Friday 5 for August 14: 家

I don't know what the kanji character in the title means. I guess it has
something to do with this week's topic from Scriveners site. Dwellings, places you lived or presently are.

 1. In what forms of housing have you resided?

Single family home back in Honokaa Hawaii. Lived there my first 18 years of life. Belonged to my parents, but now with my sister. I have returned there many times over the past five decades. Love the place.

Dorms - A zoo while I was in college.

Off campus housing - While in college, I also had to share a dwelling with a smelly dog and bedbugs. At another place, I lived with a bunch of Japanese and two mainland Chinese students who occupied the kitchen cooking up all kinds of stuff when they were not away at class or studying.

Condo Dweller - Since the 1980s I have been in the same high rise condo that has been in our family since.

2. What are the best and worst things about the location of your home?

 Best things about my current location:

Convenient walking location to all major grocery shopping - Don Quijote, WalMart, Target and Foodland Farms plus Longs Drug. Those are the major affordable stores in my area of Ala Moana Center. Everything else became pricey over the years, not what it was like back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. I miss those days.

Living in the city you are close enough to decent medical facilities and
doctors.

Worst things about my current location:

• RAIL and the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) now springing up around me. Arrrrgh!
• Higher property tax assessments because of TOD and RAIL. I hate RAIL.
• Increasing property tax rates overall. Even if you don't own property, high taxes and rail impacts you as a renter because landlords will pass that cost to you.
• Higher HOA monthly fees, not like how it was before. Again RAIL and high property tax impacts.
• Rising crime rate - there was another murder not too far away from my dwelling again this week.

3. Where would you keep a second home if you could have one?

I like Hawaii despite the high cost of living. The weather is fine. So I guess my choice for a second home would be somewhere back on the Island of Hawaii, just outside of Hilo past the humming bridge along the Hamakua Coast of Highway 19. It should be no farther than 15 minutes away from the convenience of shopping at Hilo but away from any possible lava flow danger that could head down Mauna Loa mountain.

Otherwise I'd be okay in Honokaa, Waimea, Ahualoa or the Kohala area in North Hawaii.

4. How well would you adapt to permanent RV life?

 If I moved to the mainland, I think I could do OK living in a decent
 RV. I just need a place to keep all of my records and CDs a good
 storage facility for the duration of such an adventure; youd have to go
 fully digital with music, movies, TV and books in order to maintain a
 large collection of entertainment and knowledge. My Google Play Music
 cloud would be great for that but now Google wants to end it and force
 us to move to YouTube Music I hate that.

 I watch a few video blogs about some people who live the RV life. As a
 photographer it would be a great opportunity to take pictures, pictures
 and even more pictures everywhere.

 The downside is trying to find someplace to lodge/park the rig, keep it
 maintained, fueled and supplied with necessities and also having to
 deal with um getting rid of the waste products. The other downside is
 finding some kind of revenue stream to pay for it all. That would be
 the most difficult part.

 5. Whats the prettiest thing to look at within five miles of your
 residence?

I am mostly surrounded by tall buildings and even more of them springing up because of the dreadful rail and TOD. Not much of a view to call breathtaking. However if I zoom my camera in close to the far west or east horizon, I can sometimes capture a somewhat decent picture like the one at the top of this post.

Friday 5 for October 14: Be of Good Cheer

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.....



1. What’s something non-political you’re rooting for nowadays?

- Chromebooks that support Android apps
- Removable batteries in cell phones and other connected devices

2. What were the circumstances–and who was the recipient–the last time you were part of a standing ovation?



When my friend and I attended the Diamond Head Theatre's performance of "Mamma Mia" featuring music from the 1970s Swedish pop group, ABBA - we gave the performance a standing ovation. It was fun and of course made better because I got free tickets!

3. What’s a cheer you remember from high school or college?

"Yum yum eat em up oofa, oofa!" - It's a stupid one but you asked -- Honokaa High School from many decades ago. (pronounced "oo-fa")

4. What inanimate object in your residence deserves applause for its outstanding role in your life this past week?

- As usual any of the cameras I used to take photos this week.
- My 2 MacBook Pros
- My Chromebook
- lastly my recently acquired Samsung Galaxy J7 smart phone with a removable battery

5. When was the last time a group of people clapped for you?

- A very long time ago... can't even remember. Maybe it was when I was in high school band.... I'm not one that seeks the spotlight.

Friday 5 for June 17: A Week of Good Behavior

I am blessed to be alive and share God's gifts with you.

From Scrivener's Friday 5 blog: "Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5!  Please copy these questions to your webspace.  Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses.  Please don’t forget to link us from your website!"

1. What’s the dumbest thing you did this week?

Skipping my daily walk.

2. In what way did you save yourself time or energy this week?

Usually walking to the nearby places that I shop at. Saved energy by not using the car.

3. How were you wasteful of personal and natural resources this week?

Sometimes I flush 2 or 3 times per session.

4. When this week did you take advantage of the opportunity to keep your mouth shut?

When I am with my friend Daniel, I avoid the subject of rail. He is strongly pro-rail, I am anti-rail. Best not to bring it up if we want to preserve our friendship.

5. In what way this week were you blessed or fortunate?

After my heart surgery nearly 6 months ago, I am blessed to be alive each and every day. Plus God gives us daily natural gifts to enjoy -- flowers, sunshine, sunrises, sunsets, the moon, stars and more.

Friday 5 for May 27: Good and Bad

From Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.


The pleasant warm weather in Hawaii is usually lovely.

1. What’s good and what’s bad about the weather lately?

Good - Here in Honolulu our weather is like 97% good. Clear sunny skies usually, light trade-winds, and an occasional shower or two.
Bad - The pleasant weather comes at a price - high humidity, heat.. which means running the AC in house. That can add to the price of your electricity bill. Otherwise the only really bad weather we have is the rare hurricane with destructive winds exceeding 75 mph.

2. What’s something that’s so bad it’s good?

I like old sci-fi B-movies. Those films had a lot of anti-nuclear paranoia or alien invasions in their story lines, most of them produced on a shoestring budget.

Some of my favorites include "Angry Red Planet", "Panic in the Year Zero", "Reptilicus", "Island of Terror", "The Man With the X-Ray Eyes",  "The Time Travelers", and "Crack in the World". From the horror genre, "Monster in the Closet", "Ssssss!" and "Night of the Living Dead" (the original 1968 movie).

3. What’s something that used to be bad but now is good?

Can't think of anything. Bad is bad, and good is good.

4. What are some of your pet words for very bad and very good?

Very Bad - "Oh shit", "crap", and of course "fuck" which is used in a variety of ways.
Very Good - "Cool", "Nice", "Love It, "Good, goood" and pretty much anything else that projects a positive feeling.

5. What’s your favorite song by Bad Company (or Good Charlotte, if BadCo isn’t your style)? *

BAD COMPANY - When I look at my iTunes music plays I have to say "Shooting Star". It has the most plays from all their songs. There are others that I also like including "Can't Get Enough," "Feel Like Making Love", "Bad Company" (album link), "Silver Blue and Gold", "Young Blood" (album link) and "Rock n Roll Fantasy".... yep pretty much stuff from their albums of the 1970s. Lost track of the band in the 80s.



BADFINGER - "Baby Blue" (always loved this song from way before Walter White met his fate), "Flying" (B-side of "Baby Blue"), "Day After Day", "Without You" (this is the original; later covered by Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey), "Come And Get It" (money!), "Perfection" and "No Matter What". They may have been "the next Beatles".

BENNY GOODMAN - I have a few tracks from him but can't remember the titles.

BAD BRAINS - I remember when some of their songs were played on Radio Free Hawaii... not really my cup of tea. Can't even name one song.

"Thanks for participating, and have a goooooooood weekend, and all the world will love you just as long as you are a shooting star!"