Belated Wedding Photos

My daughter, Tiffany and her husband, Ed will be celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary this year.  One of our gifts to them way back then was a rather pricey wedding photo album.  Unfortunately, we've never had photos printed for it.  My brother, Dennis was going to work on them, but as it sometimes happens the project got away from us. Tiffany never made clear choices on which photos should be printed for the album so we couldn't work on it. 

Now our granddaughter is six years old and I know she would love to see her mommy looking so pretty.  Since I've finished the trip albums, I'm now staring at that empty wedding album in my office.

With the advent of Photoshop technology in the last 12 years, I can now play with these photos.

The church was very dark so taking photos was a challenge.

With Photoshop, I was able to fix the lighting so you can see our son, Jon coming through the doorway.  He had returned from Mali, West Africa where he'd been serving with the Peace Corps.  We were so happy to have him home for a week so he could be with his sister before returning to his village.

Here's Art about to walk Tif down the aisle.  It was just a few seconds before I dissolved into tears.

The lighting was a bit yellowish so I was glad to be able to lighten and change it to a more natural color.  Ed and Tif were now ready to say their vows.

I changed the light color again and took away the bottom of the cross since it seemed to be dropping right down on Tif's head.

There are tons of gorgeous photos.  I'm just showing the ones I played with.  Dennis actually told me not to work on anything because he'd rather do it himself correctly.  However, I couldn't resist playing with the techniques he taught me.  He's probably created a monster.

As a little joke on her name, they had a wedding cake made to look like Tiffany boxes.

OK... that's all.  I'm going back to choosing photos now.  Tiffany says she trusts me to make the executive decisions and she knows what her uncle can do.

Underwire Bras and Cancer?

My dear cousin mentioned having read in a forwarded mail that underwire bras cause breast cancer.  I decided to read up about it online:

I found it debunked in many, many creditable sources.  This breastcancer.org site explained what the myths were.  This post written by that site was called Common Fears With No Evidence: Antiperspirants and Bras.

• Antiperspirant chemicals are absorbed through the skin, block the release of toxins when you sweat, and cause these toxins to build up in the breast.
• Underwire bras cause breast cancer by blocking the drainage of lymph fluid from the bottom of the breast so it can't get back into your body.

Several other sites reported that the study that seemed to prove that underwire bras cause breast cancer didn't take into account family history, weight, etc.

So we can rest easy again.  I used to wear nothing but non-underwire bras before, but nowadays it's hard to find them.  They all have that stiff wire.

Sears was having a 40% off sale on their Maidenform bras BEFORE I read up on this breast cancer/underwire scare so I went to check out whether they have wireless ones and found one I liked. Granted the Small one with the cup that fit perfectly was too tight around the chest.  The Medium wireless that fit around the chest was too big you know where.  Sigh...  In fact, if you're anything more than a 32, the Small is tight.   And the shoulder straps are not adjustable.

Luckily I have a bra extender for the Small so it works beautifully and is quite comfortable so far.  I'm going to wear it to Zumba and really check it out.  It wasn't very cheap.  $22 regularly priced at $36, but I like it.

By the way, wearing this bra does not make anybody look like that model.  Shucks!

Art wants to know why the heck I have so many different bras in my drawer.  Ummm...

I'm just glad ladies don't have to wear corsets anymore.  It's hard enough to find a comfortable bra.  Guys don't realize how easy they have it.

POSTSCRIPT 1:  I just bought a Warners wire free bra at Ross.  It cost only $11!  This time the cup was the right size, but the chest was not tight enough.  Ah well...  Don't tell Art.

POSTSCRIPT 2:  I found another one at the Navy Exchange.  It was Hanes for $13.99 and it's perfect!  Woo hoo!

Why I Need My Smart Phone

Technology does have its downsides.  There are dangers that you should avoid, but those are the same dangers you might have when you turn on your computer... sort of.  Granted, your mobile smartphone can be stolen with your information on it so you SHOULD password protect it. 

It's really too late for me to give up my iPhone now.  That "horse has already left the barn."

I keep my iPhone with me whenever we leave the house.  Art and I use it to

...check e-mail.
...find the best gas prices.
...check Yelp for restaurant information.
...check for phone numbers and addresses.
...check for traffic problems.
...take photos, store photos.
...store recipes.
...keep a memo listing things I need to get if I'm ever at a certain store.
...get reminders for birthdays and appointments.
...find the store that has the best price for an item I can scan with the phone.
...text.
...use Facetime to see my children and grandchild no matter where we are.
...read a Kindle book if I'm somplace without my Kindle or iPad.
...watch a little video.
...track how far and where you walked.
...listen to Pandora radio.
...play games.
...check my blog.

You get the idea.

Recently, we were at the store and we wanted to buy my granddaughter a dress from Hawaii.  We couldn't make up our mind from all the choices available so I quickly emailed this photo with my iPhone to my daughter who replied right away.  She sent a text saying what size we should get and which she thought would look well on KC.

Our six year old granddaughter has taken the phone and shown us her surroundings, what she's looking at in particular and explain what she's doing using the Facetime video. 

Can I give this up?

Nope.  No way.

POSTSCRIPT:  I forgot to mention that I also use the smartphone to make phone calls.

Poker Face?

We were at Ross when the cashier told me the pack of socks I was going to buy had only three pairs and asked if I wanted to still buy it.  I said I'd go and see if I could find another set like it.  I rushed over and reported back to the cashier that there weren't any so she said she'd just give the three pairs for 50% off which was perfect since I didn't need to buy six pairs.

As we were leaving the store Art laughed and said the cashier told him that I made "cute faces."

He reminded me of my friend, Diane's uncle who used to tell Art at dinners that I had the face of a comedian and he could just sit at the table and watch my expressions which would keep him entertained all night.

I didn't believe them.

I don't make faces on purpose.  I don't know what I look like when I'm talking.

I really don't.



When we went to Zippy's later for lunch, there was a toddler at the next table.  He kept bending over backwards as far as he could in order to look at me and make faces and laugh.  What did I do?  Make faces back, of course.

Well, what can I say?

I can never play poker.

Hawaiian Bicycle Scam!

Good grief!  It's bad enough we have telephone scams, door to door scams, people who don't fess up to denting your car, drivers who don't stop for pedestrians, etc.  Now there's a bicycle scam going on in Hawaii that often targets women or seniors.

Apparently a person on a bicycle rides in front of a car and pretends to get hurt.  He then pressures the driver to pay him off  so the driver's insurance won't go up.  He'll even take the person to the nearest ATM so they can come up with the money.

The Star-Advertiser reported one young woman who was pressured into paying $500.  We were talking about this and one of my friends actually knows the father of that woman. 

The news report says that people in Hawaii will often make a mutual monetary agreement to avoid involving the insurance company or police.  The police sometimes don't know when the accident is legitimate or a scam.  The police advises anybody who thinks they are being scammed to call 911 and report it because most scammers don't want it reported. 

This almost makes you want to take the bus, but make sure you look both ways before you cross the street.

China Tour Debriefing Party

Our tour to China was incredible and we all had such a great time.  However, the thing that stood out for us was how our group gelled and became a family unit caring and sharing with each other.

We were dreading the day when we would all be parting, so Art and I "volunteered" to host a post-tour get-together which eased our separation knowing we'd see each other again.

Art and I have been on a few other tours to Turkey, Egypt/Jordan, Netherlands and Alaska.  We enjoyed all the people we met immensely, but aside from Jean and Mike who became long lasting friends after the Netherlands, we've drifted away from everyone else.   We certainly wouldn't have been able to have a post tour party because everybody lived in different corners of the US.   Hawaii is different, of course.  Except for one couple who live on the Big Island, the rest of us live on Oahu.

This past Saturday was the BIG day.  I wondered what it would be like.  Would we still feel the same even though we no longer spend almost every waking minute together in a foreign place?

Soon... everybody arrived.  Joyous hugs, kisses and smiles confirmed that nothing had changed. We were still a loving travel family.


Mom took this photo of our fun group for us.

We spent lots of time enjoying photo albums that Roy and Chieko had made.  We talked about termites, ants, cockroaches, illnesses, other trips, health insurance, photography, plant diseases and of course, China.  We shared our albums from China and the National Parks and gave out little goodie bags you can see on the table containing a few essentials for everyone's next trip.

The buffet table was groaning from the weight of all the dishes.

(We didn't take many photos because we were too busy talking to everybody.)

There were spinach rolls, little pizza hors d'oeuvres on English muffins, Korean salad (all made by Janet and Richard), taro duck (Allwyn and Audry gave DVDs of all the photos he took), crispy gau gee min noodles (Roy and Chieko also gave everyone DVDs of their photos and videos), lucky bamboo plant, beer, grilled steak (from master griller Gerald and Eva), a huge sushi platter, barbecued teriyaki chicken (compliments of Pearl and Guy) and Mom's famous macaroni salad.  I also served some grilled veggies in olive oil and Italian seasoning, mango slices and pickled cucumbers.  Darn!  I forgot to take a photo of the desserts.  Mandy and Marilyn brought a Magic Cake and Orange Chiffon cake (along with beautiful anthuriums).  Janet also made a fantastic apple crisp.   

The lovely thing about Hawaiian pot lucks is that at the end of the evening, everybody gets to bring home food for the following day.  We were able to savor all the left overs at Sunday's dinner.

As Pearl said so many times, "The best part of the tour was the friendships and camaraderie we all shared".  And we're still not saying goodbye.  Allwyn and Audry have volunteered to host the next party!

Japanese Words That Are Now English

I have recently been hearing anchors and reporters using the word skosh on the TV news and it would startle me because it sounds so much like the Japanese word sukoshi which means a little.  I finally looked it up on line and sure enough, it's true.  Skosh does come from sukoshi.

The Japanese appear to have adopted a lot of English words into their vocabulary.  I keep overly hearing the word "cool."  I know words like sushi, tempura, sake, wasabi come from Japan, but they're Japanese foods so I expected that.  Japanese games and words like tsunami are also now part of our language.

But skosh?  There are other synonyms you can use for few.  A little, paltry, sprinkling, a bit, tiny amounts, scattering, scarcely, hardly?  Then again, I do like skosh.  It's got a fun sound to it.

I told mom and she said, "Tycoon is also Japanese."

"No way," I said.

"It's true," she smiled rather .... smugly.  "It comes from taikun which means the shogun."

I looked it up.  Doggone it!  She was right. 

I'll tell her...

tomorrow.

The Agony of Beating Egg Whites

I've explained many times before that I am not a good cook or a good baker.  I would measure my ingredients to an 1/8th of a teaspoon if the recipe called for it. And what's a pinch anyway?  Is that like a dash?  Sheesh!

One thing that's been really upsetting me is when my egg whites refuse to beat.  It's so totally frustrating!  I was making a cornbread recipe to go with my chili.  I took out all the ingredients and laid them out on the counter.  Then came the part where I had to whip 5 egg whites.

I washed the eggs.  (Who knows what's on the egg shells?) Then I used this Hilo egg separator that's probably 50 years old.  Some of the yolks broke and a little of it fell into the egg whites... a little water from the washed shells too.

Then I started whipping it with the highest power I have on my hand held mixer.  Nothing happened.  Nada.  Zero whip.  Flat.  Aggravation.  I checked the egg box and saw that the eggs weren't expired.  This had happened before, but I thought it was because the eggs were old.

Tonight.  Finally.  I looked online and found several sites telling me everything I did wrong.  Why didn't I check before?  This is what I learned.

1.  You should use a copper, stainless steel or glass bowl to whip the egg whites. 
2.  The yolks will separate from the whites easier when they are cold.  However, the whites will whip higher if allowed to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3.  The bowls and beater must be completely clean.  The smallest trace of yolk, water or fat will prevent the whites from reaching maximum volume.  (Darn it!)
4.  Start whipping slowly and then build up the speed.  Do not overbeat.

So there you have it.  You probably already knew this, but it was a revelation for me.  I'm going out tomorrow to buy a better egg separator... and more eggs.

My cornbread?  It was OK.  It just wasn't fluffy.

Keeping Your Privacy

 KGMB news reported the other night about the dangers of photos you take with your iPad or iPhone and post on Facebook, Twitter, whatever.  I don't know if it would be the same on blogs. I hope not. It freaked me out until I checked.

Apparently, your smartphone or tablet cameras have something on it that stores Metadata (type of camera, latitude and longitude of location), etc.  If you don't turn off that location beacon and then post it online (I don't know if it's just your Facebook and Twitter) anybody who has that free app can find you, your home or  your loved ones.  Does that make your hair stand on end?  It did me.  I felt a cold chill go up my spine.

Apparently there was some soldier on a secret mission who posted such a photo online and exposed his location.  John McAfee, the millionaire who has that antivirus software company gave out his location when he was hiding away from authorities just by posting some photos.

I checked both my iPhone and iPad and saw that either my son-in-law or son had already changed the settings on my phone so I was OK.  Here's how you do this if you don't want that kind of information out for all the world and its predators to find.

First go to your Settings icon.

Click on Privacy and then Location Services.

Now go to Camera and turn it OFF.

This is all you have to do.  So they say.  There's just too much about technology that I don't know. 

Please let me know if there's something else I should be doing.

Where You Grad?

One of the first questions you ask when you meet someone new in Hawaii is, "Where you grad?"  (Translation:  What high school did you graduate from?)

It doesn't matter if you graduated from Harvard.  The important thing to know is which high school did you graduate from.

If you graduated from Waipahu as I did, the person will know I was probably an unsophisticated country girl from the sugar plantation.  If you graduated from Radford, you might have been a military kid.  If you graduated from McKinley, you're a hot shot city kid.  If you graduated from Punahou, your parents were probably rich or had some kind of connection.  Everybody here in Hawaii knows President Obama graduated from Punahou.  (Art just said, "Wait, what about Honokaa?")

Once you know where a person graduated from high school, you can name the other people you know who graduated from that school and ask about siblings or other relatives.

I've had lots of occasions where someone has said something like, "Aren't you a Waipahu grad?  What year?  Did you know so and so's brother or sister?"  And so it goes...

We were one of the last few classes that graduated from Waipahu High School before they built a new one down the street and turned the old one into a middle school.

I guess high school is important here because it is the last springboard from which everybody dives into the wider pool of their lives, often taking us outside the confines of small towns and possibly off the shores of our islands.

So... then... what do you ask when you meet a new person?

Jury Duty Scam

My dear friend, Myrtle sent me this forwarded message that I felt is worth posting because it's so easy to be scammed this way.  I did check it out on Snopes on my own and it's something that's been forwarded around the country since 2005.  However, it happens to be true.  I figure it's worth the warning to be careful about personal information that you might be coerced into revealing over the phone.

JURY DUTY- DO NOT DELETE WITHOUT READING

This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below).

Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously,

but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new

and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury duty coordinator.

If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scam artist asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant.

Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including  Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado, AZ and more.

This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system.

The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm

And here:

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

A Letter From a Fallen Comrade

Art was buying our lunch and I was waiting at a table by myself at the Navy Exchange food court.  A man passed by and asked if he could sit in the spot next to me in the crowded eating area.  I don't know who spoke first.  It was probably me.  It was taking so long for our Yummy's meal to be prepared that this fellow and I started chatting.  John was his name and he said he liked Popeye's chicken.  I thought he might be Filipino from his slight accent and appearance, but he said he was Guamanian.

This was so intriguing.  John was the first Guamanian I'd ever met.  He told me all about Guam and the people who lived there.  They have their own language. The Chamorros are the first indigenous people and Guam has a long history of European colonization starting with Magellan.  Many people from other countries were brought in to Guam through the years so he said he's probably a mixture of all the races. He also mentioned that it's hot, humid and had changed dramatically over the years.

I asked John if he was shopping, and he said that he was actually returning from PTSD (Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder) counseling at the Vet hospital.  John had two tours of duty in Vietnam during that terrible war and needed help to recover from the agonies he'd suffered through.

As part of his treatment for survivor's guilt, John told me how he'd written a letter to a dear friend who'd died next to him during the war.  He then went a step further and wrote what he imagined his friend would write back to him.  What he told me was in the letter was so powerful that I asked him if I could share it in my blog.  John said people at the VA liked his letter so much that they submitted it to the Hawaii Pacific Regional contest.  He won 1st place.  It went on to be submitted to the national contest where he won 1st again.

 John very kindly gave me permission to print the letter and our photo together.  He said he hopes the letter he wrote will help others who must deal with trauma and the pain of losing someone dear to them.

Here is the letter that John wrote:

A LETTER FROM A FALLEN COMRADE

Dear John,

I was so surprised to receive a letter from you especially, on Veterans Day. I knew you hadn’t forgotten about me. You and I had bonded just like brothers since our very first day in combat. I’ll never forget our true friendship no matter where I am. 

I am doing fine here and it’s really a peaceful place to be. You know you're right, I'm still young and I have not changed a bit. I did not have a chance to grow and experience much of life on earth, but I'm here in spirit and at peace.  One thing for sure, we finally connected with each other. You know, it takes two to build a bridge of communication, even in spirit. From now on, let’s stay in touch.

Sorry for leaving without saying good bye. My life expired unexpectedly. I’m so happy to hear that you were saved. Look! With your action, you saved the rest of the platoon. You and the guys were not ready to depart with us yet. It took courage and strength to do what you did. Sorry to hear that you have been suffering from your poor health and combat trauma with emotional behaviors, memories, pains and guilt. Buddy, you cannot continue living like this.

I want you to know that you have come a long way since receiving treatment for your poor health and emotional suffering. Your memories and pains are there for life and can only be temporarily treated just like your psoriasis. But, suffering; you cause it within yourself.  Learn to overcome this emotion so it can be healed. It’s not easy to express yourself. But, do not give up.

I remember when I was growing up, my Grandpa said, “Life isn’t about surviving a storm, it’s about dancing in the rain.” The beginning is the most important part of your work. You have already started it. Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter. Pain is temporary; quitting is forever.

Please do not blame yourself for my loss. It was just time for me to go. You have suffered long enough for this. What I want from you is for you to move on with your life, enjoy it with your family and friends. You’ll be surprised. Lots of nice things will happen and you’ll be blessed. I’ll always be there with you in spirit from now on. We will both walk the path in your journey as you continue to heal from your suffering. You deserve that sense of peace, connection and joy. Take care. Stay in touch.

                                                              Your combat brother,

                                                                  James F.

                                                                                                                                   

In memory of a fallen brother, RVN TET OFFENSE of 1968

Friday, February 13^TH 1968

POSTSCRIPT:
I received this letter from John after my post came out.

Kay,

I went to your blogspot.com and read the comments. In return, I felt very emotional to hear their comments. It’s like reaching out for help, thinking they’ll not understand my suffering and  pains that I have been living with due to my survival guilt losing my close friend in combat.

Their comments are comforting and touching. I will share this with my PTSD counselor and fellow veterans.

It’s really good that others can understand. It takes a lot to find trust in sharing with others except with another veteran. They have been there and understand what we went through.

Kay and Art……..A big  MAHALO to you and your readers.

Aloha,

John