May 22, 2007

Adventure vacation

I haven’t taken a vacation since I started my business eight years ago. It’s hard to walk away from from a sole proprietorship, even for a few days. That doesn’t keep me from fantasizing, though. In my dreams I’m a young and healthy woman of leisure. I travel the world seeking adventure. Ruggedly handsome guides lead the way and keep me safe as I climb Kilimanjaro. My sleeping tent and hot food are provided, and I awake each morning to the joyous sound of porters singing as the sun welcomes me to a new day. The high altitudes are a challenge, but the specially-trained guides know how to monitor for medical distress, so I can relax and enjoy my climb into the clouds.

I’ll celebrate my triumphant climb to the heights by rewarding myself with a photo-safari in Tanzania. The days will be spent observing the natural wildlife at Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park and the Serengeti, and in the evenings I’ll relax in the comfort of a classic safari lodge with my fellow adventurers. You’ll be on my mind the entire time, dear readers, and upon my return I’ll fill my blog with marvelous stories and wildlife phtotos. We’ll relive my vacation of a lifetime over and over, and you’ll all book your own trips with Tusker Trail because they were kind enough to sponsor my post that introduced you to the wonders of an African adventutre vacation.

Technorati Tags: adventure vacations, mountain climbing vacation, safari, vacations

April 28, 2007

Playful encounter

This is probably one of the most amazing videos I’ve ever seen. A couple of warnings before you click, though:

1. It’s a shark encounter. Not the usual - this one is like watching someone play with an oversized puppy.
2. The audio starts automatically and is set to LOUD.
3. You may find it a time suck. I’ve watched it three times.

I’ve done a little diving in the waters around Hawaii. I’ve been down there with sharks a few times. It’s always been on night dives and my buddies know where the sharks like to hang out after dark in the caverns off of Makaha Surf Beach. I’ve admired them and kept my distance. I’ve never been frightened of them, but I’ve never done what you’re about to watch either. It’s a pretty safe bet that I never will. Enjoy! An, um … don’t try this at home!

I found the video while visiting over at my friends Briggs and Carol’s place. They’re local realtors and client’s, so if you take a look at their web site (a click away from their blog) you’ll probably see a place or two that I inspected for them. Nice folks. You should go say hello!

Technorati Tags: sharks, diving with sharks, shark encounters, diving

March 30, 2007

Gather round the table!

Dad deals to me, my home, circa 1973

Some of my happiest memories of gowing up center around a game table. A couple of times a month we’d all gather round and spend an evening playing cards or board games. I was pretty good at most of the card games back then, though I’m a little rusty now. We played hearts and spades and gin, but poker games were everyone’s favorites. I remember how proud I was the first time I played for a whole session without having to look up what constitued the various hands. Mom was a pretty good teacher, but we always kept Hoyle’s nearby to settle disputes. There was an occasional sore loser (older bother Eddie!) but it was mostly just a fun and relaxing way to spend an evening as a family. My parents and their friends gathered for regular game nights, too, at our own home or someone else’s. We kids would play outside until we were exhausted, then come inside to play our own games.

Mom and my friend Anne at one of my game nights

I’ve hosted a few such nights in my own time, bringing several generations together for a fun and sociable evening. My son rarely joined us because he wasn’t into card games as a child. The only game I remember him playing with any regularity is Skip-Bo. That’s why it was so surprising when he not only went to work for a casino, but also started playing in Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments and got pretty good at it. I never would have predicted a career in gaming for him! Now he and his girlfriend have a circle of friends with whom they get together for games on a regular basis.

I mentioned a few days ago that my family is into gag gifts for Christmas and birthdays. That’s why I almost always try to remember to slip a deck or two of cards into my son’s Christmas package, for the girlfriend to put into his stocking. I mean, for pity’s sake, he works in a casino and can get all the cards he wants from the discards, but that’s my little poke at him and always makes him grin. I looked at gaming tables for him last Christmas, but had to pass on them at that time. He would love such a gift, but would never buy one for himself. So maybe, just maybe, the next time gift-giving rolls around, I’ll take a look at some home game packages for him. He’s a one-game man when it comes to poker, and this Texas Hold ‘Em Package would fill the empty space in his bachelor-ish living room nicely, and it would certainly get a lot of use. Have I mentioned lately that he’s due for a visit soon? Having a game set-up in my own home would be worth it just for the look on his face when he walks in! He has promised he’ll teach me Texas Hold ‘Em this trip, but wouldn’t he be surprised to see how seriously I took him? Executive Gaming Monthly sponsored this post with perfect timing!

Technorati Tags: games, poker, Texas Hold ‘Em, friends, family

December 26, 2006

I’m so bad!

There are things I should be doing, but I’ve gotten on a game-playing kick again. I’ve been playing Bubbles all afternoon instead of writing reports and doing laundry. Yesterday I played my favorite Cow Game for a while, but I already know all of the boards, so it didn’t eat up quite as much time.

Christmas Day in Hawaii

I went to Yokohama Bay Beach yesterday afternoon. That’s on the western end of the island, right before the place where the old highway was closed when it became unsafe. At one time you could go from our Leeward Coast to the North Shore via that route, but now you have to drive towards town and traverse the island through the mountains to get there. Yokohama Bay is the “end of the world” from this side, unless you’re on foot. I’ve taken the hike a few times from Yokohama Bay to Kaena Point, which is the extreme western tip of Oahu. I need to do that again sometime, to see the albatross that nest there. But that’s for another day. Yeterday I stopped short so I could meet friends for their annual Christmas visit to Yokohama Bay.

It was a beautiful, sunshiny day with stiff breezes coming in off of the ocean. Quite a few people had come out to play.

The ocean is very changeable this time of year. In the hour or so we were there it went from flat …

… to frilly …

… to booming!

That didn’t bother the sun worshippers …

… or keep the kids from trying out their new boogie boards …

I took some photos of my friend and her son, because they don’t often have the opportunity to have their picture taken together. I also took pictures of the mountains, and more pictures of the scenes at the beach. A total of eighty-three pictures were on my camera card when I got home. I could look at each in the viewer of my camera. I wanted to select a nice mother and son photo to frame for my friends and, of course, to share the best with you. Alas, something is wrong with my camera, or maybe the card or my software. Each time I’ve tried to correct it I’ve lost photos. I’ve ended up with no mountain pictures & no photos of my friends. I did manage to save the last photo of the day, one I took impulsively as I was coming home. Here’s a little local color for you.

December 16, 2006

I’m so bummed.

Today was what I lovingly call BookBrunch day. Once a month the Table of Contents meets. Our meetings move around to different restaurants on Oahu, and we enjoy good food, catching up with each other’s lives and swapping books. The Table of Contents is a group of local members of BookCrossing.com and has been meeting for several years. Our gatherings are one of the few things that can get me out of the house other than work and necessary errands, and it’s the highlight of my month. Today was to be extra-special, because it was our Christmas gathering.

I left the house about ten this morning for our eleven o’clock restaurant reservation. It takes about forty minutes to get from my place, way out in the country, to downtown Honolulu. I allowed extra time today because the restaurant we had chosen is in a busy shopping complex and I knew I’d need extra time to find parking among all of the Christmas shoppers.

At 10:30 I was ten minutes away from my destination when IT happened. My belly cramped up. I had a ruptured gut twelve years ago and it left me with a condition called Short Bowel Syndrome. You don’t want the details, but my son and I euphemistically refer to it as my faulty containment system. The little bit of food that I do retain does not absorb into my body very well, so I have numerous symptoms resulting from over a decade of malabsorption. My bones ache, my joints are failing, I’ve lost a lot of teeth and my muscle tone is lousy. I battle dehydration all day every day, my diet is very limited and I have frequent undesired weight loss. When my belly cramps up, I know that my day is over. There is nothing I can do but go home and wait it out.

I took my medication last night and this morning. It’s supposed to slow things down in my digestive tract. The amount and scheduling of dosages is as much art as science, and varies depending on dietary intake, level of physical activity and a few other variables. I can’t take the maximum dosage because the side effects can be as bad as the original symptoms. So I got it wrong this time and I missed the Christmas gathering of the Table of Contents.

Sometimes my life really sucks. Like I said, I’m bummed.

December 15, 2006

The best stocking stuffer ever?

My son is a sports nut. He’s working two jobs right now. He’s single, has an apartment with a reasonable rent and no major expenses. So why is he working two jobs? It would be nice if it was because he’s a forward-thinking guy who is feathering his nest for the future (grandkids?!) but that’s not the case. He pretty much spends it as fast as he makes it, and what he spends it on is sports. He lives in San Francisco and goes to all of the Giants, Sharks and A’s games, and he’s been in the same rotisserie league for almost fifteen years. This makes it easy to shop for him at Christmas, since anything sports related makes him happy. We’ve been talking about doing some traveling together this spring. So I’m thinking that Chicago Cubs Spring Training Tickets might be the right thing to go with the Leroy Neiman print that’s already on its way to him. What do you think? Has Mom scored a hit this year?

Swimming companions

Honu - the green sea turtle

Puhi - the moray eel

These are older photos, made with one of those throw-away cameras, so they’re not terrific.

Technorati Tags: green sea turtle, Hawaii, marine life, moray eel

December 12, 2006

Taking a break

I inspected a condo yesterday on the slopes below Diamond Head. Even urban areas in my tropical paradise offer unique beauty.

After I finished my fieldwork, I stopped at the beach to take some more pictures to satisfy the special request of Imran MD. I live somewhere between a quarter and a half-mile inland. As I pull onto the highway I’m facing Maile Beach Park, so I’ve been there many times to snorkel or fish. It was a little choppy yesterday, so there weren’t many folks in the water, though I could see that others had been there before me.

There’s a stone breakwater protecting against erosion where Mailiilii Stream dumps into the ocean. Nice fishing, though I’ve never caught anything but bait. I “fish,” but can’t seem to get a handle on the “catching” part of it.

Yesterday it was pretty choppy. That means any line tossed in will almost immediately get washed back and tangled on the rocks.

I sat on the breakwater for a while, enjoying the breeze and the taste of salt. Just as I was getting ready to leave a car pulled up. This fellow got out and unloaded his gear, then the car left. I talked with the man as he was putting his poles together and getting bait ready. I asked why he was planning to fish here, where the conditions were less than ideal. He said he’s always lived here on this coast, but was leaving tomorrow (now today) for Maui because the work was better there. He wanted one last shot at fishing his favorite spot before he left. We joked about there not being any fish around Maui, or that there might be “alien” fish there not worthy of the table.

For those of you who always want to know how the weather is, note his wardrobe. I was still in my work uniform of cargo shorts and golf shirt. I can assure you that he was much more appropriately dressed for the balmy afternoon!

I don’t know the end of the story. I had to go to my home office and get started on my reports for yesterday’s work. I hope he had a nice catch to remember his last day on the coast by. I hope he finds good fishing around his new home.

December 11, 2006

For imran md

I lost a lot of my older pictures when my old computer died. Here’s a few and I’ll dig out some more scenery for you in the next few days … or take some fresh pictures. Enjoy!

A quiet beach

Banyan tree

Pink hibiscus

Honu - Green Sea Turtle

Treasures from snorkeling at my favorite beach

Technorati Tags: Hawaii, photos, scenery