New Blogger Platform

Last night, I migrated my blogs to the new Blogger platform. There should be no changes in the look, but additional features are now supposedly available. I'm still exploring, and have not found them all yet. Because Blogger was recently acquired by Google, I'm sure there will be integration with Google gadgets, widgets and features down the line.

My latest exploit is to open a Skype account. Skype is a technology that lets you use your computer to make telephone calls. If you have a microphone and speakers, you use the Skype software to connect with a computer or dial a phone number, and speak into the microphone. Your caller's voice is broadcast through the computer's speakers or a headset. We already use similar software at the library in our Telephone Reference Service, but we have handsets attached to the computers that make it feel more like using a traditional telephone.

My cousin Michael called me last night from Toronto via Skype, and although there was an annoying echo of my side of the conversation, the sound quality was very clear and I could talk to both Mike and Debbie easily. (Mike said the echo was his microphone picking up my conversation from the speakers and feeding it back to me.) I decided to get an account, too, and look forward to digital conversations with family and friends! Skype can call land lines; but can land lines call Skype?

Christmas Day

When teens go high-tech, it's a serious business! We got a new laptop for Christmas, and Laurel is moving all her iTunes from Dad's (business) laptop to Mom's (not yet set up for business) baby. (Note the headphones and iPod at her elbow.)

At last, I have WindowsXP, and can do more stuff online than I could with my old Win98 Gateway. My new Dell is tiny and lightweight - I'll be able to take it with me to Internet Librarian next October and blog with the pros!

The Gateway, by the way, is still fully operational after all these years, but the only thing I'm using it for now is online banking and Freecell. It still has a secure, but very slow, dial-up Internet connection that I trust for such things.

Now I have to decide what programs to install ...

Santa Came Early To Southwood

Southwood Townhomes held a Christmas open house in one of the six renovated units on Saturday. Laurel and I attended during the last hour, and had cookies, hot spiced cider, and a visit with Santa. The renovations are cosmetically appealing, but can't change the age nor fundamental condition of the apartments. We also notice that the decorator omitted such essentials as the television, chests of drawers, and other common pieces of furniture a family would normally bring, so the rooms look quite spacious (which they are, really.) The major and most obvious change is the opening in the wall between the dining room and the living room. I think it opens the living space and lets more light into the rooms; some don't like it because it takes away prime wall space that could support an entertainment center or book cases.

In any case, Nick says it will be at least 6 months before he can begin selling the units. We may be forced to decide whether to buy or move in the coming year.

Open Sleigh

This is the library's lobby. Don't know where they got the sleigh, but added to the evergreen woods that sprang up one weekend, the place is beginning to look very festive. Soon staff will be adding decorations at the service desks, and then we'll be in business.

We've been having crisp, clear weather - well really, it's been downright cold. Lows in the morning have been hovering around 30 degrees for the last week. Today, the first good winter storm arrived, with blustery winds and rain. They are expecting a foot or more of snow in the foothills. It will not be so cold this weekend, but the highs will be much lower - in the 50s.

I met my benchmark of not turning the heat on until Thanksgiving. Well, I did turn it on once for a couple of hours in the second week of November, but my excuse was that we'd been out of the house for over a week, and I just needed to warm it up a bit. Even Marty, who never feels cold, has been wearing socks and sleeping under the warm comforter.

We were planning to drive up to Union Mine Pines to get our Christmas tree tomorrow, but if the rain continues, we will postpone the outing till next weekend. If we don't go, I'll be busy selecting photos for the photo clendar and rummaging around for the Christmas stationery and cards I bought at the end of the Christmas season last year. And cleaning.

I didn't take my usual week off after Thanksgiving, so I'm going to have to hustle during the evenings and weekends to get everything done. I want to bake some cookies, and we're doing a "Secret Santa" thing at work. Then there's the gift shopping, brining my tropical ginger and anthurium indoors at night, , and general riding herd on the household.

Photos from Ireland

I had no idea we took so many pictures - there were over 150 of them, by the time I divested two cell phones and the digital camera of the images. I'm afraid I can't identify much of the scenery, but I was able to label many of the photos. I've put them up at the Picasa web site, and you can see them in a slide show. Just click on the photo to begin. The small images are cell phone pictures; the big ones were taken with the camera.

Getting Back to Normal ...

... as if this time of year could ever be called "normal."

Although we think the traveling is all done for the rest of the year, the holidays are creeping up faster than ever. We're filling the calendar with deadlines, meetings, and projects, and if we're not careful, the holidays will fly by before we've had time to enjoy them!

At work, the branches and units are busy putting together gift baskets to raffle off at our annual "cookie meeting" on the first Friday in December. We, at home, have just hosted a book club meeting, and are now scrambling to get ready for Thanksgiving in a few days. And after that come the Christmas preparations.

I am sorting through the photos we took on our trip to Ireland, and am turning them into a self-running slide show that I can burn to CDs and send to the families or post on the Web. I'm using a program called Picasa, which is a free download, but has many good features and is very easy to use.

The book about Eamonn Ceannt, "Supreme Sacrifice," has arrived, and I've put it on the "read next" stack. I've got both a knitting and a crochet project in the works, and I need to put in some face-time with my tiny garden to get it ready for winter. I don't expect to be taking any more time off from work, so these things will need to be done on my precous weekends.

Tuesday morning, I'm going to be making Cranberry Chutney and preparing an apple pie for Thanksgiving dinner. Patrick will be joining us. I learned recently that the daughter of my cousin Marie is attending graduate school in southern California, and I've enquired whether she might be free on Thanksgiving. Haven't heard yet what her plans are, but it would be great if she could visit. Sacramento is a stop on the Amtrak route.

The last couple of days in Eireann

The Internet connection at the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel was temperamental - they required we go through their proxy server, and sometimes the response time was slower than my dial-up connection at home! I think there were about 200 registrants at the gaming conference, so competition for the Internet at night was pretty fierce.

Laurel and I spent the last couple of days exploring the nearby towns of Dalkey and Dun Laoghaire, walking to the one and taking the local bus to the other. We did most of our personal shopping in Dalkey.

On Wednesday, Marty cut out of the conference to come with us to see some of the sights of Dublin. We walked to the DART station in Dalkey, and bought round-trip tickets to Dublin's Connolly Station for three and a half Euro each. The trains are fast, clean, and used heavily by commuters, similar to Sacramento's Light Rail, only much more comfortable.

In Dublin, there are companies that offer hop on /hop off bus tours that make a circuit of the most visited places in the city. We didn't have time to visit all of them, but we did get to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells exhibit and visit the library. Then we hopped back on the next bus and rode around the city to the Guinness Brewery. The self-guided tour was very well executed, and terminates in the "Gravity Bar" on the seventh floor, where we claimed our free pint of Guinness and enjoyed a 360 degree panoramic view of the city.

Our last stop was the Killmainham Gaol [kill MAIN um jail], made famous for housing and executing the rebels involved in the Easter Rebellion of 1916. It gave us all chills - there's no way to explain the feeling you get when you see those cold stone courtyards, tiny cells, and hear the guide's eloquent stories. Marty says his grandmother's uncle, Eamonn Ceannt (b. Edward Thomas Kent) was one of those executed, and the gaol historian invited Marty to sign the "family book" and took a picture of him. (They also said a new biography of Ceannt, "Supreme Sacrifice" is available at Amazon.com, so I ordered a couple copies this evening.)

By the time we finished the Killmainham tour, the hop-on/off busses had stopped running, so we hailed a cab to take us back to the train station for the ride back to the hotel. We spent the evening packing, in preparation for a 4 a.m. departure from the hotel for the airport. Marty had upgraded our tickets to business class, and we rode back to the US in a great deal more comfort.

Exploring Dalkey and Dun Laoghaire

Today, Laurel and I rode the bus to the town of Dun Laoghaire [dun leary]. Although the town is old, the shops are mainstream 21st century: Penneys, Burger King, and others like that serving mainstream fare for everyday living. Not a single tourist trap in the joint! We ate at Burger King and came back.

The Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel is a 10 minute walk (downhill) to the historic medieval town of Dalkey. In the last couple of days, I've made three hikes there to pick up a prescription, visit the castle and a craft fair going on in it, and to revisit the Dalkey Castle Heritage Center gift shop, where I bought my Irish sweater. The street is winding and narrow, as is the sidewalk; the houses all have names instead of numbers, and are painted in wonderful colors. It's a 20 minute walk (uphill) back to the hotel.

The Fitzpatrick Castle has a wonderful breakfast buffet. Here's a photo of the cereal bar - you hold your bowl under the cereal you want and pull the handle. Ditto for the milk. In addition, the buffet includes two kinds of eggs, several kinds of sausages and bacon (more like deli ham fried crisp), beans, fruit, muffins, Danish, and yogurt. Tomorrow, we're playing hookey from the conference and going to Dublin for a day of sightseeing.

We've arrived in Dublin Town

This morning after breakfast, I took a walk into the city of Cork. The bartender had told me the day before that the library was a ten-minute walk away, and so I decided to visit. His directions were good, and I found the main branch in the middle of road construction - sound familiar? There was a line of people waiting to get in at 10 a.m. - however, they did not make a mad rush for the Internet!! Most were browsing for new fiction or reading the newspapers in the reference room upstairs. One feature of the Cork library is its Music Library - housed in a room on the ground floor, it holds 25,000 CDs, tapes, and other music formats, including some print, and a reference collection.

We, having decided that the bus was not the optimum mode of transportation for us, decided to take the train to Dublin. That was a good move - we saw lots of greenery, cattle and sheep, a couple of ruins, and a couple of towns. The trip took about two and a half hours, compared to the 5 hours it would have taken by bus. We grabbed a cab to take us to the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, about 20 miles outside of the city center. It sits on Killiney [kil EYE nee] Hill, and the view is beautiful, especially at night. We ate dinner in The Dungeon, billed as a family restaurant, and located in what was, in fact, the dungeon of the castle.

We have a suite, which is to say, a bedroom, a living room with 2 sofas and an upholstered chair, a writing desk, and a dining table with six chairs and a buffet. What is missing is the hide-a-bed and the second bathroom, so Laurel's bed was set up in the middle of the living toom, and she has to trek through the bedroom to use the bathroom. Lesson two of this trip: never assume that terms mean the same thing on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sightseeing with cousin Eugene

Eugene (far right) is my father-in-law's first cousin. He owns a farm in Ballyre [ba LEER], just north of Killeagh [KILL a], which is between Cork [kark] and Waterford. His daughter, Mary, lives at home with him and has been managing the household since his wife passed away three years ago. Two sons live nearby with their families: Eddie, who works on the farm and travels the world in his spare time, and Theresa, wife of his son John, and their three adorable children.

The weather today was first rate - cool and sunny, with partly cloudy skies. Eugene picked us up mid-morning, and we drove through Youhgal [yawl] to Garryvoe on the Atlantic coast. The beach was nothing but water-rounded palm-sized pebbles that clink like ice in a glass when you walk across them. Since the tide was out, I went out and picked out four rocks to show them how Hawaiians accompanied their hulas about Madam Pele, the volcano goddess. We told him how people never believe that taking rocks from Hawaii brings bad luck, and he busted out laughing - he said in Ireland, the rocks themselves are curses, and we were welcome to take away as much as we could carry!

I kicked myself all afternoon, because I had forgotten my digital camera at the hotel, and my cell phone screen is impossible to see in the daylight. I took some photos of the places we went, but missed some priceless views. However, thanks to Laurel, who's camera phone takes better photos than mine (see lovely greenery below,) we have been able to cobble together some good memories of the day.

Most memorable were the panoramic view of several counties from just beyond the "Vee," the Lismore Castle, which is the Irish seat of the Duke of Devonshire and straddles the Blackwater River, the view of the Knockmealdown [knuckledown] Mountains, all blue and hazy in the distance, and the magnificent Mount Melleray [MALory] Abbey and cathedral. We ate lunch at The Latch Restaurant, a tiny and very cozy local favorite, and then we took all the back roads back to our hotel in Cork [kark].

As you can see from my rough transliterations, sure and the Irish place names sound nothing a tall like they look on paper! Marty and I had the very divil of a toime following Eugene's conversation, even afther spending the better part of the day with him. We stopped several times to visit the loo, and decided against a sweet after lunch. Also, Eugene is very comfortable driving at speed on roads that are only 1 1/2 lanes wide, dodging delivery trucks and pedestrians, and parking in any available spot, whether or not he ends up facing the direction of traffic.

Tomorrow, we check out of the Metropole Hotel and take the train to Dublin [DAUB lin].

Getting to Cork

Here I sit in the Gresham Metropole Hotel on the bank of the Lee River in Cork. It's still dark at 5 a.m. (9 p.m. the previous day in California) 43 degrees,and cloudy, according to the Weather Underground.

Our flight out of San Francisco yesterday was fine, except the seats in the economy section were so tightly shoehorned into the jet that we were cheek to jowl with each other and had no way to move our feet for 10 hours! We timed our bathroom and stretching breaks so one half of the row left at a time - right half now, left half later. It was a gymnastic exercise to slide over one adjacent seat, and to slide over two was a nightmare for the folks in the row in front, as we hung for balance on the backs of their seats. We have vowed to upgrade to business class for the return trip.

However, they fed us two meals, a couple of snacks, and an endless supply of water - I think the flight crew wanted to keep us in our seats, because that snack cart trundled down the aisle about every 20 minutes.

One nice thing was that every seat had a little tv screen in the back of the seat in front, and the controls were in the arm of our seats, so we could roll our own entertainment. There was a choice of 4 movies, several television shows, umpteen channels of music, and that nice GPS map that showed our progress across the US, Canada, and the Atlantic Ocean.

The connection with Bus Eireann was very smooth - they have a ticket counter in the baggage claim area of Shannon Airport, and delivered us nearly to the Metropole Hotel. Along the way, we drove through that idyllic countryside you see in the picture books. It's just as green, but big as life. There lots of cows, sheep, and a few horses. For the distance we travelled, there were few houses, and the little towns we drove through tended to be a few storefronts, bars, etc. along both sides of the street. We passed through Limerick, Limerick Junction, a couple other small whistle-stop type towns, Mallow, and then Cork - approximately a two-hour ride, I think - we were so tired, we did a lot of snoozing on the way.

The Metropole, which sits across the river from the bus terminal, is an older hotel, but nicely appointed and very clean. The rooms are small (double bed instead of the Queens that US hotels offer), but very clean. We had a featherbed for a blanket, and the "bedspread" was purely for show: a piece about 24" wide that draped across the foot of the bed, looking like it had just been turned down for our convenience. Actually, that's a great idea, because I always remove the bedspread and stuff it into a chair when I retire, because it always weighs so much on my feet.

When I called Patrick to say we had arrived safely, he was stunned, because our trip had lasted 24 hours from door to door. I didn't realize it had lasted so long, but it explains why we were so tired when we arrived at Shannon - we had flown into the sun, so we had basically skipped the intervening night! We had flown from the noon of one day to the morning of the next day wothout it ever getting dark!

We decided to skip the whole "eating out" thing, and ordered sandwiches and curried chicken via room service. Then we showered and crashed for the night.

Marty, though, seemed to have asthma problems which became most noticeable when we arrived at Heathrow in London. He had to stop and rest occasionally while carrying our bags through the labyrinthe of security, customs, and the very long walk to the gate. Ditto in Shannon. He was up at night with his inhaler and hot shower - but seem s better this morning. I hope it was just stress! I hate to think he might be allergic to Ireland!

We got in touch with Eugene Kent, his dad's cousin, and we will be going to visit them this morning. Eugene will send his daughter to collect us about 10:30 and drive usto his place in Ballyre, which is near Killeagh, about halfway between Cork and Waterford.

All Shook Up

I've been receiving lots of inquiries from my co-workers about the recent earthquake in Hawaii. The story made the news here in Sacramento, with video footage and an audio of Governor Linda Lingle's message to the people of the state.

Everyone's fine.

What was unexpected was the effect the earthquake had on the power grid - the state was essentially blacked out on Sunday from 7 a.m. until evening. Good thing it was Sunday, and not a work day! My sister-in-law said the Governor was advising people to stay home, because the traffic signals were all out ...

Both the Honolulu Star Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser carried stories, as did the Sacramento Bee, via the Associated Press

Give 'em Wheeeels and They Will Roll!

Pat - "... and I'm going to Phoenix on Friday, for the weekend."

Me - (Trying to be cool about this bombshell) "So, you decided to keep the extra $2k from the loan? How much was your ticket?"

Pat - "No. I'm driving."

Me - (after picking my jaw up from the floor) "Oh."

Start address: Sacramento, CA 95831
End address: Phoenix, AZ
Distance: 747 mi (about 12 hours 9 mins)

So, why would he suddenly decide to drive across two states? His girlfriend, Alix, attends college in Phoenix. She's been in California this past week, playing volleyball for her school. Pat drove to the Bay Area for a couple of her games, and they cooked up this scheme that he would visit her in Phoenix on the weekend ...

In deference to his mom's anxious concern, Pat called twice on his way there - once during a rest stop in Needles, and again after he got to Phoenix. So, we know he can navigate with MapQuest's help, and we know his Mitsubishi made it to Phoenix, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed until he makes it back here.

Halona

I've wanted to find a great photo of the Halona blowhole for this blog and include it somewhere in the headers. I can't find out how to do that, so I borrowed this photo from "Melonman", who visited the blowhole in August 2006. He posted it on Flickr under a Creative Commons license, so I've taken the liberty of using it here to show how it spouts when the wind and waves are right. Great shot, don't you agree?

The Hummingbird Show

The Anna's Hummingbirds are about in flocks. Marty had been saying, while I was in Hawaii, that he couldn't keep the feeder full! Since I've been back (exactly a week), he's had to re-fill the feeder every other day. This afternoon, the feeder was empty, again, so I waited outside after he refilled it to see if I could capture a hummingbird with my phone's camera. I did! but they're so tiny and so fast, it looks like a shadow.

Sometimes the territorial little buggers put on an aerial acrobatic show, as they hover, dive, feed, and chase each other. They've even been known to challenge us, as we water the plants or sweep the patio. They are very bold, and provide a great deal of entertainment in the morning and evening as they compete for space at the feeder.

The End of Summer 2006

So, another Labor Day has come and gone, and summer vacation is officially over. Laurel starts 9th grade at John F. Kennedy, Jr. High School tomorrow morning, and I go back to work at the library "for real". I actually started yesterday, but used the morning to catch up on my saved e-mail and my stuffed in-box.

Sacramento Public has just unrolled a new subscription to Overdrive, which features downloadable e-books and audiobooks. (Hawaii libraries' Overdrive subscription is here.) So Laurel and I went shopping at Fry's this afternoon - she got an i-Pod for her music, and I bought a Creative Zen Nano MP-3 player. (Overdrive doesn't work with i-Pods.) We were competing for use of the laptop this afternoon as a result, since the computer I normally use is still running Windows98, and most new software is no longer compatible. Besides, the book downloads take too long on our slow dial-up connection; stealing the neighbor's fast wireless signal is more time-effective.

I've been using the Labor Day weekend to recover from the great send-off from Hawaii and the great homecoming in Sacramento. I lost 8 lbs during the time I was in Hawaii, and gained 3 lbs back due to pizzas and Portuguese sausage. So I've started walking again in the mornings, and also swimming laps for a half hour in the evenings. I'm hoping to negate the gain by my next weigh-in on Wednesday.

I've talked to Mom on the phone every day since I returned, and she sounds very good. In fact, the last time I talked to her, her enunciation was very clear, and she sounded in very good spirits. I'm sending her a "noodle" for the day she will be able to get into the swimming pool again. It was a gift from a neighbor who moved from our townhome complex to a duplex without a pool. No one here uses it, and Mom and Mary might get some fun out of it.

Isy is Amazing!

Mom's companion during the week from now on will be Isabelle (Isy). She came to us via a company called Senior Options, and seems to be a very good "fit" for Mom. I don't know how she does it, but she makes everything look so effortless and stress-free! On Friday, she got dinner on the table, and Mom wanted to have her chair adjusted. I offered to do it, but she was adamant that Isy should come and fix the chair! Lea and I looked at each other and said "She likes her! Mom likes her!"

We've been using my last week here to go over all the household routines, locations of kitchen items, writing down the instructions for the tv with the big speakers, creating lists of essential phone numbers, and sharing family information Isy can use in conversations with Mom. She will come two more times before I leave, and will be here full-time beginning Wednesday, August 30.

Ever since Mom's physician changed her medicine, she's been getting better and better every day, and now she's demanding meals, and having us read her mail. I am satisfied that she is finally on the mend, and feel very comfortable about leaving her in Isy's care.

Dave and Lea will now be responsible for her care at night and on weekends. This means that one or both of them will have to sleep here at night, and make sure Mom isn't left alone during the weekend days. It's like acquiring a foster child after being a (nearly) empty-nester. But she's so much better now than she was a month ago, and I think it won't be quite as onerous as it was when she first got out of the rehab center.

I'ts Wednesday night now, and I'm in countdown mode. I have done my gift shopping and my laundry; tonight I'm packing, and tomorrow I'll go next door and print my boarding pass. My niece will drive me to the airport, and I should arrive in Sacramento at 9:30 tomorrow night. Although I'd love to stay, I miss Sacramento - and my family and my work. I suppose I could always come back for another visit ...

Harp Practice

Mary still practices the harp every afternoon. She has "programs" - one day she'll play Hawaiian music, the next day it will be show tunes, etc.

Making the transition

Mom's been complaining about stomach pain off and on for about a week. The doctor thinks it may be any or a combination of: gall stones, diverticulitis, or side effects of her various medicines. So - he ordered a sonogram and changed her meds. The sonogram is tomorrow morning at 8:30, then we have a follow-up visit with the doctor on Monday afternoon.

We have engaged Isy ("izzy") as of yesterday. She is a Certified Nursing Aide and she is a little older than me, very patient, and obviously skilled with older patients. We're just going over the household routines, favorite meals, locations of things like kitchen utensils and laundry supplies now, in preparation for her solo debut next week. Isy was a HUGE help getting mom to the doctor yesterday. She is coming part time until next Wednesday, when she will begin staying with Mom full time, and making sure Mary gets to day care in the morning, and receives her back in the afternoon.

I'm going home to Sacramento next Thursday. I'm really looking forward to taking some time for myself when Isy is here, so I can go to the beach, visit friends and libraries, and maybe do some gift shopping before I return.

Blessing of the Rainbow

In Hawaii, it is considered highly auspicious if there is a light, misty rain on the morning of an important event. Most times, a rainbow follows. Aside from the biblical promise of the rainbow, it makes the events of the day and the blessing seem even more meaningful. This double rainbow appeared just at sunrise this morning in the midst of a fine, misty drizzle. I took it for a promise of a turning point in Mom's recovery.

Last night, when Mom went to bed, she was feeling better. We don't know what bit her a couple days ago, but she must have had some kind of bug - slight fever, fatigue, no appetite, nasal congestion. Last night, she started feeling better. So, after a dinner of soup and crackers, she went to bed, and got up at least two times after that asking for milk and ginger ale before finally going to sleep for the night.

Today, she got up early, ate a good breakfast, stayed alert for the Eucharistic Ministers who come every Sunday and visited with Lea. Then came lunch, a nap, and a repotting. (I carried out my threat of having her pot up two ti leaf cuttings that had rooted in water.) After dinner, around 7:30 she retired for the night, having been awake more of the day than recently. This is a good thing!

Preparing for the "Hail and Farewell"

I've been with Mom for three weeks now, two more to go. The therapists are preparing to "discharge" her, so the home visits will probably stop at the end of the month. We are actively looking for a Certified Nursing Aide (CNA) to stay with her after I leave. We met with the social worker this afternoon, and she was able to give us a great deal of information about our options now and for later. We also have a meeting with the assessment nurse for a care agency on Tuesday.

As I said in an earlier post, progress is not linear. It seems that it is a great effort for mom to stay focused in the present and converse with visitors. Yesterday, the case manager came for a longish visit, and then mom's friend Francoise came for an hour so I could go to the beach for the first time this visit. Last night and all day today until dinnertime, mom was sleepy - she does this like a screensaver, to "idle" without actually being asleep in bed. I was very concerned, because she wasn't hungry and wouldn't drink any water.

But at 4 p.m. she "woke up" and remained alert and conversational through the evening news, dinner, and the second half of the movie "Seabiscuit". Go figure! She said she wants to get better as fast as possible; I told her the way to do that was to drink lots of water! Dehydration makes people sleepy, confused and forgetful. She needs water to flush all her pills through her system, too, and good meals to keep her strong.

I think I'm beginning to burn out. I've been "doing" Mom and Mary 24/7 for three weeks with only a couple of hours a week off for grocery shopping and my Weight Watchers meetings. Fortunately, I'm able to take time off this weekend to do some fun things. I'm going on Saturday to the "Made in Hawaii" craft fair, and on Sunday I'll be having brunch with Aunt Jo at her retirement home, Pohai Nani. And once the home care aide begins and I've had a chance to coach her in the household routines, quirks, and preferences, I'll be able to take more time off the week before I return to Sacramento.

Light Housekeeping

Yesterday, Mom said she sleeps so much because she has nothing to do and she is bored. So today I just happened to have a load of clean laundry fresh out of the dryer, and I gave them to her to fold. She never liked smiling for the camera, so, despite her glare, I believe she enjoyed the work. Tomorrow, I'll give her the vegetable peeler, and soon she'll be watering the pots on the patio.

Also, yesterday she said she didn't think she would be sufficiently recovered to be independent by the time I have to leave, and that we ought to consider hiring someone to help her out. I said she was right, and that Dave, Lea, and I had been discussing some options. Today we met with a woman whose business is matching care workers with families, and next Friday we will meet with a social worker from the agency who is providing mom's therapists. When we have looked at the options, we hope to have something started before I go. That way, if there are any wrinkles, they can be ironed out right away.

Mom is actually so much better than when I arrived two weeks ago, I am very encouraged that she will actually need minimal assistance. Yesterday and today she was able to get out of bed and dress herself without any help. She even managed to hang her nightgown on a hanger in the closet. The one worry is that, having had so many mini-strokes, she could have another or another series - so we are thinking about hiring a home care aide. That way, she can putter around here, maybe use the swimming pool since there will be a trained adult here to help her get in and out, and generally be in a freer environment than day care would be. She would hate day care.

Notes on returning to the places of my youth

This is a photo of the moon setting over the Nu'uanu Pali this morning. Can't see the mountain because of the clouds, but the moon was so full, and the morning was so balmy ...

Last couple of nights, after getting Mom to bed, I went to sit outside in the back yard and watch the clouds, the stars, the palm trees clattering in the trade winds, and listen to the pounding waves at the beach a couple of blocks away (sounds like distant jets.) And it came over me that this place is a land apart.

Put aside for a moment that Hawaii is in fact the most remote place in the world by virtue of its position in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Instead, think of this: It's 11 p.m., 78 degrees, there's a 10-15 mph trade wind going, a full moon is lighting up big, pouffy white clouds (yes, white, even at night) and casting shadows of the coconut trees and bougainvillea on the lawn. There is no smog, so the stars are brilliant and the air tastes fresh. And the whole ambience causes my young adult life - all its joy, angst, love, despair, the beginnings of independenc and of belonging - to flood back into my memory.

I used to do a lot at night - walk the dogs, enjoy romantic tete-a-tetes with my beaus, walk home from choir practice, (Did I ever mention that I saw the Easter Rabbit? As I walked to Midnight Mass one year, he hopped across the road in front of me - he's brown.) When I lived on Molokai, I used to go night fishing with the science teacher from the high school and.several of his students. They would wade knee-deep in the ocean carrying flashlights to look for octopus and crabs, put them in a big 5-gallon bucket, then take them to the high school around 11 p.m. and dump them in the salt-water aquarium for use in class the next day.

It's hard, living in Sacramento, to imagine the relationship an islander has with his island. It's much more than just talking about the weather, or noting that there are more visitors staying in Kailua now. It's more like a familial thing - he is in tune with the wind, the tides, the seasons, the neighbors. They all "speak" to him and he understands the message without knowing how he knows. Even the songs, which mention over and over the "palm trees swaying" , the "surf at Waikiki", the fragrance of the trees, ferns, and flowers, the gentle rains and the winds swirling around the mountain tops, the waterfalls - speak of this relationship between the islander and his island.

So, as I lie on the deck chair watching the clouds roll in and play hide and seek with the moon, feeling the trade winds on my bare arms and legs, and listening to the trees and surf, I feel homesick. Funny - I never thought I'd feel homesick for the place where I am currently; I think of homesickness as a longing for a place I used to be. I think I'm homesick for the island in me.

Mom had a good day today. She's still slow with the walker, but you can see in her expression that she's here in the present. Her progress has not been linear, but, on balance, I'd say she is improving, and could stay at home with a full-time aide. We're meeting on Saturday with someone who may be able to match her and Mary with a caregiver and get them started before I have to return home.

Mom's a champ!

Mom was feeling pretty good after dinner tonight, and consented to be photographed. After 9 days with her, I've figured out a daily routine, and a tentative plan to keep her in bed all night - we watch exciting movies (Cabaret, Chicago) after a dinner that involved stimulating company or a couple cups of tea. AND I hang a bell on her walker so I'll hear her if she gets up in the wee hours. I have to be really careful, because she slipped the other day in the bathroom and flayed a strip of skin off the back of one arm. No other injuries except to her pride, thank goodness!

I've learned how to operate her wheelchair, and so another problem is solved: how to take a daily walk. I'll just strap her into her chariot, and we'll "holoholo" around the block. I'll get my exercise, and she can see what's been going on in the neighborhood.

Tomorrow, the plumber and electrician are coming to rip out the old toilet and bathroom sink and install a commode with a bidet and a more modern sink with arthritis-friendly fixtures - and maybe find out why there is so much air in the hot water line that when we turn on the hot faucet, the house sounds like it's coming down. This should pose no more than the usual activity around here - she has four, count'em, four therapists and aides coming a couple time a week each, so except for Saturdays and Sundays, there is always one or more visitors.

Laurel went home today, and Patrick picked her up at the airport. How nice it is to have kids old enough to be of real help! Marty has been in London for five days, and will be arriving home tomorrow evening. Pat's been staying in our apartment to feed the fish and water the plants. Tomorrow he will have to return the car keys and sleep at his own house again.

Learning the ropes again

After four days on the job, I'm still finding my routine and fine-tuning the workflow; I don't know, for example, what days the trash is picked up!

It looks like the best time for me to go online is late evening, after mother goes to bed. The computer hookup is in a place where I can't see what mother is doing. Although she's supposed to be supervised when moving around, she managed to get to the bathroom, change out of her nightgown and get dressed before I even knew she was up! This shocked the occupational therapist this afternoon, so I guess I'd better not take any more chances.

But lest you think she's back to normal, she still has trouble with aphasia - some days more than others - and she spends a lot of the day sleeping in her chair on the patio. It's a struggle to get her to stand up and walk, with her walker, anywhere, including the bathroom. She just doesn't seem to realize how long it is taking her to perform even one simple task like walking 20 feet to the bathroom. I've discovered that I need to roust her every two hours on some pretext or other that can only be addressed after she visits the restroom.

Today the occupational therapist, Clyde, came to make an evaluative visit. He thinks she has very good use of the hand affected by the stroke, and he said he will recommend that his partner, Renee, come to help mom learn techniques to help her with personal hygiene, like bathing, grooming, and toileting. He approved of the minor - well, really major - remodeling of the old bathroom, and made one small recommendation for the placement of a towel/grab bar closer to the bathroom sink.

Tomorrow, the physical therapist, Laurie, will come. There's going to be a parade of therapists in and out of here for the next six weeks - nothing like keeping busy!

Going Home Again

Laurel and I flew to Honolulu this morning. Laurel will stay for a week or so, and I will stay for the entire month of August. We had a sort of changing of the guard this evening, but I will still need to sit down with my brother and sister-in-law tomorrow and get all my mom's medicines, therapies, and house & garden help straight. Also trash days, doctor's appointments, and dietary restrictions.

Fortunately, the weather is not so bad - it's overcast and quite breezy, so is cooler than I anticipated. This is very good. Hot and humid, with no breeze is bad.

My brother rigged up an ethernet connection from his house to Mom's house, so I have Internet connectivity with a laptop. So, if you're reading this, feel free to comment. I don't remember whether comments are moderated. If they are, you may not be able to see your comment until I bless it.

What surprised me about coming here is how emotional I felt listening to some old Hawaiian music on Hawaiian Air Lines' entertainment channels. There's something about an Islander's relationship with the Islands that is very different from feelings for any other place. It's like the 'aina (island, generally) is personified and becomes a member of the family - or you are a member of its family - and you are coming home.

If you are thinking, "you can't go home again," you're only partly right. The roles change but the movie is the same, and the 'aina, dressed in different freeways, buildings, parking lots, and people, becomes the set for the next scene.

When You're Hot ...

It's still hot - 9th straight day of temperatures over 100. Today it was 108; yesterday and the day before, the high temperature in Sacramento was 111 degrees! The library was closed from Saturday afternoon through yesterday because of a broken air conditioner, and when I went in this morning, they said it would continue to be closed until Thursday. So I turned around and came home.

Now I have an unexpected week off! That's great for me, as I can concentrate on preparing for my month in Hawaii: reading and returning library books, laundry, cleaning the aquarium, packing, selecting projects to work on and recipes to bring, and spending time with Laurel.

I will go in on Thursday to wrap up, change my voicemail and e-mail messages, and turn in my timesheets; then it's off to the (hopefully cooler) subtropics!

Check it out at the Weather Underground:
Sacramento
Kailua

Six Gallons and Counting!

Today I went in to donate blood and the BloodSource staff told me this donation completes my 6th gallon! They presented me with a T-shirt and balloons! I hear that 10-gallon donors get invited to an annual party at the convention center. Guess I'll just keep going back every eight weeks ...

This summer, they've got a partnership with Baskin-Robbins - "give a pint, get a pint." So I also got a certificate for a free pint of ice cream!

It's hot and there's no AC

One of the four air conditioners at Central Library broke 10 days ago.  That means that one zone in the building, the central part of each floor from the basement to the 5th floor, like right where the elevators, OPACS and reference desks are, is hot. They said it would take about 2 weeks to order and replace the broken part.  The outside temperature in Sacramento today was 97 degrees at 2 p.m., and we expect it to continue to climb until about 5 p.m. So ... all those warm bodies come into the building and there's no air circulation to keep the air fresh ...

Ann
Life is Relative

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Mom - Update

Last night, David said Mom would be released from Castle Hospital this morning, and admitted to the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific. Over the next week or two, she will be working with speech, occupational and physical therapists, and will then be discharged and allowed to go home when they are satisfied she has progressed as far as she is capable.

At that point, I will go to stay with her for several weeks, to make sure everything is working out satisfactorily and to give Dave and Lea some breathing space. They have been the heroes, spending time in the hospital and arranging for her diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.

Shakespeare in the Park

Tonight was the opening performance of this year's Shakespeare in the Park series. We've driven by these plays several times over the years, but never attendend a performance. However, Joe, a security guard at Central Libary, has a part in this season's performance of "Two Gentlemen of Verona", so it seemed like a good time to check it out. Joe's the one with the dog on the play's web site.

Marty and I picked up some sushi, sandwiches, chocolate-covered fortune cookies and citrus-flavored bottled water at the deli and had a picnic in the park before the performance, which was fairly good - humorous and bawdy. Are we Californians now, or what?!

Since I will be going to Hawaii for a month to help Mom when she gets out of rehab, this is the only one of Joe's performances I will be able to attend, and I wanted to support him and his avocation.

Mom

On July 1st, I received word that my mom has probably had a mild stroke. She was taken to Castle Memorial Hospital, and is still there for observation and evaluation. We still don't know all the implications, but the general hope is that she will be able to return home. My brother and his wife are on the spot and are still waiting to talk to her doctor. Preliminary tests indicate the stroke was mild, as it seems to have affected mostly her speech; she understands conversation, knows what has happened, has the use of her limbs and is able to eat.

Summer At Last!

This was the last week of school for Laurel. The Sam Brannan Middle School 8th grade promotion ceremony was held on Tuesday (she's the one in the chocolate dress.) The class went on a field trip to Six Flags Marine World on Wednesday, and attended the Sam Brannan "carnival" on campus Thursday. So today, Friday is her first day of summer vacation.

Next year, Laurel will attend the PACE program at John F. Kennedy High School. The program is intensive, and the incoming freshman are required to attend summer school for 4 weeks in June and July. So my darling daughter will be studying English, Geography, and History on the California State University campus beginning a week from Monday and going on one exciting field trip each Friday, culminating with an overnight camp at Donner Park.

Due to a resignation at the library, I have an opportunity to change my work week to Sunday-Thursday again, leaving me off on Fridays and Saturdays - perfect for chaperoning those lovely trips to Oakland, San Francisco, Alcatraz, and Donner Park!

Braces, Maybe?

For the past eighteen months, my dentist has been telling me that I should have my crossbite corrected. My jaw has been clicking for years, but it's clicking more now, and hurts when I bite down. Dr. Rosa says that the hinge may be deteriorating, and it is always progressive - the only way to halt the damage, if that is possible, is to correct my bite.

Here's a pretty good description of TMJ .

Next Tuesday, when I go back to have a cavity filled, he is going to take a panoramic x-ray of my mouth and make a more informed recommendation. So I may have to get braces - at my age!

Sticker Shock

I received my cell phone bill the other day, wherein were detailed the charges for posting all those exciting D.C. and NYC photos here. Next time, we're going to do it differently: photos get sent to my e-mail address, from which I can forward to Blogger. Then each photo will cost 25 cents. The way we did it, each photo cost 25 cents to send, 25 to receive on my phone, and another 25 to forward to blogger. Think I'll ever have the foresight to think things through before the fact?

Jan and George

Last Sunday we had a very nice visit with my friends Jan and George, who were in Sacramento to visit George's brother. We don't entertain very much, so it was a treat to be able to have them over for dinner.

Because they live in Saipan, we only get to see them when they're in town. The weather cooperated fairly well, so we took a walk up on the levee to see how high the river was. In Hawaii, where we grew up, and in Saipan, there are no rivers, so it was fun to see their reaction to the width and speed of our Sacramento River. It is high and wide at the moment, because of recent storms and snow melt.

They're on their way now to visit family and friends in Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington before returning to Saipan.

FW:

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View from empire st. Bldg

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Alice in wonderland

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St. Pats door

NYC-Day 6: St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patricks cathedral, NY

NYC-Day 6: Statue of Liberty

Liberty

NYC-Day5: Ground Zero

Very cool webcams at this Ground Zero web site.

NYC-Day 5: Central Park

central park

NYC-Day 4: Skyline 1

Nyc skyline 1

NYC-Day 4: Skyline 2

Nyc skyline 2

DC-Day 3: Pentagon Flag

pentagon flag

DC-Day 3: Air and Space Museum

space food

DC-Day 3: Air and Space Museum

DC-Day 3: Lincoln Memorial

lincoln memorial

DC-Day 3: Lincoln Memorial

DC-Day 3: George Washington Statue

g. Washington statute

DC-Day 3: Air and Space Museum

plane

The Air and Space Museum has an interactive online exhibit called "How Do Things Fly".

DC-Day 3: Air and Space Museum

write bros

DC-Day 3: Air and Space Museum

From the air and space museum's web site: "The National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. has hundreds of original, historic artifacts on display, including the Wright 1903 Flyer; the Spirit of St. Louis; the Apollo 11 command module Columbia; and a Lunar rock sample that visitors can touch."

DC-Day 3: World War II Memorial

From the Memorial's web site: "The World War II Memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people. The Second World War is the only 20th Century event commemorated on the National Mall’s central axis. "

DC-Day2: Magna Carta

Magna Carta Exhibit

"...here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break. This reaffirmation of a supreme law and its expression in a general charter is the great work of Magna Carta; and this alone justifies the respect in which men have held it."
--Winston Churchill, 1956

magna carta

DC-Day2: Capital Dome?

Not sure where this is, but it is a beautiful picture!

DC-Day2: U.S. Constitution

Signature page of the United States Constitution. Laurel said the room was intentionally dimmed to preserve the document, and no flash photography is allowed.

Constitution