Baking Soda on Your Floor?

We did our home renovation project from 2006 until 2012. Yes, it took that long or maybe longer. We had contractors put in the shell for the house, and we completed the inside. It was a massive undertaking.

With the help of my brother, we installed the tile on the kitchen floor and grouted it. The biggest mistake we made was to put in a cream grout. We SHOULD HAVE chosen a dark color. Doggone it! Over the years, it’s gotten very dirty. 

One day, my brother said a bottle of vinegar dressing was dropped on their floor and they saw that it cleaned the tile somewhat. So while Art was in Tanzania last summer, I started testing out vinegar on our floor. You needed to use a lot of “elbow grease."

I gave up, looked online and saw a recommendation to use Zep. It’s supposed to work wonders. However, when I bought the bottle and read the directions, it unnerved me so I haven’t used it. 

A couple days ago I was using baking soda to clean mom's iron and had some paste left over.

That’s when I looked down at the yucky tile grout and wondered if I could try using the baking soda paste on the grout.  

By golly! It did clean it… better than the vinegar.

I looked online and saw the information above. You have to be very careful if you're using vinegar on your grout. Baking soda was a good option. Another website said to make the paste using 2 parts baking soda to 1 part water. (I eventually added a couple globs of Dawn liquid dish soap which worked EVEN better.)

I'd texted my brother about it earlier since we've been talking about the grout yuckiness.

A few minutes later, he sent me this picture.

He also told me he'd now have to clean the rest of the floor grout in his kitchen because he's got this weird white area on his kitchen floor. 😳

I then thought I'd clean the entrance way to the kitchen to show Art.

He was quite impressed so we decided to spend a morning and part of the afternoon the following day cleaning the kitchen grout. He had knee pads. I chose a soft mat to protect my knees. It's wasn't what I'd call fun, buuut.... there was a lot of satisfaction when it was done.

Now we're wondering how long it will stay clean with all the dust and dirt blown in.

The other day, my brother mentioned a grout pen I could get to stain the grout a darker color. 

Hmmm....

POSTSCRIPT 1: 

I looked online about staining your grout and saw that’s a lot of trouble too so we decided we’ll just clean the grout in another 10 years… or more.

POSTSCRIPT 2:

Uh oh... I'm writing this a few weeks later. After I did the floors with Art I was staring at the bathroom floor which wasn't as big and decided to tackle it myself.

A few days later, I found my right arm and shoulder killing me. I could tell it was in danger of becoming a frozen shoulder which is a very painful condition I've had several decades ago. It is NOT fun and could require physical therapy. To avoid that, I'm taking Aleve and moving my arm as much as I can.

This is just a cautionary advice. Please be careful not to overdo.

Unexpected Way of Cleaning a Dirty Iron

Mom insists on ironing ALL her clothes, even those clothes that don't need ironing. It's what she's used to so we just monitor her ironing until she's done.

Because of her forgetfulness, we've seen how the ironing board cover is getting brown from burn marks. 

The iron itself was also caked with black gunk. I tried to wipe it off, but it was impossible. I looked up methods to clean the iron and found various ways it could be done.

One seemed to be easy since I had vinegar. It said I should soak vinegar on a towel and then place the iron on top for 30 minutes and wipe of the gunk.

It did NOT do a dang thing!!! Absolutely nothing came off.

Then I saw this solution.

Unfortunately, I didn't have Tylenol. I thought I did, but nope.

There was no Tylenol, so we had to go out and buy a bottle.

Unfortunately, Art bought a bottle of caplets instead of tablets. It seemed to have a coating on it so you had to burn off the coating before it would work.

It produced a lot of fumes so I opened the windows and put on a mask just in case. But this time, something was happening. The black gunk began to melt off with the Tylenol. Apparently the chemical in the pill is Paracetamol which is another name for Acetaminophen.

Art was using a needle nose plyer to hold the caplet so he wouldn't get burned, but I just held one end of the pill and rubbed it against the black junk.

There was still some black residue on the iron and I'd read that baking soda and water could work so I mixed a batch of it.

And it did. It removed the last bits of black gunk, but I'd made too much of the baking soda mixture.

Ah well, I decided to clean the sink drain with it.

Yay! I now have a clean iron for mom and a clean drain for all of us.

Body or Brain?

My mother was known to be a brilliant woman. She constantly sang when we were young and was a wonderful artist. She began reading books before kindergarten and was reading Russian novels by the time she was in the 4th grade. She couldn't understand why I wouldn't pick up War and Peace and enjoy it when I was in middle school. 🙄 Throughout my childhood and onward, mom was always reading, always learning.

And now, at almost 95... it's so hard to see her short term memory fading. My brother said it's like seeing parts of her gradually disappear.

However, mom is physically quite mobile and is able to self-care. She goes on the treadmill almost every morning and then goes out to work in the yard. She's also able to still write letters beautifully after I jot down ideas for her to write to her sister in Japan. Mom also loves doing Japanese Word Search, but a 16 piece puzzle takes her a long time to complete.

If we tell her something, she will often forget within minutes, even seconds. And she's beginning to forget people although... incredibly, she remembers some of my high school friends.

Art's 96 year old aunt has also always been very active and even drove around town into her 90s. However, she had a bad fall last year and hit her head. And yet, her memory was not affected. She is as sharp as she's always been.

However, her mobility was somehow affected and she had to enter a care facility. She now needs a walker to get anywhere and even that is difficult for her. We go to visit her about once a month because she's on the other side of the island.

I really need to exercise more. I've gotten lazy since the pandemic. Mom is more active than me.

I worry about myself and Art. As we get older, will I lose my memory also? (I'm already forgetful.) Or will my body break down first? 

Art asked me the other day if I had a choice, would I pick my body or my brain to stay healthy?

I don't know.

It reminds me of Robert Frost's poem Fire and Ice.

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

I don't know.

What would you choose? Body or brain?

Saying "I Love You"

I am slowly reading a book that was recommended a while ago by a blogger titled Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by psychotherapist, Lori Gottlieb. Darn! I'm so sorry I forgot who the blogger was.  (Aha! I saw in the comments that the blogger was Donna of Just Me.) Thank you, Donna.

Anyway, in one part of the book Gottlieb mentions how her father went to a funeral for a friend and told the late friend's daughter how proud her dad was of her. He told her how his friend would constantly talk about her accomplishments and beam with pride. She was surprised because she said he'd never told her any of that. 

The following morning, I texted my daughter and son to let them know how proud we are of them and how loved they are.

All this reminded me of a post I wrote in 2016.

You might all remember the words, "Love means never having to say you're sorry" from the movie, Love Story. Actually, in a marriage, you really do need to say you're sorry.

However, there is a difference in the Japanese culture when it comes to saying the words, "I love you." I'm sorry or "Gomen nasai" is definitely used whenever needed. But I love you (Anata o aishite iru) is rarely said. It isn't said much to children or to spouses or lovers. Lovers are probably more likely to say "Anata o suki." (I like you.)

I asked mom about this because both Art and I were raised that way and don't use the words even with each other much unless he's just being silly with me. My children noticed this early on while living in Chicago, but they saw their friends' parents saying it often.

Mom said that it's all part of the samurai spirit. Love is understood, it doesn't have to  be said. It's too powerful an emotion and is meant to be felt without words.

I asked our Tokyo friend, Osamu "Sam" in Japan before I wrote this 2016 post and he said:

"Yes, please write a blog post about the Japanese custom of never saying the actual words. Yes, that is true. First of all, as you know, Japanese are shy, modest, respectful in expressing our feelings. As a result the older generation like us would never say " I love you." We have been told that "Love" needs to be created, accumulated with mutual effort over the years by couples after getting married. 

However the younger generation might have a different philosophy from us. They are more aggressive, active and self-assertive using expressions of mutual "Love". But, in my opinion, they are still hesitant to express their thoughts directly to each other. Most likely they would do so indirectly using different phrases. They would not say " I love you" all the time as in other cultures. Even if they do, it is going to be after a few years of marriage. And older people would certainly not. I hope my answer helps you understand this. I might be wrong. Please correct me after talking to your mother."

Since Sam is a little older than me, I decided to also ask my Tokyo cousin who is a couple of decades younger than me. He Skyped back this message.

"Japanese usually do not use "Aishite iru, I love you." It's because of being shy. However sometime, in important situations, they use " Aishitemasu". Sometimes a lady (my wife) might ask her husband or boy friend to say " Aishiteru" to confirm their feelings and condition."

This cultural aspect of our personality really do make it hard for us to actually say those words. It feels forced. Since the feelings of love are so powerful, it seems the words actually  devalue the emotion. It's hard to explain.

The way to show affection is in the doing. It's in the smile. It's in the little things you do for each other. Japanese mothers sometimes make elaborate lunches for their children. Love is in every bite.

Oops! My kids got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sorry about that.

Between Art and me... It's understood. It's in the occasional hug. It's in the listening and sharing. It's in the way he cleans the bathroom for me. It's in his making my mom's happiness a top priority for him. It's in every touch, caress and smile. 

However, I do like the fact that my son and daughter tell their children and spouses all the time that they are loved. 

As for me and Art, we just know. 

Our dear friend, Sam passed away several years ago and I hope he knew we loved him too. I know he did.

Killed With One Slap!

The other day, I was sitting here at the computer minding my own business trying to think of something to write about on my blog when I heard a distinctive buzzing in my ear. It was loud and the immediate reflex I had from growing up in the tropics was to slap my ear. Hard!

The buzzing stopped and I quickly rushed to my office door to lock that annoying, biting insect in the room so I'd be able to find him... I mean her. Only the females bite you.

This is from the CDC:

Only female mosquitoes bite people and animals to get a blood meal. Female mosquitoes need a blood meal to produce eggs. Mosquitoes get infected with germs, such as viruses and parasites, when they bite infected people and animals.

I hunted everywhere. I thought she might be hiding in dark areas under my bed. I couldn't hear anymore buzzing so I went back to my desk to entice her to try again.

That's when I saw her.

She was right next to the chair where I was sitting! 

I couldn't believe it! Since she wasn't flattened or anything I thought she might just be stunned from my slap. I know my ear was stunned.

But no. The female vampire will no longer be around to suck anyone's blood. 😁

Understanding Recycling Rules

Although this post is primarily for Hawaii residents because I imagine residents in different states have different recycling programs, you might find similarities with your program.

Art worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when we lived in Chicago and organized recycling programs in different communities. 

As part of the PTA Environmental Committee along with another neighbor, in 1983 we worked on recycling paper through our children's school in Illinois.

Eventually, our township started a recycling program which we were very happy with.

Our daughter lives in the same Illinois community now. 

They have one large cart for recycling and one for garbage. 

Leaves in fall are put out in the street to be collected by the city.

Other yard waste is to be put in brown bags and set out on the sidewalk.

(These are their rules now.)

Hawaii has a different system. This is why I'm writing this post. I found this flyer we must have gotten a long time ago explaining the recycling program in Hawaii. We have three big carts that take up quite a bit of room on our lanai. One is for Recycling, one is for Green waste and the last is for Refuse.

Art is often tempted to put every bit of what he thinks is probably recycling material into the Recycling cart. This flyer makes it clear what and how it should be deposited. Yes, he is careful to remove glossy inserts and magazines from the newspapers... but junk mail... hmmm... He does put in non-glossy office type paper.

And yes, we're careful to only put cardboard and NOT chipboard boxes (from cereal and other grocery items) into the Recycling cart. We are also careful to only put #1 PETE or #2 HDPE plastics into the container after rinsing and removing the lids. (WHY do they make those symbols so small on plastic containers?1?)

And this page explains what happens to our recyclables and refuse. It would behoove us to be careful to recycle what we can, but to do it carefully so we don't contaminate the material that is being recycled.

They don't mention what gets buried in landfills. We do have a couple of landfills (I think) but we're a small island. How long can we keep burying our garbage?

Happy Valentine's Day

A few days ago, a very dear cousin couple of times removed came to visit. Little Jo is a cheerful 3 year old with the sweetest smile. 

When I asked her if she'd like to pick a book to read, she chose a Valentine's Day book. Whenever I read a section, she would happily interject her opinion.

After a while, since her mom and my mom were having a lively conversation, I invited Jo to come upstairs to explore my toy shelf.

Since my granddaughter is now a teenager and my grandsons are in South Asia I don't often get to see very young children anymore.

It was a lot of fun to spend time with Jo. 

When I brought her upstairs, I was almost into that teacher mode again.

Not teaching exactly, just enjoying the wonder of a little one.

Since she was enthralled with the book about Valentine's Day, I showed her how to cut out a heart. 

I'm sure she's seen this before, but to 3 year old Jo, it was magical. 

She went home with her mom smiling from ear to ear. And you know what? So was I.

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Going Upside Down to Save Every Last Drop

One morning, Mom left the honey bottle out on the counter to recycle the container. When I looked at it more closely, I saw that there was still some honey left in it so I turned it upside down.

Art thought I was being a little extreme. He didn't think I could possibly balance it to allow enough time for every last bit of honey to drop into the new bottle.

But... Oho! Yes I did. I just kept the kitchen window closed so the wind wouldn't knock the almost empty bottle off.

In the afternoon, I was noticing that my soft soap bottle was running very low. When I looked in the cabinet, I saw that the large Sam's Club 80 fl.oz. refill container was almost empty.

But I figured I'd try doing the upside down trick again.

When I did, I found there was so much that I could fill another bottle a little less than one third full.

We fill our soft soap bottles with a little less than a 1/3 hand soap and then add water. It's just enough soap to give you a nice lather for your hands.

Would you believe after about a 1/2 hour, I was able to fill 3 empty soft soap bottles? Actually, the pink bottle has too much liquid hand soap. I had to transfer some to the third bottle.

OK, I think that's it for today. I don't have anything else to turn upside down.

Too Old to Be President?

There's been a lot of criticism from the far right about Biden being too old for another 4 year presidential term and of course MAGA people say Trump is 77 to Biden's 81. Biden was 78 when he became president which is actually the same age Trump would be IF he were elected.

The mental acuity of a person depends so much on the health of the person and genetics, I'm sure.

Case in point. 

Art is 5 years older than me. I can't believe he'll be 80 this year. He jogs about 7 miles every Saturday and does everything he can to stay in shape along with keeping up with all the news, etc.

We like doing the Super Quiz at lunch every day. We do quite well actually.

However, when I saw Thursday's Subject: Mathematics, I told him to forget it! I have NEVER been good at Math. However, I'm quite good at 1st grade math and I could fool my class into thinking that I thought math was the greatest fun thing in the world.

Anyway... back to that Super Quiz.

Good grief! I got #1 wrong. I was relieved to get #2 right. And so on and so forth. When I got to the Ph.D. Level, I was stumped and #8 made me crazy. Art was determined to get me to understand it.

"Stop!!!" I said. "You're making my brain hurt!"

Well... he just can't help himself. He wrote equations or whatever you call it until I could understand his explanations.

When it turned out that both my kids were quite adept at math, I was relieved that they took after their father.

The answers?

You really can't say a person is too old at 80. Some people's brains could be older at 75. And some people have far more integrity and dignity that other people. What kind of person do you want for president?

Refrigerator Water/Ice Dispenser Aggravations

I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to write about when my good friend, Myra sent me some information from Consumer Reports. My first thought was, Aha! Finally!

I've read on Forbes that:

The average life of a refrigerator is 12 years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

And according to Consumer Reports, on top of everything else, the biggest problem areas are the water and ice dispensers. We sure found that to be true with our last fridge. Art replaced the dispenser twice and they kept breaking.

Our last fridge was a Whirlpool and it lasted 14 years but we were so aggravated that we decided to get another brand. Unfortunately, we wanted a counter depth fridge with no water/ice dispenser. Whirlpool was the only one we could find so we bought it.

And so far, it's lasted three years and been OK . I've gotten quite accustomed to making my own ice. As you can see, it takes up a lot less space in the freezer.

I just hope nothing else breaks. 🤞 And I hope it lasts at least as long as its predecessor. 

If you have any more blogging ideas, Myra, I'm open to suggestions. Thank you! 💗

The Bear Who Stole the Chinook

I was looking for Japanese music to play for mom on the tape/CD player because a good friend of ours sent a website to me mentioning how music can ignite certain parts of the brain and perhaps help someone with dementia. Mom hasn't listened to her tapes and CDs in a long while. I think operating the tape player was too difficult for her. Mom always loved music and sang to us when we were growing up. She apparently even sang on the radio once.

Anyway, that's when I found an old tape we'd bought at Glacier National Park almost 30 years ago. (This photo might be from Yellowstone since we went to both parks on that trip.) Art and I had gone out in the evening and heard a troubadour named Jack Gladstone performing a lot of songs about Native Americans who lived the area. I enjoyed the show so much that I bought his tape.

One song called the Bear Who Stole the Chinook really caught my fancy. I didn't even know what the Chinook was.

And then...

a couple of years ago, Canadian blogger, Red of Hiawatha House wrote a post about the Chinook.

I looked for that tape back then so I could hear Jack Gladstone again, but couldn't find it. 

But gosh! You can find anything on YouTube these days. There it was! 

So here I am just sharing a memory with you. 

I think I need to listen to music more often too.

Have I Been a Fruitcake?

When someone is called a fruitcake, this is not a good thing. I got this from Stack Exchange, English Usage and Language:

nutty as a fruitcake Crazy, idiotic, as in Mary's nutty as a fruitcake if she thinks she can get away with that. The adjective nutty meaning "insane" was first recorded in 1821; the similarity to fruitcake, which literally contains nuts as well as fruit, was first recorded in 1935.

           Well, no—"nutty as a fruitcake" was recorded at least 23 years earlier, in "On Main Street: A   Decline in a Noble Industry"—a rather silly take-off on "Who Killed Cock Robin?"—in the Saturday Evening Post (July 20, 1912)

Anyway, suffice it to say it's not good to be called a "fruitcake." 

But maybe this year,  I've fallen into the deep end.

Art and his sister have always LOVED fruitcake. My brother and I will just as soon pass it by. It's either you like it or you don't. My son and family love it. My daughter and family don't. 

Jalna, a blogger in Hawaii posted a recipe online and I decided to try it. Art, his sister, my son and family really liked it so I started making it for friends, neighbors and relatives here in Hawaii.

At first, I soaked the fruitcake with alcohol and in 2016 when Keola and Sarah were here, we did a blind taste test with Rum, Brandy and Scotch. Rum and Brandy were tied. Scotch was out. But then one year we went to Maryland and I made a couple of loaves without alcohol for the grandsons and everyone said it was better without it.

After that, I made all my mini fruitcakes without alcohol. One year, I couldn't find candied fruit and another friend told me I could just get dried fruit and soak them in juice. 

Really? 

Then I discovered there were a LOT more people who liked this modified Hawaiian version of fruitcake. 

Last year, I made 6 batches. That were 48 fruitcakes. A lot of it was frozen for Art and mom to have in the following months but most were given away.

This year, I made 8 batches. Half way through, I don't know what I did, but I had too much batter (or fruit?) that overflowed so I began making 9 loaves for every subsequent recipe. (The loaves marked with 4 cranberries were made especially for a friend who is allergic to walnuts.) 

And here are the little fruitcakes stored like little bullion bars in the freezer. Let's see. That's 16+11=27 fruitcakes. I wonder how long that will last for Art and mom.

I just tallied how many fruitcake loaves I made this year. Would you believe 68? 🙄

Maybe I have been nutty as a fruitcake.