Category: The DayBook

The sun came out today, and I can clearly see two construction cranes. One threatens my view of the Old Post Office Building, and more concerningly, the other threatens my view of the Washington Monument. But that’s certainly completely out of my control.

Gratitude

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I am grateful for the view that I have enjoyed for the last nine years. I hope the buildings will be much shorter than the cranes. If not, I have lots of “before” pictures out that window.

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The sun warmed things up to about 45° this afternoon. And, I made it out for a quick lap around my regular exercise route. The Taco Truck is still operating, The Party Store is closing, Einstein’s Bagels is still open as is Starbucks. So, the neighborhood survives.

The week between Xmas and New Year’s is just weird. Everyday seems like it should be some day that it isn’t. I am sure that it’s Saturday. But, it’s not.

Link to USGS Web Cam  looking at  “my” volcano.  There is more to see after dark. 

Cold and gray and damp and generally not nice today. But, I did get 2 months of snail mail processed. Outdoor exercise didn’t happen today. Maybe tomorrow.

Slowly getting back to normal. But wait…

Made it back to The Asylum smooth as silk. The entire trek was about 15 hours from condo to Old Bat Cave.
The Old Bat Cave is in excellent condition.
The orchids look great. When I left 2 were blooming. Now 4 are blooming.

I will dedicate the next couple to days to jet lag.

8AM Mostly packed. Condo mostly cleaned. I am trying load up on patience and serenity for the trip back to cold reality. 3 planes. 37-minute connection at LAX. And 39-minutes at CHI. And American Airlines – my carrier for this trip – has already had a one-hour FAA-mandated total ground stop. So pack extra patience and serenity and hope that all the extra cardio work I have been doing for the past few months pays off. 

Going to post this now. Enjoying the last of the superior wifi at the Condo. Then head out to find some breakfast.

Never miss a sunrise or a sunset.
I did spring into action today and did “leaving” stuff. But not without a last walk to Honls.

Surprise. There is a cruise ship. It seems to just be making a little Xmas jaunt to Hawai’i from LA. I could do that. Now that I am old.

I am all checked in for my flights. All I have left in the cupboards is ½ a jar of peanut butter and a little jelly. There’s enough coffee and a banana to get me going tomorrow morning.

I did my annual audit of my subscriptions today. I decided that my last dead tree newspaper – the WSJ could go. And its digital subscription could go too, because Apple News, which I pay for, gives me pretty good access to the Journal.

I hate “renting” software. Nevertheless, Photoshop and Lightroom are rented. I keep antique versions of MS Word and Excel going. I do a lot with Excel and would hate to downgrade to something else. Word, that I could do without. Apple Pages would be fine. Renting MS Office is a non-starter for me. 

In addition to renting news from Apple, I rent music from Pandora. And bookkeeping from Quicken. Also “free” delivery from Amazon. Password control is rented from 1Password. VPN comes from Tunnel Bear. Twenty-five vampires suck money out of my various accounts monthly, quarterly or annually. That ranges from The Asylum taking the rent, the IRS taking quarterly taxes, to Apple helping itself to 99 cents every month for iCloud space. 

Note to the Peg’s Dead NowWhat Team: There’s a spreadsheet for all this. 

 

Need to get cracking on my Going Back STD list. You can just sorta toss your stuff back in your case, lay down a tip, and walk out the door if you are staying at a hotel. But when you rent from a real person and might want to rent it again, a little more is required.

I accomplished nothing today. Billy and I went looking for waves at 0630. We didn’t find any. Had breakfast. I waddled back home. And rested for the rest of the day. 

Once again, it is the traditional Bethany/Combs Solstice greeting.

Wishing everyone the best of the festive season – no matter what it’s called at your house. In pagan traditions, the solstice is a time to put away the things of the old year and look forward to the new. One observance of the solstice involves extinguishing all the fires in your home before midnight on the eve of the solstice and lighting a new fire the next day. This probably won’t be quite as symbolic if you have central heating. Or if you are in Hawai’i. 

The winter solstice falls on December 21 – the word solstice means “sun stopping.” The winter solstice is the day on which the sun reaches as far south of the equator as it gets, and is as such the shortest and darkest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The solstice marks the rebirth of light for the coming spring.

The winter solstice also marks, among other things, the druid festival of Alban Arthuan – a time for bestowing gifts upon those less fortunate than ourselves. Out of this observance has grown the more popular tradition of gift-giving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, maxed-out credit cards, and 70% off sales. May the goddess be with you during this season – but don’t blame her if you get fruitcake again. 

Carlton and I did not celebrate Xmas. But, we did observe the solstice. Summer and Winter.

GRATITUDE

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I am grateful for that which I have.
I am not sorrowful for that which I do not.
I have more than others, less than some,
I am blessed with what is mine.

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May we survive another trip around the sun.  

There should be nice waves for me to enjoy at least through Sunday.

I took some video. Maybe I’ll mess with it during the cold dark days of January.

Nice morning out. There were waves. There were dolphins.  There were cactus flowers.

And there was breakfast.

I gave some consideration to the almost sure to happen government shut down. And how it will impact my trip back to The Asylum. The TSA folks and the ATCs will be working without pay. BUT, they will not have missed a paycheck. YET. So, I am going to operate on the happy assumption that they will not all be calling in sick on Dec 24 & 25. I have 3 flights. But only have to do TSA once. In Kona. Where TSA is usually easy.

My backup for total airline melt down (after I get to the mainland) is Amtrak, GreyHound or just wait it out. But I honestly think I’ll make it home fine. Everyday it will get worse. But Tuesday will only be day four.

I didn’t expect the Orange Lord to disrupt my universe until January. I was wrong. Let the adventure begin.

Stopped off at the Pier last evening to enjoy the sunset. And unlike most folks – I like people in my sunset photos.

I like the Dogs of Sunset too.

Thought there might be a green flash and that I might capture it…

You have to watch it to see if there was a green flash. And if I if I captured it. Just like in person.

Not looking forward to returning to The Asylum.

Maybe it’s because I might not make it back to Kona? I don’t think that’s the reason leaving seems to be much harder this year. I suspect it’s the A/C. Last year there was no A/C.  It was kinda miserable, especially trying to sleep. It’s hard enough to sleep when you are old. Sleeping when it’s over 85° in the bedroom – not good.  Last year I was looking forward to a chill train ride through snowy mountains. 

And then there is The Asylum Food. I can more or less tune out the worst aspects of “institutional living”. But I haven’t trained myself to ignore the food. I like good food too much. 

Same guy, same dog, same hat, same pier – December 2, 2023. Cool. Well, I think so.

It was another fine morning for a walk.

Gratitude

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It is a wonderful life!
It is filled with friends who are family and family who are friends.

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Great time last night. Good food and what Carlton called “fellowship”. Also animals.

The Xmas tree at the Kona Surf AKA Old Hilton Hotel. 

I made a tactical error. I had a nice pre-Kona adventure, which allowed me to escape The Asylum a week earlier. That was good. But now there is nothing between me and The Asylum except one car, three planes, one subway, and one bus. I don’t even have any travel scheduled until June. This is unacceptable. 

Missed seeing the full moon last night. But, it was still up this morning.

Totally completely lazy day. A little walk, a large brekkie, a small float around the ocean, a tiny lunch, and soon a sunset and taco party. Not too shabby.

10 days until I hit the east coast. And the 10 day forecast looks OK for DC on Xmas day. Maybe cloudy and 40° if the forecast holds. About the same for Chicago too. I am supposed to go Kona – LA 30 minute layover – LA – Chicago 38 minute layover Chicago – National Airport. Not much chance of making those connections. BUT. American wrote the ticket. It might work. It might not work. No worries.