comments! bring em on!

Beloved Followers,
I believe that I have figured out how to let you, my dear throng of frothing fans, post comments on my blog.  Now don't all do it at once and overwhelm the server.  Just know that you can (or should be able to).  Someone try it out.
Also, I've been busy fretting over a masterpiece of a cover letter, so I haven't gotten to the "cute and ubiquitous" house gecko.  I will soon.  In the meantime, check out my new "bookshelf" page up there in the top right corner.  I'm going to let you armchair travelers in on some little secrets!
Here's something to rest your eyes on while you wait for the gecko:

The view from my living room window onto the Paradise Garden (our yard), kona, and the ocean beyond!
Yes, that is a cruise ship in the bay!  On Wednesdays, when they come by, I feel like less of a tourist. Can you spot our sickly avocado tree in this photo? I promise I'll tell you about the plants in our yard soon.

Back in business!

Hiya hiya!
We got the internet up and running at our new house!  I'll be posting frequently again-- if staring at the computer doing resumes and job applications doesn't drive me nuts.

Happy thanksgiving, and goodbye to November.
Beth and I are pretty well moved in here now.  I think Beth is going to do something with some photos she took of our place...  I'm trying to figure out what to do with the comment that the blog is "very domestic."  I think I'll embrace it, but stop short of posting home pics right off the bat.
Here is our address, in case you were wondering to send all that stuff you've been getting for us:

75-192 Alakai St. Rear Apt.
Kailua-Kona, HI, 96740

Best parts of the last week or two we've been floating anchorless without the net:

College buddy Laura came to visit with her man Nick for thanksgiving!  We bumped and rattled their little Hyundai over the 1801 lava field near the airport, then hoofed it over the last section into the remote beach of Makalwena.  It was a holiday weekend, so it was pretty busy for how remote it was.  Still, though, "a little slice of paradise," as Laura said. 

Thanksgiving, of course.  We had two: one with Beth's coworkers, one just the two of us.  I have to report, sadly, that the (in)famous Bevis Green Jello Salad didn't go over well with the locals.  It does, happily, keep well.  It's pretty good with coffee.  Must be the pint of heavy whipping cream.  Now how could anyone not like something with that in the ingredients?

Note: 1) the awesome mugs Beth found us! 2) one of the 4 green coconuts Beth harvested from our front yard.  Them things are hard to get into.  Here she is showing appropriate strain:

Here she is working on other kitchen goodies:

Another highlight: my first taste of the legendary Hawaiian culinary creation Spam Musubi.  Basically, about a cup of white rice and a quarter-inch thick slab of spam wrapped in nori.  It's that simple.  But the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts, right?

This is Spam Musubi in its native environment.  And that, dashboard, cellophane and all, is exactly how it looked when I ate it.  Us bike commuters got to keep our calories up!

I hope to kick off a new aspect to the blog later today or tomorrow:  more posts about plants and animals I see here in Hawaii.  Something to supplement the raw shock value of the spiders.   I hope it interests you as much as it does me. There is some pretty cool stuff here, and I want to document it as much for myself as I want to show you.  Perhaps I will start off with the ubiquitous and cute house gecko, as most people seem to think these are pretty cool!  Stay tuned!

Slowly but slowly

“Slowly but slowly,” as our roommate at the company condo Egan likes to say. “We’re slow, but we’re expensive!” as my uberskilled carpenter cousin Ian likes to say. 

It's all coming together here, but it'll be a while until we're truly cruising. We’ve moved into our new place and are getting settled in. 

We had a *great* ultimate tournament last weekend.  One of the best I’ve been to.  My opinion may be partially swayed by the fact that I felt the best I’ve felt at a tournament for a long time.  This was another story, thanks to lots of stretching and really slow running for the last year or so.  Ah, the discipline I never had in highschool or college.  I didn’t get the least bit injured, as far as I can tell.  That may actually be a first.  But on top of the personal victory, the tournament was awesome. 

We got good beer Friday and Saturday nights, good dinner both nights, a live band and a firedancing performance on Saturday, camping both nights, breakfast both days, great field food, including all the fresh local avocados, starfruit, and bananas you could eat; a pool and an ocean to swim in…all for $50.  Big props to the TDs.  It was really great to meet all the players, too.  Many from Alaska.  Many from the mainland.  I was most happy, though, to meet the other Hawaii players.  Ultimate is going to be fun here.

I’ll try to keep it short.  We don’t have internet at our new place yet, but every once in a while, my computer picks up a signal from one of the coffee shops down on Alii Drive.  Right now, I’m riding their waves and feeling fortunate.  So I’ll sign off and keep my fingers crossed that this actually posts.  When we get a more reliable connection, I will balance the personal posts with some more informative (and graphically interesting) ones.  For now, I’ll take the fleeting connection as a good omen!

homework.

So, today I spent 8 hours working on our apartment, getting it ready to move in.  Mostly trying to clean up the floors.  They are nice oak hardwood floors, they are just really dirty.  We knew this coming in, kind of, we just didn't realize how dirty they actually were.  After spending the morning trying out different cleaners, I got a hold of the landlords... and they were very friendly and helpful. To think I had spent the morning cursing them.  I can say these things because I don't think they have found this blog...yet.  This post may be short lived, so if you want the dirt on my cleaning (and I'm sure you all do), better lap it up while you can.
 
Orange citrus degreaser.  That was the key.  I would have never thought to put that on the wood floor, but it worked wonders getting what appeared to be years of sticky grime off the floor.  I'm realizing this post is going to make me look like I'm renting a dump from a slumlord.  I only hope that's not the case. So far, I don't think it is. I get a good sense from the landlords.  I just wish they hadn't thought that it was a good idea to rub olive oil onto the floor to "moisturize" it.  At least they told me, and gave me keys to the degreaser!

Here are the good things:  2 bedrooms and an office, it's a freestanding house, it's got a lot of storage underneath, it's got a great breeze, it's got a corner full of windows with views out to the ocean and along the coast, it's got fruit trees: avocados, guava, limes, lemons, and lots of other cool stuff in the yard. And we (Beth) can afford it!  It's just being a pain in the butt to furnish! We still need a bed.  We do have a dining room table, and a few other random things, so once we get the bed worked out, I think that we will be able to piece the other stuff together. 


I'll post some pictures of the house and yard soon!

furniture

Who knew furniture was so expensive? We spent a good few hours today looking at various furniture stores.  I think we'll take what craigslist has to offer. We've already found some possibilities.  It looks like the thing to do is get it from people moving off the island, or from resorts that are redecorating.

Highlight of the shopping day: we found two good thrift stores, and were happy with our purchases there.

Best quote from Beth: "You found a bundt pan?  A springform bundt pan? Oooh, good for pineapple upside down cake.  We're gettin it."

Shout out to NordicWare.

Kale?

Some personal updates:

Beth and I looked at a pretty nice house yesterday.  We're submitting and application tomorrow.... we'll let you know!

Today, once I finish my chores (Beth ain't happy when she gets home from work and I haven't gotten my chores done) we're going to go to the local pickup ultimate frisbee game!  We're excited, but don't know what to expect.  This is a small town, and I think most locals are more apt to get out the surfboard or soccer ball than frisbee, but it should be fun.  Sorry Robbinsdale.

There is a local fruit and vegetable market/bazaar down in Kailua Town, just a walk or short bikeride from Ali'i Cove.  I went today and scored this:

A bag of Thai chillies, two limes, a tomato, a huge avocado, two mangoes, two peppers, two bunches of bananas. $7.  How them hard squashes?  I haven't found any squash or suitable kale replacement yet, but I think I can make due.  Can you find the frisbee in the picture above?  MN pride?

I got a kama'aina (hawaiian for child of the land) or resident discount on these beauts; I'm learning how to ask for a kama'aina discount and when its appropriate to bargain.  It's a whole new challenge.

rude radio

May I please take a moment to reaffirm my love for the twin cities radio scene?
I knew that KFAI, Radio K, KNOW and the Current were special, but I figured that everywhere would have some kind of community or public radio, even if it wasn't up to the TC standards... alas.  I shouldn't neglect to note that I have heard some pretty cool Hawaiian music on the radio around here.

This morning, I've been listening to Rude Radio on Radio K.  How thankful I am that all the stations I mentioned stream live on the internet!  The roots reggae and ska is perty perfect for the Hawaiian climate, in my mind.  Stream it, or, if you're lucky enough to tune it in on your radio, enjoy some aural sunshine beamed from the Caribbean to Minnesota to the South Pacific and back again.

Any other favorite radio stations I should find out there in cyberspace?

heat's on in Hawaii

On my bikeride home from checking out an apartment today, I stopped by Target to pick up some stuff.  I looked in the fan area, but all the fans had been replaced with electric heaters.  How seasonal!  The low is supposed to be 73 degrees F tonight.  Does this say more about Target or Hawaii?

Of relevance: electricity is really expensive here.  The bill at the apartments we've been looking at are around $100 a month.  $0.33/KWH.  I understand it is made predominantly by burning diesel in jet turbines...