Papaya Tree Update

Sigh...

When our papaya trees grew too tall, we were told to cut it down and put cans on it to keep out the rain.  We soon discovered what looked like maggots under the cans so we took the cans off.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop the deterioration.  Maggots were still in there and continued to feast on the plant even as the tree kept trying to grow.

We took off the can from the other tree hoping that would make a difference.  There were no maggots in this tree, but it was rotting from the rain getting in.

 

It was sad to have to cut it down.

This tree really had some good growth still happening, but we could see the rot already damaging the branch shoots.

We're not going to dig them up just yet.  We're going to try drying the stumps up on sunny days and cover them in the evening when it rains.  We'd give up if it weren't for the fact that these trees really produce extra sweet papayas.

OK... I know.  Once it starts producing again... IF it starts producing again, we'll have to contend with the birds.  Ah well, we'll deal with that IF and when it happens.

The Rules of Men

I saw this post of a Forwarded Mail that Rhapsody Phoenix posted on her blog a while ago and just had to share it with all of you.  I thought it was hilarious and in many ways painfully true.  

When I showed it to Art, he said he thought it was mildly funny.  I couldn't understand why he wasn't laughing hysterically, but maybe that's another difference between men and women.

Anyway, tell me what you think.

 

These rules! Male version, please note.. These are all numbered "1” on purpose!

1. Men are not mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You’re a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports it's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. let us be clear on this one: subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and no are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

1. if you think you're fat, you probably are. Don’t ask us.

1. if something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

1. All men see in only 16 colors, like windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong.. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... really.

1. Don’t ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball or golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It’s like camping. 

Clean Machine

We saw an article in the newspaper about how we should dust the inside of our desktop computers every six months.  I think they say the same thing about refrigerators and I don't think we've cleaned it in six years.  Sad, but true.

However, lately I've been hearing funny whirring noises coming from my computer and that had me a little worried.  I also noticed quite a bit of dust in my DVD reader.  Therefore I asked my brother, Dennis to come over and show us how to clean it.  He's our techie along with our Chicago son-in-law, Ed.

The first thing he did was to remove these screws.  He said the manufacturer puts different, easier to remove screws here to show you that's the one you're supposed to unscrew.

Then you're able to slide that panel off.  It's a good thing he showed us how to do this because I would have tried to remove the silver back part of the computer.  That wouldn't have been pretty.

Dennis then asked to borrow my art paintbrush (that I haven't used in over a decade) while Art held the vacuum cleaner above the brush.  He then proceeded to dust off the fan blades and gently dust everything else.  He said there really wasn't much dust in the computer tower at all and that he's seen a lot worse.

That's nice to know.

Then he put it all back together again and my computer sounds much happier.  Hmmm.... that whirring sound is still there, but maybe that's purring and not whirring I'm hearing.

But now the refrigerator is staring at me.  Maybe next time...

Do you vacuum your refrigerator?  Be honest.

Pen and Pencil

Do you have a favorite pen or pencil?  Although Art uses anything that's lying around or what he's gotten free at a Senior Fair or whatever, I love my Papermate Flexgrip and my Bic Grip Mechanical pencil.

Carole, our reading specialist was the person who introduced that Papermate pen to me.  She would always leave a meeting making sure she had her pen.  She said they had a strange predilection for disappearing.

Even here in Hawaii, they seem to wander away.  I've now used a magic marker and written my name on it and that seems to have worked.  They may wander away, but eventually they come back to me.  I like this pen because it doesn't have a cap that can be left behind somewhere and it doesn't feel quite as hard in my hand.  For that same reason, the Bic Grip pencil just feels good to me.

I've been using these same pens now for over 8 years.  I just buy refills all the time.  Do you have a favorite writing tool?

How to Be Sort of Photogenic

I remember one of Art's honest and much loved cousins saying to me almost every time she saw me that I was photogenic.  Ummm... I didn't like it much.  I figured it meant that I looked so much better in photos than I did in person.  Well.. I'll be honest.  It's true.  That's because I only send or post photos where I don't look too awful.

However, there are tricks I've learned along the way that helps me take better photos.  Maybe I made a conscious effort because as a teacher I had to have my photo taken every year for the class/school photo booklets.  Many teachers would compare photos and complain about how they looked.  And it's true that many an attractive teacher didn't look so hot in their photo. 

Perhaps everybody is different but I found that for myself:

• a three quarter face is usually better if I can manage it.  

• As I got older I found that raising my eyebrows just a teeny tiny bit would give me an automatic face lift.  

• An upright but natural posture helps a ton and keeps that front part (I don't mean my chest, I mean the tummy) of me from sticking out.

• And smile!  But not too much so that your eyes squint up.  Try to look natural if possible.  Practice in front of a mirror.  It might seem silly or vain, but then you won't have to complain so much later. 

My son, Jon has said that Grandma always seems to be able to give you a sweet smile if you ask her.  

I have a certain unnamed relative who refuses to smile and always looks grumpy in her photos.  It's the first thing people notice and they think she's a grumpy person even though we all know she's the happiest, nicest, sweetest person around.  And yet... on those rare photos that she does smile, you can see how beautiful she is.

• Our friend, Dave is a wedding photographer and he's told me to stay away from sleeveless outfits for photos. It's true.  You can see from this photo why.  It makes your arm look fat.

•  If you have a weight problem, keeping an arm or something across the middle will keep it from being obvious.

• I always tell Art to stand back and not zoom in so much.   

• When you're standing, try to keep one foot in front of the other, especially if you're bare legged.  I don't know about guys. 

• If you know you're going to have your photo taken, make-up helps some people.  Lucky you who don't need it.  My daughter is one who manages to look lovely without make-up.  But then I'm biased.

Well... that's all I can think of for now.   And if all else fails, there's always Photoshop.

You Can Fool Some of the People Some of the Time, But...

A very long time ago, I visited my neighbor and dear friend in Illinois and saw a plant she had next to her window.  By golly!  It looked like an anthurium, a beautiful anthurium!  I could hardly believe it!  She said her mother had given it to her and it seemed to bloom forever.  A few weeks later, there it was still blooming.  I know anthuriums bloom for a long time, but this seemed to be breaking records.  My friend said it had been blooming for months.  OK... now that would be good enough for the Guiness Book of World Records.

"You know," I said, "Those are not anthurium leaves as I know them.  Maybe they're a different species?  Anthurium leaves should be heart-shaped."

My friend reassured me that she'd been watering it for a long time.

Still... being the suspicious sort, I went closer to investigate and burst out laughing.  It was a silk anthurium flower that had been poked into a potted plant.

"No wonder it's been blooming for six months!" said my astonished friend. 

It makes me smile every time I think about that incident.

Well.... the other night Art and I went for our evening walk and saw an amazing sight.  We stopped and stared at these gorgeous flowers.  Many of my neighbors have green thumbs unlike my brown ones, so I wasn't surprised that there were flowers this gorgeous.

However, they were awfully huge for the size of the leaves.  Since we happened to have our iPhone, Art took a photo of it for fun.  We thought we might be able to find out what the name of the plant was when we got home.

While he was taking the photo I noticed something strange.  There were two long, dowel like sticks in the bush attached to the flowers!

Art was perplexed when I erupted with laughter.

"They're fake!" I choked out.

"No way..."  he pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows.

He looked closely and discovered that sure enough, this neighbor was having fun with everybody.

This has me thinking.  Remember that Desert Rose that I've nearly killed in our front yard?  Maybe I should stick some fake flowers on it.  Who knows?  Maybe it will fool some of the people some of the time...

My Cousin's Hawaiian Snake

I got this e-mail from my cousin, Arnold.

"Hey, I've only seen this a handful of times, but there was a snake on my driveway."

I e-mailed him right back and told him, "You do realize your mom is raising earthworms, right?  With her green thumb, I'm not surprised that she would get an earthworm that big."  

I know what I'm talking about because it's quite well known that one of the nice things about Hawaii is that we don't have snakes!

Just then, my brother called and I smugly told him about Arnold's supposed snake.

"Ummm, actually..." my brother informed me.  "We do have snakes in Hawaii, you know.  They're blind snakes.  I thought it was an earthworm when I found one too until I looked at it up close and saw the scales."

OK, we learn something new all the time.  Here's the Wikipedia link to these Hawaiian Blind Snakes.

I did tell Arnold he was right and I haven't gotten an e-mail back yet saying, "I told you so."  If he tells me he's seen a wallaby on the island, I'll know better than to doubt him.

Mule Ride???

There was a $61.00 flight special to any island with Island Air.  I've always said I wouldn't fly in a small airplane again, but as they say... "Never say never again."  The price was too good to pass up.

We'd always said we needed to take Mom back to Molokai to see where she lived for the first six years of her life while her father ministered to the victims of Hansen's Disease at Kalaupapa.  This was a good opportunity so we scheduled it for November.

In order to get to the Kalaupapa peninsula you have to either fly in another small airplane, hike or ride a mule down.  When I called and asked about the mule ride, they said it would be difficult for an 80 year old woman.  Art says he would prefer hiking (no matter how brutal or poopy) because you can't easily take a photo from a bouncing mule.  My brother, Dennis will come with us and he'll fly in with Mom on that teeny 9 passenger airplane.

I rode a donkey in Egypt.  It was only 45 minutes, but it was the longest 45 minutes I've ever had.

It was OK when I first got on and he wasn't moving.

Unfortunately, once he did start moving, I was bouncing all over the place.  I named him Lefty because he kept insisting on swerving to the left  onto traffic.

One donkey even galloped off with one of the members of our Intrepid Tour group.

The mule ride down into Kalaupapa is an hour and a half.  That's twice as long as getting to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt!

But then there's the ride back up!  However, maybe a mule is more comfortable than a donkey?

Art says I need to do it because...
you guessed it!  It's something to blog about.

It really is amazing what I'll do for a blog post!

Heeeey.... I still have those padded bike shorts from that biking trip to the Netherlands.  Would it help with the mule??

Jesus' Wife?

A few days ago, it was in the newspaper and TV that a Harvard professor unveiled a 4th century papyrus with ancient text quoting Jesus explicitly referring to having a wife named Mary.

This all sounds like Da Vinci Code.  I'm just wondering what my Christian friends are thinking.  Is it not a good thing if Jesus Christ had a wife that he loved. 

I've always thought that Catholic priests should be allowed to marry and that if they were, perhaps they wouldn't be experiencing all the problems that have plagued them lately.  If Christ had been married, perhaps that was an example that was meant to be emulated.

I'm afraid I just don't know enough, but I'm curious.

Do I Miss the Seasons?

There's so much about Hawaii to love.  Beautiful beaches, friendly people, casual lifestyle, island food and especially the mild weather (usually).

everyday temperature in Hawaii

Weatherman, Guy Hagi is always saying this is the place with the "best weather on the planet."

We bought this outdoor thermometer a while ago and after checking it several times, I'm wondering why we bothered.  It doesn't deviate by much.

When we go on our evening walks in January, Art never fails to say, "Can you believe we're walking around in shorts and t-shirts in the dead of winter?"

People in Hawaii often ask me if I miss the seasons.  There's a knowing smile in their voice and I think an expectation that I will say, "No, nothing beats Hawaii."

There is no doubt that Hawaii is terrific, but I loved living in Illinois and it wasn't just for the family and friends.  I did love the seasons although I could have done without freezing January and sweltering August. 

Our Illinois backyard sour cherry tree

You had to go through the long months of cold and shoveling snow to feel the joy, the euphoria, the wonder of spring.  When my cherry blossoms bloomed, so did my spirits.  Everyone is smiling in spring.  And there is that extra spring in your step.

Illinois woods

And now fall is here.  In Hawaii, it's the coming of the rainy season, but our thermometer doesn't change an awful lot.

In Illinois, we feel that urgency to enjoy the days of warmth we have left.  The leaves of the trees seem to echo that reminder that there are not many days left before the first snowfall.

Winter has its own pure beauty, of course and summer is packed with things to enjoy and places to see.  Every season is that much more precious because its time is finite.

In Hawaii, the sameness of it all makes the days fly by even faster and I can't seem to make it slow down.

Make no mistake that I love it here in Hawaii, but I loved it in Illinois.  There is truly something to love no matter where you choose to live.

Japanese Government Fine Fat

I was just sent this video by my friend, Jean.

I guess the problem is that many Japanese are now eating western type fast food and probably more meat and fried cuisine than they used to. Since moving to Hawaii and eating what my mother prepares, we're finding it easier to watch our weight.  She cooks mostly vegetables and fish.  She does cook chicken and hamburger but it's always stretched with vegetables or noodles.

I just heard the other night that according to the Gallup Poll, Hawaii was second to the bottom of the list for overweight Americans after Colorado.  To be honest, I was a little surprised, but happy.  Maybe it's because more people are surfing, swimming, jogging all year long, or doing things like going to Zumba.  And perhaps people in Colorado are doing a lot of skiing? Whatever it is, I do think America needs to make sure that our children lead healthier, more active lives so they can avoid many of the diseases that are attributed to the extra weight.

As for the government fining companies with overweight workers, can you just imagine what the conservatives in the U.S. would say about that?  Look what happened when Michelle Obama pushed to have schools prepare healthier lunches.

Modern Thank Yous

Yes, I know I'm preaching to the choir (and have posted on this topic before), but I just saw this in the newspaper recently and had to post it.

I've adjusted my thinking and feel e-mail thank yous are fine... depending...  Text message thank yous are fine... depending...

But nothing?  That is not fine.

I've also received a couple of those thank yous where there's just a photo of the couple or the baby or whatever with just their names printed.  Once or twice, we've even been given the pre-printed thank you cards at the reception or party.

Puh leeeease....

What is becoming of us as a society that we no longer have the time for acknowledging a gift with written or e-mailed or texted words of appreciation.

Is it thoughtlessness?  Selfishness?  Apathy?  Rudeness?  Were they just not taught to be polite?

Sigh....

Unknown Caller

Something weird has been going on lately.

We have Caller I.D.   We've only had Called ID within the last year so we're still getting used to checking first before answering.

The trouble is we're always in a quandry if it gives only a phone number.  I don't know who the number belongs to so we stand there wondering if we should pick up anyway.  Most of the time we do pick up and 50% of the time it's somebody we know.

Lately we're getting a listing of UNKNOWN CALLER at all hours of the day.  We usually don't pick up, but when we do, all we get is what sounds like a recording of a female voice saying, "Good bye."

What the heck?

We've even had messages on our answering machine with just the "Good bye."

What is going on??

Does anybody know?

Grandma and the Tooth Fairy

"You know what, Mom?  Your granddaughter is turning out to be quite a cynic,"  said my daughter recently. 

"Her friend, Brady told her that the tooth fairy had left him some money and KC told him it was probably his mom.  Brady said absolutely not because the tooth fairy even left him a note.  What do you think your skeptical granddaughter said?"

I told her I didn't know.

"She said she wanted to see the note which Brady refused." answered Tiffany. 

Good grief!  What was 5 year old KC going to do?  Check the note paper for fingerprints?

Well..... today, after KC had gone to bed, Tiffany Skyped us.  Art answered the ring and I heard Tif say, "Dad, is Mom around?"

When I popped over to the computer monitor, there was my daughter's pretty face with her lips firmly pressed together with one eyebrow raised.

"Mom,  Ed (my son-in-law) and I now know why KC doesn't believe in the tooth fairy.  She told Ed this evening that you had all of Jon's and my baby teeth!"

Ooooooops!  Mea culpa!  It's true. Yikes!  Oh my gosh!  This spring, I'd been showing KC my costume teacher necklaces and kid friendly earrings when we came across the little pouches that contained Tif and Jon's baby teeth.  I just hadn't been able to throw them away.  Anyway, I showed them to her and told her she'd be losing her teeth someday too.

I totally forgot about the tooth fairy.  (For those of  my wonderful readers from other countries, children in the U.S. are supposed to leave their baby tooth under their pillow at night after they fall out.  While they are sleeping, the tooth fairy is supposed to come and take the tooth away leaving some money to pay for the tooth that she takes away to Tooth Fairy Land.)

I guess KC did not forget what I showed her earlier in the year.  She put two and two together and got Grandma the Tooth Fairy.

Remind me not to talk about Easter bunnies or elves or Santa Claus or  whatever else.  Sigh........

Art's 50th High School Reunion

Coincidentally Art's 50th Reunion was on the same night as my 45th.  He went off with his classmate, Morris who happens to live just up the street from us.  Art picked Morris up at 4:45 (without waking me up) and they caught the 6:00 AM flight out to Hilo.

Their first stop was the Hilo Farmers Market to pick up anthiriums.

They first visited Morris' relatives' grave sites in Hilo and then drove to Honokaa where Art placed his offering of the anthiriums at the cemetery where Art's relatives are buried and then at the temple columbarium where his parents' ashes are resting.

The next stop was Honokaa High School.  This is the athletic field where I'm sure Art and Morris spent a lot of time.

Art's class had made a generous presentation to the high school of a new public address system.




The school appreciated their gift so much that students took groups of alumni around the campus to show them the new buildings that had been constructed since they'd left half a century ago.

They were also treated to a school lunch.  The vice principal told them that it was the students' favorite.

Sure enough, there were long lines waiting to get their shoyu chicken lunch.

Art said he was surprised at how healthy (brown rice and edamame) the very delicious lunch was.  He said the chicken just melted in your mouth.

 

After the wonderful school visit, Morris and Art headed back to Hilo and checked in to their Naniloa Hotel room.  They had a great view of Hilo Bay.

Art said they'd heard some not so complimentary things about the Naniloa but it was pretty decent though run down.

Of course there was that obligatory trip to the Big Island Candy factory where they could see the famous cookies being made.

The interesting thing is this was Art's 50th class reunion and 2012 happens to be the Year of the Dragon.  The Dragon is also Honokaa High School's mascot.

Art and Morris were both very touched to be honored as veterans along with their other veteran classmates.

Like my reunion, they had a lot of fun games.  One of the hardest was matching up names to photos of all the graduates.  However, he had only 120 graduates in his class.  I had 424 in mine.

Art loved seeing all his classmates again and they relived their happy years at a more innocent time in Hawaii history before the Vietnam War broke out.

And yes, Art and Morris had to stop at the Two Ladies Kitchen for their pricey but delicious mochi covered strawberries.

They were absolutely scrumptious!!!  Art had also bought a mochi assortment which we savored for a couple of days.

Here are the souvenirs Art brought home from his fun reunion.

One of his classmates had made these leather coasters for everyone who came.  He made two extra special ones for Art that had the date of his becoming an Eagle Scout and another special one he made with Art's name on it.  Art was very touched.

The creme de la creme of souvenirs, however, had to be this t-shirt with the Dragon mascot and notation that 2012 was the Year of the Dragon.

I was amazed at how hard Art's Reunion committee had worked to pull off this memorable event.  Perhaps I'll be able to go with him when they celebrate their 70th birthday.... unless it's on the same day as my Medicare party.

High School Secret

Remember that 1986 movie Ferris Beuller's Day Off?  I confess I've never seen the movie, but I know it's about a high school student who decided he needed a day off from school.

At my 45th high school reunion, many of us missed Annie.  She was a cheer leader, the Homecoming Queen, the everything queen, and Miss KPOI.  KPOI was the top teenage radio station in Hawaii in our time.  When she was crowned Miss KPOI, I remember all of us in the audience standing as one, jumping up and down and doing whatever crazy thing kids did in those days.  We all loved Annie.  We loved her because she wasn't just beautiful on the outside, but beautiful in every minute corner of her insides.

She won a new wardrobe of gorgeous clothes from Liberty House which is now Macy's AND a car!  Everybody was thrilled for her.

As I studied my high school yearbook before attending the reunion, I came across this photo.  It brought back a memory that I've kept in a special, happy, secret place in my heart these 45 years.  It reminds me of the only time I ever ditched school.

Not everything is clear about the day, but I remember Annie asking me if I wanted to go on an adventure.  I was always a pretty straight laced, follow the rules sort of person (I think, but maybe not).  However, when Annie asked if I wanted to ditch a few classes and go for a ride in her new car, it wasn't something I could pass up.

We snuck off of the school grounds, got into her car and proceeded to drive into Honolulu.  What wild and crazy place did we go to, you ask?  The beach?  Waikiki?  Nope.  We went to the Honolulu Public Library, walked around, got back in the car and headed back to school again.  We were a wild and crazy couple of girls, I guess.  Whatever the case it was during the ride to and from that we talked about our own teenage angst, happiness, plans for the future, and other so very important things.

When we got back to school, we crept back to our classes and didn't tell anyone.  I just told my mother about this today and she was shocked, but laughed that I would have done this.

Annie is now living somewhere on the mainland and wasn't able to attend the 45th High School reunion.  I would dearly love to be with her again.  We all do.

She wrote that veiled question at the top of the photo asking if I remembered.

Oh yes, I remembered and never forgot.

POSTSCRIPT:  Is there a high school secret you'd like to share with us?

Reunion to Remember

It was with some trepidation that I agreed to go to our 45th high school reunion.  Art would not be with me because he was at his 50th reunion on the Big Island on the same night.

Joanne encouraged me to go saying she would be by my side and keep me company through the night.  Yvonne also said she'd cue me in on people I knew I would not remember.  I am NOT blessed with a good memory, which is the main reason I haven't wanted to go in the past.

I remember enjoying High School, but I didn't know how much.  I remember having a lot of wonderful friends, but what did they really think of  me?  Would anybody remember me?  Uh oh... and worse, if they remembered me, would I remember them?

The gala affair was on Friday night at Nico's at Pier 38 in Honolulu.

The Reunion committe had done an amazing job.  Yvonne's husband leads that committee so she could prepare me for some of what to expect.

I saw tables with centerpieces reflecting the fact that our high school was from a sugar plantation town.  A large screen would later show the faces of all the classmates who had passed away.  We joined hands and had a moment of silence as we remembered those friendships.  I could almost hear their voices, their laughter.

The record holds a recording of our alma mater.  The brown sugar and sugar canes remind us of where we came from.

People began arriving and happy smiles of recognition were the prelude to their hugs of welcome.  One unfamiliar fellow stood staring at me which had me worried.  He then came over and said, "Hello, Kay.  I had a little hard time making sure it was you because you cut your hair.  You used to have it at your shoulders."  He then proceeded to tell me exactly where I used to live, about my brother, my neighbors... 

After a while all the happy hugs had me a little intoxicated with their loving offer of friendship and remembrance.

Everybody enjoyed the wonderful dinner buffet.

Joanne and Yvonne very kindly saved me a seat between them so they could clue me in on people I might not recognize.

Someone told me she thought I was smart because I hung out with the "smart group."  I told her it was true that I did hang out with those lifelong friends, but I myself  was certainly unfortunately not smart.  I just happened to have a smart bunch of friends. 

Then there were the games.

Our MC classmate was an incredible stand-up comedian throwing out one joke at a time.

The games started with blowing up balloons and batting them at each other.  This warmed everybody up for what was to come.

Reverse BINGO where everybody stood up and then sat down if your number was called was fun.  Believe it or not I was one of those left standing dueling with another classmate until at last, my number was called to sit.  After several more games, we were all back to feeling the joys of High School fun.

And then I won this $25.00 gift certificate to Roy's in Ko'Olina.

I discovered some things about me that I wasn't sure of at this Reunion.

I wasn't exactly shy after all.  I wasn't exactly quiet after all.  And I really did have fun in High School.

We sang the alma mater together and it was a good thing the words were on the screen because I forgot some of it.  However, like my young years, I remembered the melody.

They say there will be another party when we reach Medicare at 65 in two years.  You know what?  I think I'll go.  And I'm going to encourage the rest of my smart friends to go too.

Smarter Car

Art and I have laughed over the fact that we both kept trying to figure out the Prius GPS system, but it refused to work when I kept trying to program it.  It would work occasionally when we were out, but most of the time would stop in the middle and not let me continue to punch in the address.

It took us way longer than it should have to discover that the Prius purposely prevents people from working on the GPS while they're driving.  You can program it when you're stopped at the stop light or on the side of the street, but not while it's in operation.  Makes sense.  Toyota doesn't want you fiddling with the programing while you're driving.

I'm sure if we read the manual more carefully we would have known that.

Tuesday morning I got into the driver's seat because I always drive us to the Farmer's Market.  I pressed on the brake and pressed the ignition button.  However, when I tried to reverse out of the garage it wouldn't listen to me.  I turned off the engine and tried again.  Nope.  Same thing.

Art and I switched places and doggone it!  The car reversed out of the garage.

I was convinced the Prius just didn't like me.  Art drove us to the Farmer's Market.

Art said I should be nice to the car and it might let me drive it home.  He reassured me that there shouldn't be anything wrong because he just took the Prius in the day before for servicing.

We did our shopping and it occurred to me that there was one little thing that might have been the problem when I was trying to start the car at home.

Can you guess?

I forgot to buckle my seat belt.  Sure enough!  When I got into the Prius and put on my seat belt first, the car allowed me to drive. (Art says I should have heard the seat belt warning signal.)

Art could hardly contain his mirth.  He insinuated that the car was smarter than me.  Sheesh!  So why doesn't it just turn off the lights by itself then?

POSTSCRIPT:  (January, 2013)  I take it all back!  It wasn't the seatbelt!  I tried it a couple of days ago and it started fine even though I didn't have my seatbelt on.  Now I don't know why it wouldn't let me start the car.