please tell me why......

2008-06-18T20:05:00.001-10:00

Talk About Expensive.....

Price of unleaded gas at Chevron & Shell is Kapa'a - $4.42
Price of unleaded at Shell in Wailua - $4.38 (was $4.36 yesterday)

dumpr.net

2008-04-06T16:54:00.001-10:00

Create your own Rubik's Cube

2008-01-21T11:25:00.000-10:00

Hit By A Freight Train.....

well, one that goes by the name type b flu. It roared through my workplace and left three of us down in it's wake. Full on body aches, chills, headache, sore throat, sinus congestion, sweats, weak and tired all the time, nosebleed, cough. I've had it for a week and a day. One of my coworkers has been out for a week with it. I've been working off and on throughout it (my employers don't offer sick pay) which hasn't help me recover from it. And I've had to get my son to his program every morning, do the grocery shopping, do laundry at the laundromat, etc., while sick. It totally sucks. I wasnt even able to look at the computer screen because it made me feel spun out like I'd had too much to drink and was hungover but I don't even drink. Periodically I have to go lay down because I'm just so exhausted. Like right now. So, later.....

2007-12-29T19:26:00.000-10:00

Pictures from Christmas on the Big Island

On the road to our rental

Our rental on Beach Road

The view from the front yard

Plant growing in the lava between the yard and the ocean

The Volcano House

Inside the Thurson Lava Tube

(It was drippy with puddles on the ground)

Fern forest outside the lave tube

Getting our dose of sulphur

Fern growing in the lava

Keanakako'i Crater

Halema'uma'u Crater in the Kilauea Caldera

Lei offering at Halema'uma'u

Halema'uma'u Crater

The cat that visited us every day at the house

Double rainbow on Christmas day

Hilo Bay from Coconut Island

Snow on Mauna Kea

The weather every day was windy, wet, rainy, drippy and cold with only patches of sunshine. We didn't see any whales, turtles or dolphins in the ocean. The waves pounded on the lava cliffs constantly. It sounded like thunder at night. I never want to vacation with my family again.

Each one of us has our own special needs - my mom uses a walker, my dad needs to be near a bathroom 24/7, my brother-in-law is a pain in the ass and spent all his time alternating between eating and sleeping. I got in a big blowout with my sister on Christmas day because I was tired of hearing she and her husband bicker constantly. She got totally pissed off and wasn't talking to me for awhile. Then when we got to the Hilo airport for our flights home she discovered she had lost her drivers license and went on a huge tirade about that. I'm the only normal one in the bunch. Even with all that I had a wonderful time but the next time I travel it will be only with my son.

2007-11-18T11:03:00.000-10:00

It's Been Awhile.....

The trip to Oahu was fantastic. I love that island. I did some shopping, we went to the beach once and visited my mom in the hospital and at rehab. My mom & dad are both doing fine. I wish I still lived there. So much to see and do. Maybe some day.

We've been busy planning our Christmas trip to the Big Island. We fly to Honolulu on 12/23 where we hook up with my parents and my sister and her husband who are flying in from Maui. We all get on the same flight to Hilo where we will be until 12/26. I'm really looking forward to this trip. It's been way too long since I've been there.

My son and I went for a walk along the coast off Port Allen last weekend and I took some pictures.

I love walking around this old cemetary just above Glass Beach. The headstones are so unique. What a great place to be buried. Ocean view and breezes.....

2007-10-06T17:13:00.000-10:00

Four Miles From The Pacific Ocean....

and this is what I found in my front yard the other morning.....a Samoan crab.

It's actually bigger than it looks in the picture. So I took it to work and one of the guys I work with helped me release it on the rocks at the beach across the street. How did it end up in my front yard?

My son and I are headed to Oahu tomorrow for a week. This morning we took our cat to the vet to be boarded while we're gone. I feel so guilty. He probably thinks we've abandoned him. But everyone there was really nice and I know he'll be well taken care of. After that we did two loads of laundry at the laundromat and then ran errands to get ready for tomorrow. I've been packing as much as I can today so we don't have to rush too much tomorrow. Interestingly, I'm not that excited about going. I want to go but I'm just not as excited as I think I should be about taking a vacation for the first time in over 8 years. Maybe once I'm there I'll be more in the vacation spirit.

The reason we're going to Oahu is to stay with my dad while my mom has knee replacement surgery. She had hip replacement surgery in May. My dad was in the hospital for 3 weeks in August and they found he had bladder cancer. So in September he was in for another 3 weeks and they removed his bladder and prostate and now his urine collects in a bag on his stomach. He lost 22 pounds from his first hospital stay and hasn't regained his strength so we'll be staying with him to make sure he eats well and rests. And I want to sneak in some beach time and shopping.

See you in a week internet!

2007-08-06T20:32:00.001-10:00

Wow, long time no post.....

Well, lot's has been happening...not all good.

I promise to write soon.

Later...

2007-06-18T17:19:00.000-10:00

Ouch...

After getting only a walk on the beach on Saturday due to bad weather, on Sunday we spent about three hours at Nukoli'i. It was low tide most of that time so we couldn't really swim but finally decided to go in at the channel where the water comes in and goes back out. I was using my son's mask to look at some Manini swimming near us when he started yelling and I turned around and a Portugese man-o-war had wrapped itself around his right arm just below the elbow. I immediately grabbed a stick from the beach and got it off him and got him out of the water. Some of the tail was still stuck to his arm so I scrapped that off. I took him over to the showers and he rinsed his arm off for awhile. We went back to the beach and I gave him a cold can of juice from the cooler to hold on his arm. He was such a trooper saying that it didn't hurt. (Yeah, right). We left the beach a little while later and went to McDonald's. He ate some of his cheeseburger but didn't finish it and ate only a few french fries (the chickens scored the rest of his lunch). We headed home and he threw up in the car, fortunately mostly on the beach towel he was sitting on. I hosed him & the towel off when we got him. He took a shower while I scoured the web looking for how to treat a man-o-war sting. Apparently I had done everything right. However, he contined to throw up and was running a fever. I almost thought I should take him to the emergency room but he stopped throwing up around 11 pm. He didn't want to sleep in his room so commandered the futon sofa in the living room. He was still feverish this morning so I stayed home with him all day. b.o.r.i.n.g. He still has red marks on his arm from the sting but the fever is gone and his appetite is back. Last night he even apologized for what happened. I told him that it wasn't his fault at all and that he had nothing to be sorry for.

This was a kinda scary experience. Although I was born and raised in Hawaii I have never been stung by a man-o-war or jellyfish. Jeez, I hope I never do get stung.

Here's a picture of what stung my son. This isn't the exact one, I just ripped this photo off the internet. I even read that you can still get stung by the tentacles even though they are separated from the body for up to two weeks.

2007-06-13T21:40:00.000-10:00

Around The Corner At The End of the Beach...

Went To This Beach On Sunday.....

2007-06-04T20:46:00.000-10:00

One Big Vana...

I'm taking a break from my Monday night chores (sorting the laundry, scooping the poop out of the cat litter box, taking the trash out, washing dishes) to post this photo of a vana that we saw at the beach yesterday. This thing was big so I grabbed my camera, waded back out and took this photo. I think it got washed over the reef during high tide and was biding it's time until the tide came back up. We had unreal summer weather over the weekend. Saturday I forgot to put on sunscreen before I took a walk down the beach and I got burned so Sunday I put on sunscreen first thing and spent most of the time under the umbrella.

Ok, back to chores...

Nukoli'i

2007-05-28T18:58:00.001-10:00

A View I Never Tire Of...

This is where we spent the better part of the last three days.

2007-05-07T11:42:00.000-10:00

It Must Be Something I Ate...

Because I had to run to the bathroom three times this morning just after waking up. So I decided to stay home today. Good thing, because I've needed to be near the bathroom since I got home from dropping my son off at his program.

Or, maybe it's stress. My mom is having hip replacement surgery this morning. I've asked my dad to call as soon as he hears how it's gone. He hasn't called yet.

And, finally, after three months of searching, emailing, and leaving phone messages we finally found a vacation house on the Big Island for Christmas this year. I'm so excited. We have very specific sleeping arrangements so we had to find a house to accomodate that. And we wanted to be on the water. Not necessiraly the beach because that would bump the price up. (Although I did find some very nice beach vacation rentals that I would have loved to rent). I'm mailing the deposit tomorrow. Here's an exterior view:

We'll be on the Hilo side of the island and I can't wait to get to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It's been a long time since I've been to the Big Island. On a family vacation in 1964 the volcano erupted two days before we left. We waited in line in the car for hours to see it. It's something I'll never forget.

2007-05-04T21:49:00.000-10:00

Not Good News...

Last night I found out that my brother-in-law may have chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He had a biopsy taken of bone and bone marrow and was scheduled today to have a ct.

I'm at a complete loss for words.....

2007-04-29T11:14:00.000-10:00

Who know there was a cd with songs completely devoted to pakalolo?

I found this last night while looking for the image in the post below.

2007-04-28T21:16:00.000-10:00

Excuse Me, I Have A Party To Crash...

Blogger made me update so I have a new look. I like it but lost all my add-on's. It'll take me awhile to get everything back.

I've had the tv on tonight but it's on mute because two houses behind me is having a birthday party with live music and one of the entertainers is Shilo Pa. He's from Anahola and came out with a cd a few years ago that has some of the best music I've ever heard (and some awesome cover art). You can hear it here:

http://www.mele.com/music/artist/shilo+pa/leave+some+land/

Update: He's playing again. I'm seriously tempted to crash that party.

2007-04-19T21:11:00.000-10:00

Reports of my demise are greatly exxagerated...

Why I have no time to create witty posts:

5:09 am - alarm goes off
5:19 am - hit snooze button
5:29 am - hit snooze button
5:30ish - turn alarm off
5:45 am - realize that if I don't get out of bed now I will really regret it later
5:46 am - get out of bed, make bed
5:50 am - shower, shampoo/condition hair, shave legs
6:30 am - prepare breakfast, feed cat, eat breakfast while watching morning news
6:45 am - brush teeth, blowdry hair
7:10 am - nuke pizza for son's lunch
7:12 am - put on makeup
7:30 am - get son up, help him shave & wash his face
7:35 am - make son's bed, pack his backpack, get clothes for him to wear
7:40 am - make son's lunch and pack his cooler
7:45 am - hang up son's pajamas
7:50 am - find clothes to wear and jewelry to go with them
7:55 am - use bathroom, put on cologne, deodorant and clothes, put toothpaste on son's toothbrush
8:00 am - get son's breakfast
8:05 am - put away breakfast stuff while son brushes his teeth
8:10 am - finish packing son's backpack
8:15 am - grab shoes to match clothes, get purse, sunglasses & keys and get in car
8:15 1/2 to 8:30 am - drive son to day program, drop him off
8:40 am - check mail at PO
8:45 am - run any other errands needed (banking, gas station, get dry cat food at vets, get stuff at drugstore or supermarket, do recycling, etc)
9:00 am - arrive at work
Noon - leave for lunch
1:00 pm - 6:pm - work
6: 15/20 - arrive home
6:20-6:30 - feed cat, read mail, turn on tv to catch tail end of news
6:30 pm - son arrives home
6:30-10 pm - unpack son's lunch cooler, forage in frig for food/snacks, get son's dinner, take shower, watch fav tv shows, check email, read newspapers online, nag son repeatedly to take shower, pull down beds, brush teeth
10:15-11:00 pm - finally get to bed
SLEEP
5:09 am - lather, rinse, repeat

I really miss the days of getting off work at 4:30 pm cuz I could run all those errands alone that I now have to do at night or on weekends with my son which takes much longer cuz he always wanders off to check out stuff he's interested in and I have to walk all over the store looking for him.

I shouldn't complain. I now have a good paying job with flexible bosses. I don't have to sit in traffic while commuting to work. I live on a beautiful island and get to drive near and see the ocean every day. I can come home for lunch everyday and drive by pastures with horses, cattle & goats grazing. Sometimes I even have to stop and let a peacock cross the street. And when there's lots of rain I can see multiple waterfalls in the mountains.

I kinda miss the days of being childless and having a social life but that seems like another life from a long time ago.

Time to go nag my son to take a shower. Then I have to brush my teeth and start the getting ready for bed routine.

2007-02-04T19:51:00.000-10:00

Pride of Hawaii off Kealia...

This is the view I had while my son ate his fast food after the beach today. We've been having unreal weather for the last few days. Earlier in the week we had 40 mph winds and drizzly rain all day Thursday. Then Friday dawned perfectly clear and it held all weekend. I'm not a football fan so we hit the beach again today - Nukoli'i. Aside from some surfers who left soon after we got there we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. Except for one guy who sunbathes nude, but he has a spot surrounded by bushes where he does his thing. The tide was so low today the reef was almost completely exposed.

Lucky Live Kaua'i...

This was the view of the mountains from my beach chair yesterday at Salt Pond. Not one cloud crossed the sun while we we there. The water was flat and calm. Perfect for snorkeling (I'm not a snorkeler). After Salt Pond we went for a walk on Pakala's. I swear, that beach is never the same. The sand constantly shifts depending on how big the surf is. We walked all the way to the end and even hopped the fence and continued walking all the way to the Russian Fort. Then we had to walk all the way back.

2007-01-30T13:34:00.000-10:00

My Toenail Fell Off.....

I stubbed my toe on the pavement after walking on Pakala's weekend before last. The toenail fell off last night. I wonder how long before it grows back.

2007-01-09T22:18:00.000-10:00

My cattleya orchid that blooms once a year. It has a very sweet fragrance.

2007-01-09T21:40:00.000-10:00

Orchid I received at work last week for my birthday.

2007-01-01T22:00:00.000-10:00

New Year, New Hair Color...

2006-12-24T17:47:00.000-10:00

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !

Tomorrow we fly very early to Oahu to spend Christmas day with my mom & dad. My sister & brother-in-law flew there from Maui on Friday. Haven't seen any of them since we spent last Christmas on Maui. We fly back very late tomorrow night. Fortunately I have Tuesday off to recuperate.

Santa drawing by Alberto Cerriteno via Sugar Frosted Goodness!

2006-12-24T17:16:00.000-10:00

Santa, I've Been A Good Girl.....

Just a couple things I'd like to see under the tree.....

2006-12-19T22:14:00.000-10:00

I'm Back.....

I know you weren't holding your breath. You probably didn't even notice I was gone. That's okay.

Where was I? Well, my computer died. One night it worked but I got error messages just before I turned it off. The next day it wouldn't even boot up. All I got was an error message, something about an I/O Error. I have it written down somewhere but I'm too tired to look for it. Anyway, long story short I have a new computer. It took awhile cuz I had to wait for my federal tax refund from my amended 2003 taxes. And then when I ordered it from Dell I wanted to pay for most of it and finance the rest but they financed the whole thing. So I have a brand new computer (500GB hard drive, 20" flat panel monitor, etc.) that I haven't spent one cent for yet. Fortunately I transferred the refund from my personal checking acct to my business checking acct because if I hadn't I probably would have spent it on jewelry from the store for myself.

Speaking of which, we got some memo items in today and there is one ring I want in the worst way. It's a 14-karat white gold rounded band with 5 fancy color flush set diamonds sprinkled across the top. It's even my size. It was meant to be. But I inventoried it and it'll probably go in the case. Even now I can hear it calling my name. I want it soooooooo bad and I was trying to justify buying it as a combined christmas/birthday present for myself but now I have a brand new computer to pay for and I really need to buy another car before my transmission completely goes out. When I photograph it tomorrow I'm going to email the picture to myself so I can post it here. There's also a really cool bracelet but it's way out of my price range. Why do I have to like jewelry so much?

Well, I'm beat. I worked today, did laundry after work then got groceries and I need sleep.

Tune in tomorrow for pictures.

2006-10-15T17:46:00.000-10:00

2006-10-15T11:36:00.000-10:00

EARTHQUAKE!

If you haven't heard yet there was a significant earthquake centered on the Big Island of Hawaii at 7:08 am this morning. I had just woken up and was in the bathroom when the house started to shake. This is the first earthquake I've felt on Kaua'i since I moved here in 1999. I used to feel them every now and then on Oahu but they were small tremors. The picture of the landslide above is from the Kawaihae area on the Big Island from the cnn.com website.

My sister on Maui left me a message that their house shook for about 30 seconds and the whole island was without power. I also had a message from my mom on Oahu that their power was out too. I've tried calling my sister back but can only leave messages. I did talk to my mom and they are fine.

Just now they are starting to show some photos of damage on the Big Island. Mostly what I'm seeing is structural damage to rock walls and landslides. One hospital in Kona is evacuating their patients to other hospitals or to Oahu. Apparently the airport on Oahu is a mess - no functioning toilets and no running water. No outbound flights although people are still showing up thinking they can catch their scheduled flights out. Inbound flights are being allowed if they were past the halfway point into their flight. An airport without power has to be a crazy scene as computers aren't working and the TSA can't function. I wonder what backup power they have???

My sister just called from Maui and they don't have power in Makawao yet but they're okay.

I'll post more pictures as they become available.

PS - No deaths reported yet but some injuries.

2006-10-14T16:38:00.000-10:00

So what do you do when the weather sucks and you can't go to the beach?

You go anyway.

First we vacummed the house and I scrubbed the kitchen sink. We've had Kona weather all week and it's been hot, hazy and humid. I decided we needed to get out of the house.

So we went to Nukoli'i. My son went for a swim while I walked down the beach.

As we were leaving some people showed up with their horses for a ride on the beach. My son was showering off when I turned back towards the beach and the horse on the right in the top photo was bucking riderless and heading towards the parking lot. She got as far as my car when a guy in a big white truck turned around and blocked her from getting any farther. It was pretty scary but the beach is fairly far enough away from the highway. And she had calmed down enough to stop and just stand there. Apparently something spooked her and she took off. I don't know if it was the ocean or something else. Her owner thanked the truck driver and walked her back to the beach. In the second photo she is being walked around to calm her down. We left after this so I don't know if they got their beach ride in or not.

2006-10-07T20:13:00.000-10:00

Last Night's Sunset

2006-10-02T22:22:00.000-10:00

The Jeweler's Prayer.....

That's when you're down on all fours looking for a loose stone on the floor. It's what I was doing last Friday. I was putting a diamond into a file-a-gem holder and sliding it into the plastic cover when the diamond popped out, hit the floor mat under my chair and bounced to who knows where. So I grabbed a flashlight from my drawer and started looking for the diamond. Without any luck. Drat. It was a diamond we had a memo from a supplier.

I did find two tanzanite beads and a pearl that must have escaped from my predecessor. I was just about to ask for help when I decided to look a little deeper under my desk. Bingo! There it was. So I got it seated properly in the holder and slid the cover over it. Whew!

At least it wasn't as big as the diamond that one of my bosses lost last year when they were cleaning a ring. That was a 3/4 carat. That belonged to a customer. We had to replace that one. We searched high and low for that bugger. We even went through the trash can that was nearby. Then one day last week the steamer broke and my boss took it apart and guess what was inside? Yup, the diamond. We had even sent the steamer to Honolulu for repair last year when it broke down. When it was sent back it accidently went to Maui instead. It finally made it back to us. So the lost diamond had been inside the whole time and traveled from Kauai to Oahu to Maui and finally back to Kauai.

2006-09-25T22:12:00.000-10:00

This is Noa, my cat. He is the devil reincarnated. Don't let the innocent look fool you. He tried to murder me this morning.

I had just finished brushing my teeth. I stepped back to grab a towel and almost stepped on him. He jumped up. By then I was completely off balance and destined to crash. As I was going down my hand hit the floor and slipped under the door. I now have a nice big bump on my middle finger. I glanced over at Noa and he was standing there with his teeth bared. I thought he was coming in for the kill.

This is about the one zillionth time I have stepped back from either the kitchen or bathroom sink only to get entangled in the cat. His nickname is Stealth Cat because he sneaks up behind me and either sits or lay down about one foot from my feet. You'd think one of use would learn to 1) not lay one foot behind me or 2) look behind me before I back up. I'm usually able to recover and not take a spill after stepping back almost on him.

Sometimes his name is Ambush Cat because he hides under the computer desk and as I walk around the corner he shoots out and gets entangled in my legs. It's a miracle one of use hasn't broken a bone yet.

Different subject - the highlight of my weekend was coming upon an abandoned (probably stolen & stripped) car fully engulfed in flames up by the Kapahi Reservoir on Saturday. Huge orange flames, thick black smoke. I stopped my car to get my cell phone out of the back but by the time I had in my hand I could hear sirens. So then I had to race to get back in the car and get out of the way of the fire truck. Of course I had trouble fastening my seat belt because a beach towel was in the way. If I had any sense at all I would have gotten my camera out and taken a picture so I could post it here. We made it out of the way of the fire truck in time. After we drove past the burning car I noticed that a herd of cows has gathered in the pasture and was looking towards the smoke. That would have made another good picture but I couldn't stop because a car was behind me.

See - I really have no life if all I can post about is my insane cat and a burning car.

2006-09-07T21:33:00.000-10:00

Day Three of Long Weekend....

See "Day One of Long Weekend" numbers 2 & 3.

Abandoned shoes & slippers at Kealia lookout.

2006-09-07T21:25:00.000-10:00

Day Two of Long Weekend...

1) Beach

2) Eat fast food at Glass Beach

Bonus...

1) My son saw a monk seal swim by underwater

2) An owl flying very low across the road from the airstrip to the bushes on the opposite side of the road right in front of our car as we left the beach.

Someone found a pair of glasses near Glass Beach and put them on the fence near the power plant. Coffee plants growing in the background.

2006-09-02T21:24:00.000-10:00

Day One of Long Weekend...

1) Take cans & bottles to recycling center. Score 20 cents more than cans & bottles are worth.

2) Beach

3) Eat fast food at lookout.

Shells

2006-08-21T21:12:00.000-10:00

It Must Be Monday.....

.....because it was one of those days. The brakes on my car went out today. I was able to get my son to his program and drove directly to the mechanic. Thank God there is one in Kapa'a. They fixed my car and it was ready by lunchtime. Turns out the brake line was rusted and most of the brake fluid had leaked out. There's no puddle in my driveway so it must have been a long, slow leak. The brakes worked fine yesteday but I hadn't driven my car since about lunchtime yesterday until we left this morning. One of my bosses gave me a ride to the mechanics to pick up my car. When I walked in the office no one was there. No one was around anywhere. So I left a note to call me about payment, picked up my keys from the counter and drove home for lunch. Turns out they had gone to a late lunch. I've never lived anyplace where you can leave your shop open and office unlocked while you go to lunch.....except Kaua'i. I've even seen cars left running, keys in the ignition outside the bank in Kapa'a.

So that makes two problems with my car lately. Week before last I had a dead battery and had to wake up the guy who lives in the studio behind me to jump my car. It ran okay the rest of the day but the next morning I had to call roadside assistance to jump me and then again at work I had to get a jump to go to Sears to get a new battery.

And miracle of miracles I was able to post a photo from flickr to blogger. At least something went right today. These are some shells I've found at the beach, mostly I think these are from Nukoli'i.

2006-08-14T21:49:00.000-10:00

After The Rain...

This is how it looked after the rain on Sunday. We left the beach about 30 minutes before a huge black cloud passed over the east side and it poured. Then it cleared up again like it never happened. I guess that's why some people say "wait 5 minutes".

I'm really frustrated with blogger. It used to be so easy to post pictures and compose entries. For the last several months I haven't been able to post pictures through flickr. Flickr says that blogger is rejecting the posts and there's nothing they can do. Blogger says they're looking at the problem but as of now it still doesn't work. So my only option is to post from blogger on the "Edit Html" tab. And it sucks. I can't post any text before the picture. If I do write anything it shows up next to and under the picture which is not how I want it to look. In fact, I don't like the way the posts look at all.

If anyone has any suggestions please leave a comment.

2006-08-02T20:20:00.000-10:00

R.I.P Nina

Nina, my neighbor's cat, passed away yesterday.

She was a real sweetheart. Not the smartest cat in the hood, but what she lacked in common sense she made up for in personality.

Sometimes she would be asleep curled around a planter next to my front door. Sometimes she would be perched on the roof of my car or under the car. Sometimes late at night when I took the garbage out she would come running towards me. Whenever you reached out to pet her she would roll around on and rub on the driveway just out of your reach.

Yesterday morning as they were leaving to take their kids to school they found her lying in the middle of the road in front of the driveway. She hadn't been hit by a car. Her body was stiff, her eyes were open and her jaw was clenched shut. Just the night before she had been under my kitchen window meowing. I went out to see what cat it was and she was prancing around the driveway. Her sister was perched under my car.

I miss you Nina.

2006-07-23T18:21:00.000-10:00

2006-07-23T18:18:00.000-10:00

Calm Day at Salt Pond

2006-07-09T22:06:00.000-10:00

2006-06-21T19:47:00.000-10:00

Sandy Feet

2006-05-14T11:13:00.000-10:00

Sandy Feet @ Nukoli'i.....

Hey, did you miss me internet?

Flickr wouldn't let me post photos to my blog for awhile but it works now. So enjoy this shot of my sandy feet at sunny Nukoli'i yesterday. We couldn't have asked for better weather on a Saturday.

Today it's overcast but I need to get out of the house so we may cruise to the west side.

Happy Mother's Day!

Orchid

2006-04-16T19:40:00.000-10:00

Orchid Blooming In My Gardenia Plant.....

Glass Beach

2006-04-16T19:39:00.001-10:00

Shoes

2006-04-16T19:39:00.000-10:00

Someone Forgot Their Shoes at Glass Beach.....

2006-04-16T19:34:00.000-10:00

Happy Easter.....

2006-03-26T17:21:00.000-10:00

Will It Ever Stop Raining.....

Woke up this morning to rain, thunder & lightning. Will it ever end?

What I'd really like is for my toilet to work. All the rain we've had in the last month has caused the ground to become so saturated that it's filled up the cesspool with water. It was pumped three times last week and each time it filled back up with water within half a day. The last pumping was last Friday (3/17) and it was treated immediately afterwards. It was good until Sunday. Then we had a slight break in the weather and the sun actually shone for a couple days last week. But it was full again by Wednesday morning, was okay Thursday, Friday and Saturday but this morning because of all the rain the toilet almost overflowed but I turned the water off just in time. I've lost two bathmats and about six bath towels. I've had to bail out a stinky toilet twice. That is the grossest.

What's even worse is the guy who lives in the studio at the back of the house had to throw his mattress away and the carpet had to ripped out because it rained so much the water flooded the studio.

I'm kinda pissed at the property manager. I think he should have brought in a port-a-potty for us to use. If we can't use the toilet where the heck are we supposed to go?

I've gotten used to living in the wettest spot on earth but I'd like to find some blue skies so I can just lay on the beach and use a toilet that flushes.

2006-03-15T21:26:00.000-10:00

Sad Day on Kauai.....

Unless you've been hiding under a rock you've probably heard about the dam that broke yesterday morning at 5 am and gushed a wall of water and debris to the ocean taking a couple houses and some people with it. Two bodies have been recovered and five people are still missing. We've had 106.08 inches of rain since February 18th on Mt. Waialeale. I've never seen it rain so much for so long on this island. The ground is completely saturated and can't absorb any more water. More rain is forecast. Please click on the link below to see more pictures.

http://kauaiworld.com/dambreak/index.html

2006-03-11T19:15:00.000-10:00

Dry Winter, Wet Spring.....

This is at the Arboretum at the end of Kuamo'o Road. This was taken last weekend after we had some heavy rain.

We've had more heavy rain this week. If fact, it woke me up this morning. It rained hard and long. Once again, one third of my front yard was flooded. This must be payback for the extremely dry winter we had. When we left the house this morning just down the street the county had blocked off one lane with a sign that said "Road Closed. Local Traffic Only". When we got home I asked the boy next door if he had ridden his bike down to the river and he said the water was over the bridge and gushing so bad you probably couldn't even walk across it. In the almost 7 years I've lived in this house the road has never been closed before. And on the news tonight I heard another storm is predicted for next week.

In other news yesterday was my last day at one part-time job. I gave notice two weeks ago as I will be office manager full-time at my other part-time job. Now I'll be getting paid holidays, vacation and better medical/dental/drug/vision coverage. And I get to try on all the jewelry before it goes in the case.

So at the job I quit my boss hired two people to replace me. At least I won't have to work with someone who spent half the day in her pajamas, teeth unbrushed (P.U.) and hair uncombed who micromanaged and spoonfed work to me.

And, I wish I could say I was off to take a shower but I can't. This morning when my son flushed the toilet the water ran all over the bathroom floor. I called a plumber just before 9 am and he couldn't get here until just before 4 pm. He "snaked" the toilet but there was no blockage. Then he went outside to check the cesspool level and it's full. So I asked the guy who lives in the studio if he was having problems with his toilet, shower or sink. He said his toilet was backed up since last night. So I called a cesspool pumper and he couldn't come out until tomorrow morning. He has to "dump" a load first then pump someone else's cesspool before he can come. At least I was able to take a shower this morning. But I haven't washed my hair since Friday morning and I have the "greasies".

2006-02-19T20:19:00.000-10:00

Signs of Spring.....

2006-02-16T21:27:00.000-10:00

What I Learned Today.....

Ritz crackers plus half a container of hummus = liquid doo-doo

2006-02-09T21:48:00.000-10:00

Then and Now.....

Here's a photo of my ticket to The Crater Celebration from the 70's. Notice the price - $2.00. The cheapest tickets to the event this year are $125.00.

Ah.....those were the days.

2006-01-26T21:35:00.000-10:00

2006-01-18T20:47:00.000-10:00

I Always Thought It Was Rude To Stare...

I got to work late this morning because I had an 8:30 am meeting about my son's annual day program. So instead of coming home for lunch I decided to eat at my desk and I called the Korean BBQ for take out.

I walked over to the restaurant (all of two doors away) to pick up my lunch. As I was standing at the counter I glanced over to the side to see who was in the restaurant. In the corner was a couple eating lunch. The guy was staring at me like haole, what you doing in here? I almost wanted to say what, bodders you? Instead I got my change and went back to work.

I ate half my lunch at work and I ate the other half for dinner tonight.

I have kim chee breath.

2006-01-09T21:43:00.000-10:00

Missing In Action.....

It's been quite a while since I posted here. I got sick the Tuesday before Christmas. I still have some sinus issues and an cough. Despite being sick we had a really nice two days on Maui for Christmas. The weather was perfectly clear and "science city" at the top of Haleakala was visible for our entire visit. We spent most of our time upcountry in Makawao at my sister's and brother-in-laws house. It was quite cool up there and I wore a jacket most of the time to keep warm. Partly because I had the chills from being sick and partly because it was cold although sunny.

Work at job #2 has been crazy. Since one of the owners left I've been doing most of the accounting work she did in addition to payroll and inventory. I only agreed to take on payroll and inventory prior to her leaving so the rest of the work was a big surprise. I've had to figure out what it was, why it was done that way and how to do it. Some of this work had not been done since September although she left in mid November. Anyway, it's meant more hours which means more $. So I can't complain too much.

The property manager who manages the house I live in for the owners who live on the mainland called me last Wednesday to tell me that my rent would be going up as of 3/1 by $100. Apparently the county of Kauai sent out letters to owners who rent their property out a listing of what they consider affordable rent for the types of units rented. So the owner saw that she was below what is considered affordable and is increasing the rent. This sucks big time. My rent just increased by $250 in August 04 and now it's going up another $100.

Here's a picture of an orchid plant I have that is blooming. I had no idea it even had a bud until I was cleaning up some dead leaves the wind had blown around the pot. Not only is it beuatiful but it also has a very sweet smell.

I'm off to bed now. I slept like crap last night and I worked non-stop from 9 am until 6 pm today. It was a very productive 9 hours though.

2005-12-18T21:13:00.000-10:00

Monk Seals at Nukoli'i

Saturday we ended up at Nukoli'i beach. We tried for Salt Pond but the whole west side was cloudy. Kinda defeats the purpose of beaching it. So we headed back to the east side and here's what we found. Two monk seals sleeping on the beach. One was obviously a youngster but the other one was a little bit older but still young. Certainly not big enought to be it's mother because after about 6 weeks they take off and leave their baby to fend for themselves. So it looks like these two youngsters were hanging out together. They were roped off and it looked like one of the staff from the hotel was watching over them. I used the zoom on my camera to take this shot. As they are protected by The Endangered Species Act you have to stay at least 150 feet away from them.

So today we went to Baby beach for a couple hours. The water was ice cold but refreshing after being in the hot sun.

Afterwards we ate lunch and I got my son an early Christmas present. His walkman died yesterday at the beach so today I bought him a new one.

Speaking of Christmas, I dont' have a tree up. And I haven't unpacked one single Christmas decoration. I just can't get in the mood. My son keeps asking me when the tree is going up and I keep saying later. (Like maybe next Christmas). And I haven't really done much shopping. I have no clue what to get anyone so my family is probably getting gift cards this year. They can buy their own darn present.

2005-12-13T20:56:00.000-10:00

Things I Will Miss By Not Staying Home For Christmas.....

The beach
My bed
My cat
Driving my own car
Having control of the remote
Coffee the way I like it
The money I've spent on airfare
The internet
Eating what I want when I want

It won't be that bad. We're only going to Maui.

It could be realy bad. I'll be with my family.

inspired by will

2005-12-04T18:41:00.000-10:00

Nukoli'i.....

We spent a few hours at the beach at Nukoli'i today before we got rained out. Here are a few pictures. If anyone knows how to post multipe pictures at a time let me know.

Nukolii Reef 2 120405

2005-12-04T18:40:00.000-10:00

Nukoli'i Reef.....

2005-12-04T18:39:00.000-10:00

Fish.....

2005-12-04T18:38:00.000-10:00

Plane Overhead.....

2005-12-04T18:34:00.001-10:00

Bird On Reef.....

2005-12-04T18:34:00.000-10:00

Crab Digging Hole.....

2005-12-04T18:33:00.000-10:00

Debris On Beach.....

2005-12-04T18:24:00.000-10:00

Sea Cucumber Covered With Sand.....

2005-12-04T18:22:00.000-10:00

Sea Cucumber Naked.....

2005-12-04T18:17:00.000-10:00

Looking south.....

2005-12-04T18:15:00.000-10:00

Ocean and Reef.....

2005-12-04T18:10:00.000-10:00

Woman cleaning her catch.....

2005-12-01T21:18:00.000-10:00

I Hate Goodbyes.....

It's been a busy past few weeks. One of the partners at the jewelry store moved to Florida with her husband and son. She and I worked closely together and got along really well. We both had the same way of thinking. She was president of the company and performed most of the administrative functions - accounting, advertising, merchandising, as well as sales and designing. As a result of her leaving I have taken on some of the responsibilities that were hers. The remaining two partners have asked me several times if I would like to work there full time but I'm not ready to commit to one job.

The day before she left she stopped by my house to say goodbye. We were both in tears. She gave me a gift wrapped box that I just couldn't open while she was there as I really didn't want to know what was inside. Shortly after she left I opened the box and I was speechless.

This is what was inside the box:

A 14-karat yellow gold bracelet with five South Sea Golden Pearls. I had the bench jeweler remove one of the gold twists as the bracelet was too long. This is by far one of the best gifts I have ever been given. I took the picture above right before the bracelet went on display in the case on the sales floor.

I'm still kind of stunned.

2005-11-14T20:14:00.000-10:00

Free Slippers....

(or, as Kris would correct me, slippahs)

What I love about walking on Pakala's (aside from the fact that it's deserted and beautiful) is all the stuff you find washed up on the beach. Friday we found a pair of rubber slippers. I tried them on. A perfect fit. They now reside on the mat outside my front door.

We also found a boogie board. We dragged it farther up the beach so it wouldn't wash back out to sea. It was still there on Sunday so we carried it to the path and left it there. We already have boogie boards. No need to be greedy. Someone will happen upon it and take it home.

Another thing we found on Sunday was one of those one time use underwater cameras. I took a picture with it but the film wouldn't advance so we left it on a picnic table that's on the old Robinson property. It must have fallen off one of the Na Pali tour boats. There were already 18 exposures so someone will be bummed they lost it.

Other things we have happened upon on the beach are golf balls, shells (obviously), single slippers, old tires, fishing floats and lots and lots of driftwood.

My all time favorite find was a plastic bag with a candy bar and bottle of water in it. I ate the candy bar and used the water to wash my feet off.

2005-11-14T19:51:00.000-10:00

Wild Orchid In My Front Yard...

2005-11-14T19:42:00.000-10:00

Fall On Kauai.....

It looks more like spring than fall on Kauai. This is at the old Japanese Cemetary at Port Allen a few days ago.

Although it's hard to tell when the seasons change in Hawaii if you've lived here for awhile you can tell. It gets dark about 6 pm now and there's a chill in the air if you step into the shade out of the sun.

I like the cooler weather (except this weekend when there were no trades, we call it Kona weather because the wind, if there is any, comes from the south) but I wish the sun didn't set so early.

2005-11-07T21:07:00.000-10:00

I was awakened by one of these crawling under my hand in bed last week.....

I haven't had a good nights sleep since.

Sunrise Over Sleeping Giant 110205

2005-11-05T09:15:00.000-10:00

Here's a photo of the sunrise over Sleeping Giant I took a few mornings ago.

Turns out the fire the other night was caused by the owner burning grass on his property. He thought he had all the hotspots out, went inside to eat dinner, they laid down to rest his back when a neighbor either called or came over to tell him about the fire. It destroyed a storage building and partially burned a garage on his property. Fire trucks from Kapaa, Hanalei, Lihue & Kalaheo responded. Four surrounding houses had to be evacuated because of smoke and sparks. It took an hour to get the fire under control. The next morning there were still wisps of white smoke coming from the debris. Maybe next time he should just mow or weedwack the grass.

2005-11-03T19:58:00.000-10:00

Someone's House Burned Down Tonight.....

I was at the computer and heard what sounded like a load of lumber being dumped. Then I heard what sounded like fireworks. Then I heard sirens. I got up to look out the window and saw fire through the neighbor's hedge. So I put my cat in the bedroom and ran to the house behind me and called my neighbor's name. She and her two daughters were home and came out. We stood in the driveway and watched a house totally engulfed in flames with thick black smoke and sparks flying in the breeze. Good thing we're weren't downwind. We continued to hear explosions. Every time there was an explosion the fire intensified. I live on a main drag and cars were stopping to watch the fire. My neighbor, Carol, got out her ladder and we took turns climbing it to watch the fire over the 10' high wall behind their house. It looked like a two story house was the one on fire. I could see the electric company working on the power lines across the street from the house. Maybe they were trying to cut power off to the house on fire. There's actually two houses and a road between it and my house. I think the sound I heard initially was either explosions or the top floor of the house collapsing. I can't believe how fast and intense the fire was. Almost two hours later I can still hear the engines of the fire trucks back there. I just looked out the window and there is still white smoke coming from the scene.

Here's one of the pictures I took. It was dark by this time but there was still lots of black smoke and sparks billowing up. It was pretty breezy but blowing towards Lihue.

I hope no people or animals perished in the fire.

2005-10-31T21:03:00.000-10:00

2005-10-15T21:51:00.000-10:00

Footprints...

2005-10-15T20:53:00.000-10:00

Private Property
No Kooks...

2005-10-11T21:53:00.000-10:00

If It Wasn't For Bad Luck.....

This was in my right front tire this morning.

For some reason my son always turns the radio volume down when I drop him off in the morning. For some reason I didn't turn it back up as I drove away. That's why I heard the sound of something in my tire. So I pulled over to check it out. Bummer. I drove to work and called Roadside Assistance. They came out and instead of putting the spare on, the guy pulled the screw out and plugged the hole. My fingers are crossed that the plug holds for a long time cuz a new tire would cost be around $200 and I really don't want to get deeper in debt.

Gas price update: Regular is $3.60 a week here.

Bridge update: Woo Hoo! The bridge opened last Friday. Don't have to take the scenic, roundabout way anymore. Travel time has been reduced by about 10 minutes each way. With the price of gas so inflated maybe I'll be using a little less now.

2005-10-05T19:49:00.000-10:00

Not Much To Report.....

Since the new season started on tv I haven't been on the computer that much. Tropical depression Kenneth passed over the islands last weekend and we had some really cool thunder, lightning and rain. We couldn't get to the beach on Saturday but we did go on Sunday for a couple hours. On the way home I decided to check out the waterfalls and quickly got this shot. It's not very clear and the clouds were pretty low when we drove past. I can see these waterfalls from my house and drive this way at least 5 days a week. They are much more impressive in person. You can only see about 1/3 of the waterfall in this shot. They start at the top of the mountain and fall practically all the way down.

I really wanted to post more here but Lost is coming on and I don't want to miss it. After that is Invasion so I'll be pretty tied up the rest of the evening. Catch you tomorrow night. Let's see....Wednesday night, isn't Survivor on, then The Apprentice and I think there's something after that. Hmmmmm..........

2005-09-24T08:47:00.000-10:00

Just Not The Same.....

I turned on the TV this morning in hopes of catching some of the death/destruction/devastation wrought by Hurricane Rita. Imagine my disappointment when there was no death/destruction/devastation. Downed trees and power lines just can't compare to the human suffering plastered all over the cable news channels after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. It was more interesting to watch the 100-mile traffic jam prior to Hurricane Rita.

Yesterday morning when I was watching the coverage while getting ready for work it occurred to me that my aunt and uncle live in a town called Trinity in Texas. I haven't seen them since I visited them in Sydney, Australia in the early 70's and we really only exchange cards at Christmas. So I pulled out the atlas to see exactly where they live. Holy Cow! They live about 150-200 miles north of Houston. Hmmmmm.....wonder how they're doing.

Then yesterday when I picked up my mail at the post office I had an envelope from my cousin (daughter of above aunt & uncle). She and her husband and kids live in Humble, Texas. So today I checked out their address at Map Quest and turns out they live immediately north of Houston. I also haven't seen her, or her brother, since I visited them in Australia.

So now I'm wondering how they all have fared in the hurricane.

I've actually been through a hurricane myself. No, it wasn't Iwa or Iniki. It was back in 1959 and it was on this Island, Kauai. It was Hurricane Dot. My mom, sister, grandma, grandpa and I were spending two weeks in a cabin at Koke'e while by dad went to boot camp in El Paso, Texas. I was so little that all I remember was the wind howling and there being lots of rain. The next day we couldn't get down from Koke'e because of downed trees blocking the road. When we finally were able to get down the beach at Kekaha was completely littered with driftwood. And that's all I remember.

Earlier this week there was a hurricane not too far from the Hawaiian island chain - Hurricane Jova. It mostly petered out and headed north so we were spared. As one newscaster said - Hurricane Jova is ova. But I did hear two people on this island say that if a hurricane doesn't have a hawaiian name then it won't hit Hawaii.

Hey, people, wake up. Does Dot sound like a hawaiian name?

2005-09-17T19:37:00.000-10:00

High Surf, Rain, Thunder, Lightning.....

This picture is the result of a huge storm we had that started Wednesday night. Heavy rain, thunder, lightning, all night long and into the next morning. The debris shown in the photo washed down from the Wailua river and ended up on the beach at Lydgate. About 50 people were evacuated from low lying property along the river Wednesday night. A friend of mine that lives on the north shore couldn't get home because the Hanalei bridge was closed. He spent the night in his truck in the parking lot at Foodland in Princeville. Because it was the day before payday he didn't have any money to get gas to drive someplace he could stay. There was more rain on Thursday and Friday was mostly overcast with a little rain.

The same time the storm hit there was a huge south swell. Beaches from Lydgate to Kekaha were closed because of the dangerous surf. That's a hugh chunk of coastline to be closed. Salt Pond is closed because of debris and poor water quality. I heard the waves at Pakala's were 6 feet. That doesn't sound too big but waves that size pounding the beach do some real damage. It should be interesting to see what condition the beach is in next time we're there.

But today the overcast skies began to clear and we headed for the beach. We did get sprinkled on once and there were some clouds but it was mostly sunny. Several kitesurfers were taking advantage of the brisk breeze. After the beach we drove to Nukolii and walked along the beach in front of the Radisson. Lots of driftwood along the beach and the water looked kinda yucky. We might check out Salt Pond tomorrow.

The ex-boyfriend has finally stopped calling me collect from jail. After about three weeks of not picking up the phone I think he finally got the hint.

Just after we pulled out of our driveway to head for the beach today I saw a guy driving a truck in the opposite direction that looked a lot like the heartbreaker. I was tempted to make a u-turn and follow him but that would have been kind of obvious don't you think?

New Haircolor

2005-09-05T18:33:00.000-10:00

New Haricolor.....

So.....i finally caved and bought a digital camera. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W5. Why did I wait so long? I love instant gratification and now I have it. Well, at least with pictures. So I had to charge the batteries before I could use it so couldn't take any pictures on Saturday. Too bad. We went to Salt Pond and it was the most beautiful day. Blue sky. Clear water. Deserted beach. Just the way I like it. Seriously, where was everyone on Saturday? There weren't more than 8 people at a time at our end of the beach. It was perfect.

So Sunday I woke up to rain, overcast skies, and more rain. So I decided to color my hair. I swore I would never do the whole head then highlight thing again. I lied. I did it again. So whaddya think?

It's really hard to take a picture of the back of your head. And I didn't blow dry my hair so it's kinda wavy. The weather did clear around the middle of the day but we just hung out at home all day. I watched one of my son's dvd's - The Ring 2. Not as good as The Ring but not bad.

So today on the way to the beach we stopped at the swinging bridge in Hanapepe. Pictures are in flickr. If you click on the above picture it should take you there. Then after the beach (which got really crowded today) we drove to Menehune Ditch in Waimea. There's another swinging bridge there over the Waimea river. The trades were strong today and let me tell you they aren't called "swinging bridges" for nothing. Whew, don't look down or you'll get sick, or vertigo, or both.

2005-08-27T22:01:00.000-10:00

I'm Still Alive.....

I just haven't been blogging. Many a time I turned on the computer but just didn't get around to writing anything. So what have I been up to? Mostly the same old, same old. Work, errands, beach, sleep, etc. The usual mundane stuff that takes up ones waking hours.

But we've been having unreal weather lately. Like today, we went to Salt Pond. Yuck, the water was kinda dirty but that didn't prevent us from going in. Lots of stuff floating around...limu, a lobsters leg. It was so sunny and hot that we put the beach umbrella up. And where were the trades? There was hardly any wind at all which is just not like Salt Pond.

After the beach we got some food to eat then decided to check out Kukuiolono Park. In the parking lot we found two pit bull dogs running around. They were really friendly and having a lot of fun being free. I gave them some water to drink and decided to put them in the back of the SUV and try to find their owners as they were obviously "on the lam". No one was home at the first two houses we stopped at. Then we ran into two boys walking down the street and I asked them if they recognized the dogs. One stuck his head in the window, looked at them and said they lived right here at his neighbor's. No one was home so they got some chain to secure them in the garage and said they would let the owner know what happened. They were such cool dogs. But they slobbered all over my hands and I smelled like dog even after rinsing them off.

Then we headed back to the park and walked through the garden, scooped a couple of green mango's off the ground and headed on our way. Instead of coming home we drove up to the Arboreatum at the end of Kuamoo Road and drove quite a ways through the bumpy unpaved roads. Two places you have to drive through the stream as it flows over the road (that part is paved). On the way back we stopped to walk to the lily pond. If the pictures turn out I'll post em here.

So, Bill, Hilary & Chelsea are vacationing on the north shore of Kauai. There was a picture of Bill in the paper this morning.

See why I haven't posted.....my life is boring. BoRiNg. bOrInG.

2005-07-17T14:32:00.000-10:00

Too Close For Comfort.....

Yesterday we hit the beach. Got there about midday. It was kinda crowded where we parked so we walked down the beach aways leaving about 20 feet between us and the nearest people. I like to give people their space on the beach and I like for people to do the same. It was a beautiful day. Warm, sunny with a moderate breeze blowing. We watched some parachuters jump from a plane and land near the airstrip. We saw two military helicopters (those big ones that carry troops) fly low over the ocean towards PMRF. And the really nice helicopter with the retractable gear that ferries people from Niihau landed at the airstrip then took off again.

After about an hour and a half a truck pulled up about 6 feet away from us. Out of the truck came two adults, one teenager and 3 kids. They immediately went into the water.

My son and I went in the water also and threw the ball back and forth for about 20 minutes. Then we went back up to our chairs. I put sunscreen on my back and layed on my stomach and read. One of the kids from the truck came out of the water, got a towel from her uncle and walked by my towel. As she walked by very closely she kicked sand onto my book, towel and me. And hit my head with the towel.

Anyway, when we were done with the beach we stopped at McDonald's in Eleele and got a happy meal for my son then drove down by Glass Beach and around the old Japanese cemetery and parked while he ate. Here is the view we had while he ate. There were about 8 boats out fishing and the NOAA vessel was motoring towards Port Allen. Although you can't see it in the photo there is a guy fishing from that point of land that juts out into the ocean. The white speck up on the cliff is his truck.

Today we awoke to rain. The clouds were so low we couldn't even see the top of Sleeping Giant. So this morning we ran errands and it's still cloudy so it looks like we won't be getting in any beach time today. We could still go but I'm feeling kinda lazy.....

2005-06-29T21:24:00.000-10:00

Mango Season.....

I just peeled, sliced and ate two mangoes.

One word: Ono

2005-06-28T22:15:00.000-10:00

She's Back.....

Nina's back! When I left for work this morning she was in the driveway. My neighbor's were very relieved and overjoyed to see her. No clue as to her whereabout's for 24 hours but she looks fine. Welcome Back Nina!

2005-06-27T21:11:00.000-10:00

Nina, Come Home....

This is Nina. She lives next door. I took this picture of her yesterday afternoon in my yard. When I came home for lunch today my neighbor asked me if I'd seen her today. I told her I hadn't. Which is unusual because she's usually sleeping under one of the cars in the driveway. The last time she was seen was last night. She's a sweetie but not too bright. She has a bald spot on the back top portion of her head because she climbed into a car engine once and burned her head. I just took the trash out and the only cat around is her sister, Tina. Nina, come home, everyone's worried about you and we miss you.

In other news, not only am I broke but now I'm overdrawn at the bank. Space cadet me forgot to record a check in the check register. So I was at the bank first thing this morning to deposit the $100 bill that I've had in my wallet for the past two years in case of an emergency.

And, last but not least, my son is healthy but now I'm getting sick. Sore throat, drippy nose, fever. Bah!!!

2005-06-25T20:42:00.000-10:00

Found...

$7.00 in the grass on the side of the road by Pakala's today.

My son had one word about the find - McDonald's.

2005-06-22T21:56:00.000-10:00

You Know What Really Sucks?

Being broke one week after payday.

2005-06-20T20:15:00.000-10:00

Seven Years, People, Seven Years.....

1) My son is still sick. I took him to his day program anyway. He has an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow.
2) On the way to work I had to stop near Kapahi Park while a loose horse crossed the street.
3) I saw a guy in Kapaa wearing a tie. In the six years I've lived here this is the first time I've seen someone wearing a tie.
4) I layed something down on my dresser and when I grabbed it and walked away it caught on a mirrored tray which fell onto a small silver bowl that was sitting on top of it and broke. The mirrored tray used to belong to my grandmother. She kept it on her dresser. Now I'm going to have seven years bad luck.
5) My cat just threw up a hairball and some food. I picked him up and put him on the tile floor in the kitchen and when he tried to walk all four of his feet went out from under him and he collapsed on the floor. So I went over to him and he was making growling noises. I was petting him and couldn't tell if he was growling or purring.

It's been a weird day.

2005-06-17T18:25:00.000-10:00

Lack of posting......

is due to having a boring life. Most of my life consists of work, running errands, sleeping, eating, going to the beach, and.....and that's about it.

Last weekend after the beach we intended to go for a walk at Pakala's but there was a south swell and lots of cars parked on both sides of the road so we just kept driving and ended up driving up to Koke'e. It's been a couple years since we were up there. It was late afternoon and the weather was clear and sunny with a few clouds floating in the sky. The thimbleberries are not quite ripe for picking. I'd say another week and they should be ready. It was several degrees cooler at this elevation which felt good after being at the beach. Here's a shot I took with my cameraphone:

The company I used to work for has the lease on a cabin off one of the dirt roads near Koke'e Lodge and when I still worked for them I stayed at the cabin 3 or 4 times. It was rustic but hardly a cabin. 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining/living room with huge stone fireplace with doors on either side that opened onto the yard that sloped down to a stream. Really a beautiful atmosphere and peaceful and quiet. Once when I was there the ginger was blooming and I cut several stalks of flowers and put them in a huge vase in the bedroom. There was also what I think was a yellow iris blooming near the stream. And beautiful blue hydrangeas along one side of the house. One day I'd like to rent one of the state cabins for the weekend. Back in 1959 we (my mom, sister, grandmother, grandfather and I) stayed up at Koke'e for two weeks in two different cabins. We barged our station wagon over from Oahu. Hurricane Dot hit Kauai while we were up there and because of downed trees on the road it was a couple days before we could drive down the mountain. I don't remember too much of the actual hurricane but do remember lots of driftwood at Kekaha beach afterwards.

So, back to reality. I've been home all day with my son who is sick. He's had a fever since Monday night and started throwing up about 12:30 am Wednesday morning. I took him to work with me on Wednesday for half a day because I had to do payables and since the owner who usually does payroll was on vacation I had to do payroll also. He seemed better on Thursday so he went to his day program and I worked all day. But this morning he threw up in the car so we turned around and came home. I've got cabin fever. If it wasn't for the internet I would be totally crazy. Tomorrow we have to get out of the house or I will be a complete basket case.

Maha'ulepu 053005

2005-06-06T21:20:00.000-10:00

Path to Maha'ulepu.....

2005-06-05T19:50:00.000-10:00

Another Day, Another Dollar.....

I've been such a slug today. Woke up, made pancakes for breakfast, took a shower, turned on the tv.....oh-oh, big mistake...because I spent about the whole day planted on the couch getting hooked on a show called Blow Out on Bravo. And the 2nd season premiers Tuesday night and you know I'll be tuned in. Then later I watched a movie with Marlo Thomas and my gawd, what the hell has happened to her face? I mean, her face looks like it died. I know she's old but wtf? Her skin is all creepy old looking and her nose is starting to look like Michael Jackson's. Maybe they have the same plastic surgeon and he only knows how to make a nose look one way.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was at the laundromat and 40 cents fell from the ceiling onto the floor. I kid you not. I looked around to see if someone had thrown it but it fell from the ceiling. Totally weird. So before I left I picked it up and put it in my pocket.

Yesterday we went to Salt Pond and there was a south swell so the water was a little rough. It was super windy and a windsurfer had to be rescued by one of the lifeguards. He had to paddle out against the waves, tie the guys board to his and paddle back in with the guy in tow.

One of my bosses moved a week and a half ago. She sold her townhouse and bought a house about 5 minutes from where I live. Bamboo flooring, stainless steel appliances, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Neither of the bathrooms has a medicine cabinet. Nor do they have towel racks. The only place to put towels is the rack on the sliding shower door. As near as I can tell the name of her street translated into english means stinky mound.

Friday is Kamehameha Day and my son's day program is closed which means I have to take the day off. I could find someone to stay with him for the day but it would cost me just as much as I make in a day so......3-day weekend. Woo Hoo! Pray for sun.....

Kealia 052905 A

2005-06-04T09:54:00.000-10:00

View of Kealia Beach from back of car May 29,2005.....

I think that's either my finger or knee in the lower left corner.....

2005-06-02T22:15:00.000-10:00

Why Shopping Sucks On Kauai.....

.....because sometimes you have to go to three stores before finding what you're looking for.

All I wanted was plastic spoons. Not forks, not the combo pack (forks, spoons, knives), just spoons. Yesterday Safeway was completely out of plastic spoons. Today K-Mart was completely out of plastic spoons. I finally found them at Star Market.

2005-05-23T20:23:00.000-10:00

The Timing Couldn't Be Worse.....

Last Friday the a/c in my car worked fine.

Today after lunch as I was driving back to work I turned the a/c on. All I got was hot air. Lots of it.

It was 83 degrees today, hot and sunny, and extremely humid.

Guess I need to get the a/c charged so I don't completely wilt this summer.

Olohena Bridge

2005-05-12T20:09:00.000-10:00

Banned From The Bridge.....

A short time ago there was an article in the local newspaper about the Olohena Bridge no longer being structurally sound and in three weeks only vehicles weighing under 2 tons would be allowed to use the bridge. I didn't have any reason to drive that way the weekend after the article appeared but on the following Monday I had to drive that way to drop my son off at his day program. I was surprised to see that on the last side street before the bridge there were cones on the road, a sign indicating there was a flagman ahead and as you got closer there was a security guard and a policeman. They allowed me through. The same was happening at the other end of the bridge. During the next two weeks I was stopped twice and asked for my registration so the guard could check the weight of vehicle. Both times I was told I could proceed. My car weighs 3,940 lbs.

Tuesday evening on my way home I was stopped and asked for my registration and was told I couldn't drive over the bridge anymore because the combined weight of my vehicle and me exceeded the 2 ton weight limitaion. So it took these guys almost three weeks to figure out that I weighed over 60 pounds. So I told the security guard no problem, I would use other roads in the area, but that he needed to talk to his boss because the security guys weren't all on the same page and they needed to be consistent.

So anyway, every single other road in the area around my house has either has a state, county or private crew either trimming trees away from the telephone lines, spraying for weeds, clearing brush, repaving or some other kind of maintenance happening that has resulted in cars being stopped because one lane is blocked resulting in making driving in my "hood" a pain in the ass. Since I no longer can drive the most direct path from my house to where I need to go I've had to drive the back roads. Sure, they are nice scenic drives through pastures and neighborhoods I don't normally drive but the commute takes longer.

Do you think it ever occurred to anyone in government that because of the limitations imposed on the bridge that perhaps any maintenance to roads, bushes, etc in the area should perhaps be delayed so that commute time is not impacted for the thousands of residents who need to get kids to school and get themselves to work?

Apparently not. I have a saying for circumstances like this "This is Kauai".

Here's a picture of the bridge in question. This must be an old photo because the deck of the bridge is plywood. And shortly the bridge will be closed for up to 6 months while a brand new concrete bridge is constructed.

2005-04-23T08:29:00.000-10:00

See post below.....

2005-04-23T08:07:00.000-10:00

Where's My Vacation?

I need a vacation. I thought this week would never end. I know it was a regular ole 5-day work week but it felt like forever........Thursday my boss practically drove me to drink. Seriously. She gives me stuff to enter on the computer that didn't have all the information I needed (which she does on a regular basis) and then takes a phone call that lasts 45 minutes and the sound of her voice is driving me crazy and irritating the shit out of me and the info has to be in to meet a deadline and I have smoke coming out of my ears and I snapped at her when she got off the phone and she's mortified that I'm going to quit and leave her high and dry and I wish I could because she's a disgusting human being and on the way home I had to fight the steering wheel from turning into The Shack parking lot, marching into the bar and demanding a keg that I knew they had with my name on it. But I resisted the urge and ran my errands because I had to be home by 6:30 pm when my son gets dropped off and wouldn't you know that he was late getting dropped off and I actually could have stopped at the bar and drunken myself under the table not that I would do that anyway because I have a phobia about walking into a bar by myself unless I know someone I'm meeting there is already there because God forbid someone would think I went into a bar all alone by myself wanting to be picked up and will this sentence ever end...............

Whew, today I'm chillin at the beach and giving what's left of my brain a rest........