If You Avoid Reading About Politics, Come Back Tomorrow Please...

I now subscribe to theSkimm which condenses the daily news for "busy" working people. I might be retired, but I often find it fun to read this Cliff's Notes version of the news.

Here's what they wrote:

"President Trump is mad, saying all this Russian business is “fake news” made up by the Democrats. Dems are mad, saying Comey’s been unfairly tight-lipped given how many headlines he made about the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails just before the election. Republicans are mad because they want to know who’s been leaking info to the press."

theSkimm should also have mentioned that the FBI knew about Russia meddling in the U.S. election process since July, 2016 and seemed to be in no hurry to make a big deal of it like they did about Hillary's email NONnews just a few days before the election!

I know #45's approval ratings are now down to 37% which is supposed to be the lowest of any president in the last 70 years by March of their first term. What I don't understand is why it's even that high.

Art says it's because those Trump #45 supporters only watch Fox news and live in that bubble. Well, I decided to watch a little of Fox news ranting and just got super irritated. I guess I live in my own bubble too, but I watch and read news from all kinds of different sources. It's not just CNN or Time or theSkimm or Trevor Noah on Comedy Central that I love or NBC or CBS or ABC.

Art thinks it's hilarious because I've never actually paid close attention to politics before and now I'm actually taking time to read about it in the morning paper.

We know and love some #45 supporters because they are friends and members of our family. I just wish I understood better why and how they could think who they voted for is good for this country. Unfortunately we can't really talk about it because we don't want to burst their bubble and don't want them to burst ours either, not that I think they could.

So I guess we'll have to wait until they see how the environment is being polluted by the coal ash that's now being allowed to be dumped into streams. They'll see what happens now that oversight regulations to protect consumers have been removed over Wall Street after the financial crisis they caused in 2008-09. They're already starting to understand what will actually happen if the ACA/Obamacare is replaced by Ryan/TrumpCare. Meals on Wheels that Art volunteers for is going to be affected but many don't care because they're not poor or elderly or disadvantaged. Sigh...

I understand some bubbles are already starting to deflate in those red states that supported #45. I don't know what took so long.

OK... that's it! I'll stop my rant. Back to regular programming tomorrow.

Super Shuttle

Art was trying to find the best way to get from LAX (Los Angeles airport) to his sister's house and found that most services were extremely expensive or inconvenient. It could have cost almost as much to hire a taxi as the cost of the flight. Well... maybe not quite (I'm exaggerating), sort of.

His sister asked her friends and they recommended using the Super Shuttle. The Super Shuttle cost about $55 (one way) which Art's sister treated us to. That was a whole lot more reasonable!

We did manage to hit the afternoon rush hour when we landed in LAX and our shuttle had eight people in it. We had to make four stops before we reached our destination at around 7:00 PM. And yes, we were the last ones to be dropped off. Our flight to California took about 4.5 hours. The shuttle time was over 3 hours. And yet, we met some nice people on the shuttle. One couple was on our Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu.

Another poor fellow from Samoa had been waiting at the airport from 10:30 AM to be picked up by his son and daughter-in-law who didn't show up. He had no cellphone to call them with. He finally found help from a security officer who put him on the shuttle. When he got to this son's home, his credit card was rejected so he had to go back into the house to scrounge around to pay the fare. That was another half hour delay.

Our flight time back to Hawaii was 6 hours long, but the shuttle to LAX took only 2 hours since there was just one other couple. It would have been a shorter ride except that we hit the morning rush hour. Still it was actually great fun because this couple was divided in their political party affiliation. The wife was Republican and the husband was a Democrat but they were both very upset about #45. It was so much fun! The 2 hour ride passed very quickly and I was almost sorry to see the airport.

Will we use the Super Shuttle again? You bet!

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines has always been touted as the ON TIME Airline. And yes, when we've flown Hawaiian to California and even Australia they leave and arrive when they say they will or a little earlier.

However, our trip to California a couple of weeks ago was delayed due to a downpour. The flights coming in from the neighboring islands making the connection onto our flight were delayed so we left 20 minutes late.

The flight attendants were all very professional, warm and friendly.

Hawaiian Airlines might be the only airline that serves meals now unless you're flying to a foreign country. And having those complimentary meals are really helpful. I had snacks in my backpack on the way to California and never ate them.

I really enjoyed the breakfast on the way to California. The lunch on the way home was just OK. But it was complimentary!

They also offered a FREE Mai Tai on the way to LAX and a glass of wine with our meal on the way home to Hawaii which we declined. If Mom was with us you can bet she would have taken both.

On the other hand, you do have to pay $10 for a blanket and pillow which I didn't need. It was warm enough. There was a lady across the aisle from us who actually took off her shirt and sat with just a halter type top. That was a surprise.

Ummm... and entertainment? You have to pay for that too. No free movies. Good thing my son-in-law had installed movies on my laptop for us.

Ah well, I guess you can't have everything, but what we had was good enough.

Dessert!

Throughout our visit at Art's sister and brother-in-law's home, our desserts were always fruits or nuts. I loved their cara cara oranges, apples, home roasted pistachios and almonds, etc. Art's sister is such a great (almost) vegetarian cook that it was easy to get used to eating in such a healthy way.

For our last evening, Kay decided to make a rather sinful dessert for us. I've been told by many people that Art and Kay's mom was the best cook/baker in Honokaa. She made most things from scratch. Kay decided to make pudding just like her mom. Yikes! I didn't even know you could. I always thought it had to come from a box.

When I came down on our last full day in California, I found Kay standing in front of the stove patiently stirring a pot of pudding. She stirred and stirred and stirred. Then Art took over and stirred and stirred over a low heat just as their mom used to. They told me that they were often recruited to help with that chore.

In the evening, Kay took out these mini fillo shells. They were so cute!

Then we put on a sliced banana, a dollop of heavenly pudding, half a strawberry and topped it with gooey, very dark chocolate.

I know this looks big since I enlarged the photo, but it was actually very mini. Ummmm.... I ate four of them! And was it good? Oh my gosh! Yes!!!

Yummmm.....

Hmmmm.... We really should go back for another visit real soon.

POSTSCRIPT:

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Dinner With Friends

We went to the Netherlands in 2007 and met Jean and Mike on our tour. We were still living in Chicago at the time and they were from California not too far from Art's sister's home. We became good friends supporting each other during that long bike trip. Jean is also a teacher and kept me company throughout the journey as I struggled with biking on a sore butt.

Our last trip to California was four years ago. We couldn't believe how long it had been. Jean and Mike had taken us to Baci Anaheim then and we had a great time. We loved the food. We opted to go there again.

It was so wonderful to see them. We could just continue where we left off the last time as good friends so easily do.

Baci Anaheim was now called Baci di Firenze Trattoria.

Fortunately, Mike and Jean loved the selections they made. Unfortunately, we were not so lucky.

Art's eggplant parmesan was tepid and he didn't enjoy it as much as before and my chicken in a brandy sauce was just so so.

It didn't matter. We had so much talking about everything that we were one of the last tables to leave that evening.

Doesn't this photo look like the waiter was taking it from the ceiling? He was so much fun!

All in all, it was a wonderful, wonderful evening!

Now it'll be their turn to come to Hawaii.

Daiso in California vs. 99¢ Store

One of the stores we (me actually) love to go to when we are in Japan or South Korea is the Daiso store which is sort of a dollar store. I was excited to hear that there was a Daiso store not too far from my sister-in-law, Kay's home. Woo hoo!

However, she said I would probably enjoy going to the 99¢ store. And oh yes! That was loads of fun!

One of the things that caught my eye and I had to bring home to send to my kids was this cellphone stand. I texted the kids quickly to ask them if they wanted blue, purple or pink. They all said, "Anything but pink!" There were tons of pinks and few of the blue and purple. I guess most people feel the same way.

A few days later we went to the Daiso store where everything was about $1.50.

For just $25 I had loads of fun. Art was shaking his head a lot knowing I might not make good use of everything.

But heeey...

Some people go to Vegas to get their kicks. I go to the dollar store and take a gamble there.

Most dollar stores in Hawaii have gone out of business. And maybe that's a good thing since we're still working on downsizing. Sigh...

What To Do With Kumquats

While we were in California, we visited Art's cousin, Betty who has Alzheimer's at the retirement/assisted living home she and her husband had moved to. We wondered how our visit would be since she no longer recognizes most people. Art called her husband who said they would love to have us visit.

We were amazed at what a beautiful place it was and how reasonably priced compared to Hawaii's retirement homes.

The best part was when Betty saw Art. Her face lit up and she gave him a wonderful smile of recognition reaching out with her arms from her wheelchair for a hug. Her husband was happy and surprised to see that another part of her memory still remained. I know Art's sister was also teary.

We were very happy to see how well Betty was cared for by the staff and how lovingly her husband supported her.

After taking them out to lunch, Betty's husband asked if we might like to pick some kumquats that were ripe and falling off the bushes at the back of the retirement home.

He told us that although the flesh itself is a bit sour, the skin of the kumquat is sweet and you can eat the whole fruit.

I was surprised to find it was true even though it looked a little like a miniature orange whose skin I would never eat.

Art's sister, Kay wanted to try making something with the fruit so on the way home I used my cellphone to look online for a recipe.

I found this recipe on this epicurious website.

On the way home, we picked up some spinach, cilantro and shallots and Kay prepared the salad for us. We LOVED it! Kay's husband said he'd really like for her to make it again.

And yummmm.... I wish we could be there when she does!

Spinach Salad with Almonds and Kumquats

Bon Appétit Test Kitchen Bon Appétit January 2010

Yield:  Makes 4 servings

Active Time:  20 minutes

Total Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients

o   1/3 cup thinly sliced seeded kumquats

o   2 1/2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

o   2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot

o   1 tablespoon vegetable oil

o   2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

o   1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

o   1 5-ounce package baby spinach

o   1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

o   1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

o   1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)

Preparation

1. Chop enough kumquats to measure 1 tablespoon. Mix kumquats, vinegar, shallot, vegetable oil, ginger, and sesame oil in large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add spinach, almonds, cilantro, sliced kumquats, and mushrooms, if desired.

Per serving (analysis includes mushrooms): 131.9 kcal calories, 67.1% calories from fat, 9.9 g fat, 0.8 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 9.4 g carbohydrates, 3.9 g dietary fiber, 1.8 g total sugars, 5.5 g net carbohydrates, 4.2 g protein

Nixon Library!

In the four decades of our marriage where we've gone to California to visit Art's sister and brother-in-law, we've never been to the Nixon Presidential Library which is within driving distance. Art read somewhere that the Nixon Presidential Library had been renovated and thought we should go and see it.

Art's sister had never been there either and was also curious to see what it looked like.

Whenever I think of Richard Nixon, the first thing that comes to mind is Watergate.

I just didn't have a good opinion of him and never wanted to see his library.

As soon as we entered, very friendly docents taught us a lot of historical facts that we didn't know.

There was so much about Richard Nixon I wasn't aware of or forgot.

We saw an interesting display of presidential White House china.

The first display was an acknowledgement of Watergate.

From there, we saw many of his accomplishments.

I didn't realize that he was the president who established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 where Art worked.

Yes, Art did know that. He says Reagan then tried to destroy EPA just as the Trump administration is now trying to do.

President Nixon achieved peaceful desegregation of schools in seven Southern states.

He also waged the War on Cancer in 1971, a $100 million project creating National Cancer Centers.

Title IX was signed in 1972 prohibiting gender bias at colleges and universities receiving Federal aid.

He signed the historic Paris Peace Accords in Paris in 1973 ending the war in Vietnam.

In 1972 he journeyed to China to begin the normalization of relations through historic meetings with Chinese leaders in Peking.

And so much more...

We saw a portion of the Berlin Wall that had been donated to the library.

One side had graffiti, the other side was pristine because anyone going near it was shot.

I enjoyed seeing Tricia and Julie Nixon's wedding gowns.

We took a moment to look outside at the beautiful pool.

There was also a replica of the Richard Nixon White House Oval Office.

The docents encouraged me to pick up the phone and pretend to speak to some dignitary.

During the Nixon years, the eagle is facing the olive branch for peace instead of the arrows which stand for war.

It was fun to see this letter that Elvis Presley wrote to President Nixon.

It was especially interesting for me to learn a lot more about First Lady Pat Nixon.

She worked hard as an ambassador for the United States traveling around the world.

The love that Richard and Pat Nixon shared was truly beautiful and touching.

We walked outside to the home where Richard Nixon was born and spent his boyhood.

This is the original house and is in the original location.

Both Richard and Pat Nixon's graves are next to the house.

I loved learning about Richard Nixon's family and how musically talented he was. He could play several instruments and was quite accomplished on the piano.

Would you believe I met another teacher while looking at the house and it turned out her group was from Chicago? She had even taught in the same school district where I taught (granted 20 years before). Small world!!!

Here's the presidential helicopter President Nixon used so he wouldn't tie up traffic.

At Richard Nixon's funeral service Bill Clinton said, "Today is a day for his family, his friends, and his nation to remember President Nixon's life in totality. To them, let us say, may the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close. May we heed his call to maintain the will and the wisdom to build on America's greatest gift, its freedom, to lead a world full of difficulty to the just and lasting peace he dreamed of." 

Oh yes, we were so glad we made the effort to go to President Nixon's library!

When we got home, here's the dinner that Kay made for us. It was truly a wonderful day full of learning and insight capped by a fabulous meal.

Din Tai Fung

For several years now, our son-in-law, Ed has told us about a magically delicious cuisine that he thoroughly enjoys. It's a pork soup dumpling at a restaurant called Din Tai Fung. Our daughter, Tiffany agreed that it's really a great thing to try.

Well... here we were in California with a Din Tai Fung restaurant within driving distance so we had to go. We were warned that there was always a line outside the restaurant so we made sure we went after the lunch hour rush.

When we arrived at 1:00 on a Sunday, we saw a short line and was excited, but then discovered that the wait would be 1-2 hours long if we added our name to the long list. We went home.

The following Tuesday, we called first to ask what the best time would be. The hostess said 2-5 PM was the best time. However, if we came now at 11:30 the wait would be about 1 hour.

Surprise! We walked right in and were seated at a table immediately. I texted my son-in-law who's been wanting us to try the restaurant for a long time.

He told us that we needed to have these particular dishes.

We ordered them, except for the red bean bun and everything was just as delicious as they said.

Our servers were all friendly and cheerful. Although there were lots of seats when we arrived, the place filled up immediately. We were lucky to have arrived just before the crowd.

I was fun to watch workers creating the dim sums (dumplings).

The green beans were tasty, super crispy and the best we've ever had. The spinach was flavorful. Yum! Their absolute specialty, pork xiaolong bao (pork soup dumpling) was fabulous! Everything lived up to expectation.

Art's sister and brother-in-law agreed that the dumplings filled with soup were the best! However we didn't try as many different dumplings as we would like to have tried.

The next time we're in California, you can be sure we'll be going back there again.

Landscape Designer Sister-In-Law

A couple of years ago when California was suffering through the terrible drought, homeowners were told to reduce their water consumption and redo lawns and gardens to use much less water. They eventually even gave funds to homeowners who were willing to transform their lawns to use minimum water.

Art's sister, Kay and brother-in-law decided to do their part. They went to the garden shop and paid for a rather expensive design which they hated. Luckily the shop offered to refund the cost of the design for store credit. They agreed and Kay did a lot of research to come up with her own design.

We were impressed with what they did with the front lawn. Much of the work was actually done by themselves which boggles my mind. Art's brother-in-law says people have actually stopped by to take photos of the front of the house. I won't show the front of house just to guard their privacy, but I'm going to show you a peak of the back.

Here's a photo first of Kay and Art. She was showing him their garden of vegetables and fruit trees. We loved eating all their oranges and wished we could hang around for the peaches and pears.

This was all a lawn at one time. What looks like swatches of grass here is Astro-turf.

Kay even selected the plants on her own. We were totally blown away! It was like walking in a botanic garden.

So aside from being an amazing healthy cook, we now know she is also a master gardener.

Visiting Family in California

We decided it was time to visit Art's sister and brother-in-law in California. Although they speak to each other every weekend, we haven't been back for a visit in ummm... four years.

One of the first things for us to consider was what to bring for omiyage (gifts). They have dietary restrictions so we had to really think. Art's sister loves fruitcake just as he does and I had found that fabulous recipe from Jalna's blog. I prepared three loaves for her. Eventually we got our gifts ready and we were on our way.

Once we got to California we had to again come up with a way to identify Art's sister and myself. For the first couple of days, every time he called us, his sister and I would both answer. Her name is also Kay! We eventually decided me would call me "Sweetie," like he often does at home.

Before we left Hawaii, we'd gone to Tripler to meet our new doctor since our nurse practitioner had retired. Sigh... We missed Kathy, but now love Dr. Jeanne too. Dr. Jeanne says she feels diabetes is reversible and considers me now PREdiabetic. I love it. She suggested we watch Forks Over Knives on Netflix or Amazon.We watched it in California since we don't subscribe to Netflix or Amazon in Hawaii.

Our meals were fabulous and very healthy.

Here was one example.

Art's sister is very health conscious and served us delicious meals that contained 75% vegetables. The kinpira gobo (burdock root) was sent as a gift by my mother.

I tested the glucose in my blood later in the evening and it was 95. You can have up to 140 and be safe. I was very happy.

It was good to be in California.

Tuna Can Non-Improvement

I was trying to show mom how to use that little kitchen gadget that will squeeze out water or oil from the tun can.

Would you believe it no longer works?

They did a little improvement on the tuna can by adding that flip top. Unfortunately, the tighter rim now prevents the gadget from going down far enough to be able to squeeze out fluids from the tuna.

Sigh...

Another improvement that has made a gadget obsolete.

Sigh...

Now that I think about it, I don't carry my small camera anymore, nor do I wear a watch.

What else is obsolete now?

Mom's Beiju Present

Mom got a surprise present in the mail yesterday. It was from the Buddhist temple that she belongs to. Granted she only goes for special ceremonies or holidays, but she does pay a membership.

The mailings she gets from the temple are in English so she often doesn't understand or doesn't even bother to read what they're informing her.

It was a surprise to realize she'd missed a New Year party where those seniors who were celebrating their 88th year in 2017 were being honored.

I got this wonderful explanation from the blog, Good and Bad Japan.

"...the 88th birthday is one of the big ones in Japan and the family felt a celebration was appropriate. It is called beiju in Japanese and seems to be celebrated because the kanji characters for 88 (八十八) can be superimposed onto each other to make the kanji character for rice (米). This character can have the pronunciation bei, and rice, apparently, is quite fortuitous."  (Mom says this is absolutely correct.)

"I  never thought I'd live to be 88! Thank you. I've been very lucky. And now I've got my third great grandchild about to be born," Mom smiled cheerfully.

We heard her laughing on the way to her room to take a happy nap.

POSTSCRIPT:
In answer to many of the comments, much as I would love to have another grandchild, this will be my first grandniece.  She will be born in April and needless to say we are all excited about it.

Brutally Honest Report Card

Before our kids were born, Art told me about a report card comment he'd gotten from his teacher in elementary school. He said the report card stated that he was tone deaf or monotone or whatever and that he couldn't sing. That's what he remembered. The comment somehow stuck with him and he was always self conscious about singing. In fact, except for a few songs that he likes, music isn't something he goes out of his way for.

My mother used to constantly sing to us when we were children and had a beautiful voice. I understand she was even in a talent show a long time ago. She still listens to music whenever she's cooking and loves to watch musicians on TV. She's always fostered that love of music with my brother and me.

Despite his own experience, Art did encourage his own children to learn to play musical instruments. Then one day while going through some things that were stored in a steamer trunk from his parents' home, he came across that report card. And there was the comment.

It's interesting how that comment, though he laughs about it, must have stung and stayed with him so that he lost confidence in his ability to  carry a tune. He was in the 4th grade and is probably the only D he's ever gotten in his life. As expected he did get As in reading comprehension, math skills, etc.

On the other hand, he got this certificate from Governor Quinn about his driving and to this day, he feels he is an excellent driver and has driven all over the mainland and in other countries.

As for his singing, I heard him singing along with the whole class after tai chi and he wasn't monotone. OK... maybe it took him over 60 years, but he can now sing.

Rooting Powder!

One year ago, we had lunch with Honolulu Aunty and she gave me a cutting from her Euphorbia which is in the same family as poinsettias.

Her little cutting took hold in our garden and grew beautiful, delicate flowers. Honolulu Aunty said she bought it at Lowes or Home Depot and it was called Diamond Delight.

I noticed that the slugs didn't want to eat it.

Yay! Finally a plant that slugs don't care for!

I decided to propagate it.

I stuck cuttings in water and several of them rooted within a week and a half or so. I then planted the cuttings in the garden and they've done well although they are slow growing.

Then I remembered something we learned at Art's bonsai club. They mentioned a rooting powder that contained some kind of plant hormone.  I found one kind of rooting powder for under $5 at Walmart. I followed the directions and took some cuttings of the euphorbia and moistened them in water.

Then I dipped them in the rooting powder and stuck them in a pot of soil.

I kept looking at the cuttings every morning and saw that the leaves were drooping. However, the cuttings with leaves seemed to be faring better than the ones with only flowers.

One morning, I saw that one of the cuttings with only flowers looked pretty dead so I pulled it out. What a surprise! There were roots. I quickly stuck it back into the pot.

I now have a bunch of rooted cuttings that I've planted around the garden. The best part is that the slugs have left them alone.

OK, that was fun! I wonder what else I can try to root.

Data Hacking at Charging Stations

There's so much I DON'T know about computer spams, viruses, etc. Every time I relax, I hear about some new way that all your personal information can be stolen through cellphones, computers, and other devices.

Well... I just heard on the news that it's sometimes dangerous to use the usb charging stations at the airport, airplane or public charging areas because plugging your cellphone or other device into those usb ports can open you up to hackers. I got the following from the Tech Republic website.

"To best protect yourself, use your own USB cable and your own USB power adapter, and plug them directly into the wall power outlet. If you cannot find a wall outlet, use a trusted portable battery pack instead."

 So you have to look for a regular power outlet and not use the usb charging areas.

I looked online and found this usb data blocker-charge only thingy. There are all kinds on Amazon.

Art tells me I don't have to freak out until we figure out what kinds of adapters, chargers, and whatnots we already have.

I know I've used those charging stations at airports before. Aha! I just remembered something! A couple of years ago, we were traveling internationally and I used one of those charging stations to charge Art's Fire and my iPad. All the data died on his Fire and he lost everything. We couldn't figure out why that happened, but he had to reload what he could. The maps he'd downloaded onto the Fire for the trip were all gone.

Hmmmmm....

I shall have to ask my techie son-in-law what we should do.

POSTSCRIPT:

OK, I just got an answer from him.

He says if I just use my power charger that I already have, it's good enough. He also says most airplanes already have an outlet where I can plug this in.

Whoopie!