The Common Cold, Sleep, and Pizza

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

This post is going to be short because I don’t have anything extraordinary to share with everyone.

First, yesterday I had two chances to share with you that I experienced a near perfect day of retirement. I spent the entire day in my jammies. Part of the reason for that was because I displayed the beginnings of bronchial pneumonia. the main reason, however, was because I just didn’t want to wear real clothes.

Diane totally disagreed with my medical diagnosis thinking, instead, that I simply had a cold, or a previously undiscovered virus of undetermined origin with unknown consequences whose most detrimental condition is a productive cough. Thankfully, it’s not the constant kind of coughing, but a cough just the same.

I’m sure I had a ‘second’ item to share, but can’t remember what it was. If I was concerned about editing this in a proper manner I’d get rid of the “First” but I’m not so I won’t so there. I’m not an editor.

Much of yesterday was spent trying to make my day so boring that whatever has ahold of me might find it necessary to seek a more exciting medium in which to propagate. As a result, it was very late when I finally put down my iPad for the night (like 0010 or so) and I was up and navigating at 0300. Diane will tell you it was 0230 and that she knew this because I checked my iPad to see what time it was. In case you don’t know, activating an iPad in a very dark room is like turning on the light switch. It’s very bright. My recollection of my awakening is different, and more correct, I’m sure.

The iPad did ignite, briefly, but not because i did it on purpose. I have a distant memory of entering my bathroom and checking the time on clock installed on the wall therein. It was 0300.

One of the reasons I got up is because I’ve been trying to wean myself of the sleep aid I’ve been taking for about the past 10 years, or more. To facilitate that, I’ve put myself on half rations, but it just isn’t working. If I don’t take my sleepy pill, I simply don’t sleep. Oddly that seems to be mainly true when I’m in the bed. On the couch, however, I can sleep nicely for hours. So, upon arising at 0300, that’s where I went and that’s where I stayed until 0900 with only a brief period of vertical alignment to let the dogs out around 0700.

Diane deemed me to be unfit to accompany her to church this morning, fearing that I might contaminate all those old folks with whatever it is I’ve contracted. So, I stayed home and rested. Some more. I have only vague recollections of brief periods of lucidity during Diane’s absence and beam more alert around 1200 when my stomach determined that it was time to ingest something nutritious. Without a clear plan for obtaining sustenance, i opted for another cup of coffee. I use creamer that contains enough sugar to kick-start pretty much anyone, but it still wasn’t enough. As I was sitting at my computer, pondering a bowl of nuts, or perhaps some fruit, Diane texted me to report she and her Mom went to Fultano’s Pizza after church and that she would be home with leftovers after they made a stop at Fred Meyers.

Excited about the prospect of warmed up pizza, I decided to not eat anything else until she arrived. By the time that happened I was very hungry, but delayed my feast until I helped her empty the Buick of the bags of food she purchased to get us through the next couple of weeks.

Then I reheated the pizza and had my feast. It was half of a small pizza, for which I was thankful because it was just the right amount. Had it been an entire pizza I would have surely eaten the entire thing and been miserable for the effort.

Now it’s almost 2100 and I plan to very soon ingest an entire sleeping pill and go to bed. Diane will, I’m sure, stay up to watch the Oscars which is currently being recorded.

I hope she doesn’t wake me up when she comes to bed. If she does I’m going to complain to someone. Not to Diane, of course. That wouldn’t be conducive to my currently fragile medical condition.

Spelling, In General …

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

OK, I admit I’m far from the best speller, and I probably couldn’t get very far in a Spelling Bee with a bunch of 7th graders, but I take a lot of pride in limiting the errors I make. So does Diane. I’ve recently learned that she needs to read everything I’m ready to submit before I Push That Button. She’s made that pretty clear. It’s really good for her to have my back, to help me correct potentially embarrassing errors from reaching the public’s eye balls.

Both Diane and I read news articles with a critical eye to spelling and errors jump out at us all the time. I bet most of you readers do the same thing. Maybe not intentionally, but errors do pop out, don’t they?

I was just reading an article on Fox Sports about Ritchie Incognito beating up his $300K Ferrari with a baseball bat in which they mentioned that a “neigbor” noticed damage to the vehicle. It’s understandable, in my opinion, that Ritchie released his rage on his car, but not so much when you learn he did it with a baseball bat. Why didn’t he use his Dolphins helmet? Oh, wait! He doesn’t have that any more, does he?

I guess I can forgive Fox Sports for spelling neighbor incorrectly because they obviously misunderstood the new rules regarding the use of “gh” in most words. In neighbor, it’s silent so why bother using them. It’s a waste of time and bandwidth to add them to words where they don’t make sense. It should simply be neibor. The new rules also apply to all words containing “ough”, like tough, and rough. They will simply be spelled phonetically, as all words should be in the first place.

I must admit that I’ve ignored the new rules myself and named one of my dogs Ghydeaux, and I’m not going to change it.

I could go on and on about spelling, but the longer I do that, the more prone I will be to error. So, I must get off that subject. Besides, why did God allow someone to invent spell checkers if he wanted us to be good spellers? Spellcheckers open up an entirely new arena for discussion regarding grammar, another favorite of mine.

I had coffee with the MELCA guys at the Kozy again this morning. In attendance was Larry, Larry, Jeff, and Jerrie. I know you knew I was there, but had to add my name so it rhymed. Once again we solved many of the problems threatening the world today, as we do every Thursday. Since I was missing last week, I don’t know what was solved last Thursday. They wouldn’t tell me and I wasn’t going to guess. Again. It gets me too excited, like Hammy in “Over The Hedge”. Remember him?

After all that coffee I went to our church to retrieve Diane’s Mom’s card table and clothes rack, and to change the sign board out front. It was still advertising the quilt show from two weeks ago. Now it isn’t.

While resting on the couch next to my lovely bride she asked, “guess what would be really good for dinner tonight?” With barely a pause I said, “Chinese food from the Safeway deli!” Her eyeballs lit right up like she couldn’t believe I was correct, but I knew I was. She mentioned that a couple of days ago, and I remembered! Now that is significant.

I offered to go get it, which she allowed. I drove down there, went in and hardly had a chance to look over the choices when a clerk popped up, like out of nowhere. I started rattling off what I wanted then reached for the wallet that wasn’t in its customary spot in my back pocket. Excusing myself, I went back home, getting the mail along the way, and delivered it to Diane, so she would have something to do while I went back to Safeway, retrieved my wallet and phone from my couch table and calmly walked away. Although it really didn’t need to be said, she did it anyway, asking if I “forgot my wallet.”

That was my chance to end the day on a positive note and I blew it. Forgot my wallet. Guess I need one of those biker wallets with a chain on it.

Arizona Shrugged

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday I received a comment to one of my posts from a group of people who collectively call themselves “Spiritbath“. The post that got my attention was this one about a 12-year-old artist. I haven’t looked at any of the other posts, yet, but the gist of their entries are, oddly, spiritual in nature. Their posts are positive. They are uplifting. I think you will enjoy reading what they have to say.

Now you can either stop and go there, or stick around and see what’s going on in my world. I’ll tell you up front that what I’m going to enter here is far less interesting than Spiritbath. I’m guessing, of course, because I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen here.

Throughout the day I’ve heard news reports about things I thought would be interesting to share thinking, “I’ve got to remember that to share,” but I forget. Then, when I’m compelled to sit down at my computer and do this.

So there, I’ve said it. I don’t do this because I “want” to, it’s because I’m “compelled” to do it. I’m “forced”. So, here I sit.

I was cruising around in a web site the other day that sold T-shirts with tricky sayings on them. A lot of them caught my eye but I can’t afford all of them. But, I’m going to adding to my collection as soon as I get my allowance.

Here’s a few of them …

“In my day we had 9 planets!”
Two electrons talking to each other. One says “I lost an electron.” The other responds, “Are you positive?”
“Either you like bacon, or you’re wrong”
“Home is where the wi-fi connects automatically”
“There’s a fine line between Numerator and Denominator”
“I’m not crazy – my Mother had me tested”

I could go on, but I won’t. Diane buys stuff like that for me frequently and I just wear it so I’ve kinda got a reputation amongst our friends for both doing what my wife tells me to do, without back talk, as well as wearing some pretty neat laundry. The only shirts hanging in my closet are those kinds of T-shirts. I guess it’s a theme, now.

So, I’m not going to wear anything but T-shirts from now on. That means, of course, I’ll not be allowed to leave the house ever again. Or sit on the couch without a towel under me.

Today the Governor of Arizona vetoed a proposed law that would allow businesses to use religious beliefs as a reason for denying service to customers. I’m curious about that entire mess because it’s always been my understanding that businesses can deny service to anyone for no reason at all. I’ve seen signs in all my life stating exactly that … “We reserve the right to deny service to anyone”, no reason given.

As far as I know, this ‘problem’ is the fallout from an event in Portland, Oregon where a baker refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. He cited religious reasons for not wanting to do it. It became a really big deal.

Most of the people I know had mixed feelings about the entire affair.

Some thought it was the baker’s right to deny the request, but perhaps not for religious reasons. He should have just said he didn’t want to do it.

Other folks wondered why the gay couple made such a big deal out of the baker’s refusal to make the cake. Why would they, for any reason, want the baker to make their cake after being told he didn’t want to make it? There are lots of bakers in town. I suppose it was all about the principle involved.

Then, about the baker, it was just a cake. Make the cake. Take the money. Let it go. What’s the big deal. So it’s got two brides, or two grooms on top. Get over it.

It’s. A. Cake.

Then some clever Arizona law-maker, a term I use loosely here, decides it would be a good law if any business could deny service to anyone based on religious beliefs. I can only guess that whoever submitted this brilliant bit of legislature isn’t getting enough attention, or that Arizona doesn’t have enough valid issues to deal with right now.

So, a little bit of unsolicited advice for everyone … if you run a business I’m betting that religious beliefs are not mentioned one time in your Statement of Purpose.

If you don’t want to sell your product to just anyone who pops through your door, post a note. Folks will think you apparently have enough money already and are just taking up store space just for fun until it’s time to retire.

If you are a customer who is denied service, in any kind of business, go somewhere else. I suspect your friends will too.

I know. That’s very simplistic, and I suspect there are a lot of other underlying issues associated with this newsworthy opportunity, but it all boils down to one baker who denied service because he doesn’t believe in gay marriages. From there it exploded into a huge problem that isn’t, I think, really a problem. In my opinion, t’s just a handy forum where loud people with an agenda see an opportunity to be heard on topics that won’t likely solve the obesity problem caused by fast food.

Oh, wait! There’re people using that as a forum, too. They’ve even sued fast food franchises for making them obese.

Perhaps Arizona should pass a law that only skinny people can eat at fast food restaurants. They could create a whole new industry for some guy in a barn who makes scales that will trigger the door locks only if a potential customer is proportional, height & weight. Those are rough numbers, of course. I can just see someone walking up to the door at Big Ed’s Giant Weiner Emporium, stepping on the scale, and the entire window next to the door lights up with the customer’s weight and height. If the ratio is correct, the door opens. If not, that’s another customer lost.

If a skinny person is deemed to be too skinny, their milk shakes could be made with Muscle Milk.

Not likely to happen, in a sane world, but who knows? Things get crazier all the time.

Happy Birthday Jewel

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

It’s Friday and another beautiful Blue Hawaii day. Yesterday was spent mostly inside as Diane spent another day healing. We went out in the late afternoon seeking a retailer from whom we might purchase a heating pad. She said she wasn’t going another night without one. We wound up at Costco but they didn’t have heating pads so she got Salonpas patches instead.

It’s 0903 at the moment, and we’ve been up for a couple of hours. Diane’s perky and we’re waiting for Jewel to arrive so we can go exploring. It’s good to have a native guide when you explore.

We’re sitting on the lanai, there is barely a breeze, just enough to make the palm trees sway just a little. Birds are chirping and singing, and it’s so peaceful. We’ve seen a few golfers hitting their balls along the fairway on the other side of the lava flow on the makai side of the resort. There is evidence of vog in the distance, hazing out the land as it rises from the ocean up the flanks of Mauna Kea. Very restful. Sitting here, watching it all, I’m gaining confidence in my golfing abilities as some pretty terrible golfers sweep past in their festive garb. The course is very pretty, as are all golf courses on the island, and it’s flat. I’m tempted, but not enough to do it. I’m better off sitting here thinking about how well I could do out there. I’m sure the fantasy is far better than the reality.

We’ve been watching a boony cat walk by every morning, as if on rounds, and this morning we were outside before our lanai was on her schedule. I’m sure they don’t call them boony cats but on Guam they do. Feral is another word. This one was a friendly type of feral and just calmly walked by, stopped to look around, then calmly laid down to do some yoga. I went and got her a little milk on a saucer which she was very eager to sample. After a few token licks, she looked around again, bid us adieu, and walked off on her rounds. On either side of the lanai are planters surrounded by a brick border. The cat walked precisely on the bricks on departure. Very calm, very much a cat that works on Hawaii Time.

Around 0945 Jewel appeared at our front door to guide us on a trip around the north end of the island. Diane already had a couple of stops planned in that area, but we got to see a few more, thanks to Jewel.

First stop was Pukoa Bay just a few miles north of our location. The area along both sides of the road that goes around the bay is filled with homes of all kinds. From very elaborate, to more common beach homes that have been here for ages. We found an access to the beach where we could park, then took a trek on the water’s edge. Not much sand there, but lots of lava. Very picturesque. Right away Jewel spotted a very large sea turtle sunning itself on the lava.

After walking around the point, we returned to the road and started back. This nice lady, Doris, was getting her mail and struck up a conversation, something not likely to happen in most other places. She’s almost 91 years old and spends 6.5 months here and the other 5.5 months in … gee … Albany, Oregon. Small world. She shared that her husband, Bill, was one of the first investors of Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike.

Doris was very talkative and a fan of my Ducks T-shirt. She said the money earned from her Nike stock all goes to charity … millions of $$$ a year. Obviously her husband did well. She also said that her kids weren’t getting it. Plus, half of everything else was going to charity when she kicked off. A really nifty lady and fun to talk with. And, she said she was on her normal morning walk when she saw Phil Knight.

From there we took the back road to Hapuna Beach to watch the waves. Jewel knows where all the best waves are …

I had to drag myself away from the beach because the waves are so mesmerizing. Each one is different and it’s hard to catch them when the light is just right. Just fascinating!

We continued a bit north, then east on Highway 19 to Waimea, home of the famous Parker Ranch. Jewel knew of a great place to eat lunch which was perfect because she had a hankering for bacon. So, what could be more appropriate than Hulu Sue’s Barbecue, or Fish And The Hog eatery. The names confused me a bit because Fish And The Hog was on the front window, but Hulu Sue’s was on the large window at the back of the restaurant.

Diane had a roasted vegetable and provolone sandwich while Jewel and I had their BLT 9 sandwich. It was totally awesome. I have to admit that I actually thought the menu choice was BLT 9 until Jewel and Diane pointed out that the number 9 was the price. That explains the odd looks I received from the cute waitress. OK, so I’m not well versed when it comes to fancy menus. That’s why I make sure I’m never alone when I do stuff like this.

Since it was Jewel’s birthday today, we got a piece of chocolate cake and three forks. It was a huge piece so there was plenty left over for Jewel to take home for John.

Diane had a stop at the Waipio Valley overlook, but the advertised one is a long trip around the valley. Jewel, however, led us to a less advertised overlook on our side of the valley. It’s on a dead-end road that was lined with vehicles for about the last 1/4 mile, or so, and there was no place to turn around until the end. So, we mosied down, turned around, and mosied back, never stopping. It was pretty voggy (volcano dust and fog) so pictures wouldn’t have turned out well, so we didn’t feel it was necessary to try. We did, however, get to see it. It’s a long way down, very green and very lush.

Too soon it was time to head back ‘home’. Along the way Jewel saw whales jumping out of the water just off shore, so we stopped to see if we could get a photo. We waited, and waited, but it never jumped again. We did, however, get to see its tale a couple of times.

We’re pretty sure that it started jumping again right after we left, but we didn’t look because we didn’t want to be disappointed. Still, we got to see the tail and that’s pretty cool in itself. We were happy.

We sadly said our goodbyes to Jewel, and watched her drive away … in the wrong direction. Soon she was headed back the correct way and, we trust, made it home OK. In Jewel’s defense, my exit instructions were very specific.

It was an incredible day and we feel blessed that Jewel chose to spend her birthday with us.

n’t and other Contractions

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

The title really isn’t a mistake … it’s an apology to Jewel and John.

In yesterday’s post I commented on the Thai food we had at lunch, indicating that “we were disappointed with the food …”, omitting the contractional modifier “n’t” to one critical adverb which totally changed the meaning.

It has been corrected to indicated our real sentiments.

It was great food.

I guess I will have to be a lot more careful with my use of …n’t, …’s, …’ll, …n’t’ve. Perhaps I should omit them from my vocabulary completely. After all, the intent is for contractions to serve as a sort of shorthand, but they really don’t save much time at all. “n’t” means not, of course, but it only adds one extra keystroke, the space.

The danger in eliminating contractions, however, is I fear it will cause my efforts to sound a bit uppity. Grammatically correct maybe, but uppity. It isn’t how I talk, and it slows me down when I must pause to convert a natural contractional situation into a grammatically correct one. Most of the time that is a serious challenge for me because, typically, I am not overly concerned with that aspect of writing.

Grammar has its place, of course … right between “gramma” and “gramme” in someone’s dictionary. I trust that everyone will understand that the apostrophe “s” used in this paragraphs obviously means that the ‘dictionary’ in question belongs to an unnamed someone who uses only one zill, hates Chevys, and is overly fond of the color International Orange. That’s really a color.

I think I’ll leave it right there.

Sorry, Jewel & John, if you took the original version at face value.

Kua Bay, Whales, Jewel, John, & Thai Food

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today was a good one. The sun was shining when we got up, really early at 0730, and it shined all day long. Diane woke up mostly normal, so we felt OK with a road trip to Kua Bay.

First, however, here’s what it looked like outside our back door before we left …

It’s only about 13.8 miles down the road from us toward Kona/Kailua, so it was a quick trip. Since Diane is feeling pretty good, she drove, of course, and I did my normal magnificent job of navigating. We arrived around 1000-ish and got one of the last 3 valid parking places.

Diane stayed at one of the two picnic tables located at the end of the path from the parking lot, before there’s a need to stumble over a bunch of lava rock to the beach. This is her walking that direction … the one in the very bright green hat …

It’s not a large beach, but it’s pretty pristine …

There weren’t very many people there, either. I had to weave through a few of the sun lovers to the north end of the beach to get this picture looking back toward where we arrived. There were some hardy folks farther out, but most of the adventurous ones were fairly close in, working the waves. This guy was just taking a run at the waves these tossing his little piece of wood on the sand, jump on it and slide into the wave. I think the object was to jump the wave, but I didn’t ever see him do that. Still, it was fun.

Then we settled into some serious whale watching and we weren’t disappointed. We saw a bunch of them playing around a few hundred yards off the bay. Spouts were popping up all over the place …

… then they began to play, swimming along just under the surface …

… showing a tail, here and there …

… they popping up to look around …

If we do nothing else on this trip, today made it all worthwhile. It was just awesome. Then these guys showed up and stood right in the way of everything I wanted to take pictures of, so we left in a huff. How rude, don’t you think?

We left Kua Bay with a sense of awe from seeing these huge animals showing off. The next destination was Safeway in Kailua so we could get some vittles for a meal or two. Or three. On the way I texted Jewel to see if she was anywhere close on the island. From the photos Jewel posts she gets around. Thankfully, she was home and responded right away. Turns out she tried to call us, but had a really old phone number. We cleared that up first thing after meeting in the Safeway parking lot.

It was lunchtime so we headed down to the waterfront to one of their favorite eateries, a Thai restaurant right on the water. We weren’t disappointed with the food, and we had a wonderful visit with Jewel and John. Since this is the first time we’ve met John we had to go through a process to determine whether or not John was the “right guy” for Jewel. It doesn’t matter that they’ve known each other for a really long time, it’s just something that has to be done. Ya know? Well, he passed muster with flying colors. One of the good guys.
The waitress took two photos but in both of them John was hiding out behind Jewel. I think it was his way of putting Jewel first. What a guy.

Back at the Safeway parking lot we went our separate ways after making a date with Jewel to meet at Kua Bay at 0900 tomorrow. Sadly, John has to work so can’t join us.

We found all kinds of things in Safeway that we didn’t know we needed. We should be good for the rest of our stay.

Once back at the room we donned our swimming suits and lounged by the pool, the one with the waterfall, for an hour or so. Nice way to end the day.

News at eleven …

Scrambled Eggs & Sherbet In Paradise

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

At this exact point in time it is right at 1520 which is only a two hours difference from home which was erroneously reported as a 3-hour difference just recently. I think I got that from the pilot of the plane we rode in on. That, or I just took a guess. Since I’ve corrected that terrible miscalculation it’s a moot point so you may summarily dismiss any further references to time, in general.

I point out the time because I’m still in the bathrobe provided by the resort. We have been trapped in our room all day by horrendous weather, on the parking lot side, and noisy golf carts whizzing past on the lanai side. That’s a lie, of course. Just didn’t want it to get out that I’m still in my robe because Diane just got up about 30 minutes ago. It was a long night for her … too much beef over the past two days, we think.

She’s currently undergoing therapy, soaking in the tub …

When she’s all softened up, I will take my shower, then we will forage for
food that will be more gentle to our picky innards …

I am compelled to share with you that they have incredible water pressure here. That tub filled in about 1.5 minutes. Seriously. Well, maybe 2.5, but that’s still fast.

Here’s the view from our lanai …

As you can see, we’re pretty close to the volcano. Some of those rocks are still hot, but not too hot for the weasels, or ferrets, that habitat the resort. I suspect they don’t pay dues like everyone else here, but no one seems to mind.

Here’s another view from our lanai, if you zoom out and look up a little …

Just to keep you abreast of what’s going on, it’s now 1555 and I’m going to take my shower while Diane recovers from her bath.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

It’s much later now, after 1900, actually, and we actually got out of the room for a little while. Diane got up feeling lots better, and she was hungry, a good sign. This time the desire was something more in the “comfort food” area, like eggs. Those are our go-to choice when nothing else appeals. They’re just really good.

To get them, considering it was 1700-ish at the time, we had a couple of choices. We could revisit the Farm Market at the Mauna Whatsit resort next door, or take a short trip to Waikaloa Village, a short jaunt up the hill where the temp is only 73 instead of 76 where we currently ‘live’. We know that’s true because our rental car has a thermometer that told us. OK, it didn’t actually ‘tell’ us, it ‘showed’ us. On the dash, in a place I’m not allowed to look because, although I’m the registered driver of the vehicle, and Diane is secondary, and she’s semi-ill, I’m still not allowed to drive. I think that’s just wrong in a variety of ways, but it’s best, for me, to not attempt to push the boundary of my God-given rights as a man to rule the roost. As the ‘King’ of my abode, I am simply a figurehead, as are almost all good married men (GMM).

It rained at some point during the day, but only lightly because I didn’t see anything coming down any of the six or seven times I looked outside. It also rain on our trip to Waikaloa Village, but barely enough to need the wipers. Diane used them anyway for two reasons: 1) The windshield was dirty, and 2) She just wanted to see how they worked. From my secure spot in the passenger seat, I felt more qualified to investigate how to activate the windshield sprayers to aid in getting the windshield clean and to help allow Diane to keep both hands on the steering wheel and looking at the road. Why take chances, right?

The trip was uneventful and we found the market just fine, did our shopping and made it back to the car for under $65. All we got were 2 yogurts, 6 bananas, frozen lasagna, a dozen eggs, loaf of bread, 1/2 # of butter, salt & pepper, small strawberry jelly, small can of soup, small brick of cheese, and a box of crackers. Oh, and two bottles of mineral water for an ailing tummy. Bread was an absolute bargain at $2.50. At the neighboring resort it’s $5 a loaf.

Tomorrow we’re either going to Safeway, or Costco. First, however, we’re going to Kua Bay and look for whales. Honest. I know, I said we were going to do that today and it didn’t happen so why am I so sure it will happen tomorrow? I just know, OK. And, I told Diane it would be awful if I had to go alone. So, sick or not, she’s bound to go, and she’ll insist of driving. She feels terrible, by the way, for feeling ill, like it’s something she can control. I am not, however, concerned about any inconvenience on my part because I am a GMM. Just ask her.

Tomorrow we will investigate paradise.

We will also make plans to connect with Jewel. By the way, for those who are interested, Friday is Jewel’s birthday. On that day she will officially be a lot older than me.

Diane just texted me from the bedroom, where she’s watching “The Bachelor”, requesting some more mineral water and a small scoop of sherbet. Oh, ya. We bought sherbet. Frozen peas, too. I think that’s all.

I had some sherbet, too.

Waikoloa Hamburgers

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Greetings from the dry, lava-covered west side of Hawaii. It’s pretty incredible here. Any of you who follow Jewel on Facebook are familiar with the scenic beauty because she post her photos of it all the time. It never gets old. I kinda compete with her on photos because Oregon has some pretty nifty scenes, too. But, she totally outclasses my efforts.

Our journey to get her began at 0500 this morning when Diane’s alarm ignited, creating a dramatic start to this trip. Alarms just aren’t part of our daily routine so it’s a little startling when one goes off, even when you’re expecting it. Getting up that early was necessary in order to make it to the airport in time for our 0720 flight.

As soon as we got to the airport I used a kiosk to print out our boarding passes and they came out with TSA pre-approval. That means we got to skip the really long lines going through security. We still had to go through the scanner, but we didn’t have to empty any of our bags, and didn’t have to remove our shoes. I even wore my heart event monitor through the body scanner with no problem. I don’t know how we got to skip the long line, but I’m not complaining

Once at the gate, I checked with the agent to see if there was a possibility of upgrading seats. The plane was full, however, so it was not likely. After sitting for a bit, the agent made an announcement reporting there were four seats available in the exit rows. I jumped, ran over a couple of kids getting to the agent, and managed to score a pair. So, we had lots of leg room which made the six-hour flight much more tolerable. On the way we gained a few hours in the day because of the time difference which means after flying for 6 hours we arrived only 3 hours after we left. Weird.

We got off the plane pretty quickly then made our way to the Alamo bus to get a ride to our rental car. We got a Chrysler 200 which Diane likes because it’s not real big, but has the same size engine as her Buick. So, it’s pretty peppy.

We took a drive out to Kings Land at Waikoloa, arriving around 1230, or so, to see if by some miracle our room was ready. Of course, it wasn’t, so we had to kill some time. Since Diane was starving we went over to the food court at the mall thing they have on the other side of the resort and ate some teriyaki chicken yakisoba. We really like that stuff. Sadly, it wasn’t very teriyaki-ie so I asked for more sauce. The girl who sold us the plate didn’t have any but directed us to the pizza vendor at the other end of the food court where the counter guy was more than happy to get me some. I still haven’t figured out why I could get teriyaki sauce from the pizza guy, but not from the teriyaki chicken place. Odd.

We were both really tired from the flight so we went back to the resort to just wait for the room. Normal check in time is 1600 so we couldn’t really be upset because it wasn’t ready when we got there, again, at 1300. To fill the time we made a trip up the highway to the next resort to check out their market and see if prices were tolerable enough for us to get a few staples to tide us over for the evening. It was a very nice market, and they had lots of nice stuff, including bread for $5 a loaf. So, there won’t be toast tomorrow, for sure. We did get a couple of bananas, a couple of yogurts, and some creamer (for me). Then it was back to our resort where we decided to just wait things out. Walking around wasn’t an option because we didn’t want to do that. Instead, we sat around, reading books on our respective iPads.

At 1600 I went back to reception and got our keys. Then I went back to get Diane and we went to the room. It’s a nice one. A one bedroom condo. Once everything was in the room we walked, yes walked, back to the reception area where they have a grill. By this time the yakisoba was long gone and Diane was hankering for some ground up dead cow meat. The grill had one that fit the bill perfectly so we got two of them to go and took them back to our temporary home.

Back at the room we discovered why the hamburgers we got cost $15 each. They were entirely too big for normal people. Each of the burgers must have been at least 3/4 of a pound, and extended well beyond the limits of the bun. Take a look …

I watched Diane try to pick hers up to take a bite and suggested maybe it would be better if we just put them on plates and use forks. That turned out to be a good idea and one I was proud to have had. I don’t get many of those … good ideas, that is. Like normal, Diane couldn’t eat all of hers so I had to clean up. I suspect I ate a pound of beef, plus the bun, both of our pickles, and most of the fries. I have no doubt I’ll be tipping the scales a lot higher at the end of this trip unless we just start ordering one meal and sharing it. That’s what we did with the yakisoba and it worked out well. Don’t know why that thought didn’t carry over to the giant hamburgers.

After eating we just lazed around for a while then I had to go clean all the crap off the bed so Diane could retire. Here’s how housekeeping left our bed …

What a mess!

Tomorrow we plan to visit Kua Bay and, hopefully, see some whales. Then we’re going to Costco to see if we can get some cheap bread, for toast.

Perhaps we’ll run in to Jewel somewhere along the way. She lives just down the street in Kailua.

Winter Olympics and Small Town Snow

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

I got in a bit of trouble yesterday because my blog entry was deemed to be pretty scattered with lots of errors. I would gladly allow her to edit them before sending, but she’s never ready to read when I’m ready to send. So, I just send when done and deal with the consequences later. I’m getting really good at that … dealing with the consequences. I’ve tried convincing her to just log in to my draft, correct it, and send it, but she refuses.

It’s been snowing most of the day again today, adding to the 11 inches we got yesterday. It’s only been two days but I can officially report that I’ve enjoyed it enough. It’s really pretty, and all, like a postcard, but I’m tired of drying off the dogs when they come back to the house all soggy. Actually, only Panzee comes back soggy because Ozzie isn’t really a snow person. The first time he went out in it, this time, the snow was already about 6 inches deep and he sunk up to his chin when he walked off the porch steps. He maintained his composure quite nicely, I thought, lifted his leg, though it didn’t accomplish much, and made some yellow snow. Then he turned right around and came back to the porch. He’s been a little leery about going outside since then and needs an escort to the door, to make sure we’re serious about it. Unless there’s something to bark at in the field.

We watched the Olympic Games opening ceremonies today. Just a few brief comments and I’ll leave this one alone. I loved the technology they used to get it all done, but I could have gone a long time without the ballet and the opera. I understand that those things are a huge part of Russian culture, but I just don’t care. Guess I’m a bit insensitive. I remember being in grade school and having to crawl under my desk during drills to avoid being demolished by the evil Russian atomic bombs. Made sense at the time, and it was scary. So, I guess you could say not caring much about Russia is a learned trait from my 1950’s childhood.

As we watched the countries enter the arena and critiqued the uniforms. The only comments I can recall is that one of country’s uniform colors looked like a lawn chair I lost, and that many of them looked like candidates for yard sales in the spring. We agreed that our favorite was Latvia. We liked The Netherlands, too. Both of those countries used earth toned colors which I really like. The USA and Russian teams were very festive, and colorful, but I don’t see them being worn anywhere but the Olympics, this year. That’s just me, of course.

Then there’s Norway with their mind-altering redwhiteandblue zigzag print. Wow!

I just took a break and walked Panzee down to our mailbox to see if we had mail. She’s a good walker because she doesn’t need a leash. When I turned around to go home, she was off and running, not wanting to have anything to do with being out in the snow. Although it’s been snowing for the better part of two days, we still only have about 12 inches. I attribute that to the fact that it’s a bit warmer, the snow is more dense, and it’s all compressing. Kinda like me … the older I get, the shorter I get.

Part of the mail was a box that had “Keep Frozen” printed on it. I thought, perhaps, someone sent us a steak, or something, and that we might be able to eat dinner after all. But, it was only a pair of sneakers Diane bought from Goodwill. They deliver, you know, and they just use whatever box is handy.

Before I quit I’ll add some photos to ease your mind, in case you figured that I forgot how to use my camera, or that I lost it …

First is one of the Doug Fir trees in Diane’s Mom’s back yard next to the River Milton. Actually, it’s Milton Creek, but River Milton sounds more classy.

This is the back of her house. Her heat pump is directly below the ice cycles.

Then there’s Panzee trying to figure out what I meant when I asked her to check how deep the snow was. This is from yesterday.

I must also add that I have power that I didn’t realize I had. Considering the dangerous weather conditions, I decided to cancel church services for tomorrow. Oddly, everyone I called agreed. Even Pastor. I hope this doesn’t go to my head and make me difficult to live with.

Now, I’m done. Hope everyone is safe and warm.

Driving in the snow

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

I’m actuality pretty good at doing that, driving in the snow. To test my naturally imbued skills, I took a drive today. I had to because we used the last bit of Panzee’s pouch food this morning. She’ll want more of it in the morning. If I don’t have it she’ll just make my day totally miserable. I know. She’s done that before.

I ran out once before and had to use a pouch of Ozzie’s food as a substitute and she was absolutely incensed for being downgraded to, well, an actually pouch of food. Her’s, you see, actually comes from a can. She knows this, and is convinced the can keeps the food in a more tasty manner than an actual flimsy pouch. Ozzie doesn’t really care. If it isn’t crunchy, he’ll generally eat it, after a bit of investigating.

First stop, on the way to get dog food, and bananas, was ACE Hardware. I didn’t really need anything there. I discovered that he was working today and just and to stop by and say Hi. So, I did. I was dressed very warmly, because the temp is still low 20’s, so I didn’t stay in the store for long. We did, however, have time to share stories about the favorite wrecks we’ve seen over the years. It was entertaining, and we had a good visit.

Yes, I needed to get bananas, too. For us, and for Diane’s Mom, Jean. I forgot that part.

Getting to ACE wasn’t very difficult, even though the side roads around us do not get plowed. The Buick, however, couldn’t care less. I backed out of the driveway, scraping away all the snow above the 8″ level as though it wasn’t there. There was no hesitation then, or at any time during the entire I was gone. So, I will not dwell on the trip. It was very uneventful as everyone I encountered seemed to be on their best driving behavior. It was a very nice drive in the snow.

After ACE I went to Safeway for the bananas. I got them quickly and was back on the street within a matter of minutes even though here were a considerable number of people in there shopping.

From Safeway I drove straight across Highway 30 to Wal*Mart where the less expensive dog food lives. That’s where we normally get it. The parking lot was just a mess of packed snow but, as I said, the Buick didn’t care. There was a female employee out front doing her best to collect shopping carts from the parking lot, but they were almost impossible to maneuver through the snow. A very tough job. I spoke with her a bit and wished her well with her task.

Inside the store I navigated unobstructed to the pet supplies and only missed the correct location by one aisle. Once located, I loaded 16 cans of Panzee food, and one 12-pack of Ozzie pouch food into the cart I captured upon entry. Back at the front I discovered a cashier who was unencumbered with a customer and was more than happy to ring me up and accept my money.

As I left the store, I left the cart by the front door and carried my purchases to the Buick because I did not want to add to the shopping cart employee’s burden. It was the correct thing to do. I’m sure she would have appreciated it had she been there to see, but she must have been out retrieving carts used by less considerate customers.

From Wal*Mart I put my sights on Grandma’s House. That would be Diane’s Mom, Jean. We all call her Grandma, although to the majority of related humans in the area she is Great Grandma. That’s OK because she is already trained to respond to Grandma so we’ll stick with that.

Her driveway was a pristine sheet of unadulterated snow. No foot prints to betray her promise to not attempt, for any reason, to go to her mail box. Her driveway has a little slope to it so going down it in the snow isn’t something she should be doing. But, she will, given the chance.

Seeing no foot prints, I went to the mailbox to retrieve what was left, and it was empty. I was nearly stunned. Not quite, but almost. When I got to the front door Grams met me and explained that some wandering children were kind enough to retrieve the mail for her. I delivered her bananas, visited a bit, then headed on home.

The trip up Pittsburgh Road was going to be the final test for the Buick because it is notoriously bad, even on a good day. It proved to be no problem, as did the small hill on Hillcrest Road leading to our house.

When I opened the garage door the dogs began their greeting ritual that only ends when the interior door is opened and they are released into the wild. Generally, they run out into the driveway, then into the yard, where Panzee relieves herself in her special spot. Ozzie turns onto the sidewalk and makes three stops. One at the flowering Lenten Roses, another at some Lilly of the Valley he doesn’t like, and that I’ve been trying to kill since we’ve been her, then again at a bare spot that always seems to get his attention. The Lenten Roses, incidentally, always seem to be in bloom, year round. I don’t understand that. They should die like everything else when it gets cold, but they don’t.

After the ritual, we return to the house and settle down for the rest of the day, no matter if it’s morning or afternoon. Panzee’s greeting ritual is always a joyful event because she talks to us. It’s not a bark, or a howl, but just her voice which she wavers by rolling her jaw. It’s very entertaining and such a happy sound.

Diane’s better today. She’s been sick for a couple of months. First a bad cold, then a bad stomach ailment. Next week we’re going to Hawaii. I’m sure she’ll be perfectly OK by then. If she isn’t, we’re not going. That’s her incentive to get better. I’m sure if she isn’t, she’ll lie about it.

For lunch Diane made chicken noodle soup. It was my idea to use spaghetti noodles and it turned out to be way better than Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Great stuff.

For dessert I, by myself, made raspberry sorbet. I’ve never done that before. We had all the necessary parts because Diane found a recipe in one of the dozens of magazines she gets each month and bought then. I dug them out, she rediscovered the recipe, and I simply followed the directions. Did you know that making sorbet takes about six hours? I’m sure the sorbet served in restaurants are created using a really big machine, but doing it at home is an exercise in restraint. It was all I could do to not grab a straw and just slurp it all up. I knew that if I did that, however, that Diane would never forgive me, and I would have to let my doctor know so she could just go ahead and write out hat prescription for insulin.

I think that’s about it for the day. All that’s left is to watch the end of the Portland Trailblazer’s game against the Indiana Pacers. As of this moment, Portland is ahead by 6 points.

Sorry, 8 points, with 6:46 to go.

Oh, and it’s snowing again, adding to the existing 11 inches. Supposed to keep it up all night and lots of tomorrow.

Wheee!

OK. So they lost in overtime. Big deal.