Category: The DayBook

Well as promised the rain and my new inferior lens both arrived this morning.

I am happy with the rainy day, because – this place is a desert. And rain is a blessing. 

I am happy with the new lens. Well, my almost new lens. Except for underwater gear – I always buy used camera gear. So,  I never know exactly what I am going to get.  I was really surprised that this one came with a rather awesome hard lens case. Exactly the kind of case that the lens that cost as much as a car should have been in. But wasn’t.

As you can see the new one is tiny. But, all that extra weight and size made the old one great. The E-M1 really deserves better glass. The old lens will either be repaired or replaced. But, the new lens will most likely be a go-to travel lens, especially with the Pen-F body (which I understand is going out of production.)

A LITTLE REFLECTION ON BEING OLD

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The day I left the Asylum, my neighbor, Isabel, on the south side died. My neighbor, Ken, on the on my north side died yesterday. Half of my corridor-mates didn’t make it thru my winter escape. Ken was 94 years old. And, last fall, he was still taking his lady friend to dinner in our formal dining room most evenings. I am 74 for another couple of weeks. Ken’s death makes me wonder if I’ll make it to 2039. I think not.

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The new lens, with the E-M1  body is supposed to be rain-proof. I am not rain proof. So, I stayed indoors all day. I have run out of snacks and much variety for meals. Given the choice between peanut butter and bananas sandwiches and going out in the cold rain – bring on the PB&Bananas. 

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party.
I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

“They” are saying it is going to rain a lot over the next 24 hours. We’ll see. But, it has been raining all afternoon. Which makes everyone, except visitors, happy because Kailua-Kona is actually a desert.

As for me, I didn’t do so very much today. But, what is new about that?

A LITTLE REFLECTION ON BEING OLD

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The other evening I was out for a little stroll. I was looking right and walking left over some crappy sidewalk and SPLAT. No harm was done. Just lost some skin off one of my knees. I tottled on home. Patched myself up. And, was profoundly grateful that I can actually get up. All by myself.

Intent on maintaining this capability, I decided that every day, whilst my morning coffee brews – I will put myself on the floor without using my hands and getup 5 times using as little assistance as possible from anything except my legs. Day One – piece of cake. Day Two – I am a little sore and stiff. Day Three – more than a little sore and stiff. Guess this means I really need to do this. Help, I have fallen and can not get up isn’t a joke in my age cohort.

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Kona is kind to old cars and older women. As usual, I’ll miss this place. But, adventures call.

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party.
I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

Most of yesterday’s photos came from my damaged lens. So, I took it out today to try some shots at the Tahitian dance contest. Well, it completely and totally died today. 

But, a lesser replacement is on order. It has two advantages – well other than I hope it works – it is “water resistant” when used with one of my camera bodies. And it will weight about 1/2 what my favorite now dead lens weights. I am not expecting it to be as good as the Leica. I just want it to be “fine”.  Stay tuned.

Leaving winter quarters one week from today. It is 78° here. 54° in Santa Barbara – my first stop on the way back east. It is 24° in Fairbanks which I considered visiting. Until I remembered that I am not a winter person. Not even close. 54° will be cold enough.

 . . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party.
I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

As soon as Uncle Bo’s canoe cleared the inner bay – a whale did three full breaches. That was really special.  One breach to get everyone’s attention. A second breach for everyone to see. And, a final breach for anyone who missed number two. No, I don’t have a picture. 

I came back home and listened to the music from my lanai. I would have had a better view of the scattering of the ashes from one of the boats or from my lanai – but – I chose to watch from the end of the pier. It was all good.

All of the normal commercial operations at on the pier closed down for the morning in honor of Bo. The commercial boats took people out to the scattering location, gratis. 

And they are doing this again tomorrow on Oahu with the rest of Uncle Bo’s ashes. 

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party.
I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

I had a thought today. (Surprising, isn’t it) The thought: What if I damaged the camera as well as the lens?

What to do but go make some experiments. And, on the pier, they were getting set up for a very important day-long Celebration of Life tomorrow – for Bo Campos – a much loved local man who more or less single-handedly turned Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe racing into a viable international sport. So, of course, he gets an entire day of all kind Hawaiian stuff – canoeing, music, eating, drinking, talk story. 

I am pretty sure that the camera body is undamaged. 

A LITTLE REFLECTION ON BEING OLD

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Why is it that just making an appointment with a doctor for a “checkup/followup” appointment scares the crap out of me. I am sure that just making the appointment knocks 3 months off my life. This morning I made two appointments and that means I lost 6 months. That, I think is why Carlton and I both avoid doctors. You know they are going to find something wrong. Finding something wrong is how doctors make money. AND, after 75 years of fast living – something is bound to be wrong. And finding out about it “early” – is that really a good thing?

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And, today, I seem to have clicked back into “gear” and actually knocked some items off my “Going Back 2Do List”. 

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party.
I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

This is the Carlton that my heart remembers. He was 74 almost 75 in this picture. Just like I am now. I keep getting older, but Carlton is forever young. Well, maybe forever 75.

Did very little today.  Billy and I had breakfast,  I had a little walk and did a little yoga. Also some reading and napping. Started getting my stuff ready to get back in its box to stay here. Or ready to go back to the asylum.  In my carryon or in a flat rate box. 

After my favorite lens was injured in my carry-on, I will be extra careful with my packing. 

I became paranoid about my Google account today. I got a couple of unrequested “verification code”  text messages from Google. Or something that might have been Google. Or it could have been nothing at all. Just some dodo like me who typed in an incorrect phone number and the verification that should have gone to them, came to me. 

The Orange Lord is expected to declare a national emergency and build his great wall, the people and Congress be damned. I think that this might be the actual “national emergency”.

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

According to my blog from Jan 4, 2004, I had a raging sinus infection and Carlton and I watched the Mars landing of the Rover “Spirit” and 20 days later we watched “Opportunity” land. The link I posted wayback then still works. Mars Explorations Rovers.
All I did was walk, read and nap today.

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

Woke up this morning and the Eurodam was anchored in the bay. By the time I finished my morning walk – the ship had decided that the ocean was too unfriendly to let the tenders deliver passengers to the pier and so, the ship left. And, took all that lovely visitor money with it. 

Weather is still chilly. But, I did take my longsleeved shirt off today. And, I have my windows open again. Our weather event was called a “cold hurricane”. The winds gusted to 191 MPH up top of our mountains. The hotel suffered from a few leaks. We got off easy here on the lee side of Big Island.

Made reservations at Greenbanks in Bermuda which is the last stop on my RTW B4 EXIT trip. The Bermuda stop is a rest and recovery stop off before returning to The Asylum. Greenbanks is where I stayed last August. Greenbanks has 10 rooms max, so I wanted to be sure I got one of them. Greenbanks has everything I need to be happy.  A warm ocean for swimming, a  bathtub for soaking, and lounge chair in the shade for reading. The Asylum has NONE of those things.  Is it time to rethink where I am living?  If it were not for friends… maybe… 

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

Cats are always challenging for me to photograph. Especially black cats. This tiny lady is a former feral cat. And, she is about the friendliest cat on the planet. You can not see it from this shot but her left ear is snipped indicating that she has been “fixed”. She doesn’t know that she is supposed to be arrogant, aloof, and well, cat-like. 

Finished up my arrangements for the trip back east. The last piece was getting a bus ticket from LA airport to the LA train station.  If it were not for my friends back at the asylum and work, I might not go back at all. I really could just use the Old Bat Cave as a climate controlled storage unit. 

Since it is still really chilly – I have been all cozied up thinking about the RTW B4 Death Tour. Checking out what I might need to know about Singapore – I find this:

 
Fortunately, I have access to several types of N95 masks. But, really. I might have skipped Singapore if I had known about the pollution. Oh and Dubai – I was warned that the best clubs will not let me in without high heels. Pity. I was so looking forward to a night of clubbing in Dubai. But, this is why I love traveling.

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

My favorite, best, most loved, most expensive, most treasured, the lens that Carlton called: “Your lens that cost as much as a car” got damaged on the way over last fall.

As usual, it was in my carryon. But it must have had a great bump somewhere along the way. My bad, it should have been in a hard lens case. It wasn’t.

So, today – before the promised gale – I went out and took 300 pictures. It does an acceptable but no longer a fantastic job.  Autofocus is marginal at best. So, it really needs to be retired. 

Yes, since last we the local weather has been hyping our upcoming gale/big surf. Sort of like winter snow storms back east. Everything has been tied down. Boats have been secured. Tarps have been removed. Yesterday’s cruise ship was canceled. Goodness knows where it went. The beach parks are all closed.  

It is supposed to be at its worst here this afternoon. So, I am charging up all of my toys – just in case. I have a new dead tree book to read. And, my insulated mug is full of coffee.  Good to go.  

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

 

Had a fine time sitting on the dock of the bay watching dolphins this afternoon. I saw them for the lanai just before naptime. Canceled my nap. There will be plenty of time to nap after I am dead.

Now, I want my friends of a certain age to notice this man on his skateboard. Well, he is recovering for hip replacement surgery. Notice his cane. It has two handles, one at proper height when he is on his board and the lower handle is for walking. I bet damn few orthopedic surgeons on the mainland get asked: “how soon can I use my skateboard?”

Yesterday’s steak turned into tuna salad.

I ate everything except the lemon rind. There is steak back at the asylum. But nothing close to this “tuna salad”. 

. . . 

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
Will Rogers.

It is totally wrong to put cream and ice in good 100% Kona coffee. But, I did it anyway. Mea Culpa Mea Culpa Mea Maxima Culpa.

While I was enjoying that finest kind beverage – five people joined the man in the background. These five people had been scouting all of our local tattoo establishments of which there are many. They were looking for the cheapest one and they made an appointment for 2:30 for a “group tattoo”. That is wrong on so many levels.  Find the “cheapest” place to get a tattoo. Really? That sort of explains a lot about today’s society.

Starting to think seriously about the RTW B4 Dead trip. Think I’ll try to leave all camera and computer gear safely back in the Old Bat Cave. Cell Phone and Kindle. That could be it for technology.  Maybe.  I usually end up schlepping a whole fricking electronics store around with me. I can do this. Maybe.

Think I hear a little steak and a Guinness calling me from Quinn’s Almost By the Sea.

. . . 

Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. H.L. Menchen In Defense of Women (1918)