Author: Peg

I allowed jet lag to win today. When you have four months you can do that. Woke up at 3am. Got up, made coffee and started settling in at 4am. Had breakfast at 730. Went for a small walk and got a starter kit of groceries. Did some more settling in. Went for an even smaller walk and then declared my day was over at 1pm. After which I had yogurt and coffee for lunch and then I napped and read and napped and read. 

It is now 5pm and soon I will prepare my first meal in 8 months. Think I’ll start easy. Avocado toast and a salad. Besides it is always fun to use Big Island salad greens. One always has the chance of contracting “Rat Lung Disease” – which would give your mainland family practice physician a real thrill. 

One day last month – Sardines were the “Daily Special” at the Asylum. I was not impressed. Today, doing my grocery shopping, I found the only acceptable sardine “Special”.

The hotel across the street, a Marriott Courtyard, seems to be having delusions of grandeur or at least visions of gentrification. They put up these cabanas on their lawn. Which is a little out of character for our drinking village with a fishing problem.

Good trip over. Plane was early into Phoenix and an unheard of hour early into Kona. The upper-level winds must be backwards today. 

Well, it is 1730 here and 2330  back at the Asylum. So, I think I’ll round up some dinner – granola bars, avocado, jerky and Halloween candy are what is available. Sounds like dinner to me.

Then a nice soak in the tub and off to bed. 

But Living History. I like Living History. It is like CosPlay for history weenies. Carlton did living history for the Park Service. I took some great living history photographs. Heck, I even did photographic living history – using glass plates. 

But, today we seem to BE living history. Or rather reliving history. The very worse parts of our history. 

Yes, Carlton as you ended so many Ranger Talks at Harpers Ferry: “I, John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” 

And, on this happy note, I am heading off to Hawai’i. Tomorrow morning at O-Dark Hundred hours. 

But wait: This is really happy news – the oldest grand got a job at the Honolulu Zoo and she will be moving to Hawai’i before Christmas. Brave strong young woman. Grandma is happy and proud beyond reason.

Well, it is almost 9 PM or about 34 hours before “wheels up” on the trek back to Kona. Tomorrow, I am going to have to spring into action and get ready to go. I have 18 more things to do on my list. Some are as easy as “empty trash”. Others are as complex as “pack”.

One of those changeable days today. The kind that makes you think “gee, Mother Nature is one fickle bitch” But, I little fall color is showing up around the edges.

Dinner this evening with the nurses from the office. Even got picked up from and returned to The Asylum. Had fried pickles, beer and a pig sandwich with fries. Life is good. Not healthy. But good.

Yesterday I was mopey and lacking life forces. Today, I am just not focused. Oh well. All I really have to do is be at the airport on time with my ID and cell phone. Oh and credit card. Anything else will just be lagniappe. 

Did some walking today. Inside and outside.

Near our “sitting area” and “writing area” is the “Wait, before you get on the elevator – check and see if you put pants on area”. They tend to collect flowers-both quick and dead. And knickknacks – like the Penguin Holy Family (see Friday, October 12).

Called my friend the Hotel night auditor. She said that my room will be ready and that she will stock me up with avocados and star fruit.

Hoping that everything is fine in Kona. It has been every winter since 1994, so, I am hoping that there is at least one more good year on tap for me. 

 

I was too lazy to wander around indoors taking pictures today. And, I was so not into going outside. I half-ass did some things that I felt I should do before going to Kona. I felt my life force was rather low today. Tried to kickstart my afternoon by having pumpkin cheesecake and coffee for lunch. But that didn’t help. And, the cheesecake wasn’t even very good. A waste of calories.

Speaking of cheesecake: note next week’s featured sandwich here at The Asylum:

By this time next week, I will already be tired of cooking for myself and will be happy to have a Philly Cheesecake! Of course, nothing says that I actually have to cook. I can eat out. Couldn’t do that when Carlton was alive. The man didn’t eat out. So stop will all this whining already! RIGHT NOW. 

Let’s think about Happy Stuff.

1. It is free wine night.
2. I am listening to a favorite old fantasy Wizard’s First Rule. And, boys and girls – in case you have forgotten The First Rule is:  People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they are afraid it might be true. And nothing that has happened lately has disproved The First Rule.
3. After 4 more sleeps, I’ll be heading off to Kona. 
4. And, it is with sadness that I leave because I will miss my Asylum Sisters. This is a good thing. Because it means I have wonderful friends here.
5. The stock market was closed today and it will be tomorrow. 

Carlton always laughed at me for fussing so much about “what to take”. His idea was to take a handful of stuff out of every drawer and cram it into his suitcase. He would do that the night before we were scheduled to leave. 

Not me, I gotta fuss. And change my mind a dozen times.

More horrors from The Asylum. This time it is our “writing areas” located next to yesterday’s “sitting areas”. Hey, when I am getting my exercise by hiking around and around the building I have to amuse myself somehow. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll look at the waiting for the elevator areas. Or the fake plant areas.

There are all manner of horrors at Halloween. One (or rather 8) is/are our “sitting” areas. In my building, we have 8 of them. Each one a tiny little time capsule of what Mom or GrandMom might have wanted in her living room. After a couple of weeks, walking by your own “sitting area” 6 or 10 times a day – your eyes glaze over and you don’t see them. 

OK Peg, time to get as in gear Hawai’i-wise. Repeat after me:

They sell clothes in Hawai’i
I have clothes in Hawai’i
Not so much need for clothes in Hawai’i
So, stop fussing and get cracking packing.

Birthday Caking with the Asylum Sisters tonight. Chocolate.

Ok, today was a very bad day in the stock market. So, let us move on to another topic.

Ok, today was a very bad day for the republic, pipe bombs sent to many vilified by the extremists on the right. So, let us move on to another topic.

Or maybe, let us move on to Kona. One week from today. 

Best part of the day – coming back from dinner, where sardines on toast was the so-called “special” – to find a wonderful full moon peeking in my window.

(I did not have the “special”. There is nothing “special” about sardines. I did have Salad Niçoise with a very fine bread pudding for dessert) As soon as I get to Kona: Let the dieting begin. Either that or start buying clothes with elastic waists! Not happening. 

Let us see. Today: work, help a friend with computer task, little odds and ends about the Old Bat Cave. Sort of an ordinary day. Ended with dinner with the usual suspects. My tokhes was barely in the chair when a big glass of red wine appeared at my place. I am entirely too well known around here. I mean, what if I had wanted white wine? Or pink wine? (wine is free. beer isn’t.)

The bloodletting continues in my portfolio. My “investment” guy is losing money way faster with what he manages than I am in the part I manage. Makes me ask WTF am I paying him for? But this is a first class problem.  Life on the planet as we know it is facing far worse than my incredible shrinking net worth.

Work, dentist, yoga. Done. And, I ticked some things off my to do list. Looking forward to dinner with my witchy friends. And early to bed this evening.

RIP Earl Bakken.  For the last 25 years, he lived in a fine old beach house on the west side of the Island of Hawai’i. He was hugely generous to the Big Island. He was about as good as any person could be and he lived a long and generous life. Don’t know who Earl Bakken was? If you have a pacemaker – you owe your life to him. 

 

Notice anything different 6 years to the day. Anything other than my view of the Washington Monument was better!

Yes, you noticed it. Fall color is missing.  But, it is damn chilly and windy out there. 

Later in the day, I was trying to figure out witch cameras and lenses to take to Kona:

When I updated all my systems to the latest releases about a month ago, I did not update my elderly iPad Mini to iOS 12. Well, I decided to do that today and I do believe that it is more responsive.  I will take it to Kona and leave the grand iPad Pro home alone. I will take Forbin the MacBook Pro, Shamu 2 the phone, and the Kindle as well. 

Work, dentist and yoga tomorrow.