Helpful Hints: Great Uses for Coffee Filters

We were at a party one night and a good friend passed out coffee filters with great ideas on how to use them.  It's good to have friends like that.

I've used the regular and big size to buffer my glasses and pyrex dishes and plates.  They work fabulously.

Out of dozens of uses, here are my favorites:

• Line your plant pots with a filter to keep the soil from leaking out of the drainage holes when you water them.
•  Put baking soda into a coffee filter and put it into shoes or a closet to absorb and prevent nasty odors. Put potpourri into the filter, tie it up and put it into your drawers, etc.  (I really like this idea, but I need to find some good potpourri.)
•  Line a plate with filters to absorb cooking oil of fried foods like bacon or chicken.
•  Put a scoop of baking soda in the middle of a filter, gather edges and tie with string. Add one or two to your ice chest to keep it smelling fresh between uses.
•  Keep your cast iron skillets rust free by lining with filters when not in use.
•  Wrap Christmas ornaments for storage. 
•  Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome.  Coffee filters are lint free.
•   Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.  (This would be great for my granddaughter who can never finish ice cream or Popsicles before they melt.)
•  Use them to sprout seeds. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a zip-lock plastic bag until they sprout.
•  Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in a phone book.

 These all sound so interesting, but I think I like using them as bowl separators best of all. Then again, where can I find nice smelling potpourri?

Choosing a Watermelon

It's well known in our family that watermelon is Art's favorite fruit.  Whenever watermelon season starts up, Art will be first in line at the first watermelon sale choosing his fruit as carefully as he would selecting an automobile.

I love seeing him at the pen of watermelons, often discussing the best way to choose one with other watermelon aficionados.

I do believe his love of watermelons came quite naturally since his dad also loved watermelons.

Here is Art on the Big Island with his dad in 1972.  His dad was the give-his-shirt-off-his-back-to-help-somebody sort of fellow.  I'm sure he gave his watermelon secrets to anybody who might ask.

When our daughter, Tiffany was born, Art introduced her to watermelon quite early.  She was a little under a year old here.

Then Jon was born he would learn to enjoy watermelon too.

Here's Tiffany a little older and still loving her watermelon with her surrogate uncle, auntie and baby, Jon.

So here are Art's secrets.

Drum roll....

1.  Look for the yellow patch under the watermelon.  If it's too white or mostly green, the fruit was probably picked too soon.

2.  Look for a heavy (juicy) watermelon.

3. Try to find one with a green stem which may show that it's fresher.

Art once did an experiment where he bought two watermelons of the same size using his criteria.  The only difference was that one had a hollow sound and the other a firm thud when tapped.  As he expected, both were equally sweet.  Only an engineer would go that far to test a theory or was it just an excuse to buy an extra melon?

After all this.... I would say you'll probably get a great watermelon 75% of the time.

And now... the sad, tragic part (as far as Art is concerned).  When Tiffany grew up she somehow became allergic to all melons.  She even went to an allergist.  What the heck?  Art could not believe it.  A child of his allergic to watermelons???

Ah well..

So does anybody know how to choose a good cantaloupe?

Bananas in the Fridge

I've always heard that it's a capital crime to put bananas in the refrigerator.  They said the skin would turn black.

OK...

What else?

I've read up on this topic and really.... aside from the skin turning black, I haven't found any credible reason why you shouldn't put bananas in the fridge if you have too many that ripened at the same time.

I've heard that when you cut the bananas apart they won't ripen at the same time.  I tried this.  They all ripened at the same time.

Well, we had too many ripe apple bananas so I put some in the fridge.  After two days, this is what they looked like.  Not a bunch of change.

I imagine the skin will turn black soon, but the inside is just fine.

Frankly, I'm thinking the whole rule about no bananas in the fridge is an old wives tale started by some banana growers or supermarket owners.  However, I haven't tested this on the traditional Bluefields yet so don't quote me... yet.

POSTSCRIPT:  Oops!  Sorry...  It's not Bluefields but Cavendish that is the traditional banana that you usually see on the mainland.

An Outing for Mom and Auntie

Art read about a movie that was playing at Kahala Theater called I Wish.  He thought Mom would enjoy it.  Mom said she'd never heard of a Japanese movie called I Wish.  I looked up I Wish on the Internet and discovered that the real title is Kiseki which actually translates to Miracle.  I think they should have kept the correct translation.  We invited mom's sister, Auntie Grace to come along with us.

After a morning of painting our kitchen and living room doorway that Art had finished renovating, we headed out to the movie.

The story is about two young brothers separated by divorce.  The main actors are real siblings and that might explain some of their easy chemistry.

The older brother comes to believe that when the new Shinkansen (bullet trains) cross each other at high speed, a miracle will occur and hopes will come true.  He convinces his younger brother to meet him at the crossing where he will wish for his family to once again be united.  The adventures of the brothers and their five friends made this such an enjoyable film to watch.  We all left smiling and feeling terrific.

I had to laugh when the film focused on the fact that both brothers hated cabbage.

We took Mom and Auntie Grace to Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin.  It was a fun place to go to after seeing a Japanese movie.  Our daughter, Tiffany and son-in-law, Ed had introduced this place to us in May when they were visiting and staying in Waikiki.  The first thing we all had to do was crush toasted sesame seeds.  You could smell the lovely scent as you mashed the seeds.  You then poured in the tonkatsu sauce.

The word ton in tonkatsu means pork and katsu is cutlet.  Deep frying breaded food was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese.

Notice that huge mountain of shredded cabbage?  It's wonderful with any kind of katsu.  I had to remind Mom and Auntie of the movie reference.

I can see why this restaurant is rated so highly.  Everybody was so friendly and the katsu had to be the tenderest, crispiest and best on the island.  Granted we don't eat katsu very often since Mom keeps saying, "Cholesterol" but it's yummy.

After dinner and dropping Auntie off at her house we headed home.

Traffic was bad, but not horrendous and we got home around 6:30 PM.

For some reason, I was so exhausted that we went to bed around 8:30.

It was a full, happy day.

Luck, Chance, Destiny, Kismet, Fate

It was drizzly on Tuesday morning's Open Market (Hawaii's term for Farmers Market).

We met our friend, Stanley who told us of an almost terrible scam that happened to him. 

Stanley said he'd gotten a call from his grandson telling him that he'd been the cause of a terrible accident and was calling from the L.A. County Jail.  He said his voice didn't sound like himself because he'd broken his nose in two places due to the accident.

He needed $1,700 right away by Western Union.  He said Stanley could not reach him because he was in jail.  His grandson did not want to worry his mother, but would tell her himself when he returned to Hawaii. He gave Stanley all the Western Union spots in our area where he could bring his money and said he would call him back to get the receipt number so the grandson would be able to collect the money.

Stanley went to the bank, got his money and rushed to the Western Union at Safeway supermarket as directed.  The manager there was suspicious and insisted that Stanley call his grandson to make sure this was all legitimate.  Although he didn't expect his grandson to answer since he never answered calls when he was at work, this time, he did and said he'd never been in an accident.  Stanley and the manager then discovered that the address where the money was supposed to go to wasn't L.A. where his grandson was.   It was Quito in Ecuador.

When he went home and the call from his supposed grandson came, Stanley asked, "Who are you anyway?

The person hung up immediately.

Stanley said he couldn't believe what a close call that was.  It would have cost him $1,800 because the money transfer would have cost him an additional $100.

Stanley went out and bought a huge gift basket for that Safeway manager who saved him from being duped.  Stanley said so many chance occurrences happened to prevent him from making this mistake that he felt it was Divine intervention.

After talking to Stanley for such a long time, we were a little late getting our produce and headed back to our car.  As we were crossing that busy street where drivers rarely stop for shoppers (as by law they are supposed to) we noticed that the passenger of the driver who stopped for us was waving frantically at us.  Very friendly, I thought and waved back.  The person kept smiling and waving.  I could barely make out who it was since it was rather cloudy and dark. Surprise!  It was my good friend, DIANE!

In the four years that we've lived in Hawaii and gone to that Open Market, we've never seen Diane driving to work. There were a LOT of chance occurrences that had to happen for us to have this happy meeting with Diane.

I guess it was Fate or luck or who knows?

Happy Independence Day to my American readers! To remember what the 4th is all about, please go to Sylvia From Over the Hill before you go to watch the fireworks.

Driving With Aloha

I was rather surprised to see road courtesy as the front page news on the Honolulu Star Advertiser a while ago.  A survey had been taken about how islanders showed their appreciation on the road.

Wave:  76%
Shaka sign:  18%
Nod:  3%
Smile:  2%
Other:  1%

It also mentioned 38% of drivers under the age of 35 admitting to texting in the last three months.

What?

What?!?!  Are they NUTS?

I have a hard enough time texting when I'm sitting on my sofa.

Frankly, we've seen people driving while talking on the cellphone even though there's a law against it.

Wasn't it last year that Hawaii was rated #1 in having the worst drivers in the nation by the 2011 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test?

In the past, Art always felt that when we returned to Hawaii from Illinois, people here would kindly let you into traffic and be a lot more courteous and less aggressive.

Apparently times have changed.  Oahu is a lot more congested now and perhaps that is why people have gotten more impatient and discourteous.

Shaka sign

Somebody said they were sad to see the shaka sign disappearing from the road.  I tried using it today for fun when somebody let us into a shopping center.

I don't think the shaka sign really is quite as popular anymore.  I'm more comfortable with a vigorous wave of thanks with my whole hand.  Granted, I'm not driving.

Art does a full, manly, non waving hand.  I've seen my son nod and do a two fingered thanks from his steering wheel.  I think my daughter does a four finger wave while holding the steering wheel.  Do those smilers and nodders seriously think people can see them doing that?

How do you show your driving appreciation?

Trying Vietnamese Food

Art saw a write up in the Star Advertiser recently about a Vietnamese restaurant in our area.  We decided to introduce Mom to this new cuisine that she said she'd never tried before.  We have Vietnamese friends and had a favorite restaurant in Illinois that we went to often so we really enjoy Vietnamese dishes.

Please excuse the poor quality of these photos. 

We ordered a double serving of these fried spring rolls to share between us.  It was much too much.  We should have ordered just one.  It filled us up too much before we had our main Pho dish.

You are supposed to wrap the rolls, mint leaves, cucumber slices, and noodles with the lettuce and dip it in the sauce.

Mom really liked it.  We were OK with it, but the memory of the homemade ones we had were better.

Actually, I was surprised at how willing Mom is to try something different.  We thought she preferred Japanese restaurants but we discovered that she likes Italian food too.  In fact, she's enjoyed all the different kinds of foods we've introduced to her so far.  That's been a surprise.

When the pho arrived, Mom put in a whole lot of the bean sprouts and Thai basil.  Then she proceeded to try the various hot sauces that were offered on the table.

Good gracious!

We saw the owner clearing other tables where the dish of bean sprouts and Thai basil were left untouched.

The pho was just OK again for Art and me, but Mom liked it a lot.

Hmmm... I wonder where we should take her next?

Maybe Mexican?

Mango Bread

My uncle and aunt gave us some Pirie mangoes this afternoon.   Although there's lots of varieties of mangoes in Hawaii, I think there are two major ones, the Haden and Pirie.  My uncle and aunt have both types and every mango season, they share them with us although it scares me to bits thinking of my uncle or cousin on their roof picking the mangoes.  They had to trim their Haden a couple of years ago so we've been getting the Pirie.  (By the way, Haden mangoes are going for $2.35 a pound at the Commissary.  I paid $4.00 for a big one the other day.)

Today was the last of my aunt and uncle's supply and they gave them to us because they know what mango fanatics we are.  I decided to try making mango bread with some of them.  I've never baked mango bread before so I had to find a recipe.  I found the same recipe in two local cookbooks so I assumed it had to be a good one.

Deluxe Mango Bread

2 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup salad oil
2 cups diced mango (about 3 mangoes)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup grated coconut  (I didn't have this so I did without.)
1/2 cup raisins

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sugar and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the rest of the ingredients, which have been well mixed.  Pour into four greased 2" x 5" loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

I didn't have four of those loaf pans so I had to improvise.

I must say, they turned out very well for a first try.  Mom says it was delicious and she is my 2nd most honest critic.

We brought over a loaf for my uncle and aunt tonight.  I loved seeing their smiles as they thanked me for my "hard work."

I've got a loaf waiting for my brother.  He's my MOST honest critic.

I can't wait for next year's mango season!

Virus... Again!!!! Arrrghhhh!

Our son, Jon is  in South America right now traveling and learning.  We'd gotten a text message from him a little earlier saying he'd been out of contact because he was ill for three days.  I was terribly worried.  Communication has been sporadic.

Then last night... there was his name in my Email Inbox and I was so excited that my brain temporarily stopped working.  When I clicked on his e-mail, all I saw was a link.  No message.  I was confused, but I thought it might be something he wanted me to read.  The link took me to a Fox News site.  As I scanned down to see what was going on my cellphone rang.

"Mom!  Did you get an e-mail from Jon?  Don't open that link!" said my daughter.

"Oh... no, Tif.  I already did," I gasped.  I couldn't believe I did it AGAIN!  Doggone it!  Just to be sure it didn't get passed on to everybody on my address book, I wrote to a friend who assured me she didn't get that link from me.  So hopefully it didn't infect my address book.  The last time I got something like that, it didn't seem to get passed on so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Tif had me change my password and my son-in-law told me to use the Microsoft Security Essentials to scan my computer.  I did and got this after 8 hours.

There was some kind of Blacole virus.  I removed it and I'm hoping things are OK. 

I don't know if this is the virus that came from poor Jon's computer, but at least it may have been successfully removed.  I say maybe because I've read that sometimes this virus is quite tenacious.



I think I'd better put up a sign in front of me that  says,  
"DO NOT OPEN ANY LINK FROM ANYBODY WHO DOES NOT PROVE WHO THEY ARE WITH A PERSONAL MESSAGE!!!"

Would this work?  I don't know.  I think my fingers are sometimes faster than my brain and my eyes.

Arrrgghhhhhh!!!!!

POSTSCRIPT:  Weird thing!  I just got another of these spam e-mails from a blogger friend.  However, I was smarter this time and didn't open the link.   Then I just read this post on Sherri's Jubilee:  Email Frustrations!   What the heck is going on?

Be careful.  Be very careful. 

Sunetrics Recommendation Retraction

Solar Panels are popping up all over in our area.  It's very nice to see.  Sunetrics put up our panels about a year and a half ago and it's been working as expected and we're very happy about that.  They said they would put up panels that would be sure not exceed what our needs were.  We were advised not to overproduce power because it would be given to HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company) to keep without reimbursement.   And it's true.  The panels did definitely give us less than what we needed, too much less.  For some reason our usage must have also gone up a bit so we thought we'd put up a few more panels.

We sent our Sunetrics salesperson an e-mail.  No response.  We called their office and left a message.  No response.

When we were deciding how many panels we should put up, Sunetrics said we shouldn't worry because we could just call them and they'd put more up.

We recommended them to our friend, Ed this past year who got a quote from them.  The Sunetrics estimate came up much, much higher than the others.  When Ed called to ask for an explanation he got no response.

We were at a Senior Fair and talked to a HECO person there and mentioned Sunetrics to them.  He mentioned how he'd gotten the same sort of higher than everybody else quote for his own home.  He was also told that Sunetrics is now moving toward bigger fish.  They do things for larger companies now so they prefer not working for smaller home owners.

This has me worried.  If anything goes wrong, I suppose we won't be able to count on them.  What a sad thing.  I'm sorry I recommended them to people. 

I suppose this is what happens when a  company is too successful. 

KC's Photo Album

We sent KC a 58 page digital photo album of their Trip to Hawaii which we printed for her (as she requested) and mailed in a flat rate box.  It arrived in Illinois in 3 days. 

Tiffany called to say KC loved it and that her mom and dad both had to read all the captions and speech bubbles for her.

We're suspecting she'll probably have it all memorized soon.

I asked KC what her favorite page was and she said it was the one where she and grandpa planted the papaya seedling.

I thought she might say the Disney breakfast at Aulani or Discovery Center or Trip Around the Island or the Waikiki Aquarium or the beach.

But no... it was that special time where she planted that papaya tree with grandpa.  I wonder if she remembers planting that first papaya tree with Art when she was about a year and a half.

Well, she won't forget this one since she'll always have this hard copy.  When you think about it, perhaps she'll look at this more because it's printed rather than on the computer.  Sometimes old fashioned is best.

Watching the Olympics

I admit it.  I'm not a sports fan. I don't understand football except that I know you're supposed to get the ball to the goal area on the other side except when they change sides.  I don't understand soccer.  Everybody is kicking the ball all over the field until they get it passed that person who is trying not to get hurt but has to use his/her body to stop the puck, I mean ball from getting into that big basket.  I know basketball is getting the ball in the basket, but they change sides too which confuses me.

I do actually understand baseball a bit more because my son, Jon played baseball for several summers and Art coached the team for a couple of them.  I know what it takes to get a point, I mean goal, I mean hit, I mean run. And there was something about flies in the infield.

I do however, understand swimming because both Tif and Jon were very good swimmers in middle and high school.

Jon was even a co-captain for his water polo team.  I take it back.  I don't understand water polo at all.

With the summer Olympics underway, it brings back those memories of watching Tif and Jon swim back and forth, back and forth, back and forth across the pool.  Then there would be a break and they'd swim back and forth, back and forth, back and forth again.

And you know what?  We loved it!  I loved watching every minute of the back and forthing.  (Aquettes was more fun though.)  Therefore, I'll be watching the Olympic swimming with Art and holding my breath too!

Pineapple

I toiled at Dole Pineapple Cannery for three high school summers as a trimmer.  It's amazing how good I got with a knife.  That's when I decided that I really wanted to go to college and not have to stay there.  I also never wanted to see or eat another fresh pineapple.  Just smelling a fresh pineapple puts a line of sweat at my forehead hairline.

Lately however we've noticed that pineapples have gotten really sweet in Hawaii and non-acidic.  I could even eat a few without a problem.  Art's cousin is retired from Dole so he's able to get a discount and brings pineapples for us every so often.

Now we've started planting the crowns.  When KC came to Hawaii she couldn't wait to harvest one.  It was a little hard to pick so KC had to push and pull at it to get it off the mother crown.

When I cut it and had our son-in-law try it, he was really surprised at how sweet it was.  The ones we harvest ourselves are even sweeter because we let it fully ripen.  Farmers can't let it ripen all the way because they're supposed to be more fragile and could easily rot.

Once picked, pineapples will not ripen further.  You should cut it within a couple of days.  If you refrigerate it, it could probably last a week.

Perhaps it's because we've let our fruit fully ripen, but I found some seeds inside.  What a surprise.

Of course, now Art wants to try planting the seeds to see what happens.  We'll also plant that crown we've got rooting in water.

We had the fresh pineapple over some vanilla ice cream last night and I swear the fruit was as sweet as the ice cream.

I didn't sweat at all!

Are You Alright or All Right?

While we were working on our digital photo album, Art commented that I'd used the word alright incorrectly.  He thought that it should be all right.  I looked it up and found this Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tricks for Better Writing.

Very interesting:

Alright vs. All right
It seems that alright is not even a correct word according to grammarians.  It's a very informal word according to my World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary published when I was a kid.  However, it is gaining acceptance.  Informally alright means satisfactory or OK.  Are you feeling alright?  All right means accurate. The bookkeeping figures are all right.

All together and Altogether
All together means collectively.  They went to the prom all together.  Altogether means entirely.  We are altogether too tired.

All Ready and Already
All ready is supposed to mean being prepared. I am all ready for the next tsunami alert. Already is concerned with time as in I made the cookies already.  So... could I then say, "I'm all ready already for the next tsunami alert"?

All right already... so Art was right.  I am seriously altogether tired.  I'm sure glad we're done with the Trip Albums.  Do you see why it was so stressful?

Always Prettier on the Other Side of the Fence

When we were in Japan we gushed over all the incredibly beautiful cherry blossom trees.  We must have taken at least 5 GB of photos of the briefly blooming, delicate blossoms.

We were driving home from tai-chi the other day and suddenly noticed the beautiful flowering trees around us.  We realized that we were taking so much of this beauty for granted.

It must be the season for the Rainbow Shower tree because we see them in bloom everywhere.

My mother calls this the Moonlight shower tree.  It's in bloom too, but I don't know if it's the correct name.

For a little variety, there's this Royal Poinciana.  I think that's what it is.

I don't see a whole lot of these Golden Shower trees, but against the blue sky, they really pop out at you.  I wish I could have found a better photo to post today.  Unfortunately I think it's the tail end of the Golden Shower season.  I think the scientific name for this tree is Tabebuia.

I love these purple flower trees.  I thought they were Jacaranda, but I don't know for sure.  I just know I love the color.

I guess the cherry blossoms in Japan are appreciated so much because they last for just a couple of weeks.  The flowering Hawaiian trees stick around for quite a while so that we start to take them for granted.

And speaking of taking things for granted, I just looked out my window and saw our neighbor's huge plumeria tree.  (Sorry about the window blinds reflection in the photo.)  I can smell its fragrance when the wind blows our way.

Starting tomorrow, I'll turn over a new leaf and pay attention to all the flowers around me.  Maybe I'll find a spectacular Golden Shower tree that I can take a photo of.  If I do, I'll be sure to post it.

Old Guy

L. from W. made a comment a couple of days ago that had me remembering some occasions that made us raise our eyebrows.

Recently, we were going for our evening walk and a child about my granddaughter's age came running along the sidewalk, smiled and said hello.  She appeared to be interested in the walking sticks I was using.

She then ran to her mother and I overheard her saying, "Mommy, why is the grandma using those sticks?"

Grandma?  Did she call me a Grandma?  When had I made the jump to Grandma from Auntie?  Most of the vendors at the Farmers Market still call me Auntie.  But here was a child giving the honest truth.

Art had one of those moments a few years ago when we were in the emergency room of Tripler Army Hospital.  He'd cut his finger to the bone badly on a grinder.   While we waited behind a curtain of a triage unit a trio of doctors arrived.  We couldn't see them, but we could hear them.

"OK... We've got a full night here.  We'll work on the young lady with the broken leg first, then you can take the little girl with the laceration on the arm.  Then we'll work on the old guy's finger."

Art and I looked  at each other.  Old guy?  Who could they be talking about?  Then we could hardly contain our laughter.

Good gracious!  We're now the old people.

When the doctors finally got around to injecting Art's finger a thousand times to numb it, then scrubbing out every germ from his wound, and sewing him up, we had a truly rollicking time with the three doctors.  They did a fabulous job and we really enjoyed being with those young men, but the thing that makes us laugh the most is when we remember that moment of Art being called the "Old Guy."

Preserving Our Memories

It has been crazily busy for us since March.  First we had our son visit for three wonderful weeks.  Less than two weeks later we left for Japan in April for almost three weeks. 

As soon as we returned we tried to work on our trip album for Japan, but with four cameras worth of photos (28 GB) to go through, it was a monumental job!  Once we got our photos chosen I formatted them onto pages.  Then we did a lot of research to enhance our understanding of what we had seen and added them to the photos.  Next came speech bubbles to add humor and trigger our memories of what we were thinking at the time. 

Not even half the work was done on the Japan album when our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter arrived in May.  We had a glorious two week visit. 

We then once again began our push to finish the Japan album.  We completed it a couple of weeks ago.  192 pages!!!  We printed it for mom whose eye healed just in time to be able to use her glasses (after her tear duct surgery) and relive our incredible journey through Japan.

Then we started work on a trip album for our granddaughter.  She'd seen parts of the Trip to Japan album and was captivated by the speech bubbles.  We promised to make her one also. 

I planned to just send her a digital copy that she could view on her computer screen, but her softy grandfather, Art felt we should print her one just like the Japan album we printed for my mom.

I didn't think she'd need or want one, but I got a phone call from KC saying, "Grandma, could you print the speech bubble album for me please?"

Sigh...

Somehow printing the album put more pressure on me because I felt like it was now a permanent copy that would be shown and needed to be as error free as possible.

The album was only 58 pages since I was the principal photographer and Art and Tif didn't take as many photos.

Now I'm working on Jon and Sarah's album.  They were the first to come and visit, but I knew they wouldn't mind our working on KC's album, especially since they're some place in Peru right now.

Why do we do this?  It's a WHOLE LOT of painstaking, often tedious, stressful, totally consuming, often agonizing, occasionally argumentative, creative, exhausting work!  We end up stuck to the computer concentrating day and night on the project. 

So why do we do this? 
To remember!  We tend to forget so much.  Looking at photos with no explanation can't jog our memories very easily.  We need the notes and stories written to re-ignite our memories and bring back the pleasure.  Mom forgets even more.  When we mention things to her about a trip, she'll say she can't remember it at all.  Then she'll look at the album and the notes she made as well which we also include and most of her memories will return.  We spend so much money on the trips.  It's a shame to lose a penny of the memories we bought.

We especially love seeing how an album of a past trip will be on Mom's family room table showing us that she'd been reliving a travel we'd done.  It makes all the agony of a month's work worthwhile.  Mom also loves sharing the albums with her family and friends  who enjoy reading what she's experienced.   Yes, it's worth it. 

So now we're almooooost done with Jon and Sarah's album.  I'll actually have more time at the computer that doesn't involve formatting photos.  Another day or two, I think...

Then I can catch up and see what you've all been doing.  Yahoo!

Like Grandfather, Like Granddaughter

On Father's Day, Art got an excited phone call from our 5 year old granddaughter, KC. 

"I finished the race, Grandpa!" KC exclaimed loudly enough for me to hear. She then spoke to Art for half an hour telling him all about what she got in her race goodie bag and how she walked the first half and ran the 2nd part of the 1 mile Ricky Byrdsong Youth Mile Race to honor the life of the man who was gunned down in a random hate motivated shooting in 1999.

Art has run that race a couple of times too.  The adult version is 5K. He wore his Ricky Byrdsong race t-shirt for the Hawaii Hapalua  (Half Marathon) race in March of this year with our son, Jon.

Later KC got on Skype to show us her ribbon, her racing bib, her race goodie bag and her orange race t-shirt.

I had to laugh because it seems a lot of her motivation is knowing that Grandpa does all these races too and she wanted him to know she was doing them as well.  Art coached her before the race saying to walk first and keep her energy for finishing.

Our daughter, Tiffany said she did have to remind KC to slow down at the beginning.  At the end, KC was going to walk over the finish line, but Tif told her that was the time to run through it in exultation... which she did!

Great Aloha Run Photo by Dave Au

Now I just have to show her how to do the fists pumping the air pose for crossing the finish line.

KC says there's supposed to be another race when we get to Chicago in fall and how she wants me to do that one.  Ummmm...  Well, I guess I could show her how to do the finish.  But I think I should be on the side lines to take photos.

Auntie Kay

I've always written "Auntie Kay" when I've signed a card or written an e-mail to a relative or younger friend in Hawaii.  However, I've increasingly found that I'm in the minority.  Most cards, e-mails, letters to me come to Aunty Kay. 

I'm stubborn enough that I have kept that "Auntie".  I don't know why I like it better.  You'd think I'd prefer Aunty since there is a y in Kay and Aunty and it might look pretty as a closing signature.

This evening I thought I'd look it up and googled Auntie or Aunty.  What a surprise to find out quite a few other people have also asked that same question.

This is what wiki answers wrote:

If you are addressing a middle age female, and you do not know her name, in South East Asia, Singapore or Malaysia, the spelling is Auntie. In some North American Native cultures the use of the name "Auntie" for any woman older than you (usually between the ages 20 to 50) is a sign of respect and affection.

If you are addressing the sister of your parent, then it is a slang term. The proper word to use would be aunt. If you choose to use the slang, both spellings are listed in the Encarta World English Dictionary.

Then I checked Yahoo Answers and got this:

Aunty or Auntie: Which is the correct spelling?

Both these spellings are correct, but the correct one is auntie in English.  (Hunh?)

What I found surprising was how many people had asked the same question.  Seems like a silly little thing to wonder about, but since I have nothing else to post about tonight, this is it.

Therefore, I'm still going to be "Auntie".  I don't care what anybody thinks.  At least there's no question about Uncle.

Ergonomic Keyboard

A couple of years ago, our son-in-law and daughter found a wonderful sale on a wireless ergonomic keyboard and mouse at Best Buy and got Art to buy it for me when they were in Hawaii.  At first, the odd wavy shape of the keyboard turned me off and I didn't want to use it with my computer.  I felt what I had was fine.  Then I tried it... and I was  hooked!

Our new Dell computer has a flat keyboard and I just don't like it.  The mouse is also sort of sticky when it's moving the cursor around.  It just doesn't feel as easily maneuverable.

We decided to get another Logitech wireless ergonomic keyboard and mouse.  It was selling for about $63.00 with free Super Saver shipping on Amazon a few evenings ago.  It was too good to pass up.  The next morning Art was ready to buy and found to his surprise that it had gone down to $53.99!  Good grief!  Woo hoo!

Oh wait.  I saw that it's on sale at Best Buy now for $63.00!  Wow!  But it's still cheaper on Amazon.

No Paper Towels in Japanese Public Bathrooms

We noticed a lot of interesting things about Japan during our recent trip in April.

• Everyone was so polite, kind and friendly.  If you needed help, they went out of their way to help you.  I've talked to other people and they've said the same thing.  It makes traveling to Japan such a pleasure.
• The super efficient trains are on time to the minute!
• We saw few garbage cans, but nobody threw things on the ground and most places were as clean as Disneyland.
• Japanese people wear masks to prevent catching/passing on germs when they are sick.  They also wear them if they have hay fever.  
• Many places have slippers to wear in the house and special toilet slippers to wear when you go to the bathrooms.
• Very few graffiti.  
• Crosswalks and traffic lights are designed to help the blind.
• Most people drink tea rather than sweetened soft drinks.
• No paper towels in the bathrooms

This last interesting thing stuck in my head and had me thinking.  The public bathrooms in Japan usually don't have paper towels.

They sell cute little terry cloth type hand wipes at all the stores for you to carry.

Men probably carry handkerchiefs or something like that.  Then again, they may not need it as much as women do?

At first it was an inconvenience, but the Japanese don't worry about it or complain.  They accept it and work around it.


If you think about it, they don't have to worry about having to dispose of so many paper towels.  Think how much paper we use for paper towels.  I've seen some people take as many as 4 sheets to wipe their hands and throw them in the garbage bin without a thought.

Think about the expense of having to provide so many paper towels.  Think about the trees that have to be cut down to make those paper towels.  It starts to make a lot of sense.  I always use the electric hand dryers wherever they provide them.  But then again, that uses a lot of energy.

Then again, my nephew just made a laughing comment.  He said people might then not wash their hands.

Hmmm...  I'm thinking about this.

Happy Father's Day!

Laurie of  In My Dreams I See.. was kind enough to read some posts from a couple of years ago and told me she especially liked this one about Art that I wrote for Father's Day.

I thought I'd post it again for Art. He really is one in a million.

Father's Day 2010

 

1979

Art says he doesn't want anything for Father's Day from me. Instead, we'll be going out for lunch with my mother on Monday to avoid the crowds.

He's always been that way. He never really wants anything for himself, but wants to get something for everybody else dear to him. During our travels, his eyes are always open for something that Tiffany might smile at or Jon might get a chuckle from.

In the old Asian way, he doesn't say the words, "I love you," easily. It's just not the way we were raised. However, our children know. How can they not?

Hmmm... but just in case they don't, let me tell them that they have always been their dad's greatest joy and brightest wonder. To Tif and Jon: Your Dad loves you more than words can possibly express.

From the time the kids were born, Art immediately set up a savings plan to automatically take money out from every paycheck for their college education. He made sure he was home for every doctor's appointment, every teacher's meeting, every sports meet. When he came home from work, he left work at work and spent the time listening to Tif and Jon. If they needed him for anything, he would break his neck trying to be there.

2002

I think they've come to expect that their father will always be there to bargain with the Fates to make sure his children are making the right choices, are happy, and being good people. He has detoured from his path a million times to smooth their way through every bump they've suffered. He's given them the gift of appreciating the delight and discovery they enjoy from travel and their sense of confidence that they can do what they want to do. I've always been fearful of leaving home. Art takes all our hands and shows us how to do it.

I still can't do it without Art, but the kids can. He's made sure of that from the time they were born, and knowing that they can take care of themselves and are two of the kindest, most generous, capable children we could ever have hoped for is probably the greatest gift he receives every Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful dads out there!

Home Is Where Your Heart Is

When Gigi wrote a post a while ago about Hawaii being the best place for her to live I thought to myself that Hawaii is fine, but it is not necessarily paradise.  I was born and raised in Hawaii, but then my husband and I moved to Chicago in 1974 where we raised our two children.  We moved back to Hawaii a few years ago to live with my mother when my father passed away.

Tif and Jon on our homemade skating rink when our yard flooded and froze

We loved living in the Midwest.  We loved winter too, but wish we only had 2 weeks of it rather than the 4 months Illinois is usually blessed with.

Jon, blueberry picking in Indiana

 
Hawaii has lots of things going for it, but it also has some drawbacks.

• Shipping things to Hawaii costs an arm and a leg.  I'm really grateful for Super Saver Shipping when you qualify for it.
• Housing is extremely expensive.
• Termites, cockroaches, mongoose, rats, giant spiders...
• Traffic congestion!  I think we were considered to have the worst in the nation.
• Not a whole lot of museums, zoos, etc.
• I think we have the highest electricity costs too.
• And GAS!  Maybe California beat us, but we're not far behind.
• If you want to travel to another state, you have to swim over two thousand miles.  And don't try using the Interstate highway either even though we do have three of them.
• We have very few fabulous libraries.
• We're the last ones to vote in any election, the last one to celebrate New Years.
• RUST!!!  
• Plastic falls apart!  Why is that?  
• We don't get to have the euphoria of spring fever.
• We don't get to enjoy the fall colors.
• No white Christmas
• No Trader Joes or Ikea
• Visiting our children, grandchild and dear friends is expensive.

 And yet we do love Hawaii for the obvious reasons.

• No black ice, summer all year long
• Shave ice
• Saimin
• Tai chi, Zumba and jogging outside, all year long
• Friendly people everywhere... Please excuse the knuckle heads and grouches because we do have a few of them, but very few.
• Trade winds
• Flowers all year long, not to mention seasonal fruits like mangoes
• Beautiful beaches, gorgeous scenery
• Lots of family and friends

Art has lived in New Hampshire, California, Illinois and Hawaii.  He says he's loved all those places. I've lived in Hawaii and Illinois. There's pros and cons everywhere.  You have to make your happiness wherever you are.  What do you love about where you live?

What to Do With Left-Over Chili

I made some chili the other night.  I can't seem to make a small pot.  There's always left-over chili for several nights.  I ended up freezing some, but here's what we did tonight.

I made a huge salad and cornbread.  Mom stir fried some choi sum which reminds me of spinach and prepared some cucumber namasu.  She also made some miso soup and Auntie Grace had given us a jar of cabbage kim chee.

I put a whole lot of the salad (without dressing) in a soup bowl and poured the chili on top of it.

When I've served this dish to guests before, I've sprinkled it with grated cheddar cheese and added more calories by framing it with Tostitos chips.

I didn't do it tonight, but I'm thinking some sour cream on top would really make it wonderful too.  OK... never mind the sour cream.

And then...well... you could stick on some avocado cubes maybe?  Sliced mushrooms and fresh tomatoes would also make it amazing...

Anyway, this is what dinner looked like.  When mom saw me taking this photo she laughed and said this will seem like a weird dinner.  I suppose so.  However, the next time somebody gives us an avocado, I might just thaw out our left-over chili and try this out.

Cockroach Wasp

A couple of days ago this huge, florescent bug was climbing up my office wall.  What the heck?  Where could it have come from?  I didn't think we had holes in the house. 

Art Googled it under florescent green wasp and discovered that it is an Emerald Cockroach Wasp.

Got this from Wikipedia:

"The emerald cockroach wasp or jewel wasp (Ampulex compressa) is a solitary wasp of the family Ampulicidae. It is known for its unusual reproductive behavior, which involves stinging a cockroach and using it as a host for its larvae. It thus belongs to the entomophagous parasites."

"A. compressa was introduced to Hawaii by F.X. Williams in 1941 as a method of biocontrol. This has been unsuccessful because of the territorial tendencies of the wasp, and the small scale on which they hunt."

Art tried to smack it with his slipper but he missed and it went flying around my office and landed behind the bed and promptly disappeared.  We hunted all over for it and finally gave up.  Art closed all the doors to make sure it didn't go into any of the other rooms and we went to bed.

I'd closed most of my office windows the night before because it often rains at night and I don't want my computer to get wet.  When I got up in the morning I saw that the wasp was between the sliding glass window and outside screen.  How did it get there?  Did it go through the glass?  I called Art to look and he was shocked.  We should call this the Houdini wasp.

Whatever the case, it died  because we didn't want to let it back into the room.  It does have a stinger and I have enough welts from bug bites on me.

Now we see that this is a wasp who kills American (Periplaneta americana) cockroaches.  Those are the GIANT cockroaches that local writer, Lisa Matsumoto  wrote a children's book about called "How the B52 Cockroach Learned to Fly."   Now Art is very sorry he had to kill that bug because it was probably keeping the American cockroach population under control in our area.  Sigh...

Hopefully Houdini Wasp has some friends who are still around.  And hopefully they are outside of the house.