Tastes Like Chicken, Send The Outrigger Ark

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

11/28/20

Aloha Everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you had a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving.  Ours was quiet, just the two of us, but we tried to enjoy it, all things considered.  Our turkey looked and tasted like a Costco rotisserie chicken.  Hmmm.  Anyway, it was good and we watched a Christmas movie afterward. Earlier in the day I put up a few Christmas decorations outside and I’ll do more this weekend. Feels kind of weird this year, though.  I usually have an ambivalent feeling about the Holidays and it seems particularly strong this time around [see Bah, Humbug! (Sort Of)].  The idea of Black Friday is for me a glaring example of the struggle between the desire to make money versus the desire (and need this year) to spend as little of it as possible.  I’m staying as far away as I can.  Then there is the emotional roller-coaster of anticipation followed by despondency, fueled by relentless Muzak and Holiday entertainment specials.  Somewhere in there I do find a warm fuzzy feeling or two, so it isn’t all bad.

The Impostor

This week has been wet. An understatement, I think.  Thanksgiving day was very nice up until about 4, then it began to sprinkle, then to rain. Hard. All night. Buckets. Our pool overflowed (there’s a special drain for that, so there wasn’t any problems) and the coquis in the neighborhood were very, very, happy.  That night’s total was 3.2" preceded early in the week by overnight dumps of 1.1" and 1.4" for a total of 5.7 inches. Santa arrives here each year in an outrigger canoe, but this year he needs to come in an outrigger ark with central heating and load us up. It has also been downright chilly at night – 66d!  Karen had her heating pad on Thursday night to keep her feet warm, and for the last two mornings I’ve had on my sweat pants instead of my usual shorts.

Karen played golf Tuesday and escaped the worst of the rain, and Planet Fitness was very quiet yesterday, though for some reason everyone seemed to be trying to use the same machines.  We handled this by varying our routine and using machines further away. Received one of the estimates for our termite tenting, and it was much less than I feared, though still big bucks. The other company’s estimate should come any day, then we’ll see how far out their schedules are. May not get it done until June. Still waiting for my new phone from Amazon, so no movement on my project to cut the landline.  I did take advantage of Costco’s sale on a new system and I’ve been playing with it while waiting on the new phone, One new promising feature is that it automatically screens calls not in your personal phonebook and asks the caller to enter a code.  If they are human and can enter it, the phones will ring (you can still block the caller if it is a telemarketer). If not, it hangs up but keeps track of the number and if by chance it was a legitimate robocall, say from your pharmacy, you can whitelist it for the future.  We’ve been getting a lot of non-legit robocalls lately, and this should stop them cold. I’ll keep you updated.

That’s about it.  As far as the national scene, reality seems to be getting the upper hand, but not without serious damage from deniers. The legacy of this mess will be long-lasting and very negative, I fear.

Take care.  Hang in there.  Stay healthy and warm.