life in the old lane

I missed the silky smooth ocean this morning. I waited until it warmed up a bit. And the got pretty choppy. But, I had a great time bouncing around. It has been at least a week since I was in the ocean. What with being sick, guests and generally crappy ocean conditions. And, I am in my last month. Gotta get all stocked up with ocean time. Enough to last until next winter. I am not counting on “next” anything. But, I am planning on a “next” winter. Here. In Kona.  In the ocean.

Almost half time on the Super Bowl. So far, the commercials are underwhelming. I really hated the Trump commercial. That shouldn’t  surprise anyone. And, I don’t much care about either of the teams.

Gratitude

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Katie Sowers – 1st woman coach at Super Bowl. She said she felt it was her responsibility to be sure she wasn’t the last woman coach. And, I so know how she feels. That was always my fear whenever I cracked another 1st woman barrier. I didn’t want them to ever say “We had a woman once but she didn’t work out.” Good on you Katie.

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And why does the half time show look like a really wicked ass hard aerobics class ca 1987?

A fine way to start my last month in Kona for this winter. And since it is Saturday. The old guys brought their old cars to the village for breakfast.

Not sure what kind of a car this thing is. It has an Alpha Romero engine. And, it is bereft of windows, doors or any kind of a top. Very practical basic transportation.

Time to start thinking about my bus tour to the Cotswolds. Namely, how to get there and what to do. No way am I flying to Jolly Old for just 6 days. Heck, it takes me 6 days to get over jet lag. I enjoyed that bordello of a hotel that I stayed in last summer as I recall. I also recall that it was rather pricey. But, they brought me bacon sandwiches and excellent french press coffee in bed every morning. And there is always the train to Paris. I wonder what Brexit will actually do? Don’t imagine that it will be to my advantage.

And I am toying with the idea of taking the Queen Mary 2 back to NYC. Yes, I know I get seasick. It could turn out to be a very expensive weight reduction program. Or it could introduce me to a whole new way to spend Carlton’s money. You don’t really expect me to spend MY money, do you?

Gratitude

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Good sox.

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Now remember to hit the publish button so your friends don’t think you died, Peg.

Wrapped up a great visit with the granddaughter today. Carlton would have been so happy and proud that she turned into a grownup real human person. I always said that the best way to get grandkids was to marry a grandfather.

Gratitude

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The people who clean the porta-potties.

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OOPS! forgot to hit the publish button last night.

And now I am tired. And it is dark outside. So, I am calling today done. Well done. But done.

Gratitude

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Fish tacos, beer, and cars.

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Yesterday Sam and I ventured over to Hilo to checkout our county’s tiny zoo. It is really tiny and I am sure that it doesn’t support any endangered species breeding programs or good stuff like that. But, it is a ZOO. It is free. It is the only zoo that most of our local kids will see. Nothing at all fancy. But totally charming. And. It is always better to be lucky than smart. We went to a zoo in a rainforest and forgot our umbrellas. Mother Nature was very forgiving. Not even a sprinkle after we got out of the car.

Then we went over to Hilo Bay for a little walkabout before heading back to Kona via the Hamakua Coast and Waipio overlook.  Folk who know Big Island will know that we went to the Waipio overlook and not down to the valley.

Today we went to Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park. And took the afternoon off from having fun. Sam is going out to see the manta rays tonight. Since I don’t do boats very well, I am passing on this adventure. Tomorrow we go to see what is left of the volcano.

Oh, and my hotel room got fixed. So, I am back “home” in my own bed tonight.

Gratitude

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Shoes and grownup grandkids who understand that tutu needs a little downtime.

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Had a fine day with the granddaughter. We went to Hilo to see our island’s tiny zoo. Took in some other sights, got back to the hotel after sunset.

But, my room sprung a leak. The hotel wants me to sleep in another room. Of course, I want to sleep in my room. But, I decided to sleep in the not leaky room. It seems like the grown up thing to do.

So here I am. In my alternate room with only my cellphone and kindle.

The Pacific Princess, aka The Love Boat is a cute little cruise ship. Only 680 passengers. It is on a rather interesting around the world cruise. I could do that. Maybe.  I will enjoy thinking about doing that. When I get “old”.

Decided that it would be nice if I went out to the airport to welcome the grand daughter to Big Island. I will leave for the airport at the same time her plane leaves for the airport. It really only takes 10 or 15 minutes to get to the airport. But, you never know. She will be amazed at how sleepy our little drinking village with a fishing problem actually is.

Gratitude

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Air Travel.

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Today was a lazy day. Watching the sun come up. And the waves.

Downside – the ocean was junk for swimming.

Gratitude

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Friends, family, workable health, Amazon Prime.

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Sprung into action. Getting myself into Vancouver before noon on March 2 and hopefully will make it to catch the train by 1500 hours.

Still need to figure out how to get back to The Asylum from Toronto. Last time I took MegaBus for $10.50.  Thinking I’ll take a plane this time.

An altogether fine day. Breakfast with friends, logged 4.5 miles walking, got a great dress at the thrift shop, and finished up the day with a nice visit with friends from Iowa. And, I got my trip back east set. The only thing I didn’t find was a lion dance for Chinese New Years.

Gratitude

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Grateful for a lovely day. A good start to the Year of the Rat.

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Still pondering how to get back home. When did I get so wimpy? Taking the train across OH-Canada involves 3 planes, one train, and one night in a hotel or sleeping in the airport. Or cancel the hotel and one plane and take MegaBus. A much easier way is The Empire Builder from Seattle to DC. It is a very easy trip. I should just dive in and go the Canada route. When I get “old”… that will be plenty of time to go the easy way. When did I get so wimpy? I fear that this is a sign of old age.

But, I must not lose sight – this is a totally upscale “problem”. OK, so “What would Carlton suggest?” He would say just take the cheapest flight directly back to DCA. But, what fun would that be?

Gratitude

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Grateful that I still have lots of choices. I think that we run out of choices as we get older. Or maybe we just stop taking advantage of our options out of fear or fatigue.

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I tried adulting today. One of my drugs will run out next week. My original plan was to just skip those drugs for 6 weeks or so. Maybe not the bestest idea. My next plan was to get it refilled at the grocery store back home and get one of my friends to pick it up an mail it to me. Well, that didn’t seem very adult. If I can spend winters in Kona. I can figure out how to get my meds. Mission accomplished.  All it took was time and money.  When I get back to The Asylum, I will price out moving my prescriptions to CVS so I can get them here easily. Last time I priced out CVS it was way more expensive than using my grocery pharmacy. Adulting.

Spent 45 minutes sitting in the drug department at WalMart waiting on my ‘script to be transfered. I put myself on a bench where I could watch the surgical/N95 mask offerings. There was a steady parade of lookers but few buyers. Guess people aren’t very worried about the new chinese virus.

I have tried to avoid mentioning our idiot president. But this recent quote about Elon Musk and Thomas Edison and one of the Flintstones is mindblowing.

“I was worried about him, because he’s one of our great geniuses, and we have to protect our genius. You know, we have to protect Thomas Edison and we have to protect all of these people that came up with originally the light bulb and the wheel and all of these things.”

Gratitude

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Winter in Hawai’i. The coldest night of the winter – 66° last night.

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Wednesday. It is ship day. But no ship showed up. No monk seal either. Guess our lady found a more suitable beach. Still, it was a grand few days sharing out village with a big old monk seal.

About all that I accomplished today was a trek to the farm market and a couple of naps. Well, and I renewed my medical evacuation insurance policy. I never buy “trip insurance”. The only reason that I have the medivac policy is to make it easier for my lawyer to arrange for my care if something happens when I am away from The Asylum. I am betting that I will fall and break my hip walking around Paris and they are betting that I won’t. And, I am hoping they are going to win.

Time to make plans to get back to The Asylum. There are 5 trains that cross North America. I just have to pick out one. They all have advantages. And disadvantages. Choices.

Gratitude

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Grateful to have a sweet lanai to sit on and watch evening creep in over the mountains.

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