life in the old lane

Carlton didn’t do Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Birthdays etc. But, he did remember anniversaries. And, December 30 is the day that he considered our anniversary. 44 years ago. He is still the one for me.

He is still a part of my life. I do things like contest a $1.63 incorrect charge on my Asylum bill because he would expect me to. AA is still a part of my life. I don’t go to meetings. But the principles are stuck in my head. Every time a see a penny on the ground, I have to pick it up. I figure he put it there to test me. 

GRATITUDE

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Grateful for all the good years I had with Carlton. I kissed a lot of frogs before he showed up. We worked at the same company. Grateful we didn’t WFH then!

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About that new Google Watch. I like it. A lot.  Mostly, I like that it passes texts, emails that Google considers “important”, Alexa reminders, and phone calls to me when I am here and my phone is there. Oh, and it tells time too. And acts as a remote for the phone’s camera. That’s pretty cool. Sooner or later Google will implement the “Help I have fallen and can’t get up” feature. Which is what my friends used to rationalize the purchase of an Apple Watch. Not me. I just like toys. 

After visiting the dentist for my quarterly teeth cleaning, I decided to “Imagine fluffy super cute rabbits celebrating new year.” again. And this is what I got. It is undoubtedly Artificial. But none too sure about the Intelligence part. But, there are 4 rabbits and 8 ears.  The allocation leaves something to be desired. 

Played on. Midjourney is kinda like a computer game. It sucks you in. 

Illness continues to roam the halls of Castle Covid. Nobody gets out alive.

Covid is increasing here at the asylum. 21 new cases among residents in the last five days. We are sort of like China. Draconian measures kept Covid at bay for 3 years. And then a return to “normalcy” unleashed the cases. 

My big event today was a 2-hour nap. And, I finished up the mail. Played with the watch a little. Went for a nice fitness walk. Not too shabby of a day for an old woman. 

Going to the dentist tomorrow afternoon. Grateful to have teeth and enough money to pay the dentist to help keep them.

The Google watch arrived this afternoon. A day early. When I went down to get the watch, I stopped off for a tankard of coffee. Be Prepared.

Of course, I use my stovetop as a workbench. You don’t think I use it to cook, do you?

First thing I had to do was figure out how to swap out the large watch band for the old lady size one. 

I got it to tell time, date, temp – outside, and heart rate – mine. 

Guess my next job is to figure out what it does other than date, time, temp and heart rate. 

Wonder if this will be a technology keeper or another one in a long line of techno-toys that really didn’t hack it for me. 

Surprised at how dark it is at 6:47 in the morning. And, this is the time of the year when no sun shines in my windows. The sun will return in about 6 weeks. 

One problem came up in my absence. My CPA retired and none of his partners were willing to take me as a client. So, job one for me is to find a new tax guy. And,  I think I will need to consider doing my own taxes this year just to check out the new guy. Assuming I find a new guy. Or I could just go back to doing my own taxes. Frankly, getting the stuff ready for the tax guy is most of the work. 

Gratitude

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Grateful that I need a tax guy.

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I got a box of cookies today.  In a really cute box. Boxing day. 

MidJourney’s take on Boxing Day.  I like my box of cookies better. But, this is interesting. 

Good thing I didn’t worry too much about getting home. That’s one thing that not doing TV does for you. You don’t have so much to worry about. I left for the Kona Airport at 3 PM HST.  And walked into The Old Bat Cave at 1:03 PM EST, which is just about as fast as can be expected. 

Had a (scheduled) 3-hour wait in Chicago. There were people milling around who looked like they had spent way too much time at the airport.  They had a lot of luggage, Starbucks cups, and foil/mylar survival blankets. My trip was normal. But not everyone’s was.

The biggest “problem” was the lack of coffee on the Chicago to National flight. According to the flight attendant. “The coffee pot is frozen.” Damn sight better than the fuel line being frozen. 

Suddenly taken very tired. ( 8:50 PM.) Bedtime!

One last breakfast with friends. One last visit to Honls. One last walk by the ocean. Hope to do it again next year. But, No one is promised tomorrow. Enjoy every moment.

Pretty sure I’ll make it to Chicago. The plane that will take me to Chicago is well on the way  to Kona and is scheduled to land in plenty of time for a near-on-time departure.  

GRATITUDE

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54 nights in Kona. Happy visit with Sam. Enjoyed the glow from the Mauna Loa eruption. Enjoyed good health. Made some new friends. Lost a couple of unwelcome pounds.

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Trying to keep positive as I return to frigid Castle Covid.
PS – Just ordered Peg a Pixel watch.

Think I should think about packing. Soon. Not yet. But soon.

Mālama Pono

Or, if you think you are having fun, you are having fun. Went out to enjoy the last little bits of my time in Kona and discovered 6 visitors and 3 rented kayaks. They were not paying attention and ran their kayaks into the rocks. All six of them ended up in the water. They lost paddles, shoes, and all 6 phones. The paddles and some of the shoes floated. The phones sank. No real serious damage. Except we now have 6 young adults on vacy sans phones. And, it’s Christmas and Weekend. Most likely hard to replace here in Kona. 

I rejoyced when the Thomas Kinkade shop in Kona went out of business. And now. Thanks to Ai Art – I can make my very own dreck art.  Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. 

The snow that fell on Mauna Loa is still visible from the village.  I took that shot on my way back from the Salvation Army Thrift Shop. I decided that my cotton travel pants might need a little help if I end up outside for too long in the anticipated arctic blast. SO, I got a pair of leggings/yoga pants to use as a base layer. Have enough layers for the topside. Good to go clothing-wise.

Finished up all the food today. Down to just coffee and 3 granola bars. Figure I have 2 breakfasts, and 2 dinners left. I don’t like throwing food away. So, I’ll get stuff as needed. One meal at a time. Or eat out.

Right before the kiddos came over, it was the Annual Boat Parade. Kona is not a big Boat Parade village. Kona likes real parades.

I think that the boat paraders have more fun. I am pretty sure they were enjoying adult beverages. 

Once again 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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This morning I knocked everything off my going home 2do list. (Until the Friday evening/Saturday morning stuff.) Where I swim, it really isn’t safe to swim for a couple of days after a big storm. Storm drains and sewers can not handle the water.  Just like you don’t eat yellow snow, you don’t swim in brown water. So, I forced myself to behave by mailing my wetsuit, mask, and snorkel to Castle Covid AKA The Asylum. 

Also, if I run into travel difficulties – I’ll have less crap to wrangle.

Our resident flock of green parrots survived the storm nicely.  As did their favorite mango tree. 

Today is like the day after a hurricane passes through. All sparking and clear and clean and blue with the sound of leaf blowers and chainsaws. 

This is the Winter Solstice Eve. I leave you with 90 seconds of ocean.

It really rained this morning. It rained until about 2PM. The rain stopped. 

It is 4PM now. I went out for a little walkabout. But, I don’t think that we are over this yet. 

Notes from our  weather advisory:

• • Dangerously large breaking waves of 30 to 40 feet. 
  • .Flooding in drainages, streams, rivers, roads, properties, and other low-lying areas. Public road closures possible in some areas. Landslides are possible in steep terrain.
  • West winds 50 to 80 mph with localized gusts over 120 mph. 
  • DESTRUCTIVE HAIL THE SIZE OF QUARTERS OF LARGER.

An altogether great day to lounge on the sofa and read a book and drink coffee. The wifi went out for a while. And I am sort of scraping the bottom of the larder.  Not too worry, I have plenty of coffee.  I got a lot of stuff ready to go back to The Asylum today. 

Don’t think I will venture out for dinner. The wind is picking up and it is still thundering. Think I’ll finish up my last eggs tonight. 

Egg’s did not happen because as soon as I wrote that sentence the power went off. And it rained. Also thunder and lightning. Oh yes and hail. I waited a couple of hours and decided that cottage cheese and pineapple was dinner. Being a well prepared old woman, I have a flash light. One that isn’t a part of my phone. So I went out on a scouting mission. I discovered that Starbucks has power, and I think the grocery stores do too. So, I have a plan for tomorrow morning if I am still in the dark.