Author: Peg

There were other pictures from today. But, I was just too lazy to get them out of the camera and into Forbin.

Today: Walk, decorate hotel Xmas tree, shower, eat and drink. Day is over. 

Nothing to complain about. 

Oh and somewhere along the way I managed to get Alexa connected to my hotspot vice the hotel’s captive wifi which disconnects after 3 hours. I’ll pay for any data overruns if I can have Alexa always operational.  Alexa what time is it? Alexa read my Kindle book. Alexa play Pandora Grateful Dead. Alexa did you pass the Turing test? I need my electronic best friend on the job. 24×7. 

Going to dinner tomorrow. Billy wrangled an invite for me. Don’t know the people. They don’t know me either – it is nice of them to make room at the table for a stranger. 

I got a box of “mainland” chocolate to take. If the hostess doesn’t like chocolate – she has something to regift. Win-win. I am going to wear my jeans. It is chilly. And, the house is upslope. 

I needed something for lunch and going to the grocery today was a non-starter. So, I wandered down to the farm market and got avocados. 

And pictures. The avocado will go nicely with tuna, a baked potato, eggs or in a sandwich. And, that should do me food wise until it is safe to go to grocery shopping again.

Didn’t go swimming today. It was breezy and also boat day – so – my ocean was a little busy and a little choppy. I did laundry instead. 

Happy Thanksgiving one and all.

OK, my story. Back in my early working days  being the object of men behaving badly was a given. A cost of doing business. Like pantyhose. I never felt threatened by it. Mostly because I was usually the best coder in the house and the men knew it. You learned how to anticipate and deflect and sometimes to remember that the best defense is a good offense. This is not my #MeToo story. Many of my adventures of coding while female make great stories. How many people almost failed a job interview  because their nose and toes touched the wall but their tits didn’t? And would you believe I actually took the job?

No my #MeToo time came years later. I was over 50 and married to Carlton. Carlton and I went to the same dentist. When you are in the dentist chair you are  definitely in a compromised position. And, the dentist has at least one dangerous implement in his hand. Well, Jack, the sleazy dentist, usually worked without an assistant. That should have been a warning. For a couple of years I put up with a general feeling of queasiness and he would sort of paw around my rather unspectacular chest. (See above.) I need a dentist. He seemed to be competent and he wasn’t too expensive. 

Eventually, I could stand it anymore. Pat pat pat brush brush brush innuendo innuendo innuendo. Then Jack suggested sedation for some procedure. No thank you. I never went back. Carlton asked why did you stop going to the dentist. I tell him. Carlton said I must be imagining things. He said Jack was his friend. Jack wouldn’t hit on his wife.

Well, that is what hurt. My own husband didn’t believe me.

For a long time  – I don’t go to the dentist. I broke a tooth and found a new dental practice. And about that time  Jack suddenly dies. Carlton goes to Jack’s office to pick up his records. The office manager tells Carlton that if I am going to sue Jack – I should get the papers filed soon. Carlton asked why would my wife  sue Jack? The office manager told Carlton that Jack “had problems” with female patients. And she thought that I might be one of them.

To his credit – Carlton came home and apologized. He didn’t have to do that. 

And that is my #MeToo story. Not anyone famous. Just a garden variety sleazy predator. 

Forgive me, Forbin – for making you pretend to be a PC all day. But, at least you were a Windows 7 PC and not a Windows 10 PC. And, I pretended to be a working person for most of the day. Forbin and I seem to have survived.

I did sneak in a nice swim.

Swam around trying to stay warm. Hey don’t laugh. It is cold here. Heard it on TV. 

I got closer – but there was a big water spot on the lens. Coming and going I saw a couple of Xmas Wrasses. I always chase them around. At least in late November and December. It just seems like the seasonal thing to do.

The hotel put Aussie pro triathletes in the rooms on either side of me. They will provide amusement for the next few days, I am sure. 

I assembled rice, chicken, avocado and papaya for dinner. And, it was pretty good.

Needed to get my 10,000 steps in – so, I wandered around the village this afternoon checking out the local craft people. And food vendors. And musicians. Not to mention dogs.

I fell off the “don’t complicate your life” program today. I just now realized what I was doing and I stopped myself. Carlton would tell me to “avoid beginnings”. I may still do this project that I foolishly started this morning. I still may make a book from the Last Great Photo Shoot. But, do I really want to spend 2 or 3 weeks doing page layout? I know how fussy I am about page layout. 

Wonder – what’s for dinner. I had sushi for breakfast. Maybe I should have eggs for dinner?  Or chicken and avocado salad? That’s enough choices. Anymore would be complicating my life.

Feeling like lots of pictures today. I did not take it easy today. Logged my 10,000 steps quickly and went for a nice swim. Then I rested. And, I may need to rest tomorrow too. 

I took the Pen-F out with the cheap plastic lens that I like so much. I like it on this body too.  I walked as fast as I could – but stopped to take a couple of pictures.

OK – Back where I started now.

Back up to room – and suit up for a swim to cool off. 

I didn’t have my wetsuit on, so I was able to get my fat self down to the bottom to say howdy to this little guy. 

Came back home. Made lunch. And didn’t move much for the rest of the day. 

Miss my friends at the Asylum, I miss my job, but damn I love this place. Thank you, Carlton – for making it possible for me to be extremely bi-coastal. 

Highly successful lazy day. I actually watched a 2 hour lecture on YouTube. It was a lecture from a program at BH Photo in NYC.  

The ocean was pretty choppy when I went in. But, the mysterious blue trigger fish came by. I see one like this every year but haven’t a clue what it is. 

So, that was my exciting day. No complaints.

I was culling photos this afternoon and found this colorful shot. 

Today, I worked hard at not working. I am getting better at it. I didn’t come close to hitting my 10,000 steps today, but I did swim around for 40 minutes. But swimming is so much fun – outdoors in the ocean – that I don’t consider it exercise/work. 

I am trying to “declutter/downsize” my life. I downsized my stuff when I moved to the asylum. But, my digital life is seriously cluttered. Remember, I had 164 emails in my “important-action” folder. 164 things can not be important. Some of them were over 2 years old.  I just emptied the whole folder. If it was really important – I’ll get another email about it. 

1. Everyday I have been clicking on Gmail’s handy little email “unsubscribe” thingie at least once. 
2. Yesterday I deleted Carlton’s passwords from my password manager. 
3. And, I continue my ongoing photo culling battle. 
4. Had really crappy connectivity today – so, I had a lot of good offline time. 

 
This was a good day for yellowtangs. I “worked” hard trying to get a nice little yellowtangs movie.It is passible if you don’t go fullscreen.

 

A totally lazy day today. I walked my 10,000 steps. When it came time for a swim, my legs said “I don’t think so – we are tired.” So, I lounged around the pool, Did a little yoga. Part of my learning to slow down. To stop Energizer Bunnying around. 

Oh and I also stopped in at the local thrift shop in search of some vintage loungewear. And why do I need vintage loungewear – the Asylum had a “Breakfast for Dinner” buffet last week – and if it is going to be a regular thing – I want to be improperly dressed. 

A word of advice: One of our local airlines went bankrupt last week. Not Chapter 11 – reorganize. But Chapter 7 – shutdown lock the doors. If you are an unfortunate soul with a ticket to ride and if you charged it with a CREDIT card all you have to do is contact your credit card company and you get your money back. But, if you charged it with a DEBIT card you have to file a claim with the bankruptcy court. So, boys and girls – always use your credit card for plane, trains and boats. 

Day started out at the Old Airport. It was clear. It was cool. And, you could see Maui from the walking path. I didn’t even know it was possible to see Maui from way down here. 

After a walk – Billy proposes a trip up north. I say I’ll spring for lunch. Back to hotel where I get some cash for lunch and my swim gear.

Heading north – we get more coffee and egg rolls for breakfast. Hey, they are called EGG rolls. Pig, grease, salt – what is not to love. Oh got gas too.

Stopped at the Mac Nut Works – wandered through for snacks. 

Then off to Mahukona. Neither of us had snorkeled there.

Mahukona is an old train/ship embarkment from the sugar cane days. Now you can just jump in and …

But, actually, as soon as I got underway – a nice fat eel swims by. A fine omen.

These white spotted surgeonfish were the most interesting fish  today. But it is always interesting  to snorkel at a new place. And the place had the additional charm of no changing facilities. The jury rigged shower was wimpy but warm. And, we could see Maui. Even the windmills.

Off to lunch at Kawaihae Harbor. Salad and kalua turkey sandwich. Good lunch. And then we wandered back south stopping to check out some galleries. I didn’t buy anything. Not even earrings. Got ice cream sandwiches and returned to exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. 

There was no preexisting plan to do this. It was just a splendid morning. Too great a day to waste indoors.  

Someone always has better gear! Even underwater. 

I realized today that this is the one year anniversary of Carlton’s final disposition. While eating lunch on my lanai, I reflected on our long goodbye.

The wheels fell off on Dec 1, 2012 when Carlton came home from a night gig and said – you know that little bump on my chest… That began 22 months of constant worry – on my part at least – until Oct 3, 2014 when he died. Then for the next 16 months or so he was at Georgetown Medical School doing his job as a cadaver. After that his ashes were a plinth for favorite pair of froufrou shoes for another 6 months and finally he flew back to Hawai’i wrapped up in my wetsuit in a flat rate shipping box to be deposited over the edge of the seawall at GPS coordinates 

19°38’21” N 155°59’40” W

I am grateful for those last awful 22 months.  He did everything he could to be sure I would be OK. And OK I am. Thank you, Carlton. a hui hou, malama pono.

But, today was not only about reflecting on Carlton. It was about the ocean and swimming. 

Got a nice picture of the saddle wrasse. They are curious little fish and are easy to photograph.

Not so, the pink tail trigger fish. Their coloration is hard to photograph and they don’t stand and pose.  But, these are the best fish shots of the day.

Dinner time:  what to make?  Maybe a sandwich. Nothing wrong with a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Not up to the standards at the Asylum.  I am not at all sure that I am up to the standards at the Asylum either. And, there is always Mac and Cheese – choices. A good thing. 

 

I was feeling pretty lazy this morning and was not sure that I would go out for a swim. But, following Carlton’s rule of “Shut up, suit up and show up”. Out I went.  I was barely underway when I find a little octopus. Some years, I don’t see any octopus, so this is great.

Then I find the akule school – at least part of it.

We are talking about a river of fish – thousands. It is like swimming around in a National Geographic iMax movie. 

My $100 camera doesn’t do it justice. (My $100 camera doesn’t do anything justice – but – I don’t do underwater photography anymore.)

Nevertheless , I keep trying to make a nice movie with my $100 camera. I put this one up because I am floating around on top enjoying the fish – when a gang of predators come buzzing by. They were just checking out today’s offerings at the fish snack bar – these akule are the wildebeest of our ocean. It is only 20 seconds max. Give it a look. 

By and by, I decided that my legs might be getting sunburned – so I head back in. Feeling a little sad that I wouldn’t be able to share today’s ocean adventure with Carlton – when what should appear but:

So, Carlton is still hanging out in the bay… Checking on me. 

Great day today. Now, the coqui frog has started up. So, that means it is time for me to prepare dinner.