit and commitment to staff them, a demanding challenge at best, is rooted in immense community pride. Not only does this commitment extend to the days during the festival, but also the days during the front and back ends for the elaborate preparation activities, as well as the maintenance and storage of the festival floats (dashi). Truly, we thought the entire town had to pitch in! 

Opinion: We really enjoyed the balance of activities during the half-day excursions, which surreptitiously preserved enough of our energy to participate and enjoy the nighttime activities. 

Entertainment and Activities: For a small cruise ship with a capacity of 450+ guests, the entertainment was excellent. Beautiful singers (both Japanese and English) decent dancers, fabulous Taiko drum and samisen exhibitions, and other assorted musicians produced memorable performances at the Ocean Stage. Future guests will be impressed by this level of entertainment! We loved the Taiko drum events the best. 

Opinion: The singers were outstanding but except for one dancer (she knows who she is), the rest were average to above average for the demand of the choreography which we believed was misdirected. It was focused too much on athletic and acrobatics movements, lifts, spins, etc., rather than dance skills. We felt this visual clutter led to sensory overload, at least it did for us. The dance group would do better if the choreography was simpler, balanced and artistic, with the focus on dancing quality and synchronization rather than jumping around introducing wow factors throughout the performance. This comment is not intended as an insult, but rather to provide constructive criticism. 

Beyond formal entertainment, we ventured to explore some of the Japanese brands of activities including Japanese games that we were unfamiliar with and craft art experiences.  These included  playing Jenga, bean bag toss, a yes/no game, Taiko wellness, watercolor painting, pop up card making, chigirie (torn paper art), mizuhiki (working with colorful Japanese string), shogi piece toppling game, folding origami, having Japanese tea and learning about tableware, lacquerware and ceramics, Japanese folk songs, storytelling, taiko workshop taught by the professional taiko musician, and even a line dance class taught by an energetic member of the cruise staff. It is noteworthy that we were made to feel comfortable at every activity, despite the need to translate the activity rules and/or procedures in English. One very interesting aspect of these experiences was, for the most part, games were organized in teams rather than solo participation. 

Opinion: This teamwork orientation permeates much of Japanese culture that extends beyond games and leisurely activities to include community behavior, helping others in need, and how communities band together to protect children, and root for each other’s success rather than seeing your neighbor as your competition for resources and status. 

Another important feature of these activities is that they took little to no prior talent, experience, or knowledge of Japanese, which made them appealing to any guest at any age looking for something fun or different to do. On the MOF, the activities offered were lighthearted and enjoyable, and the guests that took part were easy to relate to and clearly enjoyed the comradery that quickly evolved throughout the planned activity. In short, we felt very welcomed and included. 

Opinion: We absolutely loved the cruise staff that moderated the games, skill sessions and dance activities. They were wonderfully energetic, patient, sincere, talented, and kind!  One of the true highlights of this cruise!!!  Similarly, we loved participating in the team competitions during these fun events, and in meeting some truly gracious, civil, and spirited Japanese guests. 

As far as formal presentations, English translation was always included, and the presenter was always considerate to ask if we had any questions in English. Moreover, some of the more informative lectures were first presented in Japanese and later repeated in English.

Restaurants and Food:  There was a decent assortment and balance of Japanese and Western food choices. You never had to default to selections that were not in your culinary preferences.  Moreover, while there were predictable omelet, soup, salad, fruit, and dessert stations that were available daily, the choices of main dishes and entrees alternated nightly. Venues are presented in order from casual to formal. 

Bar Kohan- (8th deck – poolside fast foods) finger foods, sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, pizza accompanied by poolside music. Mostly, we bused our food to the Hachiyo restaurant or back to our cabin, because it was often too cold and windy to dine outside during our cruise. 

Terrace Restaurant Hachiyo- (7th deck) buffet and omakase sushi. The atmosphere was casual; the restaurant offered a decent variety of Japanese and Western food choices. For dinner, they featured foods from other countries, such as Filipino, Italian, Indian, Mongolian BBQ, etc. We enjoyed the salad bar, fruit selection and dessert choices. 

The chef was accommodating to our dietary restrictions and prepared a special “vegetarian” omakase sushi meal.  This special meal included Nigri sushi with green onions, tofu, okra, eggplant, egg, takuwan with creamed cheese, cucumber, ginger, and inari sushi - all artistically arranged in small bites which were fun to eat.  There was a nominal charge for the omakase meal, but well worth the cost, vegetarian or otherwise. Of note, the couple next to us had the normal seafood omakase sushi meal that looked beautiful and the subject of rave guest reviews. 

The Restaurant Fujii- (4th deck) Alternating Japanese and Western food (daily menus posted on the Mitsui Ocean Cruise TV channel). It had a more formal atmosphere, with typical waiter service. The roast beef and meat selections were consistently tender and tasty. The seafood was also very good. 

Hokusai – (7th deck) A formal, fine dining experience with a very cozy ambiance. Very attentive staff, beautiful dish presentation, and the staff even offered to wrap up the after dinner petit fours since we were so satiated by the end of the meal. 

Other Feeding Choices:

Ocean Square and Café - (7th deck) Causal, snack foods available, coffees, teas, pastries, ice cream, rice balls. Our “go to place” and a good place to try out different types of snacks (like dango and red bean pastries), as well as addictive pastries ala almond croissant. 

Room service – We requested daily room service for morning coffee because the restaurants did not open until 7am, and this was the only option for early morning coffee before 7am. Unlike the long delay times with other cruise lines, when you ordered room service, the food miraculously arrived in 7-10 minutes from call time to its arrival. 

Cabins: Available in all cabins was a hot water kettle, and assorted teas.  The refrigerator was stocked daily with ice, ginger ale, green tea, sparkling drinks and beer. 

Semi-qualified Opinion: We rated the food B+. The omakase meal, noodle station, vegetarian, seafood selections, and some of the ethnic food selections were authentic and excellent, and the daily variation was a  positive aspect of the gastronomic cruise experience. The salad, fruit and dessert stations could have had more variety and selections; the omelets, pasta dishes, and pizza were decent but not great. It is important to note, however, that the culinary expertise of the authors is questionable, particularly since most of the Japanese menu choices were not sampled. Finally, in relation to the Hokusai Restaurant,  some might consider the additional charge at this restaurant excessive.

Dress on Board:  Over the past three decades, a more casual dress code has emerged for many cruise lines. Nevertheless, we expected the MOF to exemplify a level of Japanese formality that bucked this trend. Truth be told, we were pleasantly surprised that the Japanese guests dressed casually during the day, and only moderately more so during casual dress nights in the evening. Most conformed to wearing collared shirts, and some wore sports coats, sans tie. The ladies were also casual in their appearance, some wore pants suites, some dresses, some very baggy, warm looking outfits that favored comfort over style. They advertised one night as formal and one as semiformal. To accommodate, there were a few Japanese guests in tuxedos, and some with suits or sports coats and ties, and still others dressing as casually as they did the night before. What is indeed interesting is that despite the published dress code, there was no policing of the guidelines. Indeed, I witnessed guests wearing jeans, a few with t-shirts and other casual uncollared or unbuttoned shirts, and ladies with very casual sportswear. Ultimately, we concluded that dress decorum was left to the discretion of the guest. If you wanted to look casual, or sloppy, or different than most of the guests, go ahead! 

Opinion: Too many cruise lines in the past have demanded full compliance to their imposed, arbitrary dress codes. We appreciated the laissez-faire attitude to the dress code on the MOF. 

Guest Service:  We cannot rave enough about how universally exceptional the service was on this cruise. There was never a problem or question that was too trivial or trite for the staff to respond to, and the follow up was over the top in most cases. We burdened the guest services staff with so many questions, and their 24/7 availability and physical presence made is particularly tempting and easy to reach out to for the most trivial of questions and concerns. 

Fact: On more than one occasion, the guest services staff ran to catch up with us to personally deliver an answer to the latest question we had posed. Alternately, they called, left messages, sent letters, and always – we mean always - followed up on every request, regardless of how trivial!

Opinion: We especially appreciated the genuine sincerity of the staff. With some cruise lines, service is acceptable and even excellent but mechanical and reactive in nature. You get the attention you seek, but you can feel the tired, vacant looks; you can sense the staff are going through the motions. Perhaps because the Mitsui Ocean Cruise Line is a new cruise line, or that the Japanese demand a certain level of professional excellence that trickles down directly to the international working staff, the sincerity that is on display is palpable. Whatever the reason, we truly enjoyed the sincerity, the willingness to aid, and the personal attention displayed by the upper, middle, and lower-level staff that we encountered on this cruise ship from the moment we embarked to the moment we disembarked the Mitsui Ocean Fuji!  They seemed to enjoy these interaction; we categorically did! 

Parenthetically, cabins were cleaned and tidied twice a day and every day we were surprised when a new towel animal appeared. It was fun to see our origami hat on a panda or elephant’s head, or a hanging chimpanzee holding our origami flower in its hands, or the alligator “eating” our straw hat. 

Music and Dancing: While not advertised as such for this cruise, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of music and dancing that we witnessed and experienced. A violin duet, a piano player, a guitar player, and a house band and singer filled many of the venues, as impressive as other major cruise lines with much larger passenger capacity. The band and singer played disco music, music of the 70’s, country western music, music of the 50’s and 60’s, and a full complement of Latin music - quite a remarkable display of versatility. In addition, two dance lessons were led by members of the group of MOF dancers. 

A most interesting aspect of the dance scene was that dancing by the Japanese guests was either solo free style dancing, i.e., line dancing (country western, music of the 60’s and 70’s), or led by the singers and dancers with made up steps that kept beat with the music. This inspired greater participation from the normally conservative and shy Japanese guests who appeared fully emboldened and engaged on the dance floor. 

There was only one Japanese couple, one Japanese lady and one Japanese man, in addition to us, who showed any interest in ballroom dancing. Consequently, there was little partner dancing. On a very kind display of flexibility, when the assistant cruise director found out we were interested in ballroom dancing, he set up two nights of ballroom that were scheduled at the Ocean Stage. We had a great time on both nights and met and danced with some new guests in the process. 

Opinion: Dance venues and dance parties should be marketed more fully to attract both Japanese and Western guests. We were lucky to have packed our dance shoes, because there was very little published that would have predicted the extent of the dancing, and the dance lessons. We were pleasantly surprised and grateful. 

The Ocean Stage includes an elevated stage as well as a larger lower-level wooden dance floor section that is decent in size. If the first row of theatre seats located on the perimeter of this dance floor was temporarily relocated during dance party events, it would constitute a decently large sized dance floor. Of course, nothing compares to the size of the Cunard cruise ship dance floors, but they are the exception. 

Laundry Services:  We never send our laundry for cleaning but rely on the ship’s common launderette, if they are available. On the MOF, two separate launderettes contained a total of 8 washers and 8 dryers, both located on the 5th deck. Although they were annotated in Japanese, there were only two steps labelled 1 and 2 needed to properly operate both washer and dryer. Of note, only cold water was used for any wash cycle. We had no problems with the location, the availability, and the mechanics of using the washers and dryers, except the dryer took about two hours for a typical load to completely dry.  We used this facility on four separate occasions. 

Final Thoughts: For anyone interested in Japan, Japanese culture and their people, taking a cruise on the Mitsui Ocean Fuji should seriously be considered. The engagement with the Japanese guests was natural and a joy, and in the process, we made new friends! We enjoyed this cruise so much that we are already planning on another booking for next year. The cost is comparable to other upscale cruise lines of similar duration. Japan is still relatively inexpensive for most Westerners, but the Japanese economy has been recently booming from an extraordinary increase in tourism, so don’t wait too long for the yen to increase in value. 

Postscript:  Along with this writing, we wanted to preserve a few of the quirky and or serious memories of this cruise and the Japanese people. These snippets are not required reading, but some might find them entertaining. 

• The method that the Japanese wave to you with both hands open swinging in a pendulum motion back and forth at about face to shoulder level – like a windshield wiper.  

• When the Japanese audience wants an encore, they clap their hands in unison to prompt the return of the guest performer. No raucous yelling or standing ovations need.  

• Probably a million “” Arigatou gozaimasu” - is uttered on a daily basis for just about anything…… 

• We were moved and impressed by several of the guests with significant disabilities who participated in daily activities, games, dancing, etc.

• We never realized how truly how beautiful and symmetrical and majestic Mt Fuji was until this trip when we were about 40 miles away in Shimizu.  And we were lucky to have such a clear and unobstructed view!

• This comment is worthy of repeating - by far, the most impactful part of our cruise was the interaction with the Japanese guests and cruise staff. 

• The Japanese guests on the MOF were uniformly civil, gracious and respectful. It was great to feel safe in Japan and in the company of the Japanese people. 

• We wanted to particularly recognize two of the cruise staff for their kindness and attention: Akitaka, and Minori.  We hope they will someday graduate to become cruise director and assistant cruise director respectively.  

• This review will also be published on my blog.  easad.blogspot.com along with a pictorial display of our recent trip to Japan.