I Love Containers

I love organizing things.  Therefore, I love containers.  A few years ago I fell in love with these Really Useful Boxes.  They're made in England.

I found them on sale at Office Depot and went a little crazy.  I think the prices have gone up since I bought them a few years ago.

I use them to store all sorts of things from paints to CDs to wires.  I have all our trip DVDs backed up and organized in the larger size containers.  They're supposed to be really strong.  I really like the colors.  The only thing that worries me is that in Hawaii, the salt air tends to break down a lot of plastic.  So far, these have held up nicely.  It remains to be seen if it will stay wonderful 10 years from now, but I'll let you know.                           

Reducing Blog Photos

Blogspot used to let you know how much space you have left for photos on your blog.  Since their upgrades, I don't see that information anymore.  Since I was already close to 70% full before, I feel like I need to conserve the megabytes I put on my blog.

I just checked online and found this answer:

The 1GB limit is for Picasa storage space.  It's a total by Blogger (Picasa) account, for all blogs owned in that account. 

I've also seen advice that you should downsize the photos you post so that you can maximize Picasa storage space.  If you hit the cap on your storage, you can buy 20 GB more for just $5.00 a year so no sweat.

Still... I am downsizing my photos.  For one thing, if someone steals it for whatever reason they'll be getting a very reduced file that they won't be able to do a whole lot with.  It's really easy to reduce files these days so it doesn't take me long to do it although my brother set this magical something up on my computer that I can throw photos into and it spits out reduced photos automatically.

I've been warned that I should remember whatever photo I put on the web is forever.

Pet Peeve: Charity Requests With Guilt Gifts

There is a gimmick that charities are using now that really irritates me... a LOT!  They put in nickels, address labels, blankets, cards, etc. with their requests for donations.  I guess they're figuring that if  you receive something you'll feel obligated to donate to pay for that gift plus more.

Instead, it just irritates me.  For one thing, it's a waste.  We received this actually quite nice Made in China bag from Unicef.  We have donated to Unicef every year, but now this is making me almost change my mind.  I don't want this bag.  I have lots and lots of bags.  I was a teacher and we're given bags all the time at workshops and such.  Most people now have a lot of re-usable bags as well.

This is a waste!  All the funds they used to buy these Unicef bags to send out to all the households should have been used to help the children they are supposed to be helping around the world.

If they don't stop doing this, last year's donation will be the last one we send them!

What to Do With Your Fat

The Star Advertiser had an article recently about a fat absorbing box called Whoa! Fat!  It holds up to a quart of your grease/fat from frying.  It's a leak-proof Chinese take-out type box with cellulose material in it to absorb the fat so you can then dispose it in your weekly rubbish collection.  The fat is then taken to the HPower plant at Campbell Industrial plant to be burned into energy.

The article by Nina Wu explained that the public should know about how oils going into the sewer system causes problems for the sewer lines.  The fat solidifies in the sewer pipes and clog it.  Apparently fats, oils, grease, collectively known as FOG is the city system's #1 enemy.  It can also clog your home plumbing.

Therefore those Whoa! Fat! boxes sound good, but they're not cheap.  They're $3.00 a box.  What we've been doing is keeping the empty leak-proof Kim Chee, Takuan, etc. plastic bottles to be used to store the oil my mother uses occasionally to fry her lemon chicken  and tossing them in the garbage in used plastic bags (just in case).  We also clean up the frying pan with a couple of paper towels and throw them in a plastic bag and then in the garbage too.

What do you do?

Young vs. Old (er)

I have now caught a cold.  I'm feeling extremely draggy.  I woke up with a headache.  I almost never get headaches.  I have a cough that is threatening to get worse.  The last time I caught a cold was when we took that trip to California in November of 2010.  My brother, Dennis has had a cold now for a couple of weeks, but he has to go to work since the work is piled up at the police station.  He looks and sounds terrible the brief times I've seen him.  He's avoiding us right now to make sure mom doesn't get his germs.

When my son, Jon and Sarah were here for three weeks she caught a cold too.  She had a miserable cough and still wasn't 100% recovered when they left for South America. 

And yet, here I am lying in bed, not going to Zumba and just exhausted.   When Sarah was here, they went swimming, surfing, scuba diving, rock climbing, hiking, hamster balling... you name it.  We tried to tell them they should take it easy, but Sarah was determined to do everything.  I think they may have slowed down for half a day and then off they were again.

Art told me last night I should remember that the kids are half our age.  Really?

Is this how we were when we were young?  I don't know.  I can't remember.

The Birds Have Won!

Remember all the trouble we had with the birds eating the papayas from our tree? Aggravation!!!  We have the sweetest tree on the whole island but the birds discovered it and put it on their Bird Facebook.  Soon the entire bird community was sneaking over and hollowing out our precious fruit. 

We thought we had the problem licked when I sewed a cover for it.

But no, it only worked for a couple of weeks before they learned to crawl under it and continue eating.  We redid the cover and completely surrounded the fruit making it inconvenient for us because we had to keep going up the ladder to undo the cover to check on it.

Eventually, the birds got desperate and devious.  They learned that they could find teeny openings at the top and the side opening that we pinned together with clothes pins.  One of the culprits were mejiros (tiny rice birds) who could somehow manage to get in the tiny openings. 

We climbed up to check this afternoon and found two large, beautiful half ripe papayas hollowed out.

So we've given up!  Yes!  We've thrown in the towel!  Arrrrghhh!  We picked all the green fruit and gave it to our neighbor who makes the most wonderful green papaya pickles.  We had three bags full.

We're going to chop the tree down now like we did the other one and have it grow shoots.

It was getting too dangerous to climb up so high to reach the papayas anyway.

Hmmm... is this sounding like sour grapes?

By the time the trees start to bear fruit again, maybe the birds will have forgotten about the sweetest trees on the island.

Ah well... what the heck!  They've started eating my cherry tomatoes anyway!
 
And if anyone should ever call you a bird brain, be proud!

Social Media

I just saw this on a friend's Facebook page.

To show you how behind the times I am, I've never heard of Four Square, Instagram, Last FM or G+.

I'm a devoted blogger.  I have a Facebook account that I look at occasionally, but it's only for my face-to-face people, mostly relatives and older high school, college and teacher friends.

I've had requests to be Linked In, but I don't want to do it because it's just one more social media and I can barely keep up with my blogging.  Besides, it's a professional media thing and I'm retired.

I don't twitter because I don't know how to tweet and my brain can't handle learning another new technology thing.

Besides, I think I'm connected enough.  Are you?

Blood Test

I went to see Kathy, my nurse practitioner to get the results of my blood test last month.  I was holding my breath.

After we returned from the Alaskan Cruise last fall and then our trip to Illinois, my blood test results showed how my unhealthy eating and lack of exercise had affected my body.  Kathy was alarmed that my A1c for diabetes was now 6.3.  My cholesterol had gone up also.  She suggested a diabetes class and getting a glucose monitor again.

I told her to give me another chance to get it done.  She gave me four months.  Well... for the last few months, Art has encouraged me to do the Aloha Run/Walk and to train for it.  We've been watching our diet more again and walking whenever it's not raining.

Success!  My A1c is now 5.7.  Phew!  My cholesterol is 212.  Not great, but much better and my HDL (I call it my Happy Lipids) is up to 58.  Woohoo!

Kathy says I don't need to see her for 6 months.  I like Kathy a lot... but... I'm glad I don't have to see her for another blood test.

On the other hand... I've not been eating exactly healthy while Jon and Sarah were here...  all those desserts and it's been raining a lot so no exercise.

Ah well...  I'll do better now.  I hope.  I mean I will.

POSTSCRIPT:  I am on a low dose of Lipitor.  I just didn't want to take a higher dose.  AND... I wanted to avoid the finger pricking.  

I really think exercise and diet are key.  And yes, I don't have great genes to start off with.  Our kids have already complained about that.  :-(

The Last 24 Hours Together

We've been waiting several long months for Jon and Sarah to arrive and suddenly we were at the last 24 hours before they were to leave.  How did three weeks fly by so quickly?

On Monday night we went to Palazzo Ristorante Italiano in Aiea.  They have the best bread appetizers.  Mom and I had Scallops Piccate and Art had calamari.

Sarah had a Clam Linguine and Jon had a chicken dish.  Everything was so rich and tasty.

When Jon and Sarah first arrived, they said they couldn't wait to eat some of their favorite food items.  They got to eat most of them during their visit:
1.  Shave ice
2.  Guava chiffon cake
3.  Dream cake
4.  Poke  (chopped raw fish in sauce)
5.  Grandma's lemon chicken
6.  Saimin (noodles)
7.  mochi
8. A Hawaiian plate lunch AND...
9.  Ted's chocolate haupia pie

On this last evening... on the way home from the restaurant, we picked up the pie and it was WONDERFUL!
 
Then there were a million things to do.  It amazed us how they could relax and enjoy talking and being with us and then start scrambling to do everything they needed to do before leaving.  This included Jon giving himself a buzz cut!  He didn't want to bother with his hair during their travels to South America.

The following morning, mom passed by him, stopped abruptly and did a double take.  She couldn't figure out how long-haired Jon could have gotten a haircut when she was with him at 8:00 the night before.

It's not my favorite look for him, but Sarah says she's used to it.  This is how he looked when he was a fire fighter at Los Alamos.

They ate blueberry muffins that I baked for them and had a leisurely breakfast.  Then came the scramble again of collecting their gear, repacking items, and weighing their packs.

I prepared lunches for them to eat on the flight to Los Angeles.

The strangest thing happened while I made their sandwiches, adding in some Big Island cookies and an apple.  Tears started to well up and everything became a blur.  I remembered making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Jon's school lunch.  I actually felt a pain in my heart.

Jon and Sarah said their good-byes to grandma.  She reached up and gave him a hug.  That was a surprise!  Mom is starting to hug her grandchildren!

Jon said in two years, we should all go to Japan together with KC and have the four generations together.  It's something to dream about.

I was going to take a photo of their room when they were getting organized.  It was like a tornado had gone through.

However, when I remembered to get my camera an hour later, everything was neat as a pin.  Bedding was folded for the laundry.  The room was totally clean!

 

Too soon, it was time to go to Honolulu International Airport.  Jon is carrying the rather large lunch I packed for them. 

  "Dad?  How about doing SCUBA diving with us next time, hunh?"   

It was harder than usual letting them go this time.  They are on their way to L.A., then to Florida... then to Bogota, Columbia and then Ecuador.  They'll be spending time there learning Spanish before returning to the East coast in September where they will begin their graduate studies.

I found beautiful letters from each of them when we returned home from the airport with a gift card to take mom to Ichiriki restaurant since she was too ill to go the other night.

The house is so quiet!

Learning to SCUBA

Sarah wasn't feeling 100% better yet, but they'd signed up a couple of weeks ago to learn how to SCUBA dive with Alex's Aquatic Adventures  and nothing was going to stop them.  They studied the manuals and watched the videos that gave a step by step explanation on how to SCUBA and emphasized the safety precautions.

There were two lessons on Friday and Saturday to certify them as SCUBA divers.  They didn't have much leeway because they were leaving the following Tuesday.

Alex, they joked, is a grumpy Brit.  He doesn't appear to like Hawaii much because of the high cost of living here.  However, they would recommend him to anyone wanting to learn how to SCUBA dive.  They said he is extremely qualified and is very careful of your safety.  He's also quite reasonable!

Apparently they descended on a rope and learned how to clear their masks of water.

They learned how to breathe and not panic.

These photos were taken by Alex and posted for Jon and Sarah to see.  They said they were really excited to see so many fish in the waters about 50 feet deep.

Alex didn't take a lot of fish photos.  He also didn't want Sarah or Jon to take photos.  They needed to concentrate on learning to SCUBA safely.

Jon and Sarah passed their written and underwater tests and are now certified divers.

They wanted Art and me to join them in this adventure, but we declined.  I guess that's why we ended up in the hamster ball.  Although the hamster ball adventure wasn't my cup of tea, I prefer being above water than below!

Sunday Adventure #3: Waikiki Walk on Water

The 3rd adventure involved having us walk on water.  Uh hunh...
Jon and Sarah found a Groupon that would have us walking on water in Waikiki in hampster ball like plastic balloons.

I was dubious!  Remember what I said about Jon liking to provide us with experiences out of our normal comfort zones?

 

This adventure would take us to the International Market Place in Waikiki.

The market place is full of little kiosks selling tourist knick knacks.

I was beginning to feel a little worried.

"Ummmmm... Isn't this for little kids?"  I groaned.

We had to remove our shoes and slippers.  The asphalt was hot so we had to hop to a shady spot to wait.

Sarah volunteered to go first and show us how it's done.  She also made sure it would be safe for me to do it.

I was amazed at how calmly she walked to the water.  However, as soon as she got on the water, she promptly fell.

I looked for a way out.

We had a grand time watching Sarah run in the ball and falling.   Art and Jon laughed and cheered.

I still couldn't find a way out.

Then it was Art's turn and he discovered very quickly that it was REALLY difficult to stand in the ball.

I watched both Sarah and Art trying to see how long they could stand and run in the ball.

I NEVER was able to stand or run.  I could barely crawl.  It was also HOT in the ball and 10 minutes was too long for me.  I swear it was 20!

Jon was the last one to enter.  Art had his camera with him and took this photo of him through the ball.  He also took that photo of me in the ball above.  You can see his foot at the bottom.

Well, I have to tell you this was something I've never done and will probably never do again, but I'm glad I did it because I had something to blog about.

Adventure #4 was a wonderful birthday party we attended in the evening for a beautiful little 2 year old who we all love.

It was a full day!

Sunday Adventure #2: Frost City

On the flight to Maui, Jon and Sarah saw an article in the Hawaiian Airlines magazine about a place called Frost City in Honolulu.  They have a new kind of shave ice that is mixed with ice cream.

We've been wanting to try this place and with only two more full days left before Jon and Sarah's departure, it was our last chance.  We arrived at 12:15 and discovered that the place does not open until 12:30.

The friendly owner arrived at 12:20 and the doors opened promptly.  People started arriving immediately!

The prices weren't cheap, but that didn't deter all the excited customers.

The small dish cost $4.75.
The regular was $6.00.

Everybody bought a small dish.  I bought the ummmm... large.

Jon chose a haupia (coconut), mango, pomelo snow ice.

Sarah ordered a strawberry.

I had a chocolate because they had already run out of watermelon which I really wanted.

No problem!

The chocolate was fabulous!  It was like eating light, feathery, icy, tasty ice cream.  It's hard to describe, but it was excellent.  I did share my large dish with everybody.

 

Art had haupia which he liked fine even though he had been hoping for the watermelon also.

By the time we left, the place was packed.

On we went to our next adventure in Waikiki.

Think hamster!

Sunday Adventure #1: Orchids! Orchids!

We had only two more full days with Jon and Sarah so we had to make the most of Sunday.  I've decided to divide the Sunday adventures into three posts because it was too busy a day.

Photo taken by me

Art's friend, Ed surprised us with tickets to the 58th Annual Orchid Show at Leilehua High School so we started the morning by going to Wahiawa. 

We were surprised to see the gymnasium full of orchid displays.

Photo taken by Sarah

We could hardly wait to start taking photos.  Mom was so excited that she kept pointing out blooms that she wanted us to record.

We told her to select a plant to bring home, but she refused.  She said the bulbuls would just eat the buds anyway and upset her.

Photo taken by Art or Sarah

Jon loved watching his grandmother so excited about all the unique and interesting orchids.

Photo taken by Sarah

Mom was excited and euphoric to be around so many beautiful flowers.

Photo taken by Alyn Nishioka

One of the orchid presenters came out of his booth and offered to take our photo.  His name was Alyn Nishioka and we discovered he was a professional photographer.  I asked him if he knew our photographer friend, Dave.  He did... very well.  Then I asked him if he knew my brother, Dennis.  He knew him also.  This is such a small island.  Art asked him if we could take his photo and he laughingly set up a photo.  He asked to take my camera.

Photo taken by Art

The caption could read:  "You're taking photos of my gorgeous orchids with this cheap camera?  Get your brother over here."

I think Sarah took this photo.

Then something caught mom's eyes and she let out a whoop.

Photo taken by Jon and his fancy camera

 Yup... a walking flower basket.

Photo taken by me

Mom thought the leaves on this orchid plant were really interesting. 

Photo taken by me

 I thought this flower was really striking.

Photo taken by Jon

Photo taken by Jon with the above mentioned camera

Photo taken by Jon

Photo taken by Jon

I'm sorry I didn't copy the names of all the different orchids.  We just enjoyed their beauty.

Photo taken by Jon

Photo taken by Art

 This green anthirium really caught our eye.  I've never seen one this green before.

Photo taken by Jon

There were also bonsai demonstrations that were taking place.  That was a lot of fun to watch.

I took this one!

This orchid was declared the winning Best in the Show (C. amethystoglossa) and it was certainly pretty and unusual compared to the other beauties.

After nearly a couple of hours we had to leave because there were a whole lot more to accomplish on this Sunday!