Have I Been a Fruitcake?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Really? 

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe I have been nutty as a fruitcake.

Being Polite to Alexa

This is just something funny that happened one night.

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

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

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

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

"Alexa, thank you." Art replied.

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

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

POSTSCRIPT:

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

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

We looked at each other and laughed.

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

Lighting Our Way Economically in Hawaii

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So OK.

We like it. 😄

Thank you, Terry. This was fun!

Shawn's Proud Auntie

I am Shawn's Auntie.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I love it! 

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

And I am his proud auntie.

Sneakier in Her Old Age

I can't remember when it started.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Intelligent and Wiser? Who?

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

Ummm...

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

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

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

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

Sigh...

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

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

Maybe.

For now.

POSTSCRIPT:

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

Hacked on Facebook?

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

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

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

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

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

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

I got a message back right away.

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

Hmmmm... 

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

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

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

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

Sigh...

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

So again...

We need to remember.

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

Be careful. Be very careful.

Humor Among Radiologists

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

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

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