Back in Oakland where the streets reflect a Counter-Seoul vibe; Shoulder Surgery; and the shock of just how different Seoul really was.

October 2026

Thanks for all the notes (with sympathies about our very shortened trip and good wishes for Mike’s shoulder situation). We arrived back in Oakland 12 days ago (about 20 days ahead of schedule!); Mike immediately traded his rather chintzy, temporary sling for a much more sleek black one, and after seeing his surgeon, finally had the CT scan today. We needed to go to Stanford in Redwood City (45 minute drive) to take advantage of some super-duper sophisticated machine which took less than 5 minutes to do its job. And now Mike is tentatively set for what they call “reverse shoulder surgery” or “shoulder replacement” — a newer option (supposedly with a faster and easier recovery) to rotator cuff surgery which he had 13 years ago on the other shoulder. The current date is November 10, but he’s hoping for something sooner. Welcome to the American healthcare system. No one seems to be in much of a rush (except us!)

But on the brighter side–Mike’s fine, no pain as long as he doesn’t reach for anything high. And we thoroughly enjoyed our 11 days in Seoul.

If you followed the blog over those 11 days in Seoul, you know how impressed we were with so many things there: the clean streets; the total absence of graffitti; the condition of cars, taxis, and subways; the safety… oh and of course the food, design, and style.

Today, I had to drop something off at the downtown Oakland post office and thought you might be interested to see the array of OFFICIAL USPS trucks that are actually in use and driving around the city dropping off our mail. This selection only represents trucks that happened to be parked on the block where the post office sits. Seoul, it ain’t! But soul it has!

I stopped a postal service employee getting into one of the trucks and asked about the back story—thinking perhaps it was an art project (??) His first response was “Only in California; only in Oakland!” Then he said that this all started during the pandemic and it’s out of control. If you look carefully you can see some of the original graphics of the USPS on some of the trucks and I think the one that has the sign saying that USPS is recruiting for employees is a real winner.

But we’re fine, enjoying our home town creativity and trying to figure out when we reschedule the remainder of our trip to Mongolia and Japan… and trying to assess the reality of taking our late December/January trip to Switzerland (to see family at Xmas) and Algeria. We’ll wait to see what the recovery and rehab is like before making any final decisions, but I fear this may be a staycation (first time in about 35 years, except for Covid).

Again, thanks for the concern.

Stay well… watch your shoulders.