life in the old lane

This is across the street from my lodgings. One does not go into the ocean here. I was looking for turtles. Didn’t find any. Did find some a’ama crabs. 

You can eat these guys – if you can catch one – generally eaten raw. Actually, potato chips are better. And all you have to do is open a bag. 

119,475 and counting. That’s how many Gmail emails I have. I started using Gmail seriously in the summer of 2007. 15 years ago. That would be about 8,000 emails per year that I didn’t delete. I have always deleted advertising, spam etc. These are mostly real emails from real people. Or bills. It’s probably time.  No researcher in 2107 is going to want my email from 2007. 

I could just declare email bankruptcy and delete everything more than 5 years old. For sure I wouldn’t have 119,475 dead tree letters, bills, whatever stashed in grocery bags. Or would I? 

Just doing the digital version of “Swedish Death Cleaning”. Not morbid. Realistic.  Stay tuned. I haven’t deleted anything yet. I just acknowledged that it’s a problem.

Hello, My Name is Peg and I have an email problem. 

Well Shit. The Shit really is running for President again. He could win again. Or he could lose again. Is this like Schrodinger’s Cat? 

Last night was one of those nights I have when sleep just doesn’t happen.  Think I went to sleep at 4AM and was doing zoom yoga at 7AM. I slept really great the night before. And the only difference I could see in the two days was I had a beer last night and none the night before. Guess I’ll have to experiment. Does beer destroy my sleep mechanism? I hope not. 

As a result of crappy sleep, I decided to take it easy in the ocean this morning. Seemed prudent. Well, as soon as I hit the water I was restored. So, off I went. Out into bay. Out where the glass bottom boat goes. I haven’t been out there this year.  The water was calm and warm. So, out I went.

Carlton always worried when I went out that direction. He was afraid I would drown or get smashed on the rocks. That might happen. But, nobody is promised tomorrow. 

It was wonderful today. Like swimming in an aquarium. It’s good enough to watch in full-screen mode.  The GoPro makes better videos underwater than still photos. 

Chores today. Laundry. Sheets. Sorta cleaning. Not a problem. The unit has all the necessary modern conveniences. (Except for an ice maker) 

I took a walk to the hardware store to get origami paper. Kona might be the only place on the planet where one goes to the hardware store for origami paper. 

Part of chore day was using up the scraps in the fridge. This frittata-ish thing was the very tasty result. 

And then it’s time for a swim. 

Just the usual fishy suspects today. But, I did wander by the school of small Moorish Idols again. 

I think they are pretty wonderful. And I am fairly sure that ending commercial aquarium collecting is working. But, unfortunately, after 5 years, fish collecting is set to resume. 

On a more positive note: Way to Go Katie Hobbs. Now Democrats. Don’t get into a circular firing squad as you are so want to do! If the Republicans do take the House – let them have circular firing squad duty.

I hate it when I get lapped by an overweight elderly dog! But, it happens to me all the time. 

Remember yesterday, when things weren’t going to plan, Well, I went into the kitchen to get a beer and nuke leftover ravioli. And, my feet get wet. Rather a lot of water on the kitchen floor. Clean up the floor. Get my beer. Nuke my dinner. Drink my beer. Eat my dinner and return to the kitchen for coffee,  And the water is coming back. Not good,

So, I text the picture to the owner who is in Mexico. The owner gets his son to come investigate. We decide it is the icemaker line. The kid finds the cut-off for the icemaker line. And the problem is solved. I have no icemaker. But, the lack of an icemaker isn’t a big deal in my world.  (I was afraid the water might be coming from the pipes in the wall. That would have been a problem.)

Today went more to plan. But, I didn’t plan anything for today either.

Nothing worked out as I had planned today. Not bad. Just not per plan. Started this morning with a ½ marathon in the middle of my nice walk along the ocean. Nothing was chasing me, so I wasn’t running.

And Old Ladies. Pro Tip. If a guy hits on you. Just tell’em you’re 80.  Even if you are only approaching 79. It scares them away. I think it does two things. First, you have shaken their confidence in their ability to select I potential candidate for whatever they have in mind. Second, even if you are still “attractive” enough to warrant their attention – they are scared that you would die underneath them.  I have done this twice since I got back to Kona. Worked both times. 

Back home I decided to produce a couple of requested reports for my job. I planed to do the reports and then go for a swim. Well, when the reports were done, it was raining. Raining? In Kona? So, I canceled the swim and had an early lunch. 

Then I went to a quilt show. It had closed early. 

Decided I was supposed to just read on my lanai. Which is what I did.

They caught an eel which was released while I was there. 

A good day. Even if things didn’t go as planned. Sort of afraid to “plan” dinner. 

No, Peg you don’t need a car. At least not this one. It’s not Italian and it’s not red. But, I have walked by it a couple of times. And it’s pretty sweet. Bet I could get one back in Virginia. Then I could complain about the parking at The Asylum. But, for the cost – I could do another trip around the world. Maybe 2 or 3 laps.

Gratitude

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Grateful for this time in Kona.

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Decided that the elderly body needed another light day. So, I did computer stuff after my fitness walk. Didn’t do the ocean. Took a nap instead. 

I am working on cleaning up this year’s photos. Along the way, I found this little video that I made in the St Pancras International Train Station – May 30, 2022

After opting for steak at my favorite saloon last night – I think maybe some veggies and baked potato would be good tonight. 

And now I know. The biggest one ever recorded in Hawai’i was a 16 pounder.

Note to self: Stop buying eBooks and audiobooks. You have enough. Let us reword this: TRY TO Stop buying eBooks and audiobooks. And while you are not buying more – go in and cull out some of the total crap. I currently have 2006 books (kindle and audio) recorded in my spreadsheet. About 500 are unread by me. Some were Carlton’s. He loved police procedurals.  I can pass them up. He could pass sci-fi. 

Wow. What if they were 2006 dead tree books? I don’t want to consider how much money I have spent on books. I am sure I didn’t spend much on the 500 that I haven’t read. I am a real sucker for audiobooks that cost less than $5 and Kindle books that cost less than $1. If I spend more than that it’s because I really want to read the book. And I read it immediately.

Also, when Carlton was sick, he would put eBooks on hold and I would buy them and install them on his Kindle and tell him that they came from the library. A man with less than 6 months to live didn’t need to be #256 on the waitlist. And, I was the one who put things on hold, got the email that said the book was available and downloaded it onto his Kindle. So, the man never knew that he was reading a $14.95 book. It would have killed him!

But, that is a task for another day. All that is left for today is dinner. My Thai restaurant went out of business. Maybe I should find a new Thai restaurant?  Or wander down to my saloon and see what today’s special is? Make ham and eggs? Go across the alley and eat at the landlord’s “cantina”? It’s good to have options.

Well, that election wasn’t the Red Tide I feared. This is not to say the next two years will be smooth sailing. But,  any election “Doctor” Oz loses is a good election. Now Raphael Warnock has to win his runoff.  Enough politics. Time for me to crawl back under my rock.

Gratitude

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Life is sweet right now in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I am working hard at being grateful for the things that I can still do rather than fretting about things that age has taken from me.

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Today was devoted to walking, reading, accounting/pre-tax work, and in an hour or two, I plan on cooking. Chances of getting run over by a boat are greatly enhanced on boat day – so – I stayed on land. Cooking – I am going to make a little fresh tomato sauce and serve it over ravioli.  Should be enough for a couple of dinners. With baby endive salad. And avocado. Store-bought cookies and coffee for dessert.

After Zoom Yoga and grocery foraging, I wondered: Should I read, work on some mindless project, take a nap, or go down to the pier? Fortunately, the pier won. And there was still time for reading and napping. 

I have no idea who this fish is. I know it is some sort of triggerfish. But that’s as far as I can get. Some years I don’t see one at all. And, I have never seen more than one at a time. Usually in 15+ feet of water. I’ll spend some quality time with google and maybe solve my 30-year mystery. 

I also saw another octopus today. Out in deep water. And it was intent on enjoying what seemed to be an urchin. No photos, I am too chubby to get down far enough for the GoPro. 

But, to distract from the election results – a little school of Moorish Idols.

 I haven’t seen: eels, turtles, whales, or dolphins. Nor rays or sharks. Got 5 more weeks. 

I really don’t want to look at the election results. So, I won’t. Sure that  Doc Green will be elected Governor.  He will have to quit his day job as ER Doc here.

Those nice fluffy clouds are out in force now and will most likely make tonight’s lunar eclipse a no show for Kona. But, I’ll check it out anyhow. You never know.

With dread I await the midterm elections tomorrow.  If the Republicans win, and I fear they will, the Democrats have only themselves to blame. We live in interesting times. 

Interesting times. I am reading a climate change dystopian novel, New York 2140. Sea level has risen 50 feet. NYC is very much impacted. But, it’s still New York. Most of the characters live in a vastly changed Met Life Building. About 2,000 of them. And most of them eat at some sort of central kitchen in the building. Not so different from The Asylum. Like The Asylum they seem to get “free” wine, known as FlatIron Red. Which is not highly reguarded but nevertheless drunk.  This is a 700 page book. Why the wine thing? Did the author’s parents live in an Asylum that had free wine? 

Made an excellent omelet for dinner. 

After my “required” cardio walk – I spent the rest of the day mainly drinking coffee. Hot and over ice.  Puttering around with my photos from this year. And reading. 

Also decided to ditch the “new improved” WordPress editor and go back to the 2017 version. 

And this is 48 seconds of bird racket from my lanai, one level above the alley, early this morning. You might even hear the rooster. 

But, I have accomplished a few things this weekend. Rearranged some finance things. (Like deck chairs on the Titanic.) And, got lodging for the Grand plus her boyfriend at what’s left of my old hotel. It’s not nearly as  nice as “my room” was and costs 3 times as much – but – it will be better than bunking with Granny Peg.  

Noonish today, well fortified with a peanut butter and banana sandwich, I decided to venture out into the real ocean. Never mind that it is still lumpy and murky.

I was barely underway when I thought that there just might be an octopus under a rock. For sure there was something under the rock that interested a bird wrasse and a multibar goat fish. Well, I have nothing else to do, so I float around for 4 or 5 minutes. Waiting to see if it is an octopus and if so is it going to do anything?

Didn’t see a single octopus last year. A day with an octopus is a great day.