Moving on

The above is a photo of my little 2002 Mazda Miata that we have up for sale. It is a neat little car and I will miss it, but 3 cars for 2 people is a waste. The Miata sits in the garage so much that the battery is constantly dead and must be jumped to start. So... up for sale. I bought it new, and drove it constantly when I worked, although it is awful in snow. At least 2 times I had to park it in the lot at the bank and call for N to come get me, I was doing doughnuts in the street. Anyway, I now flinch every time the phone rings in case they are calling about the car; I get all tongue-tied when I have to talk to strangers on the phone. Hopefully it will sell soon.

I'm still sorting through vacation photos; I've figured our how to capture a still photo from video clips, so that has been fun to mess with. The video program lacks a lot of features, but on the other hand, it is free.

Update: The miata sold yesterday. Sniff sniff. The new owner is older than me, but having a "midlife" crisis, I think.

Meanwhile, your bumper sticker: "Of course I can do it! The question is, do I want to?"

Maui

This a photo taken at the Maui Ocean Center. The main building hosted a 54 foot acrylic tunnel through which visitors could walk. It was so neat -- the fish were on both sides of the tunnel, and crossed one to the other by swimming overhead. It was the nearest thing to diving underwater that I'll ever have. At the top of the photo you can see the underside of a spotted eagle ray, and we could see his gills opening and closing. I found it hard to photograph because everything was constantly moving.
I highly recommend this center to any of you traveling to Hawaii. It isn't a showboat-y exhibit like s Sea World, but "a place of respect for the area marine life". We thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh yeah, and there are no cetaceans (whales and dolphins) they are prohibited from captivity by the County of Maui. All the other fish and critters are from the area of Maui.

Volcano National Park

This is a fumarole at Kilauea in Hawaii (big island) The fumes are real toxic and the park guide kept a close eye on the direction of the wind; if it had changed we would have had to scramble back on the bus and leave.





This lava field is what the ground looks like after the lava flow had ended. It was hard to walk on, the little ( a foot or two)lava tubes tended to break when you stepped on them. Can you see the little metal pipe in the lower left corner, going left to right? It's hard to see in this, but it is all that's left of the overlook center that was here.

The sights on this excursion were humbling; with all our technology, when a volcano erupts the response is the same as it was in pre-history - move out of the way, way out.

Bumper sticker for the day: "I'd love to help you but I've misplaced my magic wand"

This is known as the grand canyon of the pacific. Found in Waimea Canyon state park, it is on the western side of Kaua'i Island. It is 10 miles long and 3000' deep. When we were there it was very foggy, which only increased the impact of the site. The wind at the observation area was brutal, whipping cold air right through you. A "lazy wind" that can't be bothered to go around you. I regard this site as the most astonishing site on our trip.

Bumper sticker for the day: "I am an optimist, but I don't think it helps."

That tipsy bit? It's because of the waves...honest

This is me with our "complementary" bottle of (bad) champagne in our stateroom. The poor cabin steward had to fill and refill the ice bucket in which the champagne rested twice a day for the entire 2 weeks. And then we left it in the room (how do you pack champagne?)(And why would I want to?)

As you can see I am still fighting the battle of getting my haircolor back to the original shade of red. I have colored it 4 times with 4 different products and this orange is the closest so far. I'll take one more go and then it is the hairdresser. It must be some effect of the chemo, like the 'chemo curls' that I got in the lovely grey regrowth.

On a pleasanter note, I had my last chemo treatment last Wednesday. Now I have a scan scheduled for the 25th and a follow-up visit to the onco. and I will be good to go for 6 months. It has been a dark cloud on my horizon for over a year, but maybe this time all will be well. Fingers crossed.

Bumper sticker for the day: "Join the IRS (be audit you can be)"

back at last

We are back from our circle cruise to Hawaii, and I am beat. But for now, here is a lovely rainbow taken from our verandah. When we left San Diego at 5 pm, we got caught in a storm, according to the Captain, that was near hurricane strength, 65 mph winds and 30(!) foot seas. It was very hard to just stay in bed. At least one passenger broke her arm, and nearly everyone was sea sick. The next day the waves were a mere 20 ft high, and had to be seen to be believed. We found one benefit of chemotherapy is that I have really potent anti-nausea drugs, which I brought with me. Any time we started to feel queasy, we popped one, and our stomachs went back to sleep. The rest of the cruise was smooth, but overcast. The weather here at home was lovely, of course.

I will post more over the next few days.

Bumper sticker for the day:  "Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun."