Being Polite to Alexa

This is just something funny that happened one night.

Art is often polite to a fault. When he asks Echo Dot's Alexa for some information, he just can't help himself and will say, "Thank you."

And yes, I do laugh at him when he does, which is probably why he continues to do it.

The other night, he asked Alexa to turn off the light on the nightstand since we were warm in bed and feeling lazy.

The Echo Dot said, "OK" and did it for us.

"Alexa, thank you." Art replied.

To which I laughed and said, "You are talking to a machine!"

And suddenly Alexa chimed in with, "You're welcome. Your kindness really gives me a charge." 😮😂

POSTSCRIPT:

On a Saturday night, Art asked Alexa on the Echo Dot to turn off the light again. I expected the same response.

This time, when Art said, "Alexa, thank you," the machine replied, "Awww you're welcome. I'm just doing my job. I hope you're enjoying your weekend." 

We looked at each other and laughed.

Art said, "When I get really old and lonely I might end up just talking to Alexa." 🙄

Lighting Our Way Economically in Hawaii

A few months ago, our friend, Terry texted us a great deal offered by the Hawaii Energy Marketplace that she said might run out. I looked into it. For $10, you could get a couple of LED night lights, a smart plug, an outlet plug with ON and OFF switch and 2 smart Wi-Fi enabled LED lightbulbs. Sounded like a good deal so we ordered it. 

And yes, it did run out because I was going to tell someone about it and they'd stopped offering it.

Once it arrived, I wasn't sure what to make of it exactly because we've never used one.

First, there's these Wi-Fi enabled LED light bulbs that work with the Echo Dots. Uuumm... I left it to Art to figure it out and by golly! He did. He downloaded the app on our phones and we can now tell Alexa to turn on and off the light in two rooms. The lights can also be changed to different colors.

The plug thingy with the on and off switch is actually helpful because I don't keep water in the pot and there's always a worry that mom will turn the water kettle on by mistake. She's been making a lot of mistakes lately when we're not there so this is one precaution. The plug also prevents bleeding energy. 

As for the night lights, I was stymied at first because there's no bulb. I had a bulb that I thought I'd have to screw in. But nope. You don't need a bulb and it costs about $4 a year in electricity. 

And then there's this smart plug that is... again... yup... Wi-Fi enabled.

We plugged it in for the living room light because it's really dark in winter when we go downstairs. 

Before going down, I tell (Echo Dot) Alexa, who is upstairs to turn on the living room light downstairs and she says, "OK" and does it.

Then I tell the kitchen Alexa to turn off the light and she does it.

So OK.

We like it. 😄

Thank you, Terry. This was fun!

Shawn's Proud Auntie

I am Shawn's Auntie.

Although mom will tell you she loves all her grandchildren equally, we know Shawn will always hold a special place in her heart just for him. Shawn was born blind but says it's OK because it gave him his music.

When Shawn and his brother, Barry were little, my parents often babysat both of them. Mom remembers how they would love to snuggle in her bed for comfort. She would sing Japanese children's songs that Shawn would then sing back to her. He was musically talented from a very young age.

I still laugh thinking about the time when I picked up his guitar and thought it wasn't tuned properly so I re-tuned it. It turned out that he tuned the guitar to his own preference which he held flat on his knees. He was able to quickly fix what I did.

The photo above shows Shawn with younger brother, Barry, Tiffany and Keola.

Eventually, Shawn was discovered by our island superstar, Henry Kapono who got him started on a musical career at a very young age and even changed his name to BB Shawn.

Several CDs came out. I understand they were even playing his music in Japan.

Eventually, living in Hawaii got to be too expensive so he's moved to Las Vegas. 

He often comes back to visit and is asked to support musicians and singers in Waikiki or in the recording studio.

I'm always amazed that he can remember all the lyrics of so many of these songs, not to mention the music. I've seen some performers actually look at their cellphones to sing the lyrics. But for Shawn, it's all in his head. 

Shawn was here in Hawaii recently performing in Waikiki, but he took time to spend with his grandmother.

Since Art had COVID at the time (even though mom had tested negative) she wore a mask.

When mom saw the bottom photo, she was shocked and said, "When did Shawn grow so tall or did I shrink?"

Shawn also performs in Las Vegas, New Mexico and Arizona.

When Dennis and Nancy were in Vegas recently, a restaurant server recognized him and asked if she could  have a photo taken together.

I love it! 

He really is such a sweetheart! A very talented sweetheart!

And I am his proud auntie.

Sneakier in Her Old Age

I can't remember when it started.

Whenever, Tiffany, Ed and KC came to visit us in Hawaii, KC would leave behind little notes for us to find.

In 2018 when she was 11, KC left notes where I could easily find them. I still keep the note up in my medicine cabinet and on my counter where she hid them. I smile whenever I see them. 

I don't know if that's when she started hiding them. I think it may have started a few years before that.

We didn't go to Illinois and they didn't come to Hawaii during the worst of the pandemic. However, in 2022 we were thrilled that they could finally come. When they left, I didn't expect to find notes because I figured KC would have forgotten about them. She was now a teenager.

But then a few days later I found one. Eventually, I managed to find thirteen of them. And then nothing. For over a year, I didn't find another one and gave up.

Last October, I was looking for something in my nightstand and was flabbergasted to find one in the box with an old holiday necklace I used to wear when I was teaching. 

So I looked around again and couldn't find any more.

And then a couple of weeks ago, waaaay back in my desk drawer, I found another one.

I could swear I've looked here before but I guess I didn't look far back enough. And it looks like this was the first one she hid.

So now I know I have just three more to look for.

I now keep all her precious notes in a special can we got when we were in Sweden a couple of years ago.

All I can say is my dearly loved granddaughter is getting sneakier in her old age. 

Intelligent and Wiser? Who?

We saw this Pickles comic strip in the Star Advertiser a week or two ago and it made me laugh.

Ummm...

Actually the next generation would be my daughter and son. And no, I'm really not sure I'm wiser than they are although I know they often feel more intelligent than me. (This is even if I happen to beat them at WORDLE. Actually they beat me more often. Sigh...) Never mind technology. They are waaay ahead on that.

And then... when we were in Tokyo last summer, it was my granddaughter who had to teach me how to use my new iPad Pro with my new Apple pencil.

I still can't remember how to do all she taught me.

And on top of that, my 5 and 7 year old grandsons were trying to teach me how to use the Pokemon app.

Sigh...

OK, So maybe my kids are more intelligent than me.

But I'll bet I'm wiser than the grandkids.

Maybe.

For now.

POSTSCRIPT:

Here's Brian Crane's next Pickles comic strip on the following day. 😂

Hacked on Facebook?

I killed my Facebook Account about 10 years ago. I can't remember why now.  Perhaps I just didn't trust it? Anyway, I restarted it again a couple of months ago. Why? I don't know... It was a way to connect with some people I'd lost touch with, I guess.

Facebook uses another text platform called Messenger. I use the Line app for relatives/friends here in Hawaii and Japan. I use the iPhone text for lots of people. My traveling friends and I used Viber when we were in Europe. And then there's WhatsApp that I know Art used to communicate with his safari people in Tanzania, and I use to text my friend in Israel. I also use Google Chat to keep in touch with my kids and their families. How did my keeping in touch get so complicated?

OK, so let's get back to that Messenger texting app through Facebook.

I recently got a Messenger text from my high school friend, G.

G is the high school friend who keeps us all informed by email about trips that high school friends are taking and of course, when we sadly lose a classmate.

Sooo... I immediately replied telling her we were all doing well and taking care of mom who is 94 and that it can be a challenge at times.

I got a message back right away.

She mentioned something about a Home Grants Program and how you could get free financing to help care for your elders. 

Hmmmm... 

But really... $200,000.00?  And all I have to do is click on that link?

OK, that sounded pretty crazy so I looked it up online and couldn't find anything. 

I contacted another high school friend and she said G was probably hacked. Then she found another post that G had written on Facebook.

G later also texted to let me know about how her Facebook account had been hacked.

Sigh...

I'm glad I didn't click on that link. My techie son-in-law would not be happy to hear about it.

So again...

We need to remember.

If it sounds too good to be true, it's probably a scam.

Be careful. Be very careful.

Humor Among Radiologists

I was at Tripler Army Medical Center for a bone density scan and a mammogram during the holidays. While I sat in the waiting room for my appointment I happened to look over the reception desk and  saw their bulletin board.

It made me laugh and I asked them if I could take a photo of it to share. This was during the holiday season and everybody was in a merry mood. This was a day I had three appointments at Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and ENT (vertigo). If any one of those appointments was delayed, I'd be up a creek. But no, everyone worked together to make sure I got everything done. Awesome!

I forgot I had this picture on my phone, but wanted to share it with you. 

Something Beautiful from Debbie of It's All About Purple

I was looking at Debbie's blog, It's All About Purple and saw what she posted on December 31, 2023.

I'm not usually emotional, but this really hit me. I actually teared up.

I guess it's because I know I need to remember this, but I know it's going to be hard.

Reminding Me of Snow

I truly loved teaching in Illinois. I was part of a group of close knit teachers who supported each other and would go out to dinner once a month or so. Actually, the whole school felt like a family. Now that everyone except one younger teacher are retired they still meet once a month. There are nine of us. 

When I left Illinois to return to Hawaii after 35 years of living on the mainland, they had a loving farewell party for me. Whenever I return to Illinois, we all get together again. It's wonderful. I feel truly blessed to have such supportive, loving teacher friends.

In fact, we still communicate constantly through a group text. 

When we made that quick trip back to Illinois in October to attend the funeral for one of my dearest friends, Peggy, I wasn't able to meet with the teacher group. However, just for fun, I dropped off a box of chocolate macadamia nuts with one of my teacher friends to share with the group when they came together again. They texted several photos to me so I could feel part of the event when they had their luncheon and they even tried to do a FaceTime call.

And then a few days later I was surprised with a package.

Judy was the librarian at our school and a treasured friend, just like the others. Here we are together at Halloween 1996 in my classroom.

She sent me a dish towel with snowflake patterns, a package of paper napkins saying "Let it snow!" and packages of hot chocolate mixes. She wanted me to remember what winter was like in the Midwest.

So yes, I really was blessed and so very lucky to have these lifelong friends no matter how far apart we are. And you know what? It's rather chilly these days. Yes, 70 degrees F is chilly for local people in Hawaii. I think we'll have some hot chocolate tomorrow.

POSTSCRIPT 1:

Oh goodness! I got a text message yesterday from my daughter that KC's high school might be calling a Snow Day because they're expecting 8" of snow.

Yikes! 

POSTSCRIPT 2:

Good grief! Would you believe it is 58 or less degrees this morning? 

This is really rare. 

Granted, I know it's going to warm up in another couple of hours, but still... cooold.

Could this be why I slept so well last night? I need to text my teacher group and let them know I'm cold too. 😁

Totally Amazing Lunches for a Preschooler

I have a wonderful relative named Aya who is one of the most creative, artistic people I know. She is married to my cousin's son. 

When their child entered preschool, 3 year old JO did not want to go. So Aya began preparing these elaborate lunches which JO loved showing off to her teachers.

I was absolutely flabbergasted. Looking at this, I would definitely want to eat it. 😋

And here's another one. Aya has used little slices of nori to make the faces on the teddy bear rice ball.

If I made mini sandwiches like these for my kids when they were growing up, I know they'd have loved it. 

Uuuummmm.... But I wasn't this creative.

Then again, these are so cute, that I would just want to look at it and not eat it.

I do have the most talented relatives, by blood as well as marriage.

It's Back.... COVID is Back... (Not that it ever left)

Remember the movie Poltergeist? There's that famous horror line, "They're back!" 

That's what COVID is feeling like. (I'm writing this blog post on Saturday.)

We met three other couples through tai chi several years ago and became good friends. We text each other daily and have traveled with two of the couples to Europe twice now.

On Friday, I learned that: 

Couple 1 with their son (went to the Philippines for a couple of weeks and returned recently. Couple 2 went to pick them up at the airport.) Couple 1 and their son tested POSITIVE on Friday. Couple 2 might be OK. They were all wearing their masks in the car on the way home.

(My pilot cousin did tell me a while ago that usually the plane's air filtration system should make it safe onboard the airplane. It's the airport you have to worry about.)

Couple 3 had a granddaughter test herself before joining them on New Years Day. She tested POSITIVE for COVID 2 days later.

This was all making me nervous.

My brother, Dennis who usually picks mom up at the Day Care Center told me their musician son who had been performing in the islands was now feeling sick.

Art always takes mom to the Day Care and Dennis picks her up. All this COVID business got us nervous and Art volunteered to pick mom up instead.... just in case Dennis could be infected. 

And that's what Art did on Friday. 

An hour or so after Art and mom returned, the Day Care called and said someone sitting next to her on Friday had tested POSITIVE for COVID.

Are you kidding?

Arrrghhhh!

So we told mom that over the weekend, she'd have to be confined to her area of the house and we would bring meals to her. 

On Saturday morning, Art came home from his jog while I was still sleeping and prepared breakfast for her and served it in her room.

I've prepared Liquid IV which is a hydration drink for her to take throughout the day. 

I've programmed Alexa to remind her to drink the Liquid IV every hour. 

I tested her on Saturday and she was negative. I'll test her again on Sunday and on Monday.

She's really chipper today, but it's only one day since exposure. UNLESS she was exposed 😧 on Tuesday which is the other day that she goes to the Day Care.

Sigh...

POSTSCRIPT: (Written on Monday)

There's so much information on infectious rates and how long you need to quarantine and when you stop being contagious. Art found an NPR website titled Here's how to decide if you're safe to go out when you're recovering from omicron. 

Doctors are now saying to quarantine for 5 days and then wear a mask when going out for another 5 days. The NPR website is saying it's more like 8 days of quarantine with Omicron because the 5 days is based on earlier variants. On the other hand, I've also read that Omicron is less deadly than the earlier variants.

Mom tested Negative again yesterday. I think she's rather enjoying having her meals brought to her on a tray, often with a dessert. There's no coughing. So fingers crossed she'll be able to join her friends tomorrow.🤞

Training Alexa to Speak Japanese

OK... 

I'm actually now of a certain age that could be called "senior citizen" or Kupuna in Hawaiian which means grandparent or honored elder.

Whatever the case, trying to understand these new fangled contraptions drive me nuts.

I was happy to have my Echo Dots remind me to do things. I had Alexa on the Echo Dots figured out on this.

But then...

I put this Echo Pop in mom's room to remind her to keep hydrated by drinking water, getting ready to go to Senior Club, etc. 

I programmed Echo Pop in mom's room to the Japanese language.

Then I asked her in English what time it was.

She started playing weird Japanese music from Amazon. 😵

So back to the online drawing board.

I learned that I had to ask questions in Japanese or she would misinterpret things. Arrrghhh! Not only that, but I had to make sure I spoke with correct Japanese pronunciation. 

OK... That worked. She now answered corrected.

So I wrote a whole bunch of reminders (in English on my iphone) for mom. But I learned the next day that it didn't seem to work. Mom didn't pay attention to it. Turned out that Japanese Alexa was announcing my English reminders (in English) in a sort of Japanese accent. 🙄

So.... then I'm thinking... Do you suppose I have to write it in Japanese too? Arrrghhh! 

Thank goodness for Google Translate. I translated mom's reminders (that I'd written in English) to Japanese and pasted it onto my Alexa app.

And BINGO! I worked! 

Now Japanese Alexa (on the Echo Pop) was announcing reminders in lovely Japanese.  Woo hoo!

Will mom now pay attention to a machine?

I don't know.

So then.... I wondered if I synced the Japanese reminder (Everywhere) on the other 3 Echo Dots in the house, would it say it in Japanese everywhere even though the Echo Dots are programmed in English?

Art and I went to the kitchen to wait for it.

BINGO! 

It did. But the funny thing is that our Echo Dots, read the Japanese words correctly in Japanese, BUT Alexa said it with a hilarious American accent. 😂

This whole thing has taxed my brain to the MAX. 

It's bad enough that I got all confused on my blog schedule for the first week of January. 

Here's hoping I don't have to deal with understanding more technology for a good long while now. 

As a Kupuna, I don't think I could handle it.

And to my good friend, Linda in Kansas who got me started on making this Echo change for mom, thank you. This is one more thing to help us in our caregiving of mom.

POSTSCRIPT:

I asked mom whether the machine helped her remember what to do and she laughed and said, "Yes." 😄

Prepared for the New Year

Uh OHHH…

I goofed and see I posted this on the wrong date. I meant to have this post tomorrow. Sigh…

.........................................................................................................

We were a little behind on getting ready for the New Year. However, one of the chores we did get done was cleaning the refrigerators. Yes, we have two refrigerators. Many people in Hawaii do, because it's so warm and humid here. We don't turn on the air conditioners unless absolutely necessary.

Since we hate to throw out anything, our fridge gets rather crowded. So cleaning it out before the New Year is always something we try to do.

Yes I was wearing a cardigan. It was a cool 63 degrees F that morning.

Uuumm... There was a bottle of sesame seeds from 2021. It was probably petrified. I had to toss that. 

But what I really had to do was organize all the things we had to store.

One of the major things were all the treats we'd gotten from our very generous, excellent bakers and cooks we have for neighbors. 

There's also a particular friend who bakes the most unbelievably delicious, crispy Rice Krispies cookies during the holidays. They are coveted by everyone. We do not eat them all at once like somebody I know does (you 😂 know who you are). I freeze them and we savor them for a month slowly... very slowly.

We eat what we can of all the treats during the holidays and what can be frozen is dated and stored. 

Mom has also brought home a lot of treats from the Senior Center so I dole those out to her carefully. I have to watch her sugar intake, but the doctor told me that at 94, I should let her have what she likes within reason.

OK, the refrigerators are ready for 2024.

But then there's this sink caulking that's been bothering us for quite a while. The caulking between the counter and stainless sink has developed this black gunky moldy thing. When we had the sink installed some 15 years ago, they recommended this style because we were told you would not know what was growing beneath the counter if it was hidden. OK, now we know but it's rather unsightly to us.

What to do... what to do...

We decided to replace the caulk since I had a lot a latex caulk left over from the termite war. I'm not done with that yet, but anyway, I had the caulk available so I figured this was a good time to finally take care of this. 

Art warned me not to use a metal scraper because it could scratch the stainless steel. I happened to have a teflon knife so I used it to scrape out the yucky grout.

I looked online and discovered that you're not supposed to use latex caulk so there was a trip to Home Depot to get silicone caulk. Thank goodness for technology!

Once that was done, I used painter's tape on the stainless steel. I SHOULD have put it on the counter also. 🙄

Art then applied the silicone caulk which I smoothed over with my finger. Yuck!

The tube said 30 minute water ready, BUT you're not supposed to touch it for 24 hours. 😖

It's hard to do anything in the kitchen if you have to be careful about touching the caulk.

We told mom not to do anything at the sink, but we knew she'd forget so we taped everything up since she wakes up at 4:30 and might try to start cooking her oatmeal. 

I put up a sign saying we would be buying breakfast so she was very happy to wait for a McDonald's treat.

This was a much bigger project than I thought it would be, BUT I'm happy we're going into the new year with a mold-free sink.

For now...

Wishing for a Peaceful 2024!

Happy 2024 everybody!

I can't believe how quickly 2023 flew by.

Although the Hawaii government has tried to crack down on illegal fireworks, they are still getting through. I can't even imagine who they're buying it from because I certainly don't see any being sold anywhere. 

Since 2011, aerial fireworks, fountains, sparklers and other consumer fireworks have been illegal.  

I got this from Spectrum News:

"Last year, a 28-year-old Wahiawa man died after fireworks exploded in his face, a 20-year-old Hawaii Island man died from injuries sustained while holding a firework launcher that went off above his head, and a 35-year-old Hawaii Island man died while making homemade fireworks."

However, despite the law and despite the awful news every year of someone dying, being blinded or disfigured by fireworks, it keeps happening. In fact, according to Hawaii News Now:

Officials say approximately 16 tons of illegal fireworks were seized, with nearly all of the fireworks being multi-shot “cakes” or launchers capable of firing multiple fireworks into the air in long consecutive strings of fire.

But yes, we did still stay up to see them from our window. 

Ah well...

Here's wishing 2024 will bring peace and some good news because gosh... we need it.

POSTSCRIPT:

I just woke up. Here are some photos from last night. It was absolute madness!

The smoke from the fireworks must have been horrible for anyone with respiratory problems. I was worried someone's house could catch fire.

Friends and relatives around the island tell me they had to sedate their dogs and close their windows to keep out the smoke too.

Unbelievable!