Figuring out and settling in…Life in a new country…Expenses to date…Wonderful year-ago photos!

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Tom whistled to attract the attention of this baby alpaca.

Not only must we get comfortable and familiar with a new home in each new country but we must learn how to use a variety of household appliances and equipment that may be entirely different than we’ve used in the past.

Whether its running a washer or dishwasher, firing up an oven (referred to as a “hob”) or making coffee (no electric coffee maker) using with whatever is available, it all requires stopping and taking the time to learn something new.  Actually, we never mind any of these types of learning experiences.


Baby alpaca nursing under this proud mom.  Note another baby to the left.

Add figuring out the Satellite TV, sound and video system in this surprisingly modern house in a rural area near New Plymouth, New Zealand or simply how to hang clothes outside on the pulley type clothesline with the limited supply of clothespins all becomes part of the settling in process. 

Then again, we’re not the typical tourist staying only a week or two with limited needs compared to those of a long term stay.  Most tourists don’t do much cooking and laundry during a short stay.

Baby alpaca referred to as “cria” of which many were born in the past weeks.  Many more will be giving birth over the next month.  We’ll return with more photos, especially once we have a few sunny days.

Then, of course there’s figuring out a working wifi system and bearing the cost for the NZ hot spot we purchased yesterday at NZD $199, US $128, (useless to us once we leave) plus another NZD $270 US $173 for data, enough to last only one to two weeks.

Yesterday alone, we used NZD $45, US $29 of data.  This could become pricey over the long haul.  We hope Internet service will soon becomes available at the house as we continue to incur these unexpected expenses.

The car rental was affordable after careful online research months ago.  For the full three months, the rental fees under a single contract was NZD $2848, US $1817, at a monthly rate of NZD $949, US $609.  Sure, its an older car but it drives well, looks fine with has no apparent body damage other than a few scratches we documented with the rental guy.  

Sunset last night and gas grill we’ll use tonight to cook prime rib.

As for the cost of groceries, we’d yet to address here, we’re pleasantly surprised.  The first time we shop in each new locale, the cost is often higher for our initial purchases when its necessary to purchase household goods such as paper products, laundry soap and cooking supplies such as spices, coconut and olive oil.

After shopping at the Kiwi Meat Market yesterday, we’d purchased enough meat to last over a week including a huge prime rib (tonight’s dinner on the grill), four packs of streaky bacon, one large package lamb chops, several slabs baby back ribs and several pounds/kilos of beef and pork mince for a total of only NZD $80, US $51.  All the meat is grass fed except for the pork which Tom eats when I have lamb.

This huge 1.177 kilo, 2.6 pound boneless grass fed prime rib is tonight’s dinner to be cooked on the grill with a side of mushroom casserole, baby asparagus and romaine lettuce salad with homemade dressing. Check out this great price of NZD $17.64, US $11.34!

With the balance spent at the New World market, including organic veggies for sale in the market from local farms, and…the cost of the meat, we spent a grand total of US $326, NZD $508.  With staples now in our household stock, our next shopping trip will most likely be half this amount.

This morning, I tried to walk closer to the alpacas for photos but after the rain, walking through the dense grass didn’t make sense.  Once it dries out a bit, we’re surely head closer for better photos.  All day, by looking out several windows we can easily see them.  I’ve started calling to them in my “warthog calling voice” as they pick up their heads from grazing to look at me.

This morning, when Tom hung the first load of laundry they started walking toward him.  They’re fenced in but may climb over the fence during the day returning later to stay close to the herd.  Apparently, none of them wander away, not to return.  There are dozens of alpaca on this 35 acre farm.

Photo taken last night shortly before dark of four alpacas who’d wandered to a distant hill.  They seem to return to the herd on their own.  We’ll discover more of their habits as we learn from the owners and observing them daily. 

We’re staying in today, getting caught up on email from our readers, handling banking and financial matters, finishing our laundry and preparing our dinner, all tasks we both enjoy. 

Whether we’re out and about or staying in with tasks to accomplish, we’re equally content.  As we settle in we find our new location truly becomes “home” as we conduct our daily lives, just like YOU, enjoying the many trivialities of the day.

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Photo from one year ago today, January 21, 2015:

Ironically, yesterday we received email from Vicki and Jerry with whom we only spent one afternoon on the beach at Hanalei and yet they remain friends for life.  I love this photo of, get this, “Tom and Jerry!”  They became fast friends in only one afternoon.  Click here for details.
 
I couldn’t resist posting two year-ago photos today when this photo included dear Vicki.  Unfortunately, they were getting ready to leave Kauai and we never got to spend time with them again. To Vicki and Jerry:  “Hello, you two!  We think of you often and hope our paths will cross someday! Thanks for continuing to reads our daily posts.”
 

Part 2…It was a Bollywood night at the Uprising!…Health concerns while cruising…

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 Our video of the Bollywood dancers on Saturday night at the Uprising Beach Resort.

Our new friends and neighbors, the honeymoon couple from Minnesota and Wisconsin, stopped by to take us up on our offer of borrowing one of our two wifi dongles. We’d offered several days ago when they weren’t able to get online at their vacation rental house after trying for several days. 

With over 16 gigs left on Tom’s device, it was unlikely we’d use the balance before leaving Fiji.  With our upcoming cruise in three weeks and five other cruises circumventing Australia, it would have been nice to be able to use the balance of the data on the devices when the ship docks in Fiji on a few occasions. Unfortunately, the data on the SIM cards expires 60 days from topping it off.

The Bollywood dancers prepared for their performance.

With wifi expensive and metered on most cruise ships (a few ships are offering an unlimited package), it would have saved us metered data time while in Fiji ports. Long ago, we decided to stay on the ship when in ports we’ve visited in the past, unless there’s a particular venue we missed on a prior visit. 

Yesterday, we checked in for the upcoming cruise on January 5th. Always a time-consuming process, requiring that both passports and a credit card be available during the online check-in, we worked our way through “pages” of inquiries. With no printer (our portable printer died) we’re unable to print the copies they request for check-in at the pier.

A band performed before and after the dancers.

Over these past years of travel, we’ve learned that paper copies of transport documents simply aren’t necessary other than for passports and visas. For the greatest ease, we take a photo of our “tickets” on my phone, bringing up the photo as needed when we check-in. 

There’s never been a single occasion where this has been a problem. The days of finding a printer at the hotel or an “office supply” store in a small remote village are long in the past. 

This method also applies to flights, trains, tour venues, and cruises. We even used the photo of our tickets when boarding the Eurostar (the Chunnel) when we traveled from Paris to London in August 2014.

The locals perform their routine on Saturday nights.

It’s hard to imagine we’ll be aboard a cruise in three weeks. It will have been seven months since our last cruise ended in Sydney when we immediately flew to Cairns, picked up a rental car, and drove to Trinity Beach where we lived for three months. 

Our biggest concern when cruising has been avoiding the “cruise cough” which can spoil a number of days of cruising. Of the 11 cruises on which we’ve sailed to date, we’ve ended up with the cough three or four times.  Preferring not to whine here, we haven’t made a big deal. But this time, we’re determined to avoid any illness. 

Regardless of a passenger’s immune system, it’s easy to fall prey to one of the many cruise-related illnesses including the dreaded Norovirus which fortunately we’ve never contracted. Fanatics about washing our hands, not shaking hands, and steering clear of others who appear sick, we still have become ill.

There was a post blocking part of our view but I didn’t want to obstruct anyone else’s view by standing.

Implementing a few new protective actions, we’ve emphatically decided on the following:

1.  Twice-daily mouth rinsing with pure organic unrefined coconut oil for at least 10 minutes on each occasion.
2.  Twice-daily mouth rinsing for 5 minutes with hydrogen peroxide (kills bacteria and happens to whiten teeth).
3.  Under no circumstances touch another guest; not a hand, not a shoulder, not a hug. When hearing a sensitive type of story from a guest, it’s easy for women to reach over and touch her hand in a supportive manner, especially me. Many people aren’t offended by the kind and caring touch of another. Men are less inclined to do this.  I know these simple acts have been instrumental in our previous illnesses when in most cases I’ve become ill first, then Tom.
4.  Washing hands immediately before and after eating and using offered sanitizer at every possible opportunity.
5.  Using a linen napkin wrapped around our hands when serving ourselves in buffet restaurants, immediately tossing the napkin after serving, taking a new napkin to use with the meal.
6.  Carrying hand sanitizers. We have several packets of these we carry with us throughout the ship that cleans both surfaces and hands. I have no concern over the dry skin using these frequently can cause. A swipe of coconut oil on my hands totally reduces any dryness. As a matter of fact, I’ve been using coconut oil as a face and body lotion both mornings and nights and am thrilled with the results.

The couples were in sync while dancing the traditional Bollywood type performance.

Hopefully, these amped-up proactive measures will serve us well.

Yesterday, we decided on a long walk to the neighboring market we’d yet to visit located in a gas station on the Hibiscus Highway. At our relatively leisurely pace on the rock-covered roads, we estimated we’d be gone for over an hour. With an overcast sky, the walking was easier than on a sunny day.

Over the past three days, it’s been cloudy for most of the day, making walking a little easier. The mozzies aren’t as bad here during the day as they were in Savusavu.

Many of the guests joined in the dancing. Neither of us likes to participate “on stage” during performances of any type. It’s never us on the stage!

When we dined outdoors on Saturday night at the Uprising Beach Resort, only a few swipes of repellent kept me free from bites. The only bites I’ve received have been while hanging the laundry outside especially on these cloudy days. Learning my lesson, I now use repellent on laundry days.

As for the walk, we checked out the merchandise in two tiny markets finding little we use when all the meats were of unknown origin and frozen and with no produce other than potatoes and onions.

Leaving the area of the markets we spotted a vegetable stand across the highway. Could we possibly find lettuce, a product difficult to find in Fiji? Alas, we were in luck. We purchased six small bunches of lettuce, a few carrots, and a bunch of green onions for a total of FJD $10, USD $4.69. 

Another view of the astounding sunset on Saturday night at the Uprising Beach Resort.

Tom only had FJD $20 bills in his wallet. The kindly vendor had no change suggesting we take the produce and return when we have a $10 bill. When we head out tomorrow for the roasted chickens at the Arts Village, we’ll get change and stop to pay her on the return drive.

The ants are under control. There are no cockroaches running across the polished wood floors. We have plenty to keep us busy at home today and we’re as content as we can be. 

May your day be filled with contentment and ease.


Photo from one year ago today, December 14, 2014:

TJ is the king of video, rather than taking still photos. He does a great job. The scenery on the many drives we took together on the Big Island was outstanding. For more details, please click here.

Quite a day in the neighborhood…”Looking up”…

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This seaweed was offered for sale at the Farmers Market for FJD $5, USD $2.32 for a kilo (2.2 pounds). We didn’t purchase this.

Where do I begin? Yesterday, was quite a day. First off, it was the hottest day we’ve had in Fiji to date. It wasn’t only the temperature, which hovered around 90F, 32.2C, it was the humidity that also hovered around 90% on an otherwise sunny day.

In order to dry off after showering, we used the fan in the bedroom to get the sticky moisture off our skin. With no AC in the house, by the time we headed out the door at 1:00 pm for our weekly shopping trip to the village we were sweaty and sticky.

In our old lives, we often suffered from such humidity amid the worst of Minnesota’s summer heat, especially before and after a bad storm when the power was knocked out, often for days at a time. Once we got the generator going, the first to power up was the refrigerator and the AC.

Since the onset of our travels over three years ago, we’ve either didn’t have access to AC or didn’t use it during the day. If we had AC, to avoid high electrical costs for the owners of the properties, we seldom used it. There were AC units built into the wall in the bedrooms of only a few houses we’ve rented along the way.

Are we used to the heat? If we didn’t get used to it in Kenya, we never would. To a degree (no pun intended) we finally were able to tolerate it without complaint, accepting it as a part of our new lives. 

Yesterday, I sat on a bench waiting for Tom to return from the ATM after I’d purchased data from the Vodafone kiosk. He’s on the sidewalk across the street wearing a white shirt, carrying the Costco bag on his right shoulder.

Living in Kenya was two years ago and yet today, this much later, we still feel the brunt of the heat and humidity although not as badly as in the beginning. It’s kind of like hunger, thirst, or the need for sleep, it’s constant. I suppose the tolerance comes when one makes a decision not to notice it or discuss it as often.

Without a particular plan in place, long ago, we decided to be as tough and resilient as possible, which over time has escalated bit by bit. We’re not totally mindless of physical discomforts, but we continue to strive toward that ultimate goal which may in fact never occur. After all, we are human. 

And, when Tom didn’t complain for days about his abscessed tooth and the resulting discomfort, knowing it was the weekend and there was nothing we could do or… When over the past several days, I was suffering severe pain in my neck from bending my head down for days working on my dysfunctional computer, I, too, kept it to myself until finally the ice pack came out of the freezer and I had no choice but to explain.

Of course, we each prefer to provide love, care, and support to one another during periods of discomfort or pain. But, we’ve found that our own tolerance level can be exacerbated by quietly figuring it out on our own for at least a short period of time.

With the ice pack as my giveaway, I told Tom the issues with my computer which appeared ready to crash, and the resulting “pain in the neck” over the past several days.

My neck joins in with the horrible spinal condition I’ve had for 25 years for which the pain in my back has been remedied by a diet in reducing inflammation. But, the neck, with overuse, seems oblivious to the diet, and every six months or so I find myself hardly able to move my head for a few days.  

The sunny day’s heat in Savusavu was one of the hottest and most humid to date. It felt great to enter the New World Market, which is located across the street at the furthest corner.

My solution to the neck pain is clear; stop looking down…ice often for 20 minutes every few hours…and much to my dislike, take Aleve (after eating) for a few days. This morning I’m greatly improved after ramping up my usual treatment plan.

Yesterday, when we headed out with Ratnesh, I was uncomfortable, in pain, and feeling the heat and humidity more than ever. 

“Let’s get this shopping over as quickly as possible,” I told Tom and also Ratnesh particularly with the intent of alerting him that it wouldn’t be a good day to leave us waiting outside New World market in the heat while he took another distant fare, leaving us to wait for 40 minutes. He readily agreed to pick us up within minutes of our call.

Luckily, the shopping zipped along quickly and easily with no queue at the Vodafone store; the vegetables we wanted were readily available in the Farmers Market; New World grocery had 90% of the items on our list, and Helen at Fiji Meats had returned from the bank and our meats and roasted chicken were packed in minutes.

A mere 75 minutes after we left we were back home. The AC in Ratws34wnesh’s car helped cool us off for a while and although still uncomfortable, we unpacked the groceries and I started the time-consuming process of washing the many bags of vegetables. 

With no pesticides or preservatives used in growing produce in Fiji, cleaning produce is a laborious process ensuring each and every bug is removed and the dirt is carefully washed away. With only 24 inches (.61 meters) of kitchen counter space to work with, the task is particularly challenging.

Yesterday morning, we posted an early photo of Sewak’s garden. In the afternoon, they brought us a bag of produce. Today, I’ll roast some of these for tonight’s dinner.

In many countries produce is sprayed with water and preservatives. When purchased it looks bright and fresh. In most countries we visit, produce isn’t washed arriving at the market straight from the fields, dirt, bugs, bug eaten leaves and all. 

Overall, we love this fact. Yesterday, with bags and bags of dirty, bug covered vegetables in front of me, the heat and humidity at the peak of the day, and my inability to “look down” into the sink, I decided to only do what I could, finishing the rest today.

Tom offered to do it. Since I’ve always handled this task, I knew his frustration level and the time it would take wouldn’t be worth the angst it would cause him (and me).  Luckily, earlier in the day, I’d made dinner’s side dishes; salad and mushroom casserole. With the roasted chickens we’d picked up at Helen’s, dinner would be easy.

Before tackling the task, Tom poured me a fresh mug of iced tea while I changed into one of my cool long sleep shirts. As I cleaned the veggies with my head up, never looking down, I thought about the problems with my laptop. I’m a big user. I usually download no less than 40 gigs of movies and shows a week utilizing many added downloaded apps. None of this should be an issue.

The simple fact is that Windows 8.1 touchscreen is an unstable operating system, plain and simple. After reading about upgrading to Windows 10, we decided against it when it still has numerous bugs yet to be resolved. “Love the one your with,” so I say. Next time we purchase we’ll have few options but for now, we do.

The facts were clear. I had to “refresh” my computer which would remove all my downloaded apps from various websites but would save all of my files and photos (all of which are backed up on a cloud and external hard drive). It would be a time-consuming fix, putting everything back in order and hopefully starting fresh. I started the process after I cleaned the bulk of the veggies.

Tom’s midday snack includes streaky bacon and slices of Haloumi cheese sautéed in ghee.

Sweating like crazy, still “looking up,” hair in a bundle, wearing my “pajamas,” I cringed when I heard voices along the side of the house approaching our veranda. Sewak and his wife, Lita, whom we’d yet to meet, who’d been visiting family in Australia, stopped by for a visit with Badal, our friendly nightly visitor, wagging his tail as they approached.

“Oh my goodness,” I whispered to Tom under my breath, “We have company.” There was nothing I could do but greet them in my nightshirt, sweat pouring down my temples and still “looking up.”

They’d brought along a bag of produce from their garden; white eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini. They also offered us a bag of leftover sweets from Diwala, the Indian holiday celebration for which we posted a story last week. I sadly stated I can’t eat sweets or grains but was grateful for the kind offer. Tom grabbed the bag out of my hands saying, “I’ll eat that!” 

Offering them cold glasses of iced tea, they sat on the sofa and chatted for about an hour. Never mentioning my neck problem or discomfort, I cringed when I had to attend to my laptop a few times that required my attention as the “refresh” process continued. I apologized for the few moments I took my eyes away to attend to a few required clicks.

Then I cringed again when Sewak mentioned they were having trouble getting Skype to work on their ancient laptop which I’d fixed a few months ago. But, not unlike many seniors in today’s world and especially with technology relatively new to Fiji, they didn’t have a clue what to do when they couldn’t seem to be able to call their daughter.

Of course, I offered to fix their computer today at 1:00 pm. Hopefully, by then, the pelting rain will have stopped and I’ll be able to “look down” long enough to walk the treacherous path to their house and to be able to get their laptop working properly. If necessary, we’ll bundle up in our hooded jackets to make our way up the steep walk up the hill to their home.

My laptop is back in business, happily humming along with its “fix” along with the hours I spent late yesterday putting it all back in order. In the heat, I stacked two-bed pillows on my lap to raise it high enough that I only had to divert my eyes, not my neck downwards.

Today, again hot and humid the two pillows are still on my lap and after a fairly restful night, things are finally “looking up.”

Photo from one year ago today, November 20, 2014:

Maui never disappointed with mostly sunny days, perfect warm weather, and gorgeous views. For more details on this date one year ago, please click here.

Working through the ups and downs of living in remote areas…

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This is actually a dine in restaurant in the strip mall with two tiny tables for diners and minimal cooking space for the cook.

There’s an app I downloaded, Live Writer from Microsoft that enables me to write the post offline and upload it later to Blogger to post online. I’ve used this app many times over these past three years when there was no wifi signal and/or no electricity that obliterated the signal. I can prepare the post offline and upload it later once we’re back online.

Last night, after dinner, we had no signal. Luckily, after dinner, we watch a few shows to keep us entertained throughout the evening. Neither of us has ever enjoyed reading in the evening before going to bed. Once we retire for the night, reading a book on the Kindle app on our phones helps lull us to sleep. 
 
Often, if we awake during the night, unable to fall back to sleep, we may read a little more, once again able to fall back to sleep. Some mornings I awaken with the phone still in my hand or under my pillow. Oh, I know about radiation from the phone. Perhaps without service, our phones emit less of a signal. Who knows? 

Savusavu’s version of a strip mall.

One can only be cautious about so many things in life, leaving the rest to chance and good fortune. We only use the phone for short local calls, reducing the time the phone is spent next to our heads.

With no lamps or lighting other than the bright overhead light in the bedroom, reading a hardcover book is out of the question. Also, we’ve never had an interest in hauling physical books with us. Often we speak to other travelers our age who still prefer a paper book in hand. We get this. But, this lifestyle dictates that we read on our phones which I was doing long before leaving for our travels, many moons ago.

I recall watching the entire first season of “Glee” on my phone while working out on the elliptical at the health club on my phone, listening with earbuds, loving every moment. Surely, young people of today watch movies and TV shows on their phones without giving it a thought. Certainly, us older types aren’t exempt from participating in this type of pastime, freely using available technology.

This restaurant seems huge in comparison to the two table spot in another photo.

When we awoke at 6:30 this morning, still with no wifi signal, I expected the only way I’d be able to post today would be by using Live Writer and hoping for a blip of a signal long enough to upload it at some point.

When we first arrived in Fiji and the signal was bad, I was able to use the SIM card signal on Tom’s phone as a hot spot connection in order to upload the post.  Hopefully, today I’ll be able to do the same if we can’t get back online. As we’ve mentioned the signal on Tom’s phone is too weak to do much online.

There’s no question that not being able to be online is a huge factor in our level of satisfaction in where we’re living. We were lucky to be able to lock up the two vacation homes in Tasmania last week during a period we could get enough of a signal to research possibilities.

The bus depot in the village.

With one more gap to fill and research for the future, we’re at a loss without service, not only in that it impedes posting, a daily objective but, it prevents us from continuing our research, an ongoing process, we both find great pleasure in accomplishing, the search, the negotiations, the final contract and hopefully, the end result.

We feel bad for Mario. He’s quite the property owner/manager possessing a high degree of dedication and determination to provide the very best for his clients. His hands are tied. He’s worked steadily with the phone company to get the service working properly in this area. Obviously, some of his efforts have been in vain. We had better wifi service in Africa, living in the bush.

Burning garbage and refuse is allowed on the island.  Fortunately, there aren’t as many fires burning as there was in Kenya.

With the SIM card, we purchased on Tom’s phone, he can stay busy listening to the radio stream and his favorite, Garage Logic, from Minnesota. If I can get this post online today, I’ll be happy. At 1:00 pm today, Ratnesh is picking us up for sightseeing and shopping.

Today’s sunny skies make us excited that it may continue throughout the day. We’ve been disappointed that we haven’t been able to upload more amazing Fiji photos since our arrival. After all, we are in a beautiful place. 

We find these African tulips in most tropical countries.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, I’m not a skilled enough photographer to be able to take great photos on cloudy days and certainly not during rainstorms. But Tom begs to differ with me when we go back to review the photos of the Gardens of Versailles in August 2014 all taken during a rainstorm with the camera in a plastic bag in an attempt to keep it dry. 

Taking those photos in Versailles was quite a task which later we laughed over but now, with two more months on this island, I see no reason to go through that type of challenge when we can expect some sunny days. Also, why risk ruining the camera? There certainly aren’t any replacement options here on Vanua Levu.  Shipping rates are through the roof to this far away location making replacing any equipment too costly.

We’ve stopped taking the time to remove power lines from our photos.  They’re a fact of life in most areas.

We’re having snail mail sent to us from our mailing service in Nevada, three envelopes opened and stuffed into one letter-sized envelope, a few containing replacement credit cards that include the “chip technology.” The cost for priority mail for this single envelope was US $26, FJD $57. For FED EX with a three to five-day delivery, it was USD $114, FJD $248, an amount we just weren’t willing to pay for a single envelope. Hopefully, it will arrive in the next month or so.

So this morning, we’d experienced a modicum of frustration over the wifi issues. Otherwise, we’re quite fine.  Sure, there are a few annoying items with the rain, the ants, the lack of areas nearby suitable for walks, the uncomfortable bed, the limited products at the grocery store, and the tiny coffee pot. But, we don’t want to mislead our readers in claiming that everything is always rosy. In our old lives, there were frustrations of daily life as well, as there always is.

But there are many wonderful aspects we treasure. We think of Mario, the great owner looking out for us, the friendly support staff, the joy of visiting the various markets, the constants sounds of birds singing, the beautiful views, and the exquisite vegetation. We’ve learned to “Love, the One You’re With!” 

Nawi Island is across from the village.

This morning I called Helen, the owner of the tiny meat market in the village, Fiji Meats, asking her to hold two cooked chickens for us, which we now order weekly.  She recognized my voice and with warmth and enthusiasm in hers, she took our order with a heartfelt “vinaka” (thank you). It’s that kindness and familiarity that makes everything OK.

As I finish this post, Junior stopped by. He and Mario went up on the roof and reset the main switch to the Internet. We’re back on! Now, we can post, pay our bills online for the month of October (it’s the 1st here today), say hello to friends and family, and continue the search, the ongoing search for the next leg of our journey. As for today, we can now settle back and enjoy the moment, heading out on a sunny day!

Have a fabulous day!

Photo from one year ago today, October 1, 2014:
Although we had an upcoming almost two weeks to live in Honolulu/Waikiki, we got off the ship to wander about the downtown area of Honolulu. For more details, please click here.

More socializing…Improved technology…Back to research…Exterior views of our house in Savusavu…

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This is the view of our house from the upper unit of the three-unit house higher up the hill.

When I began today’s post at 7:00 am, it was a sunny day. Putting on my swimsuit this morning, I decided to spend a half-hour in a particular spot on the veranda that appears on sunny days around 10:30 am. With my feet on the veranda railing while sitting in a chair it will almost be comparable to a chaise lounge.

Mario sent us a message that he received a notice that our package of supplies arrived at the post office.  Tomorrow between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm, the customs officer will be there and inspect the contents; baking pans, a muffin tin, a measuring cup, a peeler, coconut flour, unsweetened coconut flakes, ground flaxseed, almond flour, and various spices and extracts. 

The view from the top of the three-unit house behind our house. Mario and Tatiana had lived in this beautiful top unit up until a few days ago when they moved to the small house shown below to accommodate the couple we met from Nevada, Judy and Chris.

Hopefully, with the value of the contents well within the allowable shipping ranges, we shouldn’t have to pay any customs fees. It will be good to have these familiar items on hand to round out our diet to provide more variety.

Although I didn’t want to say this too soon, when everything could change in a moment, the wifi is working better today. Mario wrote to us last night explaining he’d seen the phone company (who supplies the Internet) working on the lines to this property. 

With the plugin router, Mario installed specifically for our use only, which I’ve had to monkey with on numerous occasions to reset, we finally have a strong signal. This afternoon, we can start researching locations to fill the two major gaps in our itinerary over the next 21 months.

Mario brought this router that plugs into an outlet, providing us with a private connection not shared with other guests.  Since he’d purchased the device in Germany, his home country, he had to add an adapter to make it plug into the outlet.  The weight of the device using the adapter, made it keep falling out enough to lose the connection.  Tom placed this stack of books under it to hold it in place.  The signal goes to “limited” quite often, but overall it’s working.

Ratnesh, our driver, is having a family day today (Sunday) and with other taxi drivers refusing or unable to navigate the steep hill to the house, we have no choice but to stay home until tomorrow when we head out for sightseeing, the post office, and shopping. We haven’t shopped in a week and are down to the last of the produce. 

With our coffee supply running low, I’ve made tea these past few mornings leaving the remaining coffee for Tom who only drinks two small mugs each morning, using one tablespoon of grounds in the tiny one-person pot.

This is the newly built house Mario and Tatiana moved into in the past few days while guests occupy their house over the next six months.

Not having a car doesn’t really bother us. Surprisingly, having been in this position in more countries than not, we’ve become used to planning our trips to fulfill our needs and expectations. If we run out of something, we improvise, seldom making a trip for only a few items. 

We’d heard from Salote, one of our daily maids (they added Usi to Saturdays and Sundays), that a couple from Nevada was staying in the upper-level apartment of Mario’s three-unit property up the hill from our house. With a little social directing from Salote, we arranged a get together at their place yesterday morning.

When visiting Judy and Chris I spotted something in the ocean below.  See the next photo for a closer view.

Judy and Chris are our ages, retired, and have their primary residence in Carson City, Nevada. They also own a wonderful old house in Brittany, France which they visit several times each year. 

They, too, like us, live away from family and frequently travel. Both born in the UK they both still possess the charming British accents we’ve come to know and admire. Chris was a college geology professor and shared many interesting stories of his world travels on various geological research expeditions. 

It was fascinating spending time with both of them hearing their stories of trips to Africa together in their youth and the myriad adventures they experienced. The time flew by as we shared our stories and before we knew it, almost two hours had passed.

Returning home with a smile on our faces, we realized how fortunate we are to meet people in our travels.  Although tourists usually stay only a short time, as is the case for Judy and Chris, the encounters are pleasurable and memorable. 

These two guys were fishing in the fish abundant waters of the sea surrounding the island. Coincidentally, in this photo is Usi’s brother, Johnny, and his friend Siri.  She explained they had considerable success.

Last night’s dinner of leftover uncooked tough steaks was greatly improved over the prior night’s meal when I cut off every morsel of fat and grizzle and marinated chunks of meat all day in olive oil and spices. When it was time for dinner I cooked them quickly, medium rare, on the highest heat the stove would allow. 

With propane as the source of fuel for the four-burner stovetop, the burners don’t seem to get as hot as when the source is natural gas, requiring I start cooking sooner than I may have in the past. Most days, I prepare everything well in advance leaving the actual cooking for the last minute to ensure everything is hot and fresh. 

As I’ve prepared the post, the clouds have returned and the sun is no longer shining, typical for island living.  So it goes. I have other “fish to fry” today anyway. 

Enjoy the weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, September 20, 2014:

One year ago, we arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada after flying from Boston. This was the view from our luxury condo we’d booked for six nights while we’d wait for an upcoming cruise to Hawaii. For more details, please click here. 

Major WiFi issues hopefully resolved today..Trick for using phone as a wireless device…

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Pineapple growing in the yard.

To ensure our ability to be online if the house signal went out, last week we purchased a 32 gig SIM card we placed into the slot in Tom’s unlocked (no contract) phone. With a few settings manipulated, I was able to turn his phone into a hot spot, for those who aren’t aware, adding the SIM card turns the phone into a wireless Internet device that broadcasts a wifi signal, similar to a router in your home. 

This is easily done on most smartphones when there’s no available wifi and one wants to use another device using the phone’s signal. Of course, data charges would apply. If you have Internet services through a contract with your phone or have added wifi via a SIM card, you can use the phone’s signal for an iPad or other tablet, or even another phone. 

You don’t have to perform any changes to the tablet and only need to change a few settings on the phone to alert the phone to broadcast its signal. If you’d like to do this, contact your service provider, asking for instructions on “Internet sharing” from your phone to another device, even another phone.

You do not need to use “Bluetooth” to do this and can connect in the same manner you’d connect from your home or other location with wifi, from the list of available connections.

Although these specific photos we’ve posted today look similar to the photos we posted yesterday, they are all new. We have many more new photos to share over the next several days.

Your service provider can walk you through the process which is slightly different for each phone. I’d provide a link with instructions, but unfortunately, the signal in our remote location makes it impossible for me to research online at this time. If we were in an area with good service, using the phone as the hot spot would be easy and provide a great signal.

Unfortunately, the location of the house on a hill overlooking the sea prevents a strong signal. On occasion, I’m able to connect for a very weak signal as I’m doing today.

This is very frustrating to say the least. We need to be online, not only to post each day but also to begin booking two major holes in our upcoming itinerary.

The signal provided in the house is slightly better but not much. The router to that signal, in Mario’s house, is too far from us to acquire a strong signal, there again making being online difficult and at times entirely impossible. Since yesterday, I haven’t been able to get onto the house’s signal at all.

View from above to village out to Savusavu Bay.

Now, as I write this, I’m on the weak signal for the hot spot on Tom’s phone which for some unknown reason I was able to get online this morning with enough of a signal to write here with a few photos, not enough for posting several photos I had lined up.

Receiving and sending email doesn’t require a strong signal. Thus, I’ve been able to communicate with Mario who wrote back last night stating that a technician will be coming today to work on the issue. Hopefully, this can be resolved today. 

We’d hoped to go do some sightseeing today if the sun came out which looks as if it may actually occur. With rain most days since our arrival, we look forward to getting out. However, with the tech coming, we’ve decided to stay put.

All I can say is with no car, no wifi, no TV, with too poor a signal to download any new books on my phone and great leftovers already prepared for tonight’s dinner, I won’t have much to do today while we wait on “Fiji time” for the technician to arrive. 

We can’t get over the beauty of this bay we’re overlooking including in this new photo of Nawi Island.

Usually under such circumstances, I’d do laundry and clean. Hmmm…no washer and the house is already clean.  I did my nails this morning while I waited for the above pineapple photo to load. Perhaps, soon I’ll do the pedicure as well. Surely, throughout the day, we’ll both find ways to keep us busy. 

For an assurance to our loyal readers, there is no way we won’t be back online daily with our usual photo laden posts. We’ll surely figure something out as quickly as possible, regardless of how drastic a measure we must ultimately take to ensure we have good working wifi. 

Photo from one year ago today, September 17, 2014:

On our last day in Boston visiting my then 95 year old uncle and cousin, we visited the cemetery where my father and other family members were buried. It was an emotional experience. For more details, please click here. 
Day #171 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Is a donut a fair trade-off?

Adapting to life in a new land with hiccups along the way…

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The ferry docked at the edge of the village makes a daily trip to Viti Levu, the largest island in the Fiji chain. It’s an overnight journey, arriving at 4:00 or 5:00 am. Since we’ll spend our last month on that island, we see no reason to take the ferry and will again fly on the commuter plane when it’s time to leave.

We feel compelled to share a story we’d considered not writing to avoid embarrassment for the owners of the property.  However, after careful consideration and the unbelievably fast response from the owner, Mario to resolve the problem, our comments will only enhance the perception of how lucky we are to have Mario as our landlord and how quickly he responded to our needs.

Long ago, for many years, I owned rental properties throughout the Twin Cities. Even Tom had been a landlord for almost six years when he rented his old house after he moved in with me and, prior to daughter Tammy buying the house.

The dock is available for use of boats in this small harbor.

We both realized as landlords that maintenance issues and general problems may not be known to a landlord if they aren’t reported by disgruntled renters living in the property over a period of time. 

Such was the case here in this charming ocean view house we’ve rented for three months in Savusavu, Fiji, an issue unknown to the owner based on no complaints from prior renters. Also, many vacation homes have renters for only a few days at a time.

On the night we arrived, this past Tuesday, we were exhausted from a long 24 hour period of flurried activity with only five hours sleep in between. On three separate flights, overnight in Sydney, hauling our heavy bags and little food, by the time night fell on Tuesday, we were ready for a good night’s sleep. 

As we wandered through the busy local farmer’s market, open daily, it was hard to decide which vendor to choose for our purchases. We purchased the following for FJD $22, USD $10.12: 2 red bell peppers (also called, capsaicin, here); 6 medium-sized aubergine (eggplant); 3 heads cabbage; and 8 large carrots.

Tom usually stays up an hour longer than I do, so I was the first to fall into bed to read the book on my phone to hopefully lull me off to sleep.  As soon as my head hit the pillow in the darkened room, I knew something was wrong. There was an awful, undefinable smell emanating from the pillows and blankets.

It reminded me of a small one would find in blankets that had been stored in a cupboard for many years, never to be used.  I jumped out of bed, turned on the overhead light, and pulled back the covers. In the dim lighting, I couldn’t see a thing. 

Again, I lay back down but found myself having difficulty breathing. Was I feeling anxious due to lack of sleep?  Not one prone to anxiety, I’d felt a bit panicked and confused. I simply could not allow myself to lay on the pillows. 

These are breadfruit often used in curry dishes, popular in Fiji.

No matter what, in the morning we were asking Mario for four new pillows. If we had to, we’d go out and purchase them ourselves. Again, I got out of bed, grabbed a large bath towel from the bathroom, and wrapped it entirely around one pillow, tossing the second pillow on the floor.

Shortly Tom came to bed. I didn’t want to alarm him to have an effect on his quality of sleep but I did ask him if the pillows smelled funny. He said “no” and lay down, quickly falling asleep. From sheer exhaustion and the help of one Tylenol PM, I finally drifted off, sleeping fitfully for a mere four hours, dreaming I was being bitten by bugs. I was.

Jumping out of bed at 5:00 am, I awoke Tom asking if he was OK. He, too, had a bad night, feeling as if something was crawling on him and awoke several times scratching. 

These are the sizes of the aubergine we purchased. These adjoining bowls contain a variety of hot peppers which I’d love to try but Tom doesn’t care for spicy food. 

We turned on the overhead light when daylight had yet to arrive to find zillions of tiny ants crawling all over the sheets, the blanket, and in and about the four pillows. At that point, we expected they were bedbugs. But, they were visible to the naked eye and looked exactly like miniature ants.

Bolting out of the bedroom, I stripped off my nightshirt and dashed under the shower into the hottest water I could stand. How were we going to wash off the hundreds of nibbles these creatures took on our bodies all night long? Tom showered right after me. 

We worried about everything we’d unpacked, our clothes in the closet, our luggage in the corner of the room, everything we owned possibly subject to an infestation of these tiny ants.

These are some type of sweet potato.

Trying not to overreact, as soon as it was a reasonable hour, I sent Mario an email explaining what had transpired. Our thoughts were running wild. Would we have to move out, find a hotel, lose the entire rent we’d paid for three months if we couldn’t live with the situation? 

Our thoughts ran back to the dreadful first seven days of living outside the US in Belize when the little house had no screens and thousands of no-see-ums (sandflies) were in the house biting me and there was running water only a few hours a day. It took us a week to find another property while we lost the entire first month’s rent when the owner refused to return even a portion to us.

Well, within minutes of my email to Mario, he was at the door, worried and concerned for our well being. Within a few hours, the mattress (it’s common in most countries outside the US that beds don’t have box springs) and all the bedding including the pillows were long gone. The bedroom was treated for ants and completely wiped down with vinegar and water. By noon, a new mattress and all-new, never-used bedding were on the bed, beautifully made, awaiting that night’s much-needed rest.

We haven’t seen an ant since and we both slept like babies for no less than eight hours over the past two nights, awakening both mornings back to our old cheerful selves, full of energy and enthusiasm. 

Coconuts peeled of outer shell were readily available in the market.  If we had a machete, we’d buy a coconut for the delicious meat inside.

Yesterday, we’d called our new driver, Ratness, to take us to town for more shopping when we’d done poorly on the day we arrived in our tired condition, unable to think well enough to find items we needed in the sparsely equipped little market.

Prior to visiting the grocery store, the vegetable market, and the meat market, we stopped at the roughly built Vodafone outdoor hut to buy SIM cards, one for the phone so we can call Ratness to arrange outings and another to enhance the slow wifi in the house, typical for this small island. 

When we couldn’t get the data SIM card, for which we purchased 32 gigs for Fiji $110, USD $50 to work in either of our old hot spots, I spent time online figuring out how to use Tom’s phone as a hot spot (router) when mine was already set up as a phone. Finally, I got it to work but the signal is awful. 

Tom will use the equally slow connection in the house while I’ll use the SIM in his phone, preventing us from having to share the poor signals. Next week Mario will be working on improving the quality of the connection to the house. In the interim, we’re only able to post a few photos each day when today it took over an hour to upload what we’ve shown here.

We weren’t certain of the significance of this tower a vendor was creating.

Yesterday, we shopped at a different grocery store, New World IGA, with much better selections to accommodate the remaining items on the list. We headed back to the meat market for more grass-fed meats and spent considerable time in the fabulous all organic farmer’s market which is open all week where we’ll shop for produce in the future as well.

Back at home by 1 pm, I happily put away the groceries, washed veggies, and prepared most of our dinner. It’s a little odd without the news on in the background keeping us abreast of the latest affairs of the world, but we’ve settled into a nice routine, thoroughly enjoying this wonderful little house, its terrific views, and the sounds of nature. 

With daily maid service and laundry, other than cooking and dishes, we have nothing to do but revel in our new lives as we look forward to exploring this gorgeous location.

So far, we’ve been unable to find cream cheese on this island which I often use in making a sauce for some dishes we make. But, I found funny little tinfoil bags of Marscapone I’ll use instead. Improvise. That’s us.

Tomorrow we’ll be back with photos of our new home and surroundings.

Photo from one year ago today, September 11, 2014:

It was raining most of the day on our 4X4 outing in Iceland. At the end of the countryside tour, we drove through Reykjavik to see downtown. For more details, please click here.

We’re back after trip to Target for a keyboard…Moved into new house next door…Amazing! Photos!

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Our first sunrise at the new house taken at 6:45 this morning.  We love this house.  For details on this house, click here.

When my laptop’s keyboard quit working last night, I’d tried every possible fix. Nothing worked. This morning we jumped into the minivan at 9:30 to head to Hilo to purchase an external keyboard.

View from the lanai off the living room.  This is where I’ll sit each day when posting.  What a view!

Speaking of Hilo, when the lava makes its way across Highway 130 in Pahoa, we’ll be required to use a new road with a 20 mph speed limit. Based on speculations, it will take three hours to drive to Hilo, an otherwise 35-minute drive in light traffic.

View from the new house to the house next door where our family will stay.

We can only hope the lava doesn’t flow across the highway until after our kids leave. With the only local grocery store now evacuated, Hilo is our only option for additional groceries that we’ll surely need over the next few weeks.

View from behind the sofa in the living room.

Once the family leaves, we’ll do fine buying groceries at the still open Island Naturals health food store in Pahoa, safe from the lava. We’ll figure it all out.

Our master bedroom in the new house with en suite bath and walk-in closet.  Wonderful.

As for yesterday, after spending over $1600 on groceries over a period of three hours, we were exhausted when we returned home at almost 6:00 pm. We stopped at Burger King for Tom’s dinner while I ate a salad and my leftover coconut pancake back at home for dinner. We were too pooped to cook.

The lanai off the master bedroom.

Putting away at least 30 bags of groceries into the two houses was challenging. I insisted on organizing and putting everything away while Tom, TJ, and Sarah carried all the bags inside and also hauled all the items I’d sorted for the second house. That was quite the task. 

The en suite master bathroom with laundry chute, a big shower, and lots of cupboard space.

We unpacked our bags to neatly put away everything we’d need during the upcoming two weeks in this house.  TJ and Sarah cleaned the first house and have since moved over to the lower level of this second house. 

The dining area and kitchen, modern and convenient including a fabulous ice maker, stainless steel appliances, and adequate kitchen utensils.

Once I’ve completed today’s post, I’ll begin cooking the meal for tonight and tomorrow night, leaving me free to be with the family when everyone else arrives. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t be spending much time in the kitchen during this family get together. 

The kitchen has an oversized pantry.

Today, Tammy, Tracy, and Vincent will arrive by dinnertime. It will be amazing to see them and spend the evening together. Tomorrow, Camille, Greg, Maisie, Miles, and Madighan will arrive by 5:00 pm for the beginning of our wonderful time together, attempting to make up for lost time, if that’s at all possible.

The second bedroom on the main floor with a single bed.

As for the new house where Tom and I will live until January 3rd, we love it. It has everything we need and last night we had a fabulous night’s sleep in the comfortable king-sized bed and loved the giant tiled shower. How we’ve come to appreciate the most basic of amenities!

The second bath on the main floor is a half. There are two more bedrooms, a full bath and a family room on the lower level. Photos will follow another day.

As for the keyboard, we purchased the cheap wired version for $9.95 after a discussion on the way to Hilo that we’d purchase a new laptop for me when we get to Kauai after January 15th. I never liked this HP international version and look forward to a new Acer similar to Tom’s, a brand both of us prefer from past experience.

The pool, although not large is adequate for dunking.  The yard is well maintained, the views, astounding. We spotted a few “blow holes” from humpback whales today.

That’s it for today, folks. Now to get myself situated in the kitchen for a few hours hoping to get done early enough for a little time by the pool with the family and more whale watching.  

                                            Photo from one year ago today, December 21, 2013:

When Okee Dokee was taking a few weeks off for Christmas, she drove us to Nelspruit to rent a car in her absence. On the way, we stopped for lychee nuts and this adorable little girl assisted. For details of this date, please click here.

First package arrived yesterday…Second today with Tom’s laptop…Tonight’s superb dining experience!

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This was the only grass fed ground beef I could find at the grocery store.  I purchased two one pound packages which I’ll use tonight to make taco salads.  See ingredient list below.

Its concerning that wherever we may live we may not receive a package of supplies we’ve ordered. Its happened a few times, once in Italy, another in South Africa. When packages have to go through customs shipping may be precarious.  This time in Hawaii, I’m less concerned.

Here’s a photo our friend Linda in South Africa posted in Facebook last week of the post office in Johannesburg, South Africa. with packages backed up to be delivered.  Is it any wonder one of our packages never arrived?

The first of two packages we were awaiting arrived yesterday with my two new pairs of shorts which I needed desperately in this warm weather and six tee shirts, a brand I love.


The unsweetened chocolate in this photo was for making low carb, sugar, grain and starch free chocolate fudge which I made on Monday.  Tom has a sweet tooth although I’ll also have a few pieces as an evening snack.   If you’re interested in the recipe please let me know and I’ll post it tomorrow. The blue and white packages of cream cheese are used in making the fudge. 

Yesterday, I threw away the six old worn tee shirts and one old pair of capri pants to offset the weight in my one large suitcase of clothing.  Now, I’m about a half pair of shorts overweight (the capris were longer than the shorts and weighed more).  I’ll find something else to toss to make up the difference before we pack again in a little over three weeks.

Zucchini is one of the most GMO, pesticide grown vegetables on the market.  As a result, I only purchase locally grown organic zucchini when available as shown here.  All prices for items are listed on receipt posted below.

Also, the box contained a few “girlie” items, cosmetics I just can’t find in any stores anywhere, a favorite “stay-put” lipstick that was discontinued long ago but I can still purchase from a remaining stock at Amazon.com and a few other items that would bore our male readers.


These two fillet mignon were priced at $23.36 at $18.99 a pound.  In Minnesota, over two years ago, these steaks were priced at $22 per pound.  We grilled last night and Tom had one of these steaks, freezing the other for a future meal. I had the mahi mahi listed below cooked perfectly on the grill on a piece of foil.

Another item we ordered was a ear bud splitter into which we can each plug  our own pair of ear buds since there’s only one port in my laptop in order to better hear downloaded shows which always seem to have low volume. We always watch shows together and often and the volume s just too low. 


Ear bud splitter we purchased online which arrived in the box of supplies.

With Tom’s 42-years-on-the-railroad hearing loss, we can both hear through our own set of ear buds.  Good idea, huh?  (Yes, we’ve done everything to increase the volume on the laptop to avoid this necessity).

Today’s arriving parcel will be Tom’s new laptop.  My job is to transfer all his data to the new laptop from the old, a job I don’t look forward to.  Never have.  Last time, we had it done professionally for around $50.  Here in Hawaii, it would be three times as much. 


This piece of mahi mahi was expensive at $15.49 per pound but would be no more expensive on the mainland.  My serving was a total of $10.07 and was delicious.  I could eat this every night for dinner! 

As I write here now at 8:00 am, Tom’s still sleeping, an oddity, and I have the AC off and both doors open to ensure we hear the UPS guy.  Yesterday, the first box was left outside the door when we were here and we didn’t hear a thing.  Surely, a laptop would require a signature.

Today, I mentioned posting these grocery items photos, prices and receipts for those who may be interested or curious as to the prices in Hawaii should they ever consider living here.  Honestly, food prices aren’t higher here than they were in Minnesota over two years ago.


The two 18 packs of eggs are free range, cage free, organic at $12.49 for both packs.  Not too bad, considering.  We use zero carb mayonnaise to make our salad dressing.  Although it has a few questionable ingredients, it doesn’t have an effect on how I feel.  Also shown are organic uncured hot dogs at $7.49 made without icky body parts and fillers.   Below are Kielbasa for Tom.  He won’t eat the “healthy” dogs.  The Italian sausages were on sale, one for $5.49, the other for $8.49.

As we’ve perused prices of commodities in Hawaii, we believe the cost of living is high due to high rental fees, utilities, fuel and transportation, not so much on groceries.  Plus, the way we eat, although we buy no processed or junk food, makes the cost of buying groceries higher in general.

Buying grass fed meat when possible and organic produce in the US is pricey. For many items I cannot choose grass fed and organic when neither are available or far surpass a price I’m willing to pay, such as $7.95 for one organic sweet red pepper.  Not worth the price.  Wash, wash and rewash, the non-organic peppers in the bag as shown, still knowing that evil may lurk therein.


These two packages of pork chops, unavailable in grass fed, were $6.53 and $6.79 enough for two meals for Tom.  On those nights I’ll have something else, most likely a huge dinner salad with chicken and avocado.

Tonight, with little prep time available for computer transfer-day, I’m making taco salads, minus the awful shell with a huge bed of lettuce for the base using the following ingredients:

1.  Grass fed ground meat, drained and cooked with sugar, wheat and starch free taco sauce I found at the store
2.  Organic romaine lettuce, shredded into bite sized pieces
3.  Organic tomatoes, diced
4.  Celery, diced
5.  Organic avocado, small chunks (me, only)
6.  Shredded cheese
7.  Sliced green olives



Notice the total for this week’s groceries at $271.08. Next week, I’ll get $22 back when I return to shop bringing this receipt using my Safeway shopper’s savings card which I’d forgotten to bring.  Next time I shop, I’ll be on my own and will bring my wallet. This receipt is wrapped around my Safeway card in my wallet ensuring I won’t forget to get the credit, especially when the cashier always asks for the savings card.  Essentially, the credit makes this total $249.08.

Does this ever make a great low carb, grain, starch and sugar free meal!  A dollop of sour cream on top for me and I’m in heaven.  Tom, plain food Tom, won’t do the sour cream. 

In all, we have enough meat from yesterday’s shopping for approximately 10 nights of dinners and we also had some steaks and lamb on hand from the last trip.  Eating fabulous homemade meals in Hawaii for under $25 per day is all we can expect.

I’d better hurry and wrap this up.  Before too long, according to the UPS tracking number, that laptop will be here soon and I need to go chop and dice for tonight’s dinner.

Tomorrow, we have a great wildlife video to share.  Please check back.
____________________________________

Photo from one year ago, November 5, 2013:



Jessica L. Grain Brain Success Story
A year ago today we posted this photo that appeared on Dr. David Perlmutter’s website, regarding his new book, Grain Brain.  To see the full story he had on his website, please click here.

What a morning!…

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When we walked to a local beach, this bird was hanging out in a parking lot. It’s a Cattle Egret.

Nothing makes me hotter and sweatier than dealing with computer issues. Last night, Tom started having trouble with his computer regarding proxy settings.

At this local beach “park” an area is being renovated to “grow soil” for use as a future community garden. Note the backhoe in the bottom right of the photo which was in use when we were there.

He’d had similar issues, although not specifically the same since he purchased this laptop and I’m in a quandary as to how to fix it. I’ve spent hours trying since last night. We have to do something today or tomorrow. He can get online to some sites but not all, which is weird. 

Colorful pairing. This is a Golden Trumpet and I suppose Pink Trumpet.

Well, I won’t bore our readers with the depth and breadth of these convoluted issues. A resolution is what we’re after today.

After looking at hundreds of photos of tropical trees with berries, the best I could come up with is that this is some type of coffee tree. If you know otherwise or more details, please let us know.

Tom admits he’s had issues with this PC since he purchased the floor model in Boston in September when they didn’t have a model he wanted in a box. Costco people explained that we could return it at any time, no questions asked, as long as we did so within the 90 day period. It is.

Many nice beaches in Maui are located in parks with seating, outhouses, and parking as is the case here.

I’ve been trying to resolve these issues since last night and then again this morning at 5:45 am. It kind of kept me awake for a period of time last night trying to think of a solution. Neither of us cares to go through another data transfer again but it looks like we may have no choice.

Shortly after Costco opens at 10:00 am this morning we may be on our way or we may decide to go tomorrow after our appointment at 11:00 am on Monday. Unfortunately, Tom is an Outlook user which makes the data transfer all the more complicated when it requires we purchase Outlook again after we just purchased it online through a dealer in Vancouver. Ugh!

We walked this beach.

Either I do the transfer which I know how to do but despise doing, or we take it to a computer shop to have them do it with no choice but to purchase yet another copy of Outlook. Performing a transfer of files is not easy for us with the massive amounts of information we store on our laptops. Yes, much of it is online so there’s no issue there. 

Honestly, I don’t like doing it. Most definitely, Tom doesn’t enjoy doing what he’ll have to do either, creating all the new tiles in Windows 8.1. Oh, I know, lots of people hate Windows 8 or 8.1. We’re used to it and both like it now. The issues he’s experiencing now have nothing to do with Windows 8 or 8.1.

Walking in the other direction on a cloudy afternoon.

The alternative is to take the laptop to a pc repair store tomorrow morning when we go to the dentist in Kihei.  Most likely, it could be back working by the time our appointments are over at noon. 

It’s actually exciting to be getting our teeth cleaned after a two-year hiatus. The last time we’d done so was in Henderson, Nevada in December 2012 when we walked out of the dentist’s office at Christmas time with a huge, speaking of Costco, apple pie, an odd gift from a dentist…you know, sugar and all. 

With many varieties of palm trees, we see a wide array of hanging clumps of berries and pods, many difficult to identify based on what is available online.

Tom ate the entire pie in three days while I watched the liquid at the bottom of the pan grow juicier each day, gagging me. I don’t suppose we’ll get a pie tomorrow.

Today, Tom will decide what he’d like to do…buy a new computer by returning the old or, have the current computer repaired most likely for around $50. Purchasing a new laptop could result in an extra $300 – $400 since the floor model was greatly reduced in price and we’ll have to purchase Outlook again.

Although it’s currently not the blooming season, many varieties of Plumeria are growing throughout the island.

Whatever he decides, I’ll support. I have the external hard drive ready to go to transfer his files. We shall see how it rolls out. In any case, he can watch the Vikings Game on my laptop while I busy myself with making dinner and doing laundry, my favorite.

I can’t find the name of these little flowers.  Any suggestions?

We’ll be back tomorrow with more tales of the lives, albeit mundane, of two world travelers experiencing the same dull problems that everyone else experiences from time to time. 

Have a happy Sunday

                                          Photo from one year ago today, November 2, 2013:

Tom with a Python around his neck while we attended a reptile show while on our three-day mini-holiday on the one year anniversary of our travels. For details and more reptile photos, please click here.