June 30, 2006 : A review of the week....

Monday....

This morning we got a special treat.... an unobstructed view of Mauna Kea and the observatories at the summit from our kitchen window. The summit of the volcano is usually covered by clouds but this morning we had a clear view of all its majesty (above picture).

Not much going on these past couple of days. Although Charlotte is starting to show signs of becoming a local...... todayshe came back from the farm all worried because it had not rained up there all weekend long!

Tuesday

We took Angus McCraken to the vet to get his satellite dish collar and stiches off. Hopefully we will have learned a lesson this time, then again...........

Wednesday.....
Lifestyle here is certainly different than in Arizona. And yes, we admit, there are certain commodities there that we do not have here, so, in spite of living in the Plum Palace not everything here is "Peachy".

For instance.....

Drinking Water:

We have to get our drinking water from the dump.... well, not exactly the dump, here it is called the waste transfer station. Here you can see Hana & Syd standing next to the re-fill water station.... nice eh?

Since the houses here in HPP (that is the kingdom to which the Plum Palace belongs to) are not connected to a municipal potable water supply system, the houses are equipped with a "catchment" system. Basically, you catch the water from the rain on your roof and store it in a tank. Syd & Hana are standing next to our catchment tank in the pictures below.

When trees are growing out of your rain gutters that must mean that the water is really really good, right?

From the tank you pump it to the house. Now, some of the newer and fancier homes have either UV lights, or RO units or some other type of water sterilization system that allows the people to drink their water, but not the Plum Palace. So we could either buy it at a grocery store (K'ching $ K'ching!) or we do what everyone else does.... fill up at the waste transfer station where they have a public faucet with potable drinking water.

So there you go, we do miss being able to drink out of the faucet. How about this for irony, in Hilo which is considered to be the rainiest city in the US people are always being careful about water conservation!

Thursday.......

Trash Collection:

Well, you heard about the waste transfer station right? well guess what? we do not have a trash collection system, so we have to take our trash to the waste transfer station. And between hauling the bags (being carefull that they don't rip apart) and the stink of the bags.....one learns very quick not to let the trash collect for more than 2-3 days before you take it to the dump.

Dumpster Roosters

But even the dump is pretty here......

With a positive message on your way out
One also has to separate its own waste before taking it to the dump, you have your regular trash, your #1 & #2 recyclable glass and plastic containers, newspaper (dry), corrugated cardboard, and then the lottery....... your HI5 recyclables! yes, that is aluminum cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles (as long as they have a HI5 sign on the label) you get a whole 5cents per unit.

So the girls have been collecting the HI5's and taking them to redeem their cash. The plan is to fill up a big can with all their dough and once it is filled they are going to give 10% to their favorite charity, save 40% in a savings account and go spend the other 50%, and then start all over again.

So once we fill the can we will post on the blog how much they were able to raise!

Gas & Groceries

Ok, so all of you who warned us that gas & groceries were much more expensive here than in the mainland were right..... BUT, that is why we got Mr. Limpet, which is still giving us an average of 35mpg!

So one has to learn where to shop for what, and when you find something in sale, TAKE IT! because before you know it it will be all gone.....

So there you have it, Hawaii is not perfect, it does have some inconveniences.......................

Humphrey becomes a local

Thursday we spent a good deal of time getting everything in order for Humphrey to oficially become a local, and after three trips to the DMV we got it! Now Humphrey does not feel like an outsider when it is riding down the streets....

Friday.......

A visit to the ZOO!

Today the girls and I decided to go to check out the Zoo. Last we heard that it was very cool, and FREE! so, we went.

Turns out to be a small zoo, but the grounds are beautifully kept. They have animals from rainforests around the world. They have two toed sloths, rainforest dart frogs, feral pigs, monkeys, birds, deer, water buffalo, and a white tiger (Namaste) that steals the show. Definitely worth the trip!

Next week is fourth of July, and from what we hear, it is a MAJOR event here, so we will let you know in the scale of Ooooh! and Aaaaaaaah's! what rating it gets.

Also, we're supposed to get our 35lbs of beef next week, we'll see!

Have a good weekend!