parent's visit

So, one of the intentions of this blog is to help keep a record of interesting (to me) things I do and see (You, dear reader, are in large part a motivational tool for me to actually keep this record). This record is really a necessity, given the impressive fallibility of my memory.
It's been about a week since my folks left Hawaii, and of course, I got busy with other things immediately after their departure, like more adventures, but we did a lot of fun stuff. I'm trying to think of highlights 'n such to write about here, but while I continue to process their visit, here is a link to Beth's Picassa album of some photo highlights.
Check it out!
Here's on of my favorite photos from the visit. That's all of us, Beth is the shadow there on the right side. We're up near the visitor center on Mauna Kea, getting ready to watch a spectacular sunset. The light was amazing. Check out Beth's album.
It was chilly, even for the Minnesotans.

wintery mix in Kona

Wintery mix? OK, not sleet and blowing snow. But it is cloudy and cool this morning. Sweatpants weather around the house. And my parents left last night after their weeklong stay! It made me a little melancholy this morning. We had a full week of good big island adventures. It was nice to spend time with them, nice to hear impressions of the big island from commentators I know so well, nice to experience again all the peculiarities that make my folks so great-- good things, like my dad sitting at the kitchen table mounting centipedes and cockroaches onto cardboard with dress pins to satisfy his recent interest in insects... or my mom's masterful deployment of a couple pidgin phrases after only a few days on the island...
It was a good week. I'll post some pictures soon. Now, though, I've got some laundry and other cleanup to do. In the meantime, have a look at this great graphical wave height forecaster. I'm going to be leading some kayaking and snorkeling trips here, as means of making the big bucks, and my new boss sent me the link.



We've got some big waves coming in later this week! High surf is not so good for a novice surfer or kayakers. It does make for a mesmerizing shoreline and good wave sounds at our house. Also, good surfer watching. My folks and I had a great time at Kiholo Bay yesterday, spent in large part watching surfers. The bay must be just the right depth to make these big waves break, because the surf was abundant and gentle looking for such (locally) uncommonly large waves. The shore was packed, but there was so much surf, I think all of kona could have been out in the water with room to spare.
Google "Kiholo Bay" to see just another boring old hawaii blue lagoon with palm trees, black sand, lava cliffs and mansions...
I'll put some photos up soon.

keepin on...

Hello cyberspace!
No news is good news from kona? Beth and I are pluggin along out here. I, job searching, she, working hard. We filled our after work hours tonight with Bikram Yoga.We've been three times now, and I like it. It makes my back feel good. Kind of like streaching in a sauna for 90 minutes. A little pricey though, especially on my budget.
I have some appreciated, but financially unrewarding work building up bikes for the local shop here. I am happy to go in and work, but I'm not a very fast bike assembler, so it doesn't make much dough for me. However, I have a good time, and I'm happy to do it. And I build up a good bike, no matter what they pay me. It's a good shop and I like the employees.
Currently, I'm hoping to get some work down in the National Energy Lab area, as it's called, the industrial park where Beth's company is. The companies down there utilize a huge volume of sea water pumped up from 3000' under the ocean surface. At one point, someone thought the difference in temperature between the deep sea water and surface sea water could be used to drive turbines to produce electricity. It didn't work as well as they had hoped, and I'm not entirely sure of the specifics, but now that the infrastructure is there, they keep the pumps on and distribute the water to a variety of users. Most of them use the mineral-rich water to grow algae, then feed it to some type of shellfish they are raising for food. So I guess I'm hoping I can follow in Beth's footsteps and become and algae farmer! I like that I would learn a bit about marine science, and that it would be a making something. We'll see. If I spent as much time applying for jobs as I do talking about applying, I'd have a job by now!

Excitement on the horizon: my folks are arriving on Saturday! We are looking forward to exploring Hawaii with them, and their visit will certainly provide some more exciting pictures for the blog! Have you checked out the Picassa album yet? There is some good stuff from December in there.


Here are some favorites:
They are all from our trip to Volcanoes National Park. The top two are at Kilauea Iki crater, reshaped by an eruption in 1959. Beth is standing on rocks younger than her parents!

The bottom two photos are looking at Kilauea Caldera from the Jagger Museum visitor's center. You can see a big plume of gas billowing out in the daytime, and the reflection of lava in the crater onto the plume at night!

Happy New Year!

Hey Hey!
I'm back up and running! A computer problem kept me out of the internet for most of December.  But it has been running without a hitch for the last few days, so it is high time to get some material back on the blog.  So much happened in December!  I figure the best way to share the highlights with you is through the photos we took.  Here is a link to my brand-new Picassa album, with about 50 pictures from December.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bevisma/DecemberPhotos#
I think Beth also has an album up from November, in addition to all the photos I've posted here.

Most of the photos are from a weekend we spent in Volcanoes National Park and vicinity.
We also had Christmas, which was great.  Thanks to everyone who sent us the great presents.
It was my birthday just yesterday!  Also the end of 2010.  Hawaii loves fireworks.  For two days, we've been hearing random fireworks explosions all over the city.  One common firework sounds a lot like someone ripping a hole in their pants, amplified.  So that's kind of funny. 
 
I went surfing on my birthday!  It was awesome.  I used this huge 9' foam board that practically caught the waves for me.  It was super fun.  I had four or five nice long rides in Kahalu'u bay, a nice gentle beginner spot.  I'll be out there again.  Watch out!
Have you written the date today?  I wrote 1.1.11-- and was excited about the simplicity of the statement.
OK, check back again, I'll getcha satisfied!