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Aloha Kako

(Aloha Kako=Hello Everyone) A bit on Hawaii:

We had such a nice time, I was sad to leave. It was one of the few vacations I've had where I thought about absolutely nothing. I actually forgot the days of the week. The day we went surfing, I had to write the date on a piece of paper, and I honestly could not resurrect it in my brain. I knew our anniversary was a few days earlier, and I know what that date is, but I couldn't remember how many days had passed since. That is a good vacation. Nothing was stressful, everything was low key and dreamlike.

Some people put Hawaii down as a tacky, Vegas-like tourist destination, with no redeeming features. I see those Bubba Gump's elements, but I also see a beautiful, wild and rugged place that is clinging to its unique and increasingly endangered cultural heritage. The ocean is such a wonderful world there, so different from the cold, murky and great-white-shark friendly seas closest to us here in Northern California. I love to snorkel. I can spend hours in the water, just swimming around seeing who lives where and what we they are all doing down there.

To start with, we rented a biodiesel car from Bio-Beetle. All of the biodiesel on Maui is recycled restaurant oil. With a little effort, they could (and should) improve their office, which happens to be conveniently situated near the recycling center and which is home to more than a few rescued, neutered feral cats, but the car itself was clean and new, and they were very nice and mellow people. It sure felt good to drive around the island knowing that we were not only getting 40+ mpg, but also recycling and greatly reducing our contribution to global warming. Temporarily. It gave us a chance to test-drive the Jetta and see if we liked it. We may sell the Subaru eventually in favor of a recycled-fuel-burning car like this one.

I don't know if you can tell how miniscule the surf is in this picture (1-2 feet) but this is what it looked like when Mike and I surfed (me for the first time) a few days earlier. Our instructor was really, really nice. If you go to Maui, and you want to try this, go here and ask for Nate. We thought Mike was nice, too, but Nate was our guy, and he took good care of us. It was a fun time. We took a "private" lesson, so there were just the two of us with our instructor, and we caught a lot of waves. He even showed us how to paddle in ourselves, and I caught two or three under my own power. Beforehand, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do it, or worse, that I wouldn't like it. Unfortunately for our bank accounts, I loved it and can't wait to do it again. I have a lot to learn. I may just have to gear up and get on my carveboard again this weekend. Don't worry, I'll wear my kneepads this time.

A torch ginger flower at the Keanae Arboretum. We had a great time poking around among the flowers and tropical plants. We got caught in a rainstorm and hid under some closely-spaced palms until it let up. Leaf, also at the arboretum after the rainstorm.

The view from our condo.


Sunset on Napili beach. On our last night there, we walked out to the beach. There was no moon, and a million bright stars were gleaming and twinkling. Just as I felt the cool sand under my feet, I looked up and saw a big shooting star, which rocketed, white, like a comet, for a long time, and then burst into actual flames and had an orange tail before it disappeared.

I was so amazed that all I could do was draw in my breath and point at it with my rolled up beach mat. I didn't even make a noise loud enough for Mike to turn around. I just kept going *gasp* point, *gasp* point. In my head I was saying, "oh my gosh! a shooting star! oh! it is still going! oh! it actually burst into flames! oh! I've never seen that!" but I had to explain it all out loud to Mike after it happened. Sort of like I just did. It was cool, and it made me feel less bummed about leaving the next morning.

Most of the people on this beach are naked.

Jiggety Jig

Home again, home again. While I was gone, the blackberries in the garden zoomed from white flowers all the way to ripe fruit. This morning's breakfast was one of my all-time favorite combinations: fresh blackberries, strong coffee, and an apple piroshky from Piroshky Piroshky in Seattle. (I brought home four cheese and onion, and six apple, fresh from the oven yesterday morning.) If you are in Seattle, even if you feel you need to avoid the Pike Place Market, stop by the piroshky shop at breakfast time and have one of these with a decaf-double-whatever from the "original" Starbucks which is down a few doors.

Those who know me know that I would not set foot in a Starbucks, and now you know that I would, but only in Seattle, and only if I hadn't gone someplace else first. Starbucks, unlike McDonald's, is not entirely evil. I just try to support the smaller players when I can. I had the very best latte that I think I've ever had at the Cowen Park Grocery around the corner from my friend Karen's house in the "U District". I can't remember who roasted it, but it was perfectly flavored, perfectly foamed, and served (three days in a row) with a smile.

It was good to be gone, but it is good to be back. I live in a beautiful place. Yesterday afternoon when I came home, I took a shower, then a nap (I never nap-- there is always something to do) and in the evening I went to the garden with my basket and picked a head of lettuce, some basil, parsley, cilantro, and some blackberries, eating a few as I picked. I rubbed a few herb leaves as I wandered through the plantings, smelling new things like pineapple sage, and the familiar rosemary, curry and oregano. Mike and I had warm cheese and onion piroshkies with a hand-picked butter lettuce and herb salad for dinner. I was just in heaven.

Mama, I'm Comin' Home

On the plane tomorrow, bound for Oakland. Today, I was in Seattle, eating carrot cake on my friend Karen's kitchen floor with her little daughter Abbie. *Note: no children were harmed in the taking of this picture. Abbie is eating a homemade, baby-friendly, no sugar gâteau.

A Week's Worth of Florality

I visited the garden of a professional landscape gardener on Tuesday. It was such a beautiful place, not formal at all. I could have stayed all day. Here are some highlights before I say Aloha for a week or so.




Did I mention I love flowers?

Digging in the Dirt

This is what I did with my Sunday afternoon.

The Clean Team

In case you want to start cleaning your house with "earth-friendly" products and don't want to have to go through the trial and error period, here's what I use:

The Creamy Cleanser is my favorite for anything in the bathroom or kitchen, especially stuff that needs to be shiny after cleaning: shower, sink, chrome, even mirrors. We use the Citrus Magic (my favorite one is actually yellow, but this is the right label) for almost everything else: floors, counters, etc. We tried a couple of dishwashing powders before finding the Wave liquid. We also use an earth-friendly rinse-aid, but it's not as crucial with the liquid. The powders left a residue for us. We just tried the Meyers Clean Day toilet cleaner-- if anyone knows a better one, let me know.

There are all sorts of recipes readily available for baking soda concoctions, vinegar cleaners, etc., so I won't list them here. If you only get one thing, get the creamy cleanser. Once you use these types of products for a while, even Windex smells harsh, and you'll realize how chemically strong (and usually unnecessary) all that stuff is. We still keep carpet cleaner and similar specialty products on hand in case a stain is too tough, but these are our regular players.

In Case Your Junk Drawer is Full

I've always wondered where to put these when I was finished with them. Thanks, IKEA!

More Cute Shopping Bags

These are made by Blue Q. I'm in love with their crazy designs. Oh my, have they expanded into all sorts of neat realms. I've got to go check it out right now. *Note: for more cute shopping bag resources, see my One Simple Thing post.

Damn Right It's Invisible

Does anyone else have this problem? I go to Staples (which I much prefer to Office Depot, by the way) and I am looking for TAPE. The problem is, every box is labeled STAPLES. Finding staples is equally difficult, because you have to look carefully at each box to make sure it IS actually STAPLES. Maybe it's just me.

Sorry for the crap picture. I figured it wasn't worth trying to get a great artistic shot, but I think it should at least be clear. I'll try again.

Mmmm, I Feel Smothered Already

Be Careful with Not Honest Website

"Dear customer, why would you believe a company offer a 3-5 Yrs warranty without "Brand Named" battery, by the time you have problem with the battery, they will said, " This battery doesn't belong to them!". Good Luck! 800mAh is highest capacity on this battery, other website have mention 1500mAh, those are false advertising. This battery case can't fit 1500mAh module inside of this case. So be careful with false advertisment and not honest website!" Oh, please to buy battery from you, honorable website!

Gratuitous Floralness

More Recommendations

I may have mentioned this before, but I wanted to mention it again: At the beginning of the year, I went to a new doctor, recommended to me by some friends, Dr. Eleanor Hynote. Generally, I am pretty darn healthy (knock on wood), eat well, exercise, and have few complaints. Except one teensy issue with PMS. I remember my mother also having a very tough time with it. Luckily, I was fairly symptom free through my 20s and most of my 30s. Through my mid-30s until now, though, I started feeling progressively worse about ten days before the end of my cycle. (I realize now I am venturing into a more personal area...but if this helps someone, that's important.)

It always felt like a switch was thrown. One day, I'd be smiling and happy, and things would be just fine. Then, like clockwork, the next day I'd wake up and feel anxious, angry, and like nothing was right in my world. Mike usually got the brunt of it. I thought it was just my personality, or that if I just fixed things in my life, I wouldn't feel like that. Then, the day before my period started, it felt like the cloudy gray veil was just lifted, and I could see the sun again. I talked to my old GP, but she didn't seem to get it. She told me there were no tests that could be done on hormones to determine if I had an imbalance.

So as part of my annual exam with Dr. Hynote, I talked to her about my symptoms. She said that it was perfectly normal for someone my age to have exactly these symptoms. (Whew.) She had me take a blood test on a specific day and determined that I was indeed experiencing an imbalance in hormones. She prescribed Balance (above), three each day in the morning, starting on the 18th day. I was pretty skeptical the first month. I felt the "switch" so I knew that I was going through my usual cycle. I started taking the Balance. The first day, I felt the same, the second day, I felt a little bit better, and on the morning of the third day, I woke up and felt not only normal, but HAPPY. I was ecstatic. I was so grateful. If I'd known about this five or ten years ago, it would have given me a lot more happy days, and my husband a lot less grief.

In addition to balancing out my hormones, Dr. H found through my blood test that I have one of the early indicators for heart disease. As you know, my mother had a quadruple bypass this last summer (poor Mommy!) and both of my living grandparents have stents, which I think is a prop for a formerly clogged artery. That, and diabetes on both sides of my family means I have to take extra good care of myself to avoid these things. Luckily, this precursor is treatable with a Niacin supplement. Now I don't know whether this indicator is something that causes heart disease, or whether it is something that people who have heart disease also happen to have, but if a relatively inexpensive supplement can address it, and it isn't harmful, then why not?

If you are thinking about seeing Dr. Hynote, you should know that she does not take insurance. The first consultation and exam are a bit expensive. Ouch expensive. The blood tests were also expensive, but were covered by my insurance. But the attention, comprehensive diagnostics, nutrition analysis and holistic approach to health were so worth it in the end. Ok, so now I spend twice as much on vitamins as I did before. But in the end, I'm healthy, AND I'm happier overall, so what's that worth?

Car Talk

If you live in the Napa area, and your car has mechanical trouble, take it to Storck's Garage. Write this down, because one day, that little "check engine" light is going to come on, or your brakes will start squealing, and you're going to say, "Dang, what was the name of that place Tamara had in her blog?" Storck's Garage. They tell you what's going on, they do what they say they are going to do, and they don't waste your time. They are professionals.

Speaking of professionals, if you get into an accident and you end up needing some bodywork or paint done, my next recommendation is ProTones. (Sorry, they don't have their own website.) We've had two cars painted by them, and they treat every car like their own. The car was perfect and shiny, detailed down to the thank you note, lifetime guarantee, and travel cup gift they left for me in the cupholder.

On the negative side, never, ever have your auto glass replaced by Auto Craft Glass in Napa. Avoid at all costs. A few months ago, we had a small crack in our front windshield and had it repaired by them. When we went in, the shop, which is a converted house, was a little dissheveled, including cigarette butts and a beer cap on the front porch. When we returned to pick up the car, there was a four-inch-wide strip of blue tape all the way around the windshield with signs not to remove for 48 hours for curing. Mike was immediately suspicious, having installed windshields himself.

Sure enough, removing the tape revealed that they were trying to hide some very big mistakes. The molding was the wrong molding, and was wrinkled in some areas and gapping in others, not making a seal. They had used a crowbar, or similar tool, to remove the old windshield, without protecting the surfaces of the car. So we had deep gouges in our paint all the way around the windshield, and even scratches in the dash board. It looked like the windshield had basically been put in by someone who had never put in a windshield before. I would include pictures here, but I don't want to dwell on it.As more information came out, we found that this was the second car the person had severely damaged, and the employee had been fired. But the owner of the shop (who, when he used to do all of the work himself, did a fine job, by the way) never talked to us, communicating through a teenage manager.

The happy ending to the story is that we took the car around the corner to ProTones for a repair estimate, and they were so helpful and so professional that it was a much less stressful situation than it might have been. They even picked up the second new windshield and installed it for us-- perfectly-- after repainting the car. 80% of the car had to be repainted because the damaged sections were continuous. The car is silver, so you can't just slap a patch on it. Every section that touched a damaged section had to be repainted to match. Anyway, the glass shop's insurance covered the painting.

My current dilemma is this: I just received an invoice from Auto Craft for the glass, labor and adhesive. I thought that was pretty ballsy. Why would I pay for the labor that it took someone to completely ruin my almost new car so that I had to have it repainted? If you were this guy, wouldn't you slink off with your tail between your legs to your insurance company and just write it off? I'd be embarrassed to send someone an invoice for such a total screw up. I have a check written out for the glass itself, but every time I go to put it in the mailbox, I just don't want to do it. I was without my car for a month because this jackass didn't know how to hire, train, or supervise his employees. I resent sending him anything at all. If he's already claimed it on his insurance or written it off his taxes, he gets paid twice. Bonus for him. I thought I'd just wait and see what happens, but he's probably sent it to his billing service, so they don't care. I thought about sending just a note back that says, "ARE YOU HIGH? Your employee wrecked my car. Pay for the damn thing yourself." But I thought that might be a little harsh. Tell me, would it be wrong not to pay for the windshield?