Fall? Are You Sure?

Today is the first of October.  That means chiller days, sweater wearing.  Thinking about digging out a scarf or some mittens soon.  Digging out all the good soup and casserole and stew recipes.  Making sure the cupboard has a good selection of tea...

Or, none of the above.  Not having seasons makes somethings hard to remember.  Like the fact that Halloween is coming up.  Sure, we get the commercial reminders: suddenly there are TONS of bags of tiny candy bars.  Some stores have put out fall decorations.  Target has all their costumes out, and has for a few weeks now.  But it doesn't feel like Halloween is around the corner.  It just feels the same as always.

Warm, sunny days are nice, but I'm starting to miss my favorite seasons: fall and spring.  Especially spring.  I loved driving through pasture lands to see all the baby cows.  Watching the trees come back to life after sleeping all winter.  And waiting for the ground to send up tiny shoots of green.  I suppose Hawaii gets a rainy season, but it just isn't the same.

Repack

For the last few days I have spent my productive time of the day down in my Grandma's basement. Opening boxes and storage bins that were packed and brought to Seattle nearly two years ago. Some things are easy enough to discard. Others are set aside to be thought about. And some are immediately repacked.

Most things that are set aside to be thought about end up getting moved to the discard pile, but it is a slow process. I packed with the expectations that after only a few months, I would be unpacking the boxes in a new apartment. Now it will be some time again before I get around to unpacking. I need to have the boxes packed and ready to go to get a valid estimate of shipping costs, but I still need more time to finish. Once I've chosen a company, I need to make an appointment. At this point I feel it is unlikely I'll finish in the time frame I expected to. I'm hopeful though, I'd like to get this done.

Just for Fun

I've received this email from a few people now, and rather than email it again, I thought I would just place it in my blog, since it's been awhile since I posted anyway. Welcome to the new 2009 edition of getting to know your family and friends. Here is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be Lame and spoil the fun. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who Sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times; that means you have lots of friends. The easiest way to do it is to hit 'forward' so you can change the answers or copy and paste. Have fun and be truthful! I want to see your answers! 1. What is your occupation right now? - Student of sorts 2. What are on your feet now? - Nothing. I live in Hawaii. That means leave your shoes at the door. 3. What are you listening to right now? - An airplane flying over head. 4. What was the last thing that you ate? - A slice of cold pizza. 5. Can you drive a stick shift? - Only because I was taught in the last year (thanks to Red and Doug) 6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? - Err, my boss. To tell her I hurt myself and the ER doc said I can't work for 3 days. I would recommend NOT falling up concrete stairs. 7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? - Yip 8. How old are you today? - 27 9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? - The summer Olympics weren't bad. 10. what is your favorite drink? - Carbonated water. I like the fizz. 11. Have you ever dyed your hair? - Yep, but not since someone called me Barney after the last time. 12. Favorite food? - I'm gonna go with sushi. But really, I just like food in general. 13. What is the last movie you watched? - The Visitors. Next up: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (required for my grad class). 14. Favorite day of the year? - The sunny ones. 15. How do you vent anger? - I complain to others around me. 16. What was your favorite toy as a child? - My books. Not really a toy, but they were all read more than once. 17. What is your favorite season? - Summer! (the only season we have here) 18. Cherries or Blueberries? - Blueberries. In my pancakes. 19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? - Or they can cut, paste, and repost on their blogs. 20. Who is the most likely to respond? - No idea. 21. Who is least likely to respond? - People who don't read my blog. 22. Living arrangements? - In a house with no heater. 23. When was the last time you cried? - Eh, when I thought no one was looking. 24. What is on the floor of your closet? - Shoes. 25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending? - ? 26. What did you do last night? - Went to my knitting group. 27. What are you most afraid of? - I think snakes are pretty scary. 28.Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? - Cheese. Blue cheese. 29. Favorite dog breed? - Mutts. 30. Favorite Day of the week? - Tuesday 31. How many states have you lived in? - Five. And 3 Countries. 32. Diamonds or pearls? - Neither really - my latest favorite jewelry is made of glass. 33. What is your favorite flower? - I don't know enough about flowers to answer this question. So there you go. A blog with some random information that you might have already known. Til next time.

A Christmas Kidnapping

Ahh, the holidays were fun, but it is nice to be back in Hawaii and warm again. Mostly because when you get used to the weather around here, 60 degrees (F) feels a bit chilly - making the near freezing temperatures experienced on the Mainland feel even colder.

There was a lot of pre-planning on Doug's part for this adventure, but seeing as he was the kidnapper, I suppose that is to be expected. He started by waking me up on the 24th and telling me I had two hours to be dressed in my dress and ready to go.

Now you might be wondering why I had a dress in California for Christmas break when it was freezing. I might have wondered too if he had told me to bring a dress, "just in case." This was covered up with family photos. His Mom wanted to get family photos when everyone was around because there was a new baby in the family. Doug convinced me that it might be nice to wear a dress since I don't dress up much, and I agreed. Somewhere along the line he even got me to decide that green would be the better dress choice. Knowing that it would be a bit chillier than we were used to, and that I tend to freeze while sitting indoors when I'm not dressed in jeans and a sweater, he also suggested I find a shawl and boots to go with the dress. Deciding that it might be fun to get decked out, I went ahead and found the necessary accessories, all the while believing that this was for a family photo.

So I got dressed and off we went. For the entire drive he still wouldn't tell me where we were off too. He wouldn't even let me see the directions he had copied from the internet. I had to wait till we turned a corner and I saw the signs for Wicked. Yep, he took me to see the musical Wicked. It was the coolest theater experience I have had yet, and I'm sure the little local theater here in Hawaii will seem a bit sub par after that show.

Waiting

Seems like there is tons of waiting going on in my life right now. Waiting for someone to respond to my ad on craigslist and buy my car. Waiting to hear from the University of Hawaii. Waiting to get my final scores on the GRE. Waiting for paperwork to come from the VA so I can apply for jobs with veteran's preference. Waiting for October so I can turn in 30 days' notice to my landlord.

And once those are taken care of, there will be more waiting. Waiting for the money from my sold car to get to my bank account. Waiting for classes to start so I can be in school again. And waiting to hear back from the various places I applied to.

No worries here though. I'll just keep pushing forward and dealing with each thing as it comes along.

My Dead Car

When I bought the Maxima I was pretty excited - though the car is only three years newer than the little blue car that was left on the mainland, it seemed to be a lot nicer. But in the last week the problems have been coming out to get me.

First, the gas mileage started getting even worse than it already was. Then it started idling really rough. I decided to try some fuel injector treatment after reading around on the internet a bit. I'm still on the tank of gas that got the treatment, but already have gotten more miles than I was getting and I still have gas left.

But right now, the gas in the tank does me no good. Tuesday began the period of "hunk of metal that is hard to move." The car won't start. I drove to 20 stores for work, and at the last few I was having a little trouble getting the car started. It had done this before, and at the time I thought maybe the starter was going out, but then the car was sneaky and the problem cleared up. And after 20 stores, I thought it may just need a break from trying to start. I got it started, drove 45 minutes to the other side of the island and let the car sit for a couple of hours while walking around. Upon returning, the car started and I drove 45 minutes across the island again to my house. And that was the end of the car starting on its own. Grr.

After having the car towed to Sears they told me the starter was shot. Lucky for me, they were nice enough to call and get the part from the auto parts store where I found the part for cheaper than they had originally quoted me. But once the part was installed, a new problem was found: the cables leading to the battery are the wrong cables. When the guy touched the cable he was talking about it fell off, and the car wouldn't start again. He managed to get the cable smashed back together enough to get the car started, but told me it probably wasn't safe to be driving around and recommended an auto electric guy.

My car is in the auto electric shop now. Who knows what is being done to it. Hopefully the next thing that breaks I can fix on my own.

Seattle

Tomorrow I am flying to Seattle. But instead of returning, I am only visiting. A large part of the trip will be taking care of my belongings in my Grandmother's basement and selling my little blue car. I still miss that thing even though I have been driving around my newer car around for over a month now. Must be a first car thing, haha.

It will be a short trip, about a week. Longer would have been nicer for all I want to get done, but with the new job a short trip was all I could afford timewise. I hope people aren't too disappointed at the lack of time I will have. I imagine some will be, but there is little I can do about that. Hopefully I'll get back for a longer trip later on, and perhaps one that gets me to New Mexico and Colorado for additional visits.

Hawaii in Pictures

I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of Hawaii. Part of what prompted this is that I finally carried my camera along on a trip the other day, and took quite a few pictures. Not really sure why it is so hard for me to take them, there have been many days when the camera is carried along just for the fun of the extra weight it seems like, since it is rarely used. Suppose it still isn't much, but here is what I have to share so far:

On the hike to Kaena Point. Nice little hike. I mentioned it in an earlier post, and Red has posted pictures of it as well.
Still on the hike. I love the scenery of coastal hikes.
An arch on the way out to the point.

The next set of pictures were taken while out on a ride last Saturday. I have actually been spending more time on the back of a motorcycle. So much in fact, that I finally went and bought my own helmet, so that I would no longer have to hunt around for something that would work.

Small beach out near Kaena point. The water up here was pretty rough that day, last time I saw this beach it was much calmer and prettier. Didn't have the camera then though.
A fossilized shell I found while walking around in the rocks out near Kaena point. The smaller shells still had live snails in them.
Turtle at Turtle Bay. The like to come out and hang out in the sun on the beach, but nobody seems to know why they like to do it in this particular spot.
Another turtle on the beach. There were also some hanging out in the surf, but they were harder to catch with the camera.
Picture taken mid-ride. Waimea Beach.
Waimea Beach from the other side of the bay.
Coastal pic taken along the way.
Some nice blue water. Fun stuff to swim in.
Smaller islands off the coast.

A video of a blowhole along the way.

Suppose that's it for the pictures for now. And I'll try to post a little more often too.

Denied!

Back in January I applied to the University of Washington, in hopes of getting into their Cultural Studies Graduate Program. Today I received an email from the program, expressing their regret at not being able to accept me into the program. Uh, can I have my 50 bucks back please? I suppose that isn't how application fees work though. Bummer. Time to take the GRE so I can apply to more programs.

A New Car

I bought a new car... well, a car that is new to me. It's a 93 Nissan Maxima, and though it is only 3 years younger than the Camry sitting in my Dad's driveway, it looks like it is a much nicer car. Then again, me and the little blue car have been through 90,000 miles and three deer encounters together. I suppose this new car will be spared the deer: there aren't any in Hawaii.

Now I just need to find a job, a task that I feel will be easier to complete now that I can drive around to look for one. I have been doing all my job searching online thus far, and so far all my applications have yielded nothing. But I have hope, and an emptier savings account after acquiring the new car.

Eeek! Where Has the Time Gone?

So I have been back at my Dad's for a little over a month now, but what have I done? First, I recovered from traveling for 3 months. Turns out there was quite a bit of missed sleep to make up for. Then I started researching graduate programs and chose a couple to apply to, which are in the works now. I've also served 2 days of Jury Duty for King County in Washington and looked for employment. Somewhere in there I made some new friends, got sick as a dog (from which I am still recovering), knitted a few things, and re-found my desire to travel. Now I have become restless again. I imagine that the rain in Seattle has helped push along my need to be on the move.

Lucky for me I have friends around the world, and one has invited me to come see Hawaii. I knew this was coming before my trip in Europe ended, and have been planning on trying to get there since she moved. I am still working out the details of getting there - I'd really like to use a benefit of my military service and get a military flight there. That would save me a ton on airfare, something that needs to happen if I even want to get there. Besides getting some much needed R&A time, I am really excited about this: I have no idea how long I will be staying there, nor where I will be going when I leave. There is an entire world of possibilities out there, and the next thing I've got coming up is hopefully starting a graduate program sometime next August/September.

6 Days Left

In 6 days I will be on a flight to take me out of the US. And I still only have that planned. I finally went and got new shoes today, the backpack I plan on using for the trip is currently in UPS' possession, and there are no accommodations reserved. But still, I think it will work out just fine.

Instead of putting much effort into planning my 3 month Euro-trip, I've been going camping. Two weekends ago I went with my sister to a place called Icicle Creek. As kids our parents took us there a few times, and we got lucky and ended up at the same campground we remembered so well. We stayed for two nights, and had a great time. Had I not needed to return for a doctor's appointment, we would have stayed longer, since I had no real plans and she didn't have to work again until the next weekend. Even though we didn't stay near the sites we had remembered using in the past, we still got a great site with its own beach. Pretty lucky, considering we got to the campground at 7pm on Sunday night, Labor Day weekend. We thought for sure all the sites would be full, but we kept our fingers crossed and it worked. Just finding a site was nice, since all the campgrounds we had passed en-route to our destination had full signs. But in terms of sites in the campground, we had scored.

Last weekend I went camping with my Dad. We went to a place called Kalaloch, also a place I had been taken as a kid. I think the last time I had been to that campground was when I was 16, right before I left for my first adventure in Europe. Though I went there several summers as a kid, and my Dad had done the same, neither of us had ever stayed in one of the most sought after campsites: one on the bluff, over-looking the Pacific. Our first night as we pulled through the campground, we were not surprised to find that all the bluff sites were occupied, as they always are. But before going and paying for our second night's camping, we decided to give the bluff one last walk through, to see if anyone was leaving. And we got lucky. Moving camp was fun to watch, especially for other people, I'm sure. Anything heavy was thrown hastily into my car, and then me and my Dad went back for the tent. Instead of taking the time and effort to take the tent down, we picked it up, mattresses and all, and carried it put together to our new site. One camper in a nearby site called it the Sunday Shuffle. Apparently, that kind of thing happens on a regular basis. I wonder how many other campgrounds are like that? And I wonder how long our site was empty before it had new owners? People had come by in the evening to see if we would be leaving in the morning, but we had no visitors the morning we left.

I suppose now I should get to work on figuring out what exactly I will be doing once I arrive in London. Stay in the city for a night or two, or head up to Scotland to the places I've decided I would like to see on the trip? Whatever I decide, I think I'll try to go for one more camping trip before I leave though. It has been loads of fun.

Moving Cross-Country

I have been in Seattle for a couple of days now, but just got internet last night. My Dad helped me with all the programing and whatever to get me hooked to his network (thanks Dad!). It was quite frustrating for him, and it took longer than I would have had patience for. Then again, I don't know computers like he does.

Getting here was a great adventure. There were almost no mishaps, and the one time I got us (an awesome friend helped me move) going the wrong direction on a road, it turned out to be a good mistake. Ended up seeing great landscaping that would have otherwise been missed. There is definitely something to be said about taking the long way and avoiding the interstate.

We were on the road for four nights, but didn't stay in motels the whole time. One night we camped, and there was this great flower outside of the tent when I woke up the next morning:

We were camped at Craters of the Moon National Park. Seeing huge black hills was really neat. I never knew volcanic activity had existed in that part of the country. Or that it could look like that thousands of years after the activity had stopped.

Along the way we went through a town called Boring. Thinking it was incredibly funny, we had to turn around to get a couple of shots.



Boring is close to Portland, OR, which isn't far from Seattle, but it was super rainy so we went for the coast where the internet said the weather was clearer. It only added about 6 hours of driving, but was totally worth it. We even made the random stop for some mini-golf.

I have now learned that there is more fun to be found when you don't have a set schedule, and are willing to take the time to slow down. Hard to do in today's society where everything is go, go, go. Had I been alone I would have taken the shortest, fastest route here and missed out on all the fun I had instead. I didn't even do any of the driving.

It would be nice not to move again, but at the same time I don't think I'll be happy in one place for the rest of my life. Sometimes I just need a change of scenery. But I think next time I will work harder at getting rid of things. I might have brought too much.

Video Games DO Offer Life Lessons

Well, at least Tetris does. The better you can get at Tetris, the more efficiently you can pack boxes. And the more efficiently you can pack the boxes into the moving vehicle. I'm learning that as I go along, trying to pack the last of my apartment. I still have lots of furniture, but, it is sold. Kind of. A couple who has moved to the area has nothing, and will take most everything that is left, so long as they can get the money from their boss to pay me. And if not, another woman is willing to buy it all for her son, who is also just starting out. I ended up selling it dirt cheap, but every bit of cash will help me get to Seattle, and every bit can help either of the people who will end up with my stuff. So even though I would have liked to sell it for more, it is still a win-win situation. I just hope that I can find a similar situation when the time comes for me to get my next apartment. I think it will. I truly believe that what goes around comes around.

Internet Issues

Sometimes, I wish I could charge corporations for their waste of my time. For 3 days my internet wasn't working, yet every time I tried to call I got an automated response that service in my area was down at the moment. At which point I had the option of receiving an automated call when service was back up. I pressed #1, to agree to receiving the call. And the call? Came at 11:40pm, and all it said was "We are experiencing technical difficulties." No mention of who the call was from, just a computer voice waking me up.

Finally today I decided to press different buttons, even though they weren't really for what my problem was. And finally I was connected to tech-service. I installed a new modem, and now it works again. The whole thing was their fault, or the fault of the modem that they supplied me.

Err. I don't feel like dealing with this kind of stuff right now. Next week I'll be calling again, to tell them to cancel my service. If I get new service once I move, I hope it is better than this company has been.

Moving...Ugh

I really don't want to take the time to do this. I could just get rid of everything, but I hate the idea of that. Some of the things I have I got because I wanted them, and I worked hard to earn the money that paid for them. Or I didn't buy them, but I don't want to re-buy them in the future, because I know that it is something I would never buy for myself. I considered pulling a trailer with my car, but have been told by a few people that doing so will probably result in a blown transmission. So I guess I need to rent a truck, and pull my car. But is it really worth pulling?

Then I start to wonder: Why did I ever move my stuff here in the first place?

Boozing and Breasts

Sounds like they go good together, doesn't it? Well, get your mind out of the gutter. Today when I was at the doctor she told me that she had read that drinking increases a woman's risk for breast cancer. So when I got home I looked it up. And there are quite a few sites that say that it has been proven. But then there is something else to think about: if drinking increases your risk by 30%, what exactly does that mean? As the same doctor also pointed out, if 1 in 1,000 are likely to die from something and then adding alcohol to the mix makes it 2 in 1,000, than it can be said adding alcohol doubles your risk. But really, do you think you are lucky enough to be that 2 in 1,000? So all these sites need to be put into perspective. Not too many have numbers, but then again, I didn't look too deep either. Maybe for now on this one I will claim ignorance and go have a beer. I hope my breasts don't mind.

Socially Broken

Well, maybe. It isn't that I don't want to be social. Seeing people in person or talking on the phone doesn't bother me, unless, that other person seems to have expectations of me. For whatever reason, right now that is incredibly overwhelming. I don't want to deal with it, and as a result, I am unlikely to answer my phone. And all those people who seem to be expecting something are highly disappointed that I don't answer my phone. Which sometimes makes me wish I didn't have a phone, or at least a cell phone. Those things are the biggest nuisance ever invented (yet I can't bring myself to get rid of mine...just yet). So how to deal? It's not like you can break up with friends or family like that jackass boyfriend who cheated on you. No really, it's not you, it's me. I can't stand your nagging anymore. Please go find someone else to bug... As funny as that would be to hear someone say, I think I would feel guilty for using the words myself. So what do I do? I mentally beat myself up for not standing up for myself and telling the people who need to know what I really think. See? Socially broken.

To Find a Job or To Not Find a Job

Top 10 Reasons I Should Never Consider a “Real” Job:
1.I never want to look forward to going to the dentist, just so I can skip some work.
2.I hate driving in traffic.
3.Business offices are boring.
4.I already have health insurance.
5.There would not be enough time for things I really want to do.
6.I would need to take a vacation from regular life just to feel good.
7.Someone else would tell me what to do.
8.I can't afford work clothes, nor do I want to wear them.
9.I wouldn't be able to listen to the music I like.
10.I fear drones.

Top 10 Reasons I Should Consider a “Real” Job:
1.Regular paycheck.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

That's all I got. So far, the benefits of not working far outweigh the benefits of working. Now if only I could get my unconventional working self paid.... At least I know that if I were ever to become a trophy wife, I would have more than enough things to keep my day full, and that would be with the husband gone (hopefully out of town - permanently) and no kids to look at.

Money sucks. We should find more mentally healthy ways of doing things.

One Deer, 3 Horses, and a Weasel

When I go to work, there is supposed to be a shuttle to take. But, through miscommunication, it turns out that on the weekends, there is no shuttle to return me home at a reasonable hour. So instead of wasting my entire day in Gateway, I drove myself and the girl I was working with to the job site. About 45 minutes into the drive, I noticed some kind of animal moving rather quickly across a field. The memory of the last deer to come in contact with my car still fresh in my mind, I decide that perhaps 65mph (the posted speed limit) is a little fast, and I begin to slow down, keeping my eye on this animal. Sure enough, it was a deer. Being the talker I am, I told him to stay right where he was, but no, he starts to run along the fence, just ahead of my car. Then the dumb animal decides to jump the fence, and run right in front of my car. I hit the brakes and start pleading with my car to slow down, NOW. My passenger wasn't too freaked out, and she commented that she didn't even see the deer until we were really close to it. I of course was shaking like a leaf once the deer was safely out from in front of my car.

A few more miles down the road and I noticed what looked to be a black animal in the road up ahead. At first I thought it was a cow, but as we got closer we saw it was actually 3 horses. Someone must have left a gate open. At least they were in the road, and easy to see from afar. As we (slowly) approached them, they made the wise move of getting off the road.

Not too much later, a small animal (which I thought to be a ferret, but was told by others was probably a weasel) crossed the road, and I was sure I hit it with my tire. But a glance in the rear view mirror revealed no dead animal.

Lesson learned: there is no reason to travel the road to Gateway at excessive speeds. My car has enough wildlife damage already.