Ford Escort

I searched my blog and I can't believe I haven't had a Ford Escort in here before.

This week's car was another base model. The Ford Escort. My the first car I bought on my own was a Ford Escort. A 1985 model I think. I remember it was red. We went across the country twice and was the car I used to drive my brother Bill's ashes from Hollywood, California to Wichita, Kansas.

The Ford Focus hasn't changed that much in all these years. The driver's seat is still kind of awkward. I did finally figure out how to adjust it to fit me for the week but don't think it was anything I could ever really get used to.

The heating/venting controls are better than in my Escape with more options. The trunk is enormous. It is a good car to just get around in.

A familiar face

Almost 2 years ago now, I spent 10 hours on a flight from Chicago to Minneapolis. Between delays caused by snow in Minneapolis then the same storm reaching Chicago and American Airlines not willing to cancel the flight, I got to know Rachelle, one of the flight attendants.

She is based in Minneapolis so we ended up seeing each other fairly frequently when I was working in Chicago and flying there nearly every week. Because of my trip to England and not taking the Chicago flight, I had not seen Rachelle for over a year. Until last night.

She was one of the flight attendants on my trip home last night from Dallas. It was so nice to see a familiar face. We talked for quite a while to get caught up.

Dallas this week

Back to Dallas for the week. Just checked the weather. Going to be in upper 50's and 60's. Much warmer than Minneapolis.

Happy Thanksgiving

Woke up to a dusting of snow. So pretty. The snow has kept up a little and is actually cold enough to stick to the roads.

Big thanks this year to:
Mather and Roxi for all the cat care for this year. I couldn't keep Frankie and Uno without these two fantastic neighbors.

Mom (Gracie B.) for always caring and loving. Mom has been a great guide for living a good life. That and she always checks the blog every day.

Rose, Amy, Bunny and the gang, Friends here in Minneapolis, for organizing all the fun activities.

Chris and Jill, Friends far away, for being friends willing to travel far distances to get together.

Frankie and Uno, my cats, who always greet me when I come home from business trips (unless I've locked them in a closet!)

Scott B., Friend and co-worker, who keeps an eye on my back.

Toyota Corolla - repeat

My first repeat vehicle in a long while. I reviewed this on 8/19/07. I think I got the exact same car.

Nothing much to say. It goes from A to B.

A true story?

I think Gay McEwen sent me this. It reminded me of my first week at Fitness Together, the one-on-one training that I've been doing.

A WOMAN'S WEEK AT THE GYM
This is dedicated to everyone who ever attempted to get into a regular workout routine.

Dear Diary,

For my birthday this year, my daughter (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me.

Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago , I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.

My daughter seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY:
Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She is something of a Greek goddess - with blonde hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!! Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!
Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week-!!

TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door.

Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT-!! It's a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot.

Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair monster. Why the Hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other shit too.

THURSDAY :
Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late, it took me that long to tie my shoes.

Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. She sent another skinny bitch to find me

Then, as punishment, she put me on the rowing machine -- which I sank.

FRIDAY :
I hate that bitch Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic little cheerleader. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it.

Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don 't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the damned barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher.

Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY :
Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.

SUNDAY :
I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my daughter (the little shit) will choose a gift for me that is fun -- like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

Added Hawaii pictures

I finally got the photos off my cell phone and went through the editing/fixing process. Go back and check the Hawaii entries for some pictures.

Home Home

Made it home to Minneapolis last night. I don't think I have been on an on-time flight for months. We landed about 20 minutes late.

So good to see Frankie and Uno. They were excellently taken care of by my neighbors.

I've started filling out paperwork for a trip to India. This would be a work trip for two weeks and might be before Christmas. I have to get a Visa and shots.

Hawaii not so far away

Driving to my hotel in Dallas this week I noticed a Hawaiian Spa across the street. Then in the elevator up to my room is a picture of the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort. That's the same resort Jill, Chris, Eliza and I crashed to swim in their pool and on their beach.

A very long day

Made it to Dallas...finally.

Left the hotel about 6:00am Hawaii time. My flight from Honolulu left pretty much on time at 8:30am. I did not get upgraded. Had a bigger plane but still full. There was some rough skys on the way to Los Angeles and we landed late.

I was really concerned that I wouldn't make my connection. I walked off the Honolulu flight hearing my name being paged for immediate boarding. Fortunately the gates were close and walked directly on board. I figured there was no way my luggage would make it.

They closed the plane door soon after I got on. We ended up sitting there for a bit while luggage was loaded. I felt better about my luggage.

We landed pretty much on time. I headed down to baggage and waited and waited. One piece of luggage came off. It was the second to last one. No sign of the other one. The line for the baggage office was long. I called the American platinum line and filed a lost luggage report.

Headed out to catch the shuttle to the car rental. It was now about 10pm central time. The timer for the shuttle said a 7.5 minute wait. But the time wasn't going down. It finally changed to 10 minute wait. I decided to check with the baggage people again. There was another flight to Dallas from LAX at about the same time and thought maybe my other bag was on that plane.

The baggage person was very nice and checked with the baggage people at the other flight's arrival carousel. Lo and behold, the bag was there. I went back out to the ground transportation place and caught the shuttle to the terminal where my bag was waiting. I went back out to catch the car rental shuttle. It was now 11:00pm.

The wait at this terminal was very short. I got my car and headed to the hotel. It was midnight by the time I got to the hotel.

Heading back to Dallas

At the airport checking emails and stuff. Going back to Dallas today for work. Don't get home until late Thursday night. I miss by kitties.

Jill and I went snorkeling on Thursday at Huanama Bay. It is a state park and very well keeped. Lots of fish but not much colorful coral. Saw some pretty big fishes.

Huanama Bay is another volcano crater. This one was filled with water thousands of years ago when one side of the crater collapsed. It is a steep walk down to the beach. They have a shuttle bus that Jill used. It is a dramatic view from the top.

Jill went home on Thursday. On the way to the airport we stopped in Chinatown and ate at Mei Sum, a dim sum restaurant. The food was fantastic and the waitresses were a hoot.

Friday was a do nothing day. We went to a movie and walked back along the beach. I stopped and watched the hula show on Waikiki Beach.

Saturday we went to the US Tennis Association Pro-Circuit Honolulu Tournament. It was neat seating right next to the tennis courts and watching up-and-coming tennis professionals. They are so young.

We went to the Honolulu Academy of Arts for lunch again. We had gone the previous Saturday and really enjoyed the food.

That's it from Hawaii. A great trip. I'll be adding pictures after I get home and can download them to my home computer and doctor them up.

Pat, can I buy a consonant?

You know how on Wheel of Fortune the contestants buy vowels? Well, over here you need to buy consonants. There are so many vowels in some of these town and street names and all are pronounced individually.

For example, Ka'a'a'wa is one of the towns we drove through. Or Aeia and Leia two other towns that we saw signs for. When you work through them, they sound quite beautiful.

Tokkuri Tei

Eliza and Chris had gone to this Japanese restaurant before for lunch and wanted to try it for dinner.

It is literally a whole in the wall place. If you didn't know it was there, you would never find it. The food was really, really good. And the service was great. The waitresses are the nicest people.

I don't know much about sushi but Jill, Chris and Eliza do and we ordered a lot of different things. All were delicious.

Highly recommend this place. It is on Kapahulu Avenue. Just ask any local.

Haleiwa and macadamia nut farm

Eliza, Jill and I drove up to Haleiwa on the North Shore. We drove past the Dole pineapple plantation but didn't stop.

Haleiwa is a picturesque surfer village. We stopped at a surf shop so Jill could buy a new snorkel. The "dude" behind the counter was so nice telling us about the shave ice down the street and where the macadamia nut farm was.

The shave ice at Matsumoto's was incredible. Surfer store dude told us to order the small in a bowl with ice cream because you get the same amount as a large in a cone and it is easier to eat.

We headed on around the top of the island. We stopped at Sunset Beach where this weekend's international surfing competition is being held. We passed the Polynesian Cultural Center. We stopped for directions to the macadamia nut farm because we were afraid we had passed it.

We hadn't and continued on. Amazing trees that reminded us of those savanna trees in African safari films. They are huge and curve like umbrellas. No waterfalls this time of year but it was cloudy and every so slightly rainy at times. We got to the macadamia nut farm outlet just a few minutes before it closed. Bought some nuts and coffees and souvenirs.

We drove on to Kailula and were supposed to meet up with Chris. There was some confusion about times and locations. That was a bust and so we drove back over to Waikiki directly over the mountains.

USS Arizona Memorial

Rented a car today. Actually got a new Ford Escape. Eliza and I drove to Pearl Harbor to visit the USS Arizona Memorial.

We got there at 10:30 and thought we might have a long wait to get in. They hand out free admission tickets that are good for specific time slots. Turned out we got in the 11:30 slot so not bad.

You watch a video about the Japanese attack and the naval and air stations at Pearl Harbor before getting on a boat that takes you to the memorial.

There was a large naval ship in port. It had all kinds of communications equipment and antennas on it. It was leaving as we were going over to the memorial site.

The memorial is very solemn. You cannot see into the water very much. It is hard describe my feelings there. Such a sense of loss knowing there are over 900 men that are interred in the wreckage of over 1,000 that lost their lives on that one ship that day.

In the movie before going over it is mentioned that President Roosevelt cut off oil to the Japanese before war was declared. Another war that concerned oil. There was an audible reaction when that was narrated.

The flag is flying over the USS Arizona Memorial.

Hilton Hawaiian Village and To'Daii

We decided to crash the Hilton Hawaiian Village so Jill could hang out at a big pool. This was our first real sunny day.

This Hilton is enormous and has several towers, restaurants, shops, etc. They even had flamingos and penguins.

Jill and I swam in the ocean for a bit. Chris and Eliza went to the pool. I stayed at the beach for sun whild Jill went on to the pool. Our beautiful sunny day turned into another downpour afternoon. We hung out in one of the bars while we waited to go to To'Daii, a sushi buffet restaurant.

To'Daii was amazing. So much food. Much much more than just sushi. We all ate a lot. We walked back to the hotel taking our time window shopping in the ritzy part of Waikiki. We ran into an actor from the tv series Lost that Chris had met before. His name is Michael Emmerson and he plays one of the bad guys in the show if you watch it.

We stopped at our usual Royal Hawaiian Hotel Mai Tai bar for drinks and to listen to the musicians. Jill is doing really well considering she is having knee replacement surgery in a week.

Diamond Head hike

Hiked up into and up Diamond Head on Sunday with Eliza. Diamond Head is an inactive volcanoe crater on the southern end of Oahu. It is the famous natural site from Waikiki Beach.

Eliza and I walked to the State Monument (Park). You enter the crater through a road tunnel. Inside the crater is like a jurrasic park feel. There are military buildings but it seems so desolate and foreign.

You hike up a well-maintained trail that includes handrails and some very steep stairs to the highest point of the crater -- some 760 feet up. You actually end up inside a WWI bunker, climb through the gun slit and up to the top of the bunker.

They warn you of the strenuous climb but that it is possible for anyone. It is not an easy hike and there were some folks I questioned whether they would make it or not.

Great views once on top. It was an overcast day for us but still quite spectacular.

Raymond Reed, Third Division World Champion

My nephew, Raymond, is the National Barrel Horse Assocation Third Division World Champion.

Congratulations!

Here in Hawaii

Arrived Friday night just a few minutes later than scheduled. I had reserved a driver pickup. I've always wanted to do that.

Arrived at the Royal Grove Hotel to meet up with Chris, Eliza and Jill. This is a surfer hotel. There are surf boards all over the place.

Saturday was cloudy but warm. We played tennis. I haven't played in a long long time and did pretty good. An incredible view of Diamond Head from the tennis courts.

We took the public bus to the Honolulu Museum of Art for lunch. Chris and Eliza were going to attend a free lecture on Italian art but found out it was a lecture for people going on a museum sponsored tour. They decided not to go. The restaurant at the museum has wonderful food.

The park across from the museum has four really big banyan trees. The kind of trees that drop down roots from their branches.

Saturday night we went to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel Mai Tai Bar. It is right on the beach and has great drinks. It is a historic hotel and just beautiful inside. Like a movie set.

It started to rain while we were there. We were able to get back to our hotel between rains. It rained all night. Looks like it has stopped now but all cloudy. Going to be a lazy day of card playing and reading I think. Nice.

Aloha Hawaii

I am so excited about going to Honolulu on Friday. I just got notified that I was upgraded to first class for the Los Angeles to Honolulu leg.

But most of all I'm looking forward to beautiful weather, fun with friends (Jill and Chris), hanging out at the beach and snorkeling.

Chevy Equinox

This week's vehicle was in interesting one. I think the Chevy Equinox qualifies as a Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV).

It stands tall so is easy for me to get in and out of. It drives sort of like a truck though. The windshield rakes very steeply and made it hard for me to see stop lights when you pulled up to them.

The most irritating thing was that the power window controls are all in the center console. I don't think I would ever get used to that.

One thing that GM and Chevrolet should get credit for is the transmission. I've had a couple of other GM vehicles and the automatic transmissions on all of them have been outstanding. The shifting is smooth. The down shifting when accelerating is not abrupt or jerky.