life in the old lane

There is absolutely no doubt that I can no longer hand hold a night shot of the moon and venus.  But, it is an interesting image.

There, I propped the camera up. And jacked the ISO way up.

Well, it was warmer today. But, I am still in chilly mode. So, no swimming. But, walking. 

And I “finished” planning my round the world trip. Sort of in one week clumps.

Week 1.  Honolulu – visit the granddaughter, go to a wedding, go to Bishop Museum, Iolani Palace, Royal Mausoleum etc. 

Week 2. Tokyo – most likely stay in Kyoto. No apparent reason to go to Japan. I just like Japan. It will be rainy. 

Week 3. Singapore – Might cut this one to 5 days. But, it will be really hot – so this old lady will be needing lots of rest time.

Week 4. Dubai – About three days. I just want to look around. I hope to see all manner of outlandish stuff. It will be really hot here too. 

Week 4 and 5. England/Ireland/Scotland – knock about using trains. The Queen goes to Scotland by train so why can’t I? Any days that I drop out of Singapore will go into this segment.

Week 6. Bermuda. Rest up after all that running around. 

Home July 3. 

None of these places a particularly adventurous. None are dangerous. All suitable for a little old lady on RTW before Alzheimer’s.

. . . 

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)

Still chilly and windy.  I was feeling more than a little tired today because I didn’t sleep all that great last night. So, I napped and spent a couple of hours reading on my lanai. I pretended that I was on the cruise ship. Except, I am guessing that my room is a little larger than the average ship cabin. Plus no danger of mal de mer.  A perfectly satisfactory day. 

This morning at breakfast Billy mentioned that according to the New York Post the average (American?) adult is bored 131 days a year.  PEOPLE, that is 1/3 of your life.  Billy and I decided that we were going to have to ramp up our boredom levels. Neither of us had anywhere near enough bored days to be average.

Went for a little walk about after dinner last night – stopped to enjoy sunset.

Sometimes it is very reassuring to be an atheist! Because I would sure hate to think that my “supreme being” was responsible for that orange sorry ass excuse of a “human being”. 

. . . 

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)

 

I will not complain about it being chilly here. But, it is. Still chilly and windy. But, still great. Just not for swimming.

Continuing to ponder my RTW jaunt. While on my walk this morning – an idea – finish off the trip with a transatlantic crossing. But, unfortunately, nothing is going from Europe to the US anywhere near the time that I want to head back. But, hey, it was an idea.

Just having a nice little old lady life out here in the middle of the ocean. Walking, reading, napping, oh and shopping. Went by the thrift shop today. Picked up a t-shirt and a really ugly rain jacket. But every rain jacket is ugly – so – OK. 

. . . 

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)

My guess is that nobody wants to hear that it is cold and windy here today. But it is. No snow. Not one single flake.

Starting to think about my trip home. And my “dangerous” visit to New Orleans. I am sure that there is all manner of street crime, especially during Mardi Gras. I am not frightened or worried. But, I want to exercise some degree of caution. Which brings up my choice of camera and lenses.

Reviewed my lens collection today. Haven’t a clue what I was thinking. I brought my much loved chunk of Leica glass. It weighs about 3 pounds. And brought a 50mm pancake lens. Both of these require an adapter. And, I also brought the cheap plastic wide-angle lens.

The Leica has been hunting focus like crazy. SO, today – I took everything apart. Did a little dusting and adjusting. I think it is focusing quicker. At least when there is good contrast. The lens took a pretty good knock on the trip over. The sensible thing to do is to ship the expensive/heavy gear back home and to us Shamu II to record anything of interest.  That is the sensible thing. But, will I do it? It might be sensible to ship Forbin the Computer back to the Asylum as well. Just pack,  insure and ship a box of electronics. 

I researched my fantasy DIY RTW trip a little more today. It is doable. The correct little old lady thing would be to take a Smithsonian or NatGeo “private jet” RTW trip. Maybe I’ll look into that. When I am old.  

. . . 

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)

Billy and I went out this morning looking for whales and monk seals. All we found was lots of wind. The wind brought a cold front and it has been cloudy and “chilly” all afternoon. Not a problem. It is winter, after all. Chili is on my menu for tonight. 

Yesterday’s big event was dolphin watching. Today’s big event was the laundry. Guess that my life is pretty simple. Rapidly approaching boring. But, there are worse things. 

I have another month left in Kona, but am starting to think about my next visit. Going to come over to Honolulu for a wedding June 1. Now how can I make this into a grand adventure? Is this the time that I actually do the circumnavigate thing?  DC to Honolulu to Tokyo to Singapore to Dubai to Paris to London to Bermuda to DC?

Just checked out flights – I can actually do this shit. For about $6,000 in planes. Taking about 5 weeks. Note to self: You aren’t getting any younger. This has been on my bucket list for years.

 . . . 

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)

Spent a happy hour taking 507 photos of “where the dolphin was”. But, I got a few. My camera hunts focus with this lens pretty bad. And, I don’t really have enough confidence in my eyesight anymore to manual focus.  But, I got some keepers. And just had a fine afternoon in the sun.

Last night after dinner, I sprung into action and actually made reservations to return to the east coast.  Feb 24 – Mar 7, Taking the slow route.

• Sunday – Kona to LA – night flight.
• Monday – LA to Santa Barbara – train
• Tuesday – Santa Barbara
• Wednesday – Santa Barbara
• Thursday – Santa Barbara
• Friday – Train to New Orleans
• Saturday – en route.
• Sunday – arrive New Orleans late but is it ever late in New Orleans?
• Monday – New Orleans
• Tuesday – New Orleans – Fat Tuesday. 
• Wednesday – 0700 hours Train to Alexandria
• Thursday – Back at the Asylum before naptime with luck.

Booked into a couple of hotels. Didn’t go the AirBnB route because I  happen to like funky hotels. 

Now the only thing that is missing is a bus ticket to get me from the LA airport to the train station.

Making travel arrangements makes me happy. To me it is like a 3D puzzle. Or maybe a 4D puzzle. If I make all the pieces fit together – then I win. 

Belated New Year’s Resolution – or an early Chinese New Year’s Resolution: 
Travel more in 2019. 

. . . 

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)

I am really hard on cheap-ass underwater cameras. Think that this one lasted a couple of years. But, today, it expired. It didn’t flood. It just stopped working. Died. No underwater camera is promised tomorrow.

A couple of weeks ago the Fitbit died. And, guess what. I discovered that Shamu II the phone is a fine little fitness tracker. 

A LITTLE REFLECTION ON BEING OLD

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The older I get the harder it is to buy things like new underwater cameras. But, why not? I think I have another couple of years of snorkeling left in me. 

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I continue to get better. Well, except for my legs – they are regressing. But, I presume that is because I stopped with the NSAIDs when I started on the antibiotic/prednisone routine for the sinus infection. The prednisone part is done tomorrow. So, by Sunday I can so back to the ibuprofen.

A month from now it will time to start heading back east. So, I really need to get my ass in gear and make an adventure for myself. I have the adventure in my mind but one plane, four trains, and two lodgings need to be nailed down. 

PS: After a small in-room dinner, I sprung into action and got one plane and four trains locked in. Kona to LA, LA to Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara to LA, LA to New Orleans, New Orleans to Alexandria. Fairbanks would have been more adventurous – but I am going to where the weather suits my clothes. Almost. And it’s Mardi Gras.  

I need adventures. Lots of adventures. No reason to hole up in the Asylum and wait to transfer to the next level. 

The Asylum has LOTS of activities, committees, etc. But, if truth be told, I have zero interest in any of them. When I get old. If I live long enough to get old. Then maybe I’ll be interested in Asylum stuff. 

. . . 

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)

Correction Correction Correction: No fake news here. About yesterday’s Naval vessel. I should have known from its name that it didn’t belong to the Navy. According to our local paper:

A U.S. Army logistics support vessel, or LSV, made a stop Wednesday in waters off Kailua-Kona. The 272-foot U.S. Army Vessel General Brehon B. Somervell (LSV-3) arrived off the Kona Coast Wednesday morning and anchored near Kahului Bay, which is located south of Lunapule Road.

The paper went on to say that its primary function is to haul tanks around. 24 tanks to be exact.

Don’t want to be guilty of FAKE NEWS.

The ocean wasn’t very swimmer friendly today. So, I wandered around and admired it from the shoreline and continued to recover. I am recovering so well that I feel like the eggs that I have scheduled for dinner might not get the job done. We’ll see. 

Also took some pictures.

 

And a little wildlife photography.

And even a little movie for those who may be feeling a little landlocked. And chilly.

I rendered it fairly large so hit the fullscreen button if you really need 13 seconds of ocean.

. . . 

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)

Wednesday is “Boat Day” in Kona. Almost every Wednesday the Pride of America spends the day at anchor in the bay. Passengers are tendered back and forth. The Village has it’s one “busy” day.

But, this morning – there was another boat. A navy ship from Pearl Harbor. Just passing through. Don’t think any sailors got off.

And, this afternoon, I went for a nice little swim. Well, it wasn’t all that nice. It was chilly, murky, and a little choppy. But, it was great to be in the ocean again. I was sort of swimming laps in the ocean. Usually, when I swim for “exercise” I just swim out 15 minutes and then turn around and swim back. Since I have this killer cough – I decided it would be smarter to swim a short distance 4 times. Well, I didn’t make it 4 laps before I started coughing. So, I swam back to shore and lived to swim another day. I love the ocean.

A LITTLE REFLECTION ON BEING Lazy

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Since the early 1920’s almost 300 people, 1/3 of them Sherpas, have died on Mount Everest. Ignore the Sherpas. They are not normal low altitude humans. By the grace of mother nature, they possess high altitude super powers. But, the other 200 are normal low altitude humans. Like me. Think about the 200, they must have been: super fit, highly motivated, results oriented, striving and most likely wealthy members of our low altitude community. Not a slacker in the lot. This makes me feel a lot better about taking it easy!

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Feeling better today, I think. I did plow through all of the mail that was I received at the Asylum. Nothing unexpected or surprising.

. . . 

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)

Since I accidentally discovered yesterday that Shamu II – AKA Pixel 2XL – could capture a bird in flight – I tried it on purpose today. And that saffron finch might be the most elegant bird I ever captured. In flight. 

This should make me happy. But, it makes me a little unhappy, because I love real cameras. But they are increasingly little old lady hostile. So, I should be happy.

Billy drug me to see the Doc-In-Box this morning. I don’t have cold/bronchitis/pneumonia. I have cold/laryngitis/sinusitis which is what I expected. Doc said it had been 3 weeks so, it was most likely bacterial and it might respond to antibiotics. I am seriously anti-antibiotics. But I am also major tired of this Cold From Hell. So, I gave her a test – “What antibiotic?” She gave the correct answer. So, Billy took me to Walmart to get drugs. Doc said: Don’t be impatient. Give them a chance to work. Yeah, right. She doesn’t know me!

One look at this end cap display at Walmart told me that I sure wasn’t special! This end cap is usually stuffed with greasy, salty, yummy crunchy snacks.

. . . 

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)

Pretend. Pretend that you are not sick. That works until the next coughing fit.

Billy, who has also been sick was well enough to go for a walk and breakfast. He decided that I needed to go to the doctor to be sure that what I think is cold/sinus/laryngitis isn’t really cold/bronchitis/pneumonia. I don’t want to go, because, I don’t think I have anything that can be fixed. But, if someone cares enough to take me to the urgent care, the least I can do is go. Billy also pointed out that I am old and stuff like this can be serious for old people. 

But enough of this already. How about those Saffron Finches? Taken with Shamu II. And, I got a bird in flight. Not a great BIF. But, from a phone. Not too shabby. 

. . . 

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)

My friend Carol left late last night and is now safely back in the friendly confines of our Asylum. 

And I am home alone. With my cold, sinusitis, laryngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia whatever. There is definitely a cold, sinus, laryngitis component. I spent the day enjoying poor health. After my morning walk – to Walmart for additional OTC drugs – I read, napped, drank gallons of tea, that sort of a thing. 

Yesterday, I got a mail packet from home – I didn’t even open it up. Any and all problems can be dealt with when I get better.

Carol and I watch the Women’s March yesterday from the lanai.

There were lots of kids. And almost as many men as women. And everything as low key – with a little dose of snark.

And the yacht left this morning. Guess they could only stand but so much excitement.

. . . 

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)