February 5, 2009
Lance is very sick. His liver is failing. The doc believes that he has a liver tumor. He’s recommended an ultra-sound and biopsy to confirm the problem, but there’s not much point in doing either because Lance can’t have surgery. His heart murmur prohibits him from having anesthesia. It’s possible that the liver failure is due to some type of infection instead of a tumor. We’ve started him on an antibiotic plus vitamins (he’s severly anemic) and a liver-sparing medication. That’s pretty much all that can be done. If the liver failure is the result of an infection, we’ll see some results within two weeks. The doc doesn’t believe that’s a case because there’s no real evidence of an infection.
Lance had some dental problems in November. It was understandable that he wasn’t eating much while he had mouth pain. His appetite picked up after his dental work, but he’s never gone back to his robust eating habits. He’s lost about a third of his body weight in the last two months. Some days he’s not interested in food at all. The damage to his heart has also increased: he now has a Level 6 heart murmur, the worst level of damage. He still romps and plays a little, but mostly he just sleeps. He’s so skinny that it’s painful to look at him. I’m to get back in touch with the doc next week, but we both think it most likely that Lance won’t be with us much longer.
Technorati Tags: beagle, dog, dog health, canine health, canine heart murmur, canine liver failure, Lance
Posted by skeet @
11:48 am •
Home & Family •
Mahalo to all of you who missed me! It’s good to know that your friendship is there for me even when I have to go into hiding. I’ve had a lot going on for the last week or so. I ordered my utilities to be cut off at the end of February and my cable provider jumped the gun, so I lost contact for a while there & things have been to crazy for me to do any catching up, but here I am! My living room is piled high with boxes while work goes on in almost every other room.
Cousin Todd started working on my room this morning. He’s mudding and texturing so we can paint in there and be done with it. I had done some sheetrock patching in there years ago and, quite frankly, it looked horrible. Todd is skilled in pretty much all of the building trades and has been doing a wonderful job of hiding all of the scars I’ve inflicted on the house over the years. How good is he?
I had some ugly masonite paneling on the lower half of the hall bath walls. I figured I was stuck with it because removing it would damage the sheetrock and/or leave gloppy dried glue that wouldn’t come off. Since I can’t do drywall installation I had decided to leave the ugly stuff right where it was. Fortunately, Todd’s specialty is drywall and he’s not afraid of a challenge. He installed some beautiful woven bamboo on the lower walls and re-textured the upper walls, installed a chair rail and new baseboards and trim. The bathroom is now AWESOME! He mentioned last night that he’d like to go to a tech school so he can look at jobs in programming or computer repair, but I’m really hoping he’ll keep doing what he’s doing until my new home in Texas is as pretty as he’s making my Hawaiian hale.
There’s some detail work still needed - switch plate covers to be reinstalled and the new shower curtain to be hung. I messed up the timing on the floor installation and some of the tiles moved because they got walked on before the glue was dry. There’s no sink in my master bath right now and we need to have one fully-functioning bathroom, so I’ll finish the hall bath floor as soon as the other bath is avaialble. I’ll take some more pictures then and let you gaze upon the lovliness.
I’m waiting for one last moving estimate before picking a mover and a date, but it’s looking like we’ll be out of here between the 15th and the 20th - right around the corner! Texas here I come!
Technorati Tags: moving, remodel
Posted by skeet @
10:47 am •
Home & Family •
January 25, 2009
I’ve had a garage sale again this weekend - the third weekend in a row. Tired of that already, but I’ll do it again next weekend too (probably) because I’ve managed to get rid of a substantial portion of my clutter and I’ve made a few bucks each weeknd. It was slow today, though, so I was able to get some painting done between customers. I painted three sides of the pickets for the deck along the left side of the house - the part of the deck that extends into Lance’s yard. I’ll try to paint the side facing the deck tomorrow. Right now I Have a different priority - I need to go visit the other Self Portrait Sunday participants.
That’s what I did today - just the white pickets, not the gray deck and rails. Those will be painted after I’m through with all the pickets.
This is tomorrow’s assignment. I’m hoping to turn the corner and start working my way across the front of the house.
Technorati Tags: home remodel, meme, painting, photos
January 23, 2009
It’s Friday night, but Val hasn’t posted a roundup post for Four Foods on Friday yet, so I’m taking a chance and posting, hoping that she will still kindly allow me to be included. Val’s a nice gal, so she probably will. This week she’s asking about oddities.
#1. What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever made with bread?
We used to make bread beads and bread figurines when I was a kid. You mold your piece, allow it to dry, then coat it with shellac and it lasts forever, kind of like fruitcake.
#2. What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever done with mac and cheese or pasta?
Can’t think of a thing, other than pasta pictures in first grade. Does that count?
#3. Is there a food you eat other then it is intended?
I like raisins in my cottage cheese. I don’t suppose that’s the intended use for either ingredient, but it works for me.
#4. What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever seen?
Squid chopped up in stews and salad-like dishes. There’s something very disconcerting about seeing those sucker-covered tentacles and knowing that people are actually going to eat them. People other than me, I mean. The mere sight of squid is better than the best diet pills at curbing my appetite. I use squid (ika in the local jargon) for fishing bait and have never been tempted to cook one up or pop it into my mouth.
Technorati Tags: food, food oddities, meme
You remember the old aluminum shed in my front yard, don’t you? It’s the type that some call a tin barn and others call a Sears shed. Cleaning and organizing it was the first chore I tackled when I knew I’d be moving. Ah, it’s amusing to look back at that post. I wrote it in October and actually thought at that time that I’d be moved within a few weeks. Ha! Here it is January and we’ve pushed the move date back again, for the final time I hope, to some time in mid-February. But this isn’t about the move. It’s about the shed. It’s an ugly thing and I’ve hated having it in my front yard where everybody and his brother can see it. It made sense to put it there originally. I was just starting a major remodel and needed a convenient place for the building supplies and tools. I thought the shed would sit there for a year or so, but I guess it put down roots because it’s still there.
The shed is empty tonight, except for a couple of bags of grout that I have no use for. Last weekend a guy who came to the garage sale offered me a good price for the shed and said he could come today to take it apart and carry it away. Paul, Todd and I spent a couple of hours this morning emptying it out one last time and distributing its contents to my other two sheds, with a few currently-in-use items - mostly of the plumbing and painting genre - going into the screened room for easy access. It’s six-thirty now and the buyer hasn’t showed up, but I’m not worried. When I quoted him a price for the shed he jumped right on it, a sure sign that I had priced it too low. If he doesn’t show tomorrow I’ll put a sign on it quoting double the price I told him, then let some lucky bargain hunter negotiate me down a little. Any way you look at I’ll come out ahead. If the choice is between an ugly shed and money in hand, I’ll take the cash, thank-you-very-much!
Technorati Tags: bargains, garage sale, storage, storage shed
Posted by skeet @
6:30 pm •
Just stuff •
I’ve had several goodbyes lately. I can’t fool myself into believing that it’s likely I’ll ever return to Hawaii once I move, so I know that it’s unlikely I’ll be seeing any of my local friends again. I had a call last week from someone who is very dear to me. We met when I was working for the employer who first moved me to Hawaii and have been friends ever since. Jamie helped me start my business. He gave me my first computer (one he had recently retired for an updated model) and taught me how to use it. He gave me his client address book and told me to feel free to solicit any of the realtors and escrow officers who had made his own business successful. The real estate industry was thriving in 1999 and Jamie knew that there was more than enough business to support a new provider of termite inspections for home sales. He knew the quality of my work and the caliber of service I would provide to his valued clients if they chose to start using my service instead of his. Some of them did and my business was launched because of Jamie’s generosity. There aren’t many people in business who would have done what he did. We’ve worked together on a number of jobs over the years, but the fact is that we are competitors. The term “friendly competitors” exactly describes our relationship. I was a little perplexed when I found out that he had married and hadn’t sent wedding invitations to myself and another business associate with whom we both share ties, but it turns out that he and his bride had tied the knot on a cruise ship somewhere near China. He made up for the faux pas by inviting me into his home and introducing me to the love of his life, so I had to forgive him, of course. She’s the prefect mate for him and they’re still deleriously in love five years or so later, so I’m thrilled for them both that they found each other, even though they didn’t include me in their plans.
Jamie met me for lunch yesterday. We discussed current business trends. A number of other pest control operators and quite a few realtors in Hawaii are casting about for new ways to support themselves and their families. We talked about the state of our own industry and the financial crisis and our hopes that the new administration in Washington will bring about some positive changes. Nothing earth-shaking - just two friends catching up with each other and commisserating over the dismal business climate that has spurred me into leaving our beautiful paradise. I’m going to miss talks like that when I get where I’m going. I hope I’ll be fortunate enough to find new friends, competitors and associates in Texas with whom I’ll share such a comfortable working relationship. Maybe not. I think Jamie is unique.
Aloha Jamie. Gonna miss you, guy!
Technorati Tags: business, business associates, Hawaii, Hawaii business, Hawaii real estate industry, termite inspectors
My cousin Todd is visiting. He came to help me finish getting the house ready for the market. He’s an excellent drywall man, a great handyman, a terrific repairman. He’s accomplished more in a week than my buddy Paul has done in the four months that he’s been “helping.”
All work and no play wouldn’t do, of course, so I’ve taken Todd out to some local beaches in the afternoons when work was done. First I took him to Yokohama Bay. It was too stormy to get in the water.
Next I took him to the secret cove, but it was stormy and the water was a mess, so we didn’t see any green sea turtles at play.
The storm had passed when I took him to Pokai Bay. We walked in the tide pools, collected a few shells and saw the heiau.
Yesterday was Todd’s birthday. We knocked off early and I took him to Paradise Cove for a luau. I think last night was the first time I’ve seem him go more than fifteen minutes without his cell phone in operation. Must have had something to do with the hula dancers. Or the fire knife dancer. Maybe it was the food. Whatever - I’m just glad to have finally found something in Hawaii that is more interesting than his phone!
Technorati Tags: beaches, cell phone, cell phone obsession, family, Hawaii, Hawaii beaches, Hawaii vacation
January 16, 2009
I probably shouldn’t play Four Foods on Friday this week. It’s all about Chinese food, which I don’t eat very often. Maybe I should have a paternity test to determine if I’m actually a member of the family that raised me, because all of them love Chinese. I eat Asian foods often, but prefer Korean and Thai. I’ll give FFoF my best shot, though.
#1. Do you prefer to eat Chinese food in the restaurant or to have it delivered?
I eat out. Mom used to have Chinese delivered on a fairly frequent basis, but I don’t think it’s something I’ve ever done.
#2. Do you prefer wonton or egg drop soup?
I’ve never had either.
#3. What flavor fried rice is your favorite?
It’s a local thing: Portugese sausage fried rice.
#4. Describe your favorite item on the Chinese food menu.
That would be an appetizer called Crispy Gau Gee. I don’t eat it often because - well, follow that link and you’ll know why. That’s Crispy Gau Gee in the picture above. It’s a pork sausage meatball wrapped in pastry and deep friend and it’s oh-so-good!
Technorati Tags: Chinese food, food, meme
Alas, there is no Tuesday Teaser winner this week. As in times past, I thought there was a possibility that the photo snippet I used was too easy and that someone would provide the correct answer right away. I was wrong. This isn’t the first time that has happened and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Paul is selling some of his pocket knives in the garage sale and I thought they made for an interesting picture and an interesting puzzle.
We’ll try again next week and as long as you keep coming around to play the little game. I’ll see you then!
Technorati Tags: contest, photo puzzle, pocket knives, Tuesday Teaser
January 15, 2009
There’s snoring coming from the guest room down the hall tonight. That’s an unusual sound in my home (unless I snore myself, but I wouldn’t know whether I do or not.) It’s also a comforting sound that tells me I’m not alone. My cousin is here working on the house, helping me get it ready to sell. He’ll be here until the end of the month and, if all goes according to plan, I’ll be moving right about the time he leaves. It’s quite possible that I will never again be alone in this house, but once I buy my new home I’ll be going back to living on my own. I’m used to being alone in my own home. I’m very comfortable with that, but I’m also aware of my vulnerability. Sure, I’m a strong, competent woman and reasonably able to take care of myself under ordinary circumstances. I’m not sure, though, that I would be able to defend myself against an intruder. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know that my dogs chased away a man who walked into my front door a while back. That’s a scary situation and one I’d rather not face again. ADT home security systems is a good solution. Even their most basic service includes burglary monitoring that will sound a siren and summon help right away if someone breaks in. Being stong and independent requires one to recognize their own limitations and to use the best possible tools to overcome them. ADT offers the tools and sevices to help minimize vulnerabilty in your own home. That’s a smart choice, whether you live alone or not.
Technorati Tags: ADT, alarm systems, burglary protection, burglary monitoring, home security systems, security systems
