Seattle

Art called Firefly Car Rental and the manager said they would honor the $208 price for 9 days.  Thrifty said we could return the car early and be charged the early return fee making the total about $160 for one day.  Therefore even after paying the $160 it would still be better than the $980 we would have had to pay Thrifty for the 9 days. (Art just reminded me that we even returned the car a day early so we were charged $186 for the 8 days by Firefly.)

Mom always wakes up early no matter how late she goes to sleep.

I'm sure she was busily recording all the headaches her son-in-law was suffering.

6:00 Breakfast at the La Quinta included waffles, fruit, coffee, juice, muffins.  Not bad.

Things were looking up.

And then it started to rain.

When we went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass we discovered that they opened at noon.  We thought it opened at 10 when we bought the online combo ticket.

It was the Space Needle that opens at 10 so that's where we went. 

We just wanted to get dry.

There was a large gift shop at the Space Needle.

On the way to the top of the Space Needle we were able to see the Chihuly Garden as well as the beautiful city of Seattle.

There was a camera on the observation level that you could use to take your photo and then email to several people.

We thought that was pretty cool!

Nearly noon we walked over to the Chihuly Garden and Glass.

The first exhibit was the Northwest Room.  The glasswork here shows how Chihuly was influenced by the textile and basket weaving of the Northwest Coast Indians and Navajos.

In the Sealife Room Chihuly took his inspiration from the ocean and Puget Sound.

This 15 foot tower of delicate glass was truly awesome.

There were people who were just lying down and enjoying all the colors and shapes in the Persian Ceiling room.

This room was called Mille Fiori.

Then we walked out to the garden.

You can see we're right next to the Space Needle.

A museum photographer took a free photo of us in the Glass House, and I was able to send it to our kids and my sister-in-law back in Hawaii.

After dropping mom and me off at the hotel to rest, Art and Dennis drove the silver Thrifty car back to SeaTac and returned with our blue Hyundai Accent from Firefly which was now open.

Art and Dennis walked in saying they were trying to call us from the airport but no one would answer.

Mom was resting in one room and I was out in the living room area.  The only phone was in the room where mom was resting.

"Did you get to rest?" asked Art.

"No," said mom.  "The phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing.  I kept waiting for Kay to answer it."

Ummm... I didn't have a phone in our room and didn't know the phone was ringing.  Mom never answers the phone at home because she assumes it's for us.

Ah well...

We got ourselves organized and drove to Pike Place Market.

Mom enjoyed seeing all the flowers again as well as the different shops.

We walked up cherry blossom laden Pike Street looking for a seafood restaurant.

And then the name of this restaurant caught our eye.

Pho Mililani?  In Seattle?

We just had to go and check it out.

Yes, the owners were from Hawaii and the aunt who named the restaurant is from Mililani.

And the pho?  It was lovely!

Right as our food was being served Art got a call from Comfort Inn in Vancouver about our reservation.

Art thought our next hotel was supposed to be Sunset.

After a great deal of confusion which I won't go into, it turned out that Comfort Inn was where we would be staying.  It's a good thing they called.

I'm surprised Art didn't get indigestion.

I rather liked this quote which we found on the sidewalk:

"I have always known that at last I would take this road.  But yesterday, I did not know it would be today."  by Ariwara no Narihira.

It sort of fit the situation.

These giant cookies ended our day on a sweet note.

Would tomorrow be easier?

HNL to SeaTac

The night before we left I checked the conditions in Skagit Valley and saw that the tulips fields were muddy.  They advised people to bring boots.

Ummm...  That would take up a lot of space in our luggage.  What the heck!  We don't even have boots!

I decided to get a bunch of smaller sized garbage bags and lined them with tape at the bottom.  My plan was to cover our shoes with the bags and secure them with rubber bands.




At 10:45 in the morning Art's classmate, Morris took us to Honolulu International Airport.




We grabbed a fast lunch at the airport since our flight was leaving at 1:10 PM and expected to arrive at 9:50 PM Seattle time.

It would be a 5 1/2 hour flight.

The legroom on the Hawaiian Airlines flight was EXTREMELY cramped.

However, Hawaiian Airlines is the only domestic airline that still serves food so we were able to grin and bear it.

No free movies.  You have to pay.

And blankets?  $10!


And then the person in front decided to lean back... waaay back.  Arrrgh!

Then again, Hawaiian Airlines is supposed to be the on time airline and it was.

We picked up our luggage quickly but I managed to shatter a fingernail on the handle.  Ouch!  Bad luck! We rushed over to the car rental area.

Art had made online car rental reservations at Firefly through Hawaiian Airlines.  They knew when our flight was.

When we got to Firefly, we found their counter closed!  They were the only company closed.  Apparently their hours of operation are 6 AM to 10 PM. We arrived at 10:20.

My son texted later, "You would think a company that is named after an insect which lights up at night would be open at night."

A sign at the Firefly counter said we should go to Thrifty.

When we went to Thrifty we learned that it would cost $140 for one day.  We considered the options of finding a taxi and decided on just renting a car from Thrifty for $980 for the 9 days.  We'd walked over to Dollar Rental and found they were charging over a $1000 for the 9 days.  Cars were priced higher because of spring break.

Art would find out later  when he got to his computer that his original car rental reservations at Firefly was $208 for 9 days.  Arrrgh!

When we got to La Quinta Inn we found that although they promised a parking space would be available, the space was so small that Art could barely get our car in.

We got to sleep at 1:00 AM.  It was a long, difficult, stressful, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad  beginning to our trip. 

Getting Ready to Leave Again

Written on March 28th,  2015

By the time you see this post we will have returned from our trip to Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria.  It's been difficult to plan for with the unseasonable Pacific Northwest weather and the traumas that has made our lives challenging in the last few months.

Quite a long while ago we'd originally scheduled to leave Hawaii on April 25th.  However Linda of Linda Letters and DJan of DJan-ity wrote to tell me that unseasonably warm weather was causing an early spring in Washington state.  After much discussion, we decided to move our trip forward to April 6th.  We had to pay about $1,000 for airline change fees.

With more than another week to go and seeing tulips blooming already on Linda's blog, I hope we'll still see some spring blossoms.

Mom loved seeing the spring flowers so much in 2009, she's never forgotten it and wanted to see it again.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that she won't be disappointed this time.

I'll report about the trip in tomorrow's post.

Thermos vs. Hydro Flask

I never worried about hydration until I came to Hawaii... or could it be I need more hydration since I've gotten older?

Whatever the case, Art and I always try to carry water with us.

A couple of years ago, our son sent us this Thermos Travel Tumbler on the left.  We were amazed to find that it really keeps whatever you put in it cool/hot all day.  My son-in-law in Chicago puts hot coffee in his Thermos everyday.  We do love it! 

The only problem my daughter and we found was that you had to take it apart all the time to clean the rubber parts.  In Hawaii, it gets slimy if you don't.

For several months we've seen on the news and newspaper that the new, very popular water bottle in Hawaii is the Hydro Flask.  It comes in many colors and they even have stations often set up to personalize it with engravings or paint.  It's to prevent it from being stolen because they're so popular (especially on the college campus).

At about $25 for the smaller one they're also rather expensive.  However, I discovered that the smaller one is about the same size as my Thermos and  holds just a little more liquid.

What I do like about the Hydro Flask is that it doesn't have separate parts to clean.  I bought an extra lid so I always have one to wash and one to dry.

The push button drink button on the Thermos also confounded me at times because I'd forget if it was open or shut.  No need to worry about that on the Hydro Flask.

I checked the reviews (about Hydro Flask) on Amazon and some people complained that it got dented when they took it hiking, the paint on the colored bottles, that the seal wasn't perfect, etc.  The good part is that it has lifetime warranty.

On the other hand, you can buy the Thermos with a handle.

I bought the Hydro Flask.  Art refuses to get one because he says his Thermos works just fine.  So there!

Besides, if his Thermos breaks he's liable to try and fix it first.  Sheesh!

POSTSCRIPT 1:  Tsk!  After trying the new Hyrdro Flask for a few days I was really disappointed.  The ice kept melting quickly and didn't work half as great at the Thermos Travel Tumbler.  Then I checked online for the Hydro Flask Warranty.  It said I should put boiling water in it, wait 5 minutes and touch the area below the lid.  If there are hot spots, it means the vacuum seal has been compromised.  I submitted my warranty claim, wrote to them and got a reply right away.  She said they would be replacing my Hydro Flask.

Once I get it, I'll make the comparison test with the Thermos again. 

POSTSCRIPT 2:  My new Hydro Flask was waiting for me when I returned from Seattle.  I have to say I'm underwhelmed.  I think the Thermos Travel Tumbler works better in keeping liquids cool or hot.  Art says I need to do a more scientific test using the same amount of liquid and ice cubes and seeing how they do in the same conditions.  OK... OK...  I will....

When I have more time.

You Know You're a Sansei (3rd generation Japanese-American) If...

My dear friend, Myrtle sent me this forwarded email and I have to admit quite a few of them apply.

1. You know that Camp doesn't mean a cabin in the woods.  (It really refers to the plantation homes where many of us grew up.)
2. The men in your family were gardeners, farmers, produce workers or plantation workers.  (True, however Art's dad broke the mold and owned and operated a restaurant.  He was also the manager-projectionist for the Honokaa Theater.)
3. The women in your family were seamstresses, domestic workers or farm laborers.  (Mom did work as a seamstress at first, but then worked as a typesetter and often edited reporters' work at a Japanese language newspaper.)
4. Your Issei grandparents had an arranged marriage.
5. One of your relatives was a "picture bride."
6. You have Nisei relatives named Tak, Tad, George, Harry or Shig.  (Yes!  We do have a Shig!)
7. You have Nisei relatives named Keiko, Aiko, Sumi or Mary. (I do have an Auntie Mary.)
8 You're Sansei and your name is Janice, Glen, Brian, Bill or Kenji. (I had a cousin named Janice, but none of the others.)
9. You're thinking of naming your Yonsei (4th generation) child, Brittany, Jenny,  Lauren, Garett or Brett, with a Japanese middle name.  (Nope.)
10. All of your cousins are having hapa (multi racial) kids.
11. You have relatives who live in Hawaii.  (Of course!)
12. You learned the words "bakatare," "urusai," and "yakamashii"  because you were called them by your grandparents. (Bakatare means stupid and urusai and yakamashii means noisy.)
13. You belong to a Japanese credit union.  (Nope.)

14. Wherever you live now, you always come home to the Obon festival.  (We lived too far, but now Mom insists on it.)
15. The bushes in your front yard are trimmed into balls.  (Hunh?  Oh... like bonsai.  Ummm... true.)
16. You have a kaki tree in the backyard.  (Nope.  Art would sure like to have a persimmon tree though.  Most people on Oahu wouldn't have one.)
17. You have at least one bag of sembei in the house at all times.  (We don't right now, but we do like the little rice crackers.)
18. You have a Japanese doll in a glass case in your living room.  (Mom does have one in the family room.)

Photo from Wikipedia

19. You have a maneki neko in your house for good luck.  (Nope.  A maneki neko is a cat that brings good luck.)
20. You have large Japanese platters in your china cabinet.
21. You have the family mon and Japanese needlepoint on the wall.  (Mon is a family crest which most people have.  Our Japanese needlepoint was done by my Irish/American sister-in-law's father.)
22. You own a multicolored lime green polyester patchwork quilt.  (Yes, I do.)
23. Your grandma used to crochet all your blankets, potholders and dish towels.  (She didn't.  Now I feel deprived.)
24. Wearing shoes in the house is a BIG NO NO.  (Of course!)
25. When you visit other Japanese, you give or receive a bag of fruits  or vegetables.  (Definitely!)
26. When you visit other Japanese, you know that you should bring omiyage. (or when you take a trip)
27. When you leave a Japanese house, you take leftover food home on a paper plate or a Styrofoam meat tray.
28. You keep a supply of rubber bands, twist ties, butter and tofu containers in the kitchen.  (We sure do, but I didn't know it was because we were sansei.)
29. You have an air pump thermos covered with lilacs.  (We have the air pump thermos, but it's stainless steel.)
30. You know that Pat Morita doesn't really speak like Mr. Miyagi.  (So true.)
31. You're mad because Kristi Yamaguchi should have gotten more commercial endorsements than Nancy Kerrigan.
32. You know someone who has run for the Nisei Queen Pageant.  (Now I do.)
33. When your back is sore, you use Tiger Balm or that flexi-stick with the rubber ball on the end that goes, "katonk," "katonk."  (No, Mom uses Salonpas.)
34. After funerals, you go for Chinameshi.  (No, dinner is usually already served after funerals for everyone.  I think Chinameshi means Chinese food.)
35. After giving koden, you get stamps in the mail.  (Koden is a monetary gift given to the grieving family at a funeral.)
36. You fight fiercely for the check after dinner.  (It's been known to happen.)
37. You've hidden money in the pocket of the person who paid for dinner.  (Naaah...)
38. You don't need to read the instructions on the proper use of hashi (chopsticks).  (Of course.)
39. You know NOT to stick the hashi in your rice.
40. You know that Benihana's isn't real Japanese food.  (Really?)

Photos from Wikipedia

41. Sushi and Sashimi is NOT the same thing.  (Believe me.  I've tried to teach this to everybody on the mainland.  I wonder if they remember.)
42. You eat soba on New Year's Eve.
43. You start off the New Year with a bowl of ozoni for good luck and the mochi sticks to the roof of your mouth.  (We never did do this.)
44. You put mochi around the house during New Year's.  (Uh oh... No, we don't.  However, Mom does put it at the butsudan.)
45. You know NOT to eat the tangerine on the top of the mochi.  (I think ours is plastic.)
46. You have a 12-pack of mochi in your freezer that you still refuse to throw away in July.  (Sigh...)
47. You pack bento for road trips.
48. Your grandma made the best sushi in town.  (That would be my Aunties Grace and Dorothy.)
49. You cut all your carrots and hot dogs at an angle.
50. You know the virtues of SPAM.  (This is everybody in Hawaii.)
51. You were eating Chinese chicken salad, years before everyone else.
52. You know what it means to eat "footballs."  (Uh oh...  Is that the dried fruit thing?)
53. You grew up eating ambrosia, wontons and finger Jell-O at family potlucks. (Tsk!  I only recently learned about ambrosia.)
54. You always use Best Foods mayonnaise and like to mix it with shoyu to dip watercress. (That's what we do, all right.)
55. You use the "finger method" to measure the water for your rice cooker.  (Mom did.  I use the little cups.)
56. You grew up on rice: bacon fried rice, chili rice, curry rice or red rice.
57. You like to eat rice with your spaghetti.  (No.  I lived on the mainland too long.)
58. You can't start eating until you have a bowl of rice.
59. You use plastic Cool Whip containers to hold day-old rice.
60. You like to eat your rice in a chawan, not on a plate.
61. You own a 5-cup AND 10-cup rice cooker.
62. Along with salt and pepper, you have a shoyu dispenser at your  table.
63. You have a jar of takuan (pickled daikon) in your fridge.
64. You buy rice 20 pounds at a time and shoyu a gallon at a time.  (No I don't, but mom buys her sake a gallon at a time.  For cooking!!!)

Photo from Wikipedia

65. Natto: you either love it or hate it.  (I hate it, but I know it's very good for you.  I've been told that my whole life.)
66. As a kid, you used to eat Botan rice candy.
67. You ask for things like arare, hashi and have to re-ask using  "mochi crunch," "chopsticks," etc.
68. You know the story of Momotaro.  (Yes, we all know the story of Peach Boy.)
69. You have a pet named Chibi or Shiro.  (No, but I did have dogs when I was little named Oahu and Jimmy.)
70. Someone you know owns an Akita or Shiba dog.
71. You went to Japanese school and your best subject was recess.
72. At school, you had those Hello Kitty pencil boxes and sweet  smelling erasers.  (Sorry to say that's after my time.)
73. When you're sick, you eat okayu.  (Okayu is rice gruel and it still feels good to have it when you're sick with a little umeboshi/pickled plum.)
74. Saimin is your Chicken Noodle Soup on those cold rainy days.  (Saimin is good any day.)
75. Milk makes you queasy and alcohol turns your face red.  (Art and I are both lactose intolerant, but Art is the only one who gets the Asian Flush.)
76. Your dad owns a "Members Only" jacket.
77. Someone you know drives an Acura Integra, Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.  (I'm sure they do.)
78. You used to own one of those miniature zori keychains.  (Nope.)
79.. You have a kaeru frog or good luck charm hanging in your car.  (Nope.)
80. Your parents compare you to their friends' kids.  (What?  Doesn't everybody?)
81. You hang on to the illusion that you are superior to other Asians.
82. Your dentist, doctor and optometrist are Japanese American.  (My dentist is Chinese American and my nurse practitioner is haole, but my optometrist is indeed Japanese American.)
83. You socialize with groups of eight or more people. 
84. Whenever you're with more than three people, it takes an hour  to decide where to eat. (You mean everybody doesn't do that too?)
85. You've heard your name pronounced a half-dozen different ways.  (Our name always sounded Polish on the mainland.)
86. You know that EO. 9066 isn't a zip code.  (This is Executive Order 9066 which sent all people of Japanese descent into Internment camps.)
87. You know what days March 3 and May 5 is.  (March 3rd is Girls Day.  May 5th is Boys Day.)
88. You're not superstitious but you believe in bachi.  (Bachi means retribution for a bad deed.)

Memories of Animal Crackers

As we were walking down the aisle of the military commissary, I happened to see these boxes of animal crackers and it brought back such sweet memories.  I sent a text of this photo to my daughter asking if she remembered.

She sent a text back, "Totally!  Such happy memories."

When the kids were little, going to the supermarket wasn't their favorite thing to do, but going to the commissary was even less fun because it took much longer.

We always gave them each a box to hold (but not open) and told them that if they were good they could have them to eat on the hour trip home.

They were always good.

I'm looking at this picture right now and wishing I could hug them again.

Time really does fly much too quickly.


***************************************

We have been gone the past 10 days traveling to Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria.  Posts were written and scheduled ahead of time to go up while we were gone.  I will begin posting about the trip next week.  There are just too many photos to go through.

It was a trip that started out with a ton of challenges and ended with color, beauty, friendship and a lot of happy memories.

Midwestern Rainbow

Hawaii does not have euphoric springs.  We don't have the burst of  flowers and colors that come after a brutal winter.  Hawaii also doesn't have that last blast of vibrant fall colors that fill you with awe before the brutal winters.

However, it does have rainbows.

Then again...
My daughter sent me a text photo a while ago that had me smiling.

She wrote, "Do you see the Midwestern sized rainbow?"

Ah well...

Spring is just about there!

Free Black Cow?

I often go out for lunch with my Zumba group on Fridays.  It's a lot of fun going to different restaurants in the area and "talk story" (pidgin for having conversation).  I also learn a lot of things from my fun Zumba friends.

One of the very fun senior discount things they showed me was the free senior drink at Wendy's.  You can always get refills so it doesn't matter that the cup is smaller.  Besides, it's exercise to get up and get that refill anyway.

The other thing they showed me was this $1 tag for my key ring that would entitle me to a free Junior sized frosty for the year.  You don't have to be a senior for this.  I bought one for my daughter in Chicago.

I confess I did the illogical thing of getting a healthier salad and then piled on the calories by adding the frosty to my root beer and making a black cow.  Have you heard of a black cow?  I just checked online and discovered that a Coke float or a Root beer float are called a black cow.

I don't know if the free teeny frosty is offered everywhere, but it is offered in Hawaii.  Aha!  More reason to come to Hawaii!

Putting a Mask on Your Germs

There's been a lot of germs wafting through the air lately.  A lot of people are sick.

During one of our earlier trips to Japan we saw people wearing masks in public areas.  I assumed they were wearing it to prevent catching a cold.  My aunt said she wore a mask in spring and summer to prevent inhaling pollen which aggravated her allergies.  We then discovered that people also wear masks if they've caught a cold and don't want to pass on their germs to others.  It's just good etiquette.

Mom and I both ended up catching a cold during that trip so we did what the Japanese do.  We bought and used masks.

When you think about it, doesn't this sound like a good idea to adopt in our country??

Painting Trick

I'm back to painting again.  No, not pictures...baseboards.  My job is to patch holes and spaces with caulk or wood putty, sand rough edges and then paint.

I used to have a problem with my paint brushes getting scraggly after washing until my brother showed me a trick he learned from a house painter.

I first wash the brush very carefully with soap and water.  I'm using latex paint which is water based.

I then roll the paintbrush being careful to flatten the tip.  I also fold the top of the newspaper over the bristles carefully so I don't crimp the tip of the bristles. I like to roll the newspaper diagonally.

After it dries I have a very nice flat paintbrush ready for the next project.

And Now Cable...

Making up our minds about which TV to buy was enough to give me a massive headache, but now there is the problem of cable!

We've always had free TV with our antennae and it served us more or less well all our lives.  We don't watch that much TV, but mom likes her news on KIKU Japanese channel and we do watch the news and some TV shows on the major networks.  Mom's sister, Auntie Grace used to record shows from the premium Japanese cable channels for Mom to watch before she passed away.

We quickly learned that with cable, there are a barrage of choices and extra options like premium channels, whole home DVR, HD, basic, standard, ETC.  For about $16 a month you can get Oceanic Basic, but it doesn't include HD.  Their premium Japanese channel is about $34-$37.  If you get standard (with HD) + premium, I was told it would cost $106.  Then there's the installation fee...

I didn't call Hawaiiantel because we get our phone and Internet from them and didn't want to touch our locked in for life price.  Still, Art said I should call and just see what they might offer.

Couldn't hurt.

I was surprised to learn that they could keep our accounts separate.  They would keep our locked in price for Internet and phone and then get the TV on a separate account.  Yes, I know bundling would be cheaper, but they will probably raise that price every year.  For Hawaiiantel's Basic which includes 30 channels + HD + the Japanese channel it would be $71 a month and they would waive the installation fee.  Hmmmm.... is there a catch here?  Should I look around some more?

Oh what the heck!  I signed up.

Hmmm.... but what about that DVR thing for $12.95 more?

Arrrghhhh!

POSTSCRIPT:  My cousin just emailed me to say that even with the $16.04 Basic plan with Oceanic, you can find the major networks in HD.

Double Arrrrghhhh!

Auntie Grace's Painting

My Auntie Grace was an artist, a seamstress, an expert gardener, a fabulous cook, a historian, a constant researcher, and someone who was always experimenting with some new project.  She folded origami, made rugs, wove slippers and sewed haoris.  Haoris are short kimono like apparel.  She also loved tai chi and exercised daily.

She'd taken some classes on oil painting and did some truly beautiful work.  Her teacher apparently told her that she was not being creative enough and criticized her work harshly enough that she gave up painting.  When Art and I were at her house one day after we'd moved to Hawaii, she showed us the paintings that were tucked away in the corner.

I told her they were gorgeous and loved them.  Mom also assured her that she was a talented painter.  She wouldn't believe us at first, but gave us a painting which we hung up in our living room.

I took this photo with my iPhone at night so it doesn't capture it perfectly.  There's a reflection on it so it is distorted a bit, but you can see how pretty it is. 

I still remember the first time she came to our house and saw it hanging in a place of honor.  I'll remember that smile forever.

Project: Getting the TV On the Wall

Yes, of course we could have hired someone to get the TV on the wall.  And yes, we considered it for a moment, at least I did.

Not Art.  One of his wonderful elementary/high school friends lives up the street and they felt it would be an easy project to do themselves.

Ummmm...

Before Morris came, we cleared up the space first.  (Weird... the wall doesn't have those wavy lines on it.  I think it has something to do with my reducing the file size.)

Then Art attached the mounting bracket to the TV.

Morris brought his masonry drill and bits and started drilling the holes while Art vacuumed.










Then they attached the wall mount.

The next step was to attach the TV to the wall.

It's done!  All we have to do now is to buy a wall cover for the hanging wires so it looks neater.

Once it was up I said with a laugh, "Gee, we could have gone with a bigger TV.  There's lots of space."

"Not funny," said Art.

Don't Flush Them!

Art saw an article a while ago in the Sunday paper about flushable wet wipes clogging up the sewer system in New York and homeowners' pipes.

I found a Consumer Reports website where they showed how toilet paper will disintegrate when agitated.  However, wet wipes after 10 minutes of agitation, even in a stand mixer had still not broken up.

Can you imagine all these wet wipes getting stuck in your sewer drain?  Isn't this false advertising?

Word of caution:  Next time you use these, don't flush it, toss it in your garbage.

Amazon Connections

It really surprised us when Art got this email.

We didn't even buy a TV from them!  Ahhh... but we must have been checking out prices.

Do you think they'll start sending us cable prices next?  Or maybe they'll try to sell us a couch on which to sit and watch the TV.  How about popcorn? 

If It Doesn't Fit, Make It!

Art was exasperated the other morning when he found that the new box of All-Bran cereal no long fit on the shelf. He checked the amount of cereal in the new box and found it was the same as the old box, 18.3 ozs.  When he opened the new box, he found a lot of space.  They'd just made the box taller, but it held the same amount of cereal.

No, we couldn't put it on another shelf because this was the shelf that held the taller items that Mom could reach.

Art says it's nice to be retired so that he can do things like this.

He just cut the box down to size and even made a tab so it can still close.

What a waste of packaging!

Don't Tell Him He Can't Do It

During the last couple of trips we took, Art has been noticing some dark splotches on some of his photos.  My brother also has the same Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 camera and said he found the same problem after a while.

The splotches don't appear all the time, but just enough that they're irritating.

You can't see it if it's a busy photo, but you can especially see it in skies.

It makes Mt. Vesuvius look almost like it's ready to erupt.  Actually, I think those are two mountains.  Vesuvius is the mountain in the back on the left.
























Art took this photo of the sky so he could see where the splotches are.

"You need to get a new camera," I told him.  "You can't fix something like that."

That was my mistake.  I shouldn't have told him he couldn't do it.

He looked on the Internet for a solution and learned that this camera is known to get dust in the lens which causes the splotches.  It would cost $100 + to have a professional fix it.

There was a warning/disclaimer with the video saying that fixing this camera should be a last ditch effort because it is extremely difficult to do.

"Let's buy a new camera," I said.

He took the camera apart.

He cleaned the sensor and put it back together.

Didn't work.  Splotches were still there.

"Seriously, Art, we should get another camera for you," I said.

He took the camera apart again.

He cleaned the lens after checking online again on the best way to do it.  When he put it back together again it wouldn't work.  Sooo...

He took the camera apart again and reassembled it.

It worked!

Wouldn't you know it?

Unfortunately, he's discovered that the new smart phones now take better photos than his 2007 Lumix.

Oops!

Pretty Garlic Pottery

After Auntie Grace passed away, my cousins Arnold and Walt generously asked Mom and Auntie Dorothy to come and take home anything they might be able to use. 

One of the things that caught my eye was a garlic container, brand new and still in its box.

We normally just have our garlic lying on a plate on the kitchen counter.  I loved the look of this clay garlic container.

It really does look pretty on my counter.

Now what do I do with the ginger root?  Do you use ginger root?  How do you store yours?

POSTSCRIPT 1:
I just checked online as suggested and found two ways to store ginger.  One site said to put the ginger in a plastic bag and store it in the crisper drawer of your frig.  If the ginger has been cut, make sure the end is dry with a paper towel before putting it back in the drawer.

The other way is to freeze the ginger.  Now I know.  :-)

POSTSCRIPT 2:
Goodness!  My cousin, Arnold just emailed to tell me this wasn't a garlic storage container after all.  It's a garlic baker!  He'd tried roasted garlic in New Mexico and had enjoyed and wanted to try it.  Hmmmm... Who would have guessed?  Well, I still rather love it more as a garlic storage container.  But who knows?  I may just try roasting some someday.

Carry-Out vs. Restaurant Zippy's Saimin

I'm afraid this post is geared more for Island locals, but then again... should you decide to come to Hawaii and try this local favorite, it would be good for you to know.

Saimin is a local noodle favorite and everybody has their favorite place to get it.  Lately, we've switched from Shiro's to Zippy's with Shige's (Wahiawa) in between.

Last week we were in a rush so we thought we'd grab a carry-out saimin.  We ordered the large size with extra garnishes.  Yes, it was only $3.60 (I think), but it was pretty darn small.

I didn't see much garnish so I asked them about it.  They said that the extra garnish for 43 cents was two more slices of fish cake.  Seriously?

This isn't an accurate photo because I took the above photo after I'd already eaten half of it.  I wasn't planning to do a post on this.

The broth was also very tasteless and frankly, it was bad saimin.  We'll never order take out saimin again even if we plan to eat it there.

The bottom photo is what I usually order.  It's a small size saimin in the restaurant for $4.45 plus extra garnish and is more than enough.

I can't understand why the broth should be different.  Don't they make the food in the same kitchen? 

Ah well... I've learned my lesson.