What Do I Know?

Art and I rented The Artist from Redbox since it did win the 2011 Best Picture Academy Award.  Frankly, I was pulling hard for The Descendents to get the Best Picture.  I happen to like George Clooney and OK... it was filmed in Hawaii.

We knew it was going to be a silent film.  We knew that it was more or less a glossy tribute to Hollywood.

But I was still pretty bored.  A lot of silent film techniques were used for the film and it does represent a pivotal time in the movie industry.

But I was bored.... except for UGGIE, the Jack Russell Terrier in the film.  He was the  only actor that made the film watchable for me.

All this shows what a terrible movie critic I would be because all the professional critics LOVED the film (in the U.S. and France).  The Artist won all kinds of acclaim and won a HUGE bunch of awards.

I was still bored.  I think it needed Waikiki Beach or at least an aloha shirt in there.  George was robbed.  Bitter?  Who's bitter?

Making Leis With Ti Leaves

Art will be attending his 50th High School reunion in September and his classmates are carefully planning for what will be a fun event for them.  He'll be attending with a fellow classmate who lives up the street from us. In fact, it's amazing how many of his Honokaa classmates live very close to us.

Today, was a ti leaf lei making session.  They will be having all the alumni wear these ti leaf leis.

Art was told to collect ti leaves and to bring them to a restaurant where they would all be making leis.

We started collecting ti leaves last week.  He was told that ti leaves can be put in the freezer to preserve them.

I helped by cutting out the center rib from the large leaves.

The split leaves were tied at the ends and rolled much like you do hair.  Art says I should be grateful because all the guys were talking together and had given up on learning how to perfect this craft.  He kept with it and sat with the ladies so I'd have something to blog about.

Once this part was done, it was time to make the roses.

He had a hard time explaining to me how to fold the leaves to make the petals.  It does take a bit of practice.

Eventually, you can get a pretty nice shiny green rose.

He took this photo at the restaurant.

And he says this is what the finished product is supposed to look like, except it would be twice as long after joining the strands together.

People in Hawaii have always celebrated happy occasions with leis made of flowers, leaves, shells, seeds and other natural materials.

When our daughter, Tiffany graduated from the University of Illinois, we asked my brother to send us a maile lei for her to wear.  Maile leis are quite costly, but it was worth it.

We could spot her in the audience easily.  Needless to say she was the only one wearing a maile lei.  I'm sure she shared the scent of aloha with her classmates.

When I graduated from high school, my aunts brought over these gorgeous leis.

There were more leis at my University of Hawaii graduation with my mother four years later.

Leis are getting even more original and creative these days.  I did roll up $10.00 bills with colored tissue to make Jon a money lei when he graduated from the New Mexico Fire Fighting Academy several years ago.  The  only problem was he didn't want to take it apart for the longest time.

What would you use?  

Trying Another Restaurant: Daiichi Ramen & Curry

We got this coupon for 50% off the second lunch entree at the Daiichi Ramen and Curry restaurant so we decided to try it.

Mom said she didn't want to go because she was really concentrating on writing her memories down (in Japanese) of our trip to Japan in April for our album.

We went to the restaurant close by and were surprised that the interior was quite nice.  It looked very Japanese.  We went around 11:30 and there were quite a number of empty seats.

The servers were all polite and friendly.

I had the ramen with gyoza which was very good.  The dashi (soup) was just right.  The serving was HUGE.  I liked the choi sum better than the nappa that we're usually given at other places.

We never cared much for udon (thick noodles) before we went to Japan in April and was introduced to sanuki udon.

What a surprise to find sanuki udon so close by!  It was just as good as what we had in Japan.  Art had the udon with wun tun.

Our dishes were both $7.50 which is a little pricier than Zippy's or Shiro's, so the coupon was nice.

When we left the restaurant, we were surprised to see the place packed and quite a few people waiting outside for a table to open up.

We told Mom about the place and she says  she'll come with us when we go again.  I think we might try the curry next time.

POSTSCRIPT:  We did bring mom to Daiichi Ramen and Curry.  This time she and Art had the wakame udon which they said was much too salty.  Wakame is seaweed and we suspect it added more salt to the broth.  Whatever the case, Mom really liked the sanuki udon so we'll probably go back another time.

One of Those Days...

Life can be so full of ups and downs.

Thursday began about as down as you can get.  I got an e-mail from Illinois telling me that a friend had passed away.  Mrs. H was Dina's (Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo) teacher and loving friend.  Dina introduced Mrs. H to us and throughout our kids' young lives, spent many happy times in her woods.  It was sad to hear she was no longer with us.  Her memory will live on in our hearts, but for today, our hearts felt very heavy.

We went to tai-chi and spent a peaceful, beautiful time with Master Pong and many of the members of our tai-chi class.  We've gotten very close with a number of the people in our happy group.  We ended up staying very late to chat with two other couples.

Picked up our tofu at Honda Tofu.  Our mood was lifting.

Went to Costco.  Shopped quickly.  Had half a hot dog and a latte freeze.  Some tai-chi people were there and told us to take their table since they were leaving and the place was crowded.  Another couple we knew recognized us and came to chat.

We were very happy and the day was bright and clear.

Got to our Prius.  It wouldn't start.  What? 

Called AAA.  They said they'd send a tow truck.  We waited and then got back in the car.  Art tried the ignition again.  It started.  What the heck?

Called AAA.  Cancelled the tow truck.

Gas was low so we decided to go to the Navy gas station before heading home to drop off the fresh tofu.  Filled the car.  Started the ignition.  Nothing.

What?

Called Servco Toyota.  The girl said we should call AAA and have the car towed to the dealership.  "Don't jump start it," she said.  "If you jump start it we won't know what's wrong with it. You can leave the car there.  The next appointment is in about five days."

Called AAA....again.  They said they would send a tow truck, but they wouldn't be able to drop me off at home first with the tofu before going to the dealership.  Art was planning to jog home from the dealership.  I did not want to jog in the hot sun.  I wouldn't even jog in the dark.  However, I was resigned to walking home for a couple of miles anyway.

The tow truck person came and said he could jump start it.  I was all for it.  Woo hoo!  Love that tow truck guy!

We drove the Prius home, dropped me off with the tofu and Art took the car to the dealership.

The dealership Art took it to apologized profusely and said they would fix it in an hour while Art waited in the air conditioned office. (This was a different dealership from the one he called earlier.) The best part was that it was covered in the warranty.  Apparently it was a defective cell in the smaller whatchamacallit battery.

Really?  Free?

Mrs. H., Jon and Tif in H's woods

It's been a day of downs and ups and downs and ups.  But then, isn't life just like this?

We did end the day with Art buying a 30 pound watermelon.

I'm picturing Mrs. H smiling down at us right now.... and we're smiling right back.

Tif and Jon

My header photo is of our children, Tiffany and Jon in 1977 after a busy day at Disneyland.

I've written before how I'd told Tiffany when she was almost three years old that Jon would always belong to her too.  She'd been crying in her bedroom late at night when Jon was about six weeks old.  She said we weren't proud of her anymore.

Ouch!  It was a stab through a mother's heart.

Once we told Tif that Jon belonged to her, everything changed and remained that way ever since.

One of my favorite photos of them is when we were returning from going to Disneyland with their Aunt Kay (Art's sister).

Tif and Jon were inseparable as young children.

 

When Tiffany got that Cabbage Patch doll she desperately wanted, Jon was thrilled for her.

It took a bit of adjustment when Tif left for college.  Jon wrote her a letter asking who would be his style consultant when she was going to be so far away.    It sure couldn't be his mom.

When Tiffany got married, Jon took a short leave from his Peace Corps assignment in Mali, West Africa to stand with his favorite sister.

As little children they squabbled over a million things but never stayed angry.

They are about as different as a rabbit and a horse (their Asian zodiac signs).

Tiffany is very feminine and Jon has an extra share of testosterone.

However, they learned how to get along and rely on each other.  When Jon left for college and Art and I became empty nesters, we had to learn to talk to each other because we used to spend most of our time listening to them talking all the time.

Many years ago, Jon said if Tiffany married someone who mistreated her, her husband would have to answer to her brother.  When Jon found Sarah, Tiffany was relieved that he'd found someone who was as adventurous, smart, brave and off the beaten path as he was.

Now Tiffany and Jon lead separate and very different lives.   And yet, I think they'll never be apart.

Have You Tried Redbox?

We'd never tried Redbox before but have seen the red kiosks here and there.

We used to do Netflix, until they pretty much doubled their monthly fees.  We considered Netflix streaming, but didn't think their streaming had many movies we wanted to see.  We cancelled our Netflix just because we were irritated with their tactics.

We soon found out that we didn't need Netflix.  We could read book, watch some TV shows on the computer and borrow movies from Blockbuster.  The only problem was that Blockbuster was also expensive.

After passing the Redbox kiosks countless times, we decided to check it out and borrowed a blue ray War Horse for about a $1.50.  We thought that was quite reasonable. 

Then we decided to try reserving online, went down and picked up John Carter.  War Horse was good, John Carter was not.  What a shame.  Art had just read the Edgar Rice Burroughs book and had been looking forward to seeing the movie.  He still enjoyed the movie, but could see why it flopped.  It helps to read the book.  I just rented The Help.

Redbox works ALMOST perfectly for us.  We just run down and pick up a movie if we feel like it.   If we go weeks without watching anything, no problem.  The only glitch is that they don't usually have the movie I really want to see.  Oh well...  Almost perfect is fine enough.

Spider Orchid?

About 7 years ago my childhood friend, Karen brought over an orchid plant that was in full bloom.  Her mom had tended it and presented it for my mom.  We'd never seen anything like it.

Mom took care of it, but it never bloomed again.

Then suddenly, a week or so ago I noticed the buds forming and then they bloomed.

I'd forgotten what they looked like.  I didn't know what its name was but I figured it must be something to do with spiders because that's sure what it looked like to me.

I googled it and discovered that there are zillions of different kinds of spider orchids.

Well... this must be the mother of the spider orchids because they are humongous!  My mother is rather proud of herself that she got it to bloom again after 6 or 7 years.  It's a good thing orchids bloom for a long time because I imagine it will be another 7 years before we see another one.

Do You Remember American Pie?

Art showed me this blog about American Pie and I thought it was really interesting.  I do remember how it was such a super long song that I couldn't understand, but wanted to move to.  It is surprising to learn it came in #5 in a survey about the Greatest Songs of the Century by the National Endowment For The Arts and the RIAA in 2001.  It beat out Over the Rainbow and White Christmas!

 
 However, what I thought was really a lot of fun was seeing this video of Weird Al Yankovic who I don't even know doing a parody of American Pie as a Star Wars Jedi.  He actually has a darn good voice and the song is hilarious.

Oh dear, now I can't get the tune out of my head.

Aloe, the Wonder Plant

There was a time I remember that mom got burned from an iron and was putting aloe on her arm.  I told her she needed to use modern medicine and I got her first aid cream.  Her burn took a long time to heal and left a scar.  Next time she burned herself, she used aloe and it healed quickly with almost no scarring.  This was a lesson I learned and absorbed.  I always kept an aloe plant close by after that.

When we were in Chicago, Art got a horrible electrical burn on his arm.  We wrapped it in aloe and he slept with his arm elevated, tied to a bedpost.  Yes, it did look weird... maybe kinky.  However, the burn healed within a week and you won't be able to tell now where it is.  The only proof of that incident would have been the melted blob on his wedding ring which I sanded off.  He was actually not happy that I repaired that ring.

On the 4th of July, Art burned his arm on the Weber grill.  It was a 2nd degree burn.  He didn't tell me about it until after my brother and nephew left.


I went to the back of the house and got a leaf from the aloe plant that my mother tends.

I cut the sharp pokey parts off and half of the hard outer skin.

Art balked at using this contraption I made at first.

I couldn't find a large enough piece of gauze to use so I stuck the non-slimy skin side of the aloe to the sticky side of the panty liner.  That kept the aloe in place and wouldn't fall out while he slept.  Then I used sports tape to fasten it to his arm.

The next morning, there was a little blistering, but no pain and seemed to be healing.

Aloe is also great for sunburns as is a wet teabag.

Sometimes, the old way is best.

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.