I'll start by writing that Chris REALLY wanted me to write about this in the blog :) So as time goes on, I'm find that it really is Kris and Chris' blog!
Yesterday Chris and I went out to Thai food at out favorite Thai restaurant - Thai Thai in Volcano. The restaurant is a 30 minute drive from our house so Chris asked if the shortcut I take coming home from work was shorter. I think it is, but I've never driven the route going up to Volcano and certainly not in the dark. I'm always talking about this road because it's like driving a roller coaster. I have never been on a road that had so many hills and valley's. Someone at work told me the road is so hilly because of all the lava tubes the road is built over.
As we were driving in the pitch darkness over these hills, Chris asked me if I thought anyone ever hit a boar driving on this road. I'm still coming to grips with the fact that apparently there are a lot of boars in Puna - hunting boars is a very popular pasttime in Puna. Plus I had just watched a documentary on wild boars in the south and the quest to find out if they were crossbred with the Russian wild boars (which are HUGE and crazy aggressive). I kind of shrugged off this random comment. Well, not 10 minutes later I was talking about something and Chris suddenly slammed on his brakes and swerved into the other lane. Luckily there were no oncoming cars. I caught a glance of a VERY large, black animal running just past my side of the truck. Chris had almost hit 2 boars! He said the only reason he saw them was because of one littering eye. However, they were obviously black because you couldn't really even see them when they were in the headlights.
For the last 36 hours Chris has been crowing about how he's psychic. For those of you who don't know Chris' eclectic employment history, he used to be one of those phone a psychics. I'll admit, he does have an uncanny ability to predict the weirdest things. But I'm still a skeptic!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Over the Edge
Last year a few of us raised money for Special Olympics-Hawaii. In return, we participated in the Polar Bear Plunge. It was like jumping into a giant slushie :) At the event we learned about the fall big fundraiser: Over the Edge.
This week I decided to take a leap and see if I can't raise the minimum of $1000 so that I can rappel 315 feet off the Sheraton Waikiki for the Special Olympics in October! I love supporting causes like the Special Olympics, but also the Special Olympic fundraisers always give me a chance to have an experience while supporting the cause. Plus, this will give me an opportunity to visit my friends on Oahu!
My fundraising website is: http://www.firstgiving.com/kristenwongovertheedge
Or if you'd like a flier, just email me at: Kristenwong808@gmail.com and I'll send you one!
I've included pictures of our Polar Bear Plunge:
ADDING MORE ICE!
CHRIS AND I WITH OUR NUMBERS, PRE-PLUNGE
WHOLE LOTTA ICE
ONLY TANYA WOULD SMILE WHILE JUMPING INTO A POOL OF ICE
MICHELLE HURDLES THE POOL!
CAN'T TURN BACK NOW!
KRISTEN, WAITING HER TURN
FRIENDS THROUGH THICK AND ICE!
This week I decided to take a leap and see if I can't raise the minimum of $1000 so that I can rappel 315 feet off the Sheraton Waikiki for the Special Olympics in October! I love supporting causes like the Special Olympics, but also the Special Olympic fundraisers always give me a chance to have an experience while supporting the cause. Plus, this will give me an opportunity to visit my friends on Oahu!
My fundraising website is: http://www.firstgiving.com/kristenwongovertheedge
Or if you'd like a flier, just email me at: Kristenwong808@gmail.com and I'll send you one!
I've included pictures of our Polar Bear Plunge:
ADDING MORE ICE!
CHRIS AND I WITH OUR NUMBERS, PRE-PLUNGE
WHOLE LOTTA ICE
ONLY TANYA WOULD SMILE WHILE JUMPING INTO A POOL OF ICE 
MICHELLE HURDLES THE POOL!
CAN'T TURN BACK NOW!
KRISTEN, WAITING HER TURN
FRIENDS THROUGH THICK AND ICE!First Week Flowers
On August 6 I called to let Chris know I was on my way home and to ask if he needed anything. He seemed really annoyed, but complained about something related to his computer. I came home and plopped down on the couch as usual to talk about the day's events with Chris. It's been a nice new routine we developed living on the Big Island. After a few minutes of me talking he interrupted me to let me know that the reason he was annoyed was that he had ordered flowers to be delivered at work. When I didn't say anything about them on the phone or when I came home, he knew there it hadn't arrived. I was really surprised and very happy since this is the first time Chris has ever done something like this.
A few days later, my principal walks into my office with this gigantic bouquet of flowers. Chris' flowers had arrived! The bouquet had orchids, birds of paradise, anthuriums, and fiddleheads. There was a very sweet note attached congratulating me on completing my first week at work. But no matter how beautiful these flowers were, I would always be more beautiful in his eyes...aw :)
FLOWERS FROM CHRIS
Well, imagine my surprise when the next day my speech pathologist, Faith, walks in with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers!
BOUQUET FROM FAITH
CONFERENCE TABLE IN MY OFFICE WITH MY TWO BOUQUETS!
So my office has been decorated with these gorgeous bouquets. Now, Chris' bouquet sits on the dining room table as I type this blog. It has already been 2 weeks - bird of paradise and anthuriums last a long time, so I hope to be enjoying this bouquet for yet another week or two!
A few days later, my principal walks into my office with this gigantic bouquet of flowers. Chris' flowers had arrived! The bouquet had orchids, birds of paradise, anthuriums, and fiddleheads. There was a very sweet note attached congratulating me on completing my first week at work. But no matter how beautiful these flowers were, I would always be more beautiful in his eyes...aw :)
FLOWERS FROM CHRIS Well, imagine my surprise when the next day my speech pathologist, Faith, walks in with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers!
BOUQUET FROM FAITH
CONFERENCE TABLE IN MY OFFICE WITH MY TWO BOUQUETS!So my office has been decorated with these gorgeous bouquets. Now, Chris' bouquet sits on the dining room table as I type this blog. It has already been 2 weeks - bird of paradise and anthuriums last a long time, so I hope to be enjoying this bouquet for yet another week or two!
Big Happenings on the Big Island
On Wednesday I was talking to my clerk, Geneva, while she tried to track down a social worker for me on her phone. As I was turned around to talk to her everything around her kind of shook. At first I thought it was a trick of my eyes, but then my clerk looked at me all panicky and said "Earthquake!"
I looked it up in the US Geological Survey website and apparently earthquakes on the Big Island are pretty common - there's been one every other day for the last two weeks! Wednesday's earthquake was almost a 4.0 - but it was so short that hardly anyone else at work noticed!
The first time I ever experienced an earthquake it was on the Big Island. I was in Hilo visiting with my mother in October 2006. I was asleep in the hotel and my mother had already gotten up. I was shaken awake by the 6.7 magnitude earthquake. At first I thought it was my mom trying to wake me up, but when I opened my eyes and no mom in sight and everything moving I realized it was an earthquake! So I spread eagled myself on the bed, thinking very rationally, that if I should fall through the floor I could spread the impact by being spread eagled. (I am calm and rational under duress!) When my mother came up and told me there was an earthquake I allegedly responded by saying I wanted to take a shower. My family always laughs that in the aftermath of an earthquake and while we waited for a possible tsunami, I wanted to take a shower. Ha. ha. Only one natural disaster at a time for me! Besides, I would like to be clean if I'm going to be swept away in a tsunami.
So far I've experienced an earthquake, a tsunami and I live on the side of an erupting volcano while living in Hawaii. Big happenings on the Big Island indeed!
I looked it up in the US Geological Survey website and apparently earthquakes on the Big Island are pretty common - there's been one every other day for the last two weeks! Wednesday's earthquake was almost a 4.0 - but it was so short that hardly anyone else at work noticed!
The first time I ever experienced an earthquake it was on the Big Island. I was in Hilo visiting with my mother in October 2006. I was asleep in the hotel and my mother had already gotten up. I was shaken awake by the 6.7 magnitude earthquake. At first I thought it was my mom trying to wake me up, but when I opened my eyes and no mom in sight and everything moving I realized it was an earthquake! So I spread eagled myself on the bed, thinking very rationally, that if I should fall through the floor I could spread the impact by being spread eagled. (I am calm and rational under duress!) When my mother came up and told me there was an earthquake I allegedly responded by saying I wanted to take a shower. My family always laughs that in the aftermath of an earthquake and while we waited for a possible tsunami, I wanted to take a shower. Ha. ha. Only one natural disaster at a time for me! Besides, I would like to be clean if I'm going to be swept away in a tsunami.
So far I've experienced an earthquake, a tsunami and I live on the side of an erupting volcano while living in Hawaii. Big happenings on the Big Island indeed!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
New Island, New Schools, New Jobs
My original productivity towards posts have rapidly declined with the start of the new school year. I figured while I'm waiting on my chocolate chip cookies to bake, I'll write about why I've been so busy! Chris and I both started at new schools. So far we really like living on the Big Island and are pretty happy with our schools.
Chris is at the high school and teaches a class that is kind of an ED fully-self contained class. He's got 20 kids from 9th to 12th grade. There are boys and girls (!). The students only attend school from 9-12. Some of the students are in transition between the general education setting and this setting so the other hours of the school day are for Chris and his co-teacher, Lori, to help the kids who are out. He's got some interesting students. One student just came in from Germany (Pulling a reverse MacDonald path!) and is really chill, but apparently freaks out. He had another student who he thought was an adult when he first met him. Good kid, but prone to dramatic aggressive explosions. He has another student nicknamed "Boobs," for her proclivity for showing off her best assets. There's been several fights, but all outside the classroom. A few arrests, but it's mostly trespassing (if they come back on campus after the end of their school day...trespassing) I've gotten to meet a fair share of them and they are really chill kids. So far, nothing too dramatic besides your average male posturing. We'll see how the year goes.
I'm at an elementary school where I'm a student services coordinator, or SSC. When I first started I was asked for my job description. I asked around and no one seemed to be able to come up with one. Originally SSCs came about to monitor compliance in the schools, particularly to special education laws. Over time the positions have evolved differently depending on the school. The job I've created for myself is to manage the entire comprehensive student support system or CSSS. Basically making sure the students are receiving the appropriate levels of support from the most informal supports (e.g. differentiation) to the most intensive (e.g. special education). So far the job has kept me so busy I come in an hour early and leave when I have to (5:30pm), I forget to eat my lunches, have a million and one meetings, and am drowning in paperwork. So of course I really like it. The learning curve feels like it's 90 degrees sometimes, but I learn something new every day! I suppose it should be reassuring that apparently many of the cases I've being presented are "wow, we're pretty sure we've never seen this kind of a case on the Big Island before" kinds of cases - at least I'm getting hit with the crazy stuff now. Also, the level of paperwork that I'm working under right now is NOT normal for a school of my size (For those of you who might know what I'm talking about: I have 12 101s I'm working on and 8 are preschool - plus I have 2 Part C transitions! My school has around 550 kids in K-5). Let's pray for more normal cases!
The other day I woke up in the middle of the night and the first conscious word I thought of was "files." Ugh. Reminds me of when Chris said that Valentine's Day I was talking about PPTs (paraprofessionals) in my sleep. I'm starting to mandate a "no-work at home" policy, so we'll see how that goes!
Chris is at the high school and teaches a class that is kind of an ED fully-self contained class. He's got 20 kids from 9th to 12th grade. There are boys and girls (!). The students only attend school from 9-12. Some of the students are in transition between the general education setting and this setting so the other hours of the school day are for Chris and his co-teacher, Lori, to help the kids who are out. He's got some interesting students. One student just came in from Germany (Pulling a reverse MacDonald path!) and is really chill, but apparently freaks out. He had another student who he thought was an adult when he first met him. Good kid, but prone to dramatic aggressive explosions. He has another student nicknamed "Boobs," for her proclivity for showing off her best assets. There's been several fights, but all outside the classroom. A few arrests, but it's mostly trespassing (if they come back on campus after the end of their school day...trespassing) I've gotten to meet a fair share of them and they are really chill kids. So far, nothing too dramatic besides your average male posturing. We'll see how the year goes.
I'm at an elementary school where I'm a student services coordinator, or SSC. When I first started I was asked for my job description. I asked around and no one seemed to be able to come up with one. Originally SSCs came about to monitor compliance in the schools, particularly to special education laws. Over time the positions have evolved differently depending on the school. The job I've created for myself is to manage the entire comprehensive student support system or CSSS. Basically making sure the students are receiving the appropriate levels of support from the most informal supports (e.g. differentiation) to the most intensive (e.g. special education). So far the job has kept me so busy I come in an hour early and leave when I have to (5:30pm), I forget to eat my lunches, have a million and one meetings, and am drowning in paperwork. So of course I really like it. The learning curve feels like it's 90 degrees sometimes, but I learn something new every day! I suppose it should be reassuring that apparently many of the cases I've being presented are "wow, we're pretty sure we've never seen this kind of a case on the Big Island before" kinds of cases - at least I'm getting hit with the crazy stuff now. Also, the level of paperwork that I'm working under right now is NOT normal for a school of my size (For those of you who might know what I'm talking about: I have 12 101s I'm working on and 8 are preschool - plus I have 2 Part C transitions! My school has around 550 kids in K-5). Let's pray for more normal cases!
The other day I woke up in the middle of the night and the first conscious word I thought of was "files." Ugh. Reminds me of when Chris said that Valentine's Day I was talking about PPTs (paraprofessionals) in my sleep. I'm starting to mandate a "no-work at home" policy, so we'll see how that goes!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Our First Guests!
One day last week I got a call at work. I dutifully read my script post-it noted to my phone: "Good Morning, Mountain View Elementary School, SSC's Office, how can I help you?" (Long huh? I feel bad for the people on the other end waiting for me to shut up so they can get their questions answered. But so much better than my former awkward, "Good morning, this is Kristen. Ilima Inter-...I mean Mountain View Elementary School.") On the other end I hear this guy,
"Eh! This Ms. Wong?"
Me: "Yes sir, how can I help you?"
Dude in heavy pidgin accent: "I don't like da way you talkin' to my boy."
Me: "I'm sorry, what was that sir?"
Dude: "I say, I don't like da way you talkin' to my son!"
Me (totally not calm under fire): "Sir! There must be some mistake, I'm not sure what you are talking about!"
Dude: "Dis one Miss Kristen Wong?!?!?!"
Me: "Yes, but I'm sure I never talked to anyone inappropriately." (This is a lie, I know that what I really said was a flustered, stammering mess.)
Dude: "I hear you usin' dat word to my kids again, I'm gonna come and..."
Me (rising panic and can only think of the 2 times I even talked to kids): "Sir, I swear, I don't even talk to kids!"
Dude (laughing): "HA HA - Gotcha!"
Me: "Who is this?"
Dude: "DiCarlo!"
Me: [INSERT COMMENTS NOT EXACTLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FRIENDLY HERE]
Jim DiCarlo is a special education teacher I mentored last year at Ilima. He owns 6 acres of land in Kurtistown, about 5 minutes from my school. He was in town to check up on his land and we made plans to catch up.
That Sunday Jim came by with his "lady friend," I think her name was Summer. We hung out and talked for a long while. Summer is currently studying at UH in a Hawaiian Masters in Teaching program. She starts her first teaching experience soon and is a little nervous. Jim is also pursuing special education studies at UH. It was really nice catching up with an old friend...except for the one part where I put my foot in my mouth - how typical. We were talking about siblings and Summer mentioned how she grew up with two brothers were ate a lot. I enthusiastically added, "Oh yeah, that's right they played volleyball for UH!" I was so proud of myself for remembering this personal detail. Then I realized that Jim was shooting me this look and motioning me to stop talking. Summer looked confused, so Jim said helpfully, "That's my ex-" Yeah, awkward. Of course I made it better by saying, "OHHHHH! I thought you were really short when you walked in the house!" Anyway, I did get teased about that for the rest of the night. I guess DiCarlo and his new lady love are a recent development.
After some more catching up, we decided to grab some food. By that time it was 9pm and of course, almost everything in Pahoa was closed...including the 2 bars...go figure. Luckily the Thai place agreed to serve us even though they closed at 9. We ordered a feast of pad thai, panang curry, tofu salad, thai basil chicken, sticky and brown rice! Yum!!! It was really good and the service was a lot of fun since we knew the waitress as the one who serves Chris' curry every time we go to Maku'u farmers' market.
Jim told us the funny story of how he booked the campground he and Summer were staying at. It was called something like Rainbow Paradise. Having lived in Hawaii long enough, I still made the mistake just recently. One day I was flipping through channels when I saw "Rainbow Pride" on the cable guide. I was all excited that this was a gay pride concert of sorts, but when I turned to the channel it was actually a UH athletics event...oh, duh. Well it turns out Rainbow Paradise campgrounds IS actually the kind of rainbow you think of! It's a gay friendly campground. Jim was telling us about the great amenities like wireless, showers, etc. He made the pitch that it was really awesome and family friendly, aside from the random nudity. Thinking of all my friends with children, I'm not sure random full-nudity counts as rated G among the real family crowd.
Unfortunately, the night ended before we could trade more stories and we were all ready for bed at the late late hour of 10:30pm (Ugh, how pathetic have we become?). I'm hopeful we'll see lots of Jim in the future. It was pretty awesome having our first guests over to the house to visit!
ME, JIM, & THE NEW GIRLFRIEND!
"Eh! This Ms. Wong?"
Me: "Yes sir, how can I help you?"
Dude in heavy pidgin accent: "I don't like da way you talkin' to my boy."
Me: "I'm sorry, what was that sir?"
Dude: "I say, I don't like da way you talkin' to my son!"
Me (totally not calm under fire): "Sir! There must be some mistake, I'm not sure what you are talking about!"
Dude: "Dis one Miss Kristen Wong?!?!?!"
Me: "Yes, but I'm sure I never talked to anyone inappropriately." (This is a lie, I know that what I really said was a flustered, stammering mess.)
Dude: "I hear you usin' dat word to my kids again, I'm gonna come and..."
Me (rising panic and can only think of the 2 times I even talked to kids): "Sir, I swear, I don't even talk to kids!"
Dude (laughing): "HA HA - Gotcha!"
Me: "Who is this?"
Dude: "DiCarlo!"
Me: [INSERT COMMENTS NOT EXACTLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FRIENDLY HERE]
Jim DiCarlo is a special education teacher I mentored last year at Ilima. He owns 6 acres of land in Kurtistown, about 5 minutes from my school. He was in town to check up on his land and we made plans to catch up.
That Sunday Jim came by with his "lady friend," I think her name was Summer. We hung out and talked for a long while. Summer is currently studying at UH in a Hawaiian Masters in Teaching program. She starts her first teaching experience soon and is a little nervous. Jim is also pursuing special education studies at UH. It was really nice catching up with an old friend...except for the one part where I put my foot in my mouth - how typical. We were talking about siblings and Summer mentioned how she grew up with two brothers were ate a lot. I enthusiastically added, "Oh yeah, that's right they played volleyball for UH!" I was so proud of myself for remembering this personal detail. Then I realized that Jim was shooting me this look and motioning me to stop talking. Summer looked confused, so Jim said helpfully, "That's my ex-" Yeah, awkward. Of course I made it better by saying, "OHHHHH! I thought you were really short when you walked in the house!" Anyway, I did get teased about that for the rest of the night. I guess DiCarlo and his new lady love are a recent development.
After some more catching up, we decided to grab some food. By that time it was 9pm and of course, almost everything in Pahoa was closed...including the 2 bars...go figure. Luckily the Thai place agreed to serve us even though they closed at 9. We ordered a feast of pad thai, panang curry, tofu salad, thai basil chicken, sticky and brown rice! Yum!!! It was really good and the service was a lot of fun since we knew the waitress as the one who serves Chris' curry every time we go to Maku'u farmers' market.
Jim told us the funny story of how he booked the campground he and Summer were staying at. It was called something like Rainbow Paradise. Having lived in Hawaii long enough, I still made the mistake just recently. One day I was flipping through channels when I saw "Rainbow Pride" on the cable guide. I was all excited that this was a gay pride concert of sorts, but when I turned to the channel it was actually a UH athletics event...oh, duh. Well it turns out Rainbow Paradise campgrounds IS actually the kind of rainbow you think of! It's a gay friendly campground. Jim was telling us about the great amenities like wireless, showers, etc. He made the pitch that it was really awesome and family friendly, aside from the random nudity. Thinking of all my friends with children, I'm not sure random full-nudity counts as rated G among the real family crowd.
Unfortunately, the night ended before we could trade more stories and we were all ready for bed at the late late hour of 10:30pm (Ugh, how pathetic have we become?). I'm hopeful we'll see lots of Jim in the future. It was pretty awesome having our first guests over to the house to visit!
ME, JIM, & THE NEW GIRLFRIEND!Sunday, August 8, 2010
Scuba Diving FAIL
Every 3rd Sunday of the month the Hilo Dive Club does a holoholo dive. It only cost the price of the gear if you need to rent. Chris and I went to "Sun and Sea" which is a shop right on the Hilo strip that sells and rents everything from scuba gear to stand-up paddling stuff. I had to get totally outfitted since I own nothing. We got to browse the farmer's market while we waited for them to set up our tanks.
The morning of the dive it was a typical Puna morning....meaning it was cold and raining. As we drove up Rt 130 it just got rainier and rainier. We both wondered out loud if there would even be a dive. We hit Rt 11 into Hilo and the rain slowly petered out. We got to Hilo proper and wouldn't you know it, there were blue skies and sun where we were headed.
We pulled into Richardson Beach Park about 10 minutes late, but we were the third and fourth divers (out of 8). It was clear, sunny and beautiful. We had to wait around for quite a bit while we waited for the last divers to show up. At one point a busload of Japanese tourist came by. I could hear their tour guide saying "Japanese Japanese Japanese scooobah divah Japanese Japanese." They oogled us very openly which was really weird. Well I oogled right back at their weird selves with the umbrellas and silly bright Crocs. Finally it was time to suit up and get into the water.
ARE YOU REALLY MAKING ME POSE? 
GETTING READY
FIRST DIVE TOGETHER...THE LADY TOLD CHRIS TO "SUCK IT IN" - THIS IS THE RESULT!
The beach itself is a black sand beach and was pretty well populated with local families. I had bought a wet suit since waters get pretty cold on Hilo side. However, waiting around in a black wetsuit on a hot day becomes horrendous pretty quickly. After waiting so long for the other couple (who not only arrived late, but took FOREVER getting suited up while the rest of us had to wait in our gear), it was a sweet relief to get into the water. I was cooled and the tank is so much lighter in the water.
RICHARDSON'S
DECEPTIVELY CALM BAY
We got ready to swim out. Richardson is a nice little protected bay and the reef was about a 200 ft swim out. About 30 feet out, the waves were really battering us. Because we had waited so long to get out the swell had come in and the current was started to work against us. Our dive master said we would swim out underwater to avoid the surface chop. We descended and promptly lost the last swim couple. Our dive master (I'm gonna call her DM since I forgot her name) told us to hang out at the bottom while she went to go find our wayward. After a few minutes of hanging out at the bottom, the four of us realized that perhaps we had been abandoned. We surfaced. It was a miserable few minutes while the swells seemed to get bigger and bigger. I hate the taste of salt water and it was beginning to make me gag. But after another few minutes DM returned with the wayward other two divers.
DM warned us that conditions were really bad. Visibility was about 5 feet so we needed to stay tight. Swimming back in would be tough and we'd be pulling in hand over hand. Now was the time to opt out. I looked at Chris. I totally wanted to opt out. I was starting to feel seasick from being battered by the surface chop and very apprehensive about the conditions. I knew Chris really wanted to go, so I said go (Probably stupid right?). Down we went...
And we promptly lost those divers again. After a quick surface to essentially cancel the dive because we couldn't even start out together, we puttered around inside the bay. I was feeling pretty annoyed and salt-watered out. Chris was constantly zooming around poking his nose into places I'm not sure he's supposed to. He was happy as a clam. Buoyancy was horrible since the water was around 20 ft. We both found ourselves constantly bouncing off the floor or popping around the top. We ended up seeing some really neat vivid blue coral, some fish, Chris saw an eel. I was bummed we didn't get to go out and see the sea turtles and the eagle rays that have been hanging out in this spot lately. However it was a great dive to get reacquainted with diving.
Afterward there was beer, grilled food and lots of snacks. All in all, it was a great time and we look forward to diving again! But first, I need to get some fins with booties...walking barefoot on lava rock in full scuba gear is less than pleasant.
HILO DIVE CLUB
The morning of the dive it was a typical Puna morning....meaning it was cold and raining. As we drove up Rt 130 it just got rainier and rainier. We both wondered out loud if there would even be a dive. We hit Rt 11 into Hilo and the rain slowly petered out. We got to Hilo proper and wouldn't you know it, there were blue skies and sun where we were headed.
We pulled into Richardson Beach Park about 10 minutes late, but we were the third and fourth divers (out of 8). It was clear, sunny and beautiful. We had to wait around for quite a bit while we waited for the last divers to show up. At one point a busload of Japanese tourist came by. I could hear their tour guide saying "Japanese Japanese Japanese scooobah divah Japanese Japanese." They oogled us very openly which was really weird. Well I oogled right back at their weird selves with the umbrellas and silly bright Crocs. Finally it was time to suit up and get into the water.
ARE YOU REALLY MAKING ME POSE? 
GETTING READY 
FIRST DIVE TOGETHER...THE LADY TOLD CHRIS TO "SUCK IT IN" - THIS IS THE RESULT!The beach itself is a black sand beach and was pretty well populated with local families. I had bought a wet suit since waters get pretty cold on Hilo side. However, waiting around in a black wetsuit on a hot day becomes horrendous pretty quickly. After waiting so long for the other couple (who not only arrived late, but took FOREVER getting suited up while the rest of us had to wait in our gear), it was a sweet relief to get into the water. I was cooled and the tank is so much lighter in the water.
RICHARDSON'S
DECEPTIVELY CALM BAYWe got ready to swim out. Richardson is a nice little protected bay and the reef was about a 200 ft swim out. About 30 feet out, the waves were really battering us. Because we had waited so long to get out the swell had come in and the current was started to work against us. Our dive master said we would swim out underwater to avoid the surface chop. We descended and promptly lost the last swim couple. Our dive master (I'm gonna call her DM since I forgot her name) told us to hang out at the bottom while she went to go find our wayward. After a few minutes of hanging out at the bottom, the four of us realized that perhaps we had been abandoned. We surfaced. It was a miserable few minutes while the swells seemed to get bigger and bigger. I hate the taste of salt water and it was beginning to make me gag. But after another few minutes DM returned with the wayward other two divers.
DM warned us that conditions were really bad. Visibility was about 5 feet so we needed to stay tight. Swimming back in would be tough and we'd be pulling in hand over hand. Now was the time to opt out. I looked at Chris. I totally wanted to opt out. I was starting to feel seasick from being battered by the surface chop and very apprehensive about the conditions. I knew Chris really wanted to go, so I said go (Probably stupid right?). Down we went...
And we promptly lost those divers again. After a quick surface to essentially cancel the dive because we couldn't even start out together, we puttered around inside the bay. I was feeling pretty annoyed and salt-watered out. Chris was constantly zooming around poking his nose into places I'm not sure he's supposed to. He was happy as a clam. Buoyancy was horrible since the water was around 20 ft. We both found ourselves constantly bouncing off the floor or popping around the top. We ended up seeing some really neat vivid blue coral, some fish, Chris saw an eel. I was bummed we didn't get to go out and see the sea turtles and the eagle rays that have been hanging out in this spot lately. However it was a great dive to get reacquainted with diving.
Afterward there was beer, grilled food and lots of snacks. All in all, it was a great time and we look forward to diving again! But first, I need to get some fins with booties...walking barefoot on lava rock in full scuba gear is less than pleasant.
HILO DIVE CLUBChris vs. the Centipede
One night Chris was coming into the house from our porch when I heard/saw him yelp and jump about 6 feet in the air. "CENTIPEDE! I ALMOST STEPPED ON A CENTIPEDE!"
He dashed into the house and turned on the light. There it was...one of the most disgusting bugs on the planet. I wouldn't get near it, but of course I needed to document it "for the blog." I stood about 10 feet away and zoomed in as much as I dared. Even now, having to crop the darn picture I have the horrible heebie-jeebies. YUCK!!!!
It has helpfully climbed on my pen so you can have nice size reference. (And now I realize it was on the pen and that makes me want to sterilize all my pens since I just realized I don't even know which pen it is now...UGH!!!!!
OUR AUGUST ATTACKER
Chris grabbed his hiking boot and started smacking the centipede. After a few solid whacks we asked each other "Do ya think it's dead?" Just to be sure Chris grabbed a Raid canister of bug spray we had. He sprayed the centipede and you know what the stupid thing did???? IT CAME BACK TO LIFE. Not only did it resurrect, but the darn thing started JUMPING about 3 inches into the air all over the place. So, no, the centipede was most certainly not dead and now it was really pissed off.
Ok, time for a dramatic aside. Have you ever seen those old movies where the girl shrieks and jumps on the chair when she sees a mouse. That was me. Shrieking and vaulting onto the couch. Only I have a feeling I was not as cute and dainty as those heroines in the movies.
Give me cockroaches, mice, rats, what ever....but centipedes I simply cannot handle. This was the 3rd one I've seen (The other two were in my Makakilo house. We had to snip one into about 5 pieces with a knife before it seemed dead!) and I have no problem copping to turning tail and running on first glance. And now I've got one hopscotching across my living room. And you know how I knew it was bad? Chris - normally so calm under fire - was making just about as much noise as I was!
Chris, my knight with Raid and a hiking boot, regained his calm and started spraying and smacking the thing. He didn't rest until the centipede was convincingly smushed.
DEATH TO CENTIPEDE!!!
Sorry for the graphic image...hopefully you all have strong stomachs! Unfortunately we realized that there now disgusting pieces of centipede all over the floor. Even dead though, I remained safely perched on my couch rather than go NEAR the battlefield.
Of course I go to work and tell the story. My new co-workers and I bond over the things that scare/gross us to extremes. (One of my co-workers is terrified of geckos, can you believe it?! My insensitive response was to say to her, "You're afraid of the cute Geico gecko?" Sheesh, me and my mouth). Apparently there are 2 kinds of centipedes out here, blue and red ones, which I will NOT be verifying for you my readership because I do NOT want to know. The red ones are mean (um...YEAH...they apparently jump when mad). So my lovely principal goes - "Oh, you'll have them fall from your rafters." Now THAT just about sends me screaming from the room...you mean not only am I now paranoid, turning on every light so I can clearly see the floor, refusing to let any bedskirt/sheet/blanket touch the floor (I hear centipedes will crawl into your bed...AHHHHH!)...but now Sylvia's telling me I gotta be leery of some commando centipede parachuting onto my head?!?!?!?!?!?! So she tells me to just get brake cleaner fluid. Of course that will kill them - doesn't that just scream: "Corrosive chemicals!!!!" I'd hope it'll kill the centipedes. Let's hope it doesn't kill me.
So I'm hoping that given the fact I've only seen 3 centipedes in 5 years of Hawaii living I will not see another for a long long time. And if you are with me when I see when, sorry pal, you're on your own!
He dashed into the house and turned on the light. There it was...one of the most disgusting bugs on the planet. I wouldn't get near it, but of course I needed to document it "for the blog." I stood about 10 feet away and zoomed in as much as I dared. Even now, having to crop the darn picture I have the horrible heebie-jeebies. YUCK!!!!
It has helpfully climbed on my pen so you can have nice size reference. (And now I realize it was on the pen and that makes me want to sterilize all my pens since I just realized I don't even know which pen it is now...UGH!!!!!
OUR AUGUST ATTACKER Chris grabbed his hiking boot and started smacking the centipede. After a few solid whacks we asked each other "Do ya think it's dead?" Just to be sure Chris grabbed a Raid canister of bug spray we had. He sprayed the centipede and you know what the stupid thing did???? IT CAME BACK TO LIFE. Not only did it resurrect, but the darn thing started JUMPING about 3 inches into the air all over the place. So, no, the centipede was most certainly not dead and now it was really pissed off.
Ok, time for a dramatic aside. Have you ever seen those old movies where the girl shrieks and jumps on the chair when she sees a mouse. That was me. Shrieking and vaulting onto the couch. Only I have a feeling I was not as cute and dainty as those heroines in the movies.
Give me cockroaches, mice, rats, what ever....but centipedes I simply cannot handle. This was the 3rd one I've seen (The other two were in my Makakilo house. We had to snip one into about 5 pieces with a knife before it seemed dead!) and I have no problem copping to turning tail and running on first glance. And now I've got one hopscotching across my living room. And you know how I knew it was bad? Chris - normally so calm under fire - was making just about as much noise as I was!
Chris, my knight with Raid and a hiking boot, regained his calm and started spraying and smacking the thing. He didn't rest until the centipede was convincingly smushed.
DEATH TO CENTIPEDE!!!Sorry for the graphic image...hopefully you all have strong stomachs! Unfortunately we realized that there now disgusting pieces of centipede all over the floor. Even dead though, I remained safely perched on my couch rather than go NEAR the battlefield.
Of course I go to work and tell the story. My new co-workers and I bond over the things that scare/gross us to extremes. (One of my co-workers is terrified of geckos, can you believe it?! My insensitive response was to say to her, "You're afraid of the cute Geico gecko?" Sheesh, me and my mouth). Apparently there are 2 kinds of centipedes out here, blue and red ones, which I will NOT be verifying for you my readership because I do NOT want to know. The red ones are mean (um...YEAH...they apparently jump when mad). So my lovely principal goes - "Oh, you'll have them fall from your rafters." Now THAT just about sends me screaming from the room...you mean not only am I now paranoid, turning on every light so I can clearly see the floor, refusing to let any bedskirt/sheet/blanket touch the floor (I hear centipedes will crawl into your bed...AHHHHH!)...but now Sylvia's telling me I gotta be leery of some commando centipede parachuting onto my head?!?!?!?!?!?! So she tells me to just get brake cleaner fluid. Of course that will kill them - doesn't that just scream: "Corrosive chemicals!!!!" I'd hope it'll kill the centipedes. Let's hope it doesn't kill me.
So I'm hoping that given the fact I've only seen 3 centipedes in 5 years of Hawaii living I will not see another for a long long time. And if you are with me when I see when, sorry pal, you're on your own!
Pet Longing
It's been a hectic week, so I'm slowly backtracking to what's happened in the past week or so. Last Saturday the Humane Society had a party for humans and animals. Chris didn't understand why I wanted to go so badly since our lease doesn't actually allow for pets. He had a really good point there, but he humored me anyway.
We spent quite a bit of time in the cat house. Unfortunately, we didn't walk away with a cat. But now BOTH of us want a cat :) We've always talked about getting pets, but Chris wanted to have a house before we could even consider it. Of course, Chris figured out my ulterior motive...which was to get him wanting a pet so that HE would talk to our landlord. We'll see. I can be patient for a little while longer if I have to.
CHRIS, THE CAT WHISPERER
There was one guy I wouldn't have minded taking home. A long-haired white kitten who was just sooooooo soft. Here he is with Chris:
LOOK AT THAT FACE!
Finally, there was one cat that reminded me of the cat I have back home in Massachusetts. This kitten could be Jellybean's twin! (I have to find a picture of Jellybean to compare)
JELLYBEAN'S HAWAIIAN TWIN!
We spent quite a bit of time in the cat house. Unfortunately, we didn't walk away with a cat. But now BOTH of us want a cat :) We've always talked about getting pets, but Chris wanted to have a house before we could even consider it. Of course, Chris figured out my ulterior motive...which was to get him wanting a pet so that HE would talk to our landlord. We'll see. I can be patient for a little while longer if I have to.
CHRIS, THE CAT WHISPERERThere was one guy I wouldn't have minded taking home. A long-haired white kitten who was just sooooooo soft. Here he is with Chris:
LOOK AT THAT FACE!
JELLYBEAN'S HAWAIIAN TWIN!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)