Yesterday I brought you up to date on our current COVID-19 pandemic.  As much as this virus is waning, what about the combined impact this Fall and Winter when you add the seasonal flu and that Respiratory Syncytial Virus ( RSV ) that infects mostly children and infants?  Is a  TRIPLEDEMIC  coming? About world news, from the  New York Times  this morning: Boris Johnson   pulled out of the race   to become Britain’s prime minister, making his former finance minister, Rishi Sunak, the next PM. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, appointed loyalists to top government jobs,   giving him nearly absolute power .  Will he be president for life? A   solar eclipse will be visible tomorrow   across Europe and Asia. U.S. students recorded   deep declines in math and a dip in reading   on a national exam, the clearest picture yet of the pandemic’s impact on education. The World Series is set to begin on Friday:   Both the   Astros   and   Phillies   clinched spots yesterday, setting up a battle between ju

As our enchanting trip from Honolulu to Bangkok on Asiana, to Dubai via Air Emirates, then to Singapore on the Regent Seven Seas Explorer, is exactly three weeks away, I continue to have travel on my mind.   About credit cards, there is a rumor that more and more countries are not accepting your Master Card.  Not true! One advice I can provide to those who are embarking on an international trip: you might wonder if you need to alert your credit card companies.  The answer is....it depends: For the past decade and more, there was a general sense that you did not have to do this. However, when I checked with my Master Card through First Hawaiian Bank, the bank indicated yes, it was important to let them know exactly where I would be and when. After taking care of that, I called the number on one of my VISA cards, this one from the University of Hawaii Credit Union, and, first, I had to make at least five calls to finally get to an individual who told me, yes, I needed to do this...but no