A 319 Day/ Ahoy!

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Today was by my definition in the sidebar a real 319 day.  I took care of a lot of things as well as came to understand alot of bureaucratic garbage that had been dogging me.  The issues I solved today:

Mobile me

I switched to Apple’s Mobile me email service two months ago before we came to Hawaii.  It was brand new and had ALOT of bugs.  I basically couldn’t sync my computer with Mobile me.  Apple was horrendous to me.  I say this being an Apple super fan.  The service costs about $80 a year.  I have aol, gmail, and rocketmail accounts.  I didn’t really need Mobile me but their marketing campaign of all your ‘things’ happily coexisting together and accessible anywhere on a fluffy cyber cloud totally won me over.  So I paid the price even though I had just quit my job.  In the couple of days before we flew out I frantically tried to work out the kinks.  I had sent an exit email to all of my contacts using my me.com address as my new address. First of all mobile me only provides support through articles on apple.com and when you’re totally desperate online chat with a representative.  I was on hold for two days once for 2 hours another for 4 hours.  Granted Mobile me had just come out.  The representatives had no clue.  They referred me back to the articles and forums I had pored through that lead me to chat support.  After that I called Apple care and even went to the genius bar to no avail.  They all had no clue.  It was staggering.  After a few days the me.com website was operating properly and synced all my information.  I got an email while in Hawaii from Apple saying that they were crediting mobile me members with a month free service.   It wasn’t great but I could send and receive webmail and from my iphone.  The only remaining problem was the mail application on my computer.

I have Tiger which retained the .mac program which mobile me was an update to.  I could recieve mail but I couldn’t send mail.  I really didn’t want to deal with Apple so I just let it slide.  This morning I said ‘no more!’.  I decided to confront it head on.  And after screaming at people (not very Aloha) for about an hour I finally got a tech person to agree to help me without charging me.  Initially they insited on chrging me $50 for help because I hadn’t purchaced the extended Applecare warranty for $250.  I screamed so loud that I was worried the neighbors would come thinking that I was being murdered.  It took a couple of times calling them using this method to actually produce results.  When I would yell at someone they would put me on hold and never come back.  Eventually I got someone and said ‘let me preface this conversation by saying that if you don’t find a way to help me on this call I’m going to spend my whole day writing user reviews about how crappy your products are and how I didn’t get any help because I didn’t pay the extra money for Apple to be nice to me.’  This seemed to work.  I got a real tech person on the phone. 

I am a huge fan of IT people.  I love how they think and how they solve problems.  My admiration for them is similar to how I love film and theater production people.  They know their shit and they get it done.  Until Dustin, the tech support person at Apple that helped me, all the other people were flacks.  Do nothing, know nothing, bureaucratic, out-sourced hacks that speak in some indistinguishable accent and sound like a robot.  I HATE THOSE PEOPLE.  They rarely solve anything.  So Dustin got on the phone and stayed on the phone with me for over an hour–maybe even an hour and half.  When he couldn’t figure it out he told me so and he said he had to do research and call me back. Unlike the gentleman at the SOHO Genius Bar who was so obviously not a genius because he decided that it was my operating system and I needed to wipe it clean and reinstall.  Oh the Hubris!  I digress.   An hour later Dustin the Apple IT angel called me back, wiped the application clean and walked me through adding mobile me as an IMAP account which worked like a dream.  He’s a stand-up dude in a sea of people getting paid to do nothing.  NOTE to APPLE when you stink you really stink.

HEALTH Insurance

I’m on a COBRA health insurance plan.  The original plan was no great shakes so I have been considering switching to an individual health plan.  My boyfriend has great insurance through SAG which I learned is basically Blue Cross Blue Shield.  So after being lead around by the nose calling unhelpful brokers and a whole mess of numbers from different websites I finally found Gerry at Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield.  And he broke it all down for me.  What I learned is that unless you are RICH it is not easy to get a comprehensive individual health insurance plan in this country. He outlined three plans for me and though I’m not going with any of them I thought Healthy New York was the most interesting:

Healthy New York
state subsidized 263.86 a month
incoming gross monthly has to be under  $2167
must be able to prove that you worked one day in the past year

IPhone App TEXT GURU

I downloaded a new app the other day called text guru.  I find it to be really great.  It is a wireless filesharing application for the Iphone like Airsharing but you can edit and SEND documents from your IPhone.  Totally great.  So my problem was that my firewall was blocking the port that Text Guru was using.  The chat support walked me through how to make an exception in System Preferences and allow acces to a specific port.  I didn’t know how to do that before!  So basically for the other do-dos out there like me you go to: System Preferences>Sharing> firewall and from there you click ‘new’ choose ‘other’ and create an exception. It took 2 seconds and my text guru began connecting beautifully.

Mold on Concrete

It’s been raining like crazy here in Oahu.  Our patio which is made of concrete bricks was staring to get a gross green sheen which I can only imagine is mold or fungus.  I looked up some ways that you could clean concrete and found all kinds of concrete cleaning products.  I thought well I guess I’ll have to wait for a trip to Home Depot.  But it kept bothering me to an OCD level.  So I gabbed a bucket and clorox.  I mixed in hot water and just scrubbed the patio.  It didn’t work amazingly but it worked well enough.  At least I don’t feel like we’re living in a slimy aquarium tank’s pirate treasure chest.

Corn on the Cob

I made corn on the cob to go with dinner tonight for the fist time. 

  1. I husked the corn. 
  2. brought a big pot to a rolling boil
  3. added Salt
  4. put the corn in and let it cook for exactly 7 minutes
  5.  took a big pad of butter and coated the ears thoroughly before serving.

It was delish.

Kailua Bird and Fax

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Hawaiians are very into 'garden goddesses'. Not sure what that's about yet.

I woke up this morning and heard ‘tschicka-tschicka-tschika-tschicka’. I walked to the stairs and saw by the window a fluffy gray and black baby bird on the ledge of the window repeatedly flying against the glass as if to come into the house. It lasted for a long time. I even tried to walk past to get my camera and it left only to come back and tschicka-tschicka some more. It was surreal and cute. I was sort of still half asleep.

A local cat stalks rats on the roof. Crazy.

The creatures in this place are crazy. The other day we saw a rat CLIMBING A TREE. Sheesh. And as I reported earlier a gecko dropped on my head IN OUR HOUSE. And while K and I were benignly reading on the couch a gecko pooped on my arm. Crazy.

Despite this, I love our home. I love Kailua Beach. We drove to Ala Moana Beach to swim in more placid water and hone the swim strokes we’d been practicing at Kailua Beach. We hadn’t been to Ala Moana in weeks. I didn’t like it so much. I couldn’t swim for some reason even though the waters are 80 % calmer. We came back to swim at Kailua Beach a couple of days later and I realized the higher salt content of Kailua Beach water helps me float better and makes swimming a much nicer experience.

Practical issue note: K had to fax some papers today. I didn’t find anything on yelp but we found that The UPS Store on Hekili across from Foodland does copies and can send faxes.

Also as an Asian American looking for community here in essentially the most Asian American rich land in the whole country, I find this very interesting!

Hoover

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Favorite Hawaii made sweets available at Foodland:

  • Bubbys Homemade Ice Cream and Desserts (mochi ice cream)
  • Roselani Chocolate Macadamia Nut ice cream
  • Ted’s Chocolate haupia cake

Things I’m going to check out as soon as we get home for the holidays:

  • Permanent Brunch 95 First Ave., New York, NY 10003 post–Tasting Room Colin Alevras and Tillman’s Lesly Bernard open this project dedicated to the weekend meal all day every day, and introduce what must be New York’s first artisanal bacon bar.
  • Kurve 87 Second Ave. , New York, NY 10003
  • Priti Organic Spa 35 E. 1st St., New York, NY 10003

Followed by a pate bonanza at Marlow & Sons with Mary.

Burnished

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I rode the bus for the first time today. It wasn’t bad but it was also blech. I went downtown to attend my first HIFF staff meeting which was interesting and for the first 15-20 minutes kind of jarring. It’s been 2 months since I left my job at MOCA and alittle longer since my last staff meeting. There was a time that I would come home from a day at the office and think incredulously that there was the accute possibility that I might spend the rest of my waking life in an office and sitting in front of a computer. And as much as a part of me loves office culture, I felt sick when I couldn’t picture an alternative to my reality.

Despite my current feelings about grassroots offices I enjoyed the meeting today. HIFF in some ways is just like every Asian American staff I’ve worked with so far (in total 3). They’re young, full of energy, and dedicated to the cause. The meeting was pretty short but I got good sense of people’s roles. I met a friend of a friend who while being a coordinator for HIFF, also runs a fantastic publication called Smart Magazine. Nice people. I’m looking forward to getting to know them.

The down side is the travel. I got a ride into the office but then I took a bus from downtown to Kailu–the number 57. It went smoothly for awhile and then I probably should have transferred in Kailua. Instead I waited to see how close the 57 would take me. Turned out to be not so close. I had about a 30 minute walk from where the bus dropped me off.

Punch bowl

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Went out to Wilder Ave yesterday for my first sit-in with Bamboo Ridge’s (bambooridge.com) event planning committee.  The small press has been dedicated for 30 years to showcasing and publishing local Hawaiian literature including the work of wonderful writers like Lois Ann Yamanaka and my friend Wing Tek Lum.  This coming December will be their first big birthday bash and fundraiser honoring over 30 of the unsung  contributors and volunteers who have helped Bamboo Ridge thrive.  The people that were there were so nice.  I really enjoyed myself and I’m looking forward to helping them plan.

set photos from HIFF trailer shoot starring Jason Scott Lee and Kelly Hu
set photos from HIFF trailer shoot starring Jason Scott Lee and Kelly Hu

Tomorrow I’m attending the HIFF staff meeting.  K is working and has to use the car so I’m going to try to take the bus for the first time (thebus.org).  I’ve heard bad things about it.  Like that it never comes when it’s meant to.  And I have to take three different routes and it will take over an hour for a normally 20 minute car ride.  Egad.  We’ll see how it goes.

hiff_this_week_lores

Stink

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I met my friends from NY Wayland and Desiree for dinner tonight at Champa Thai.  It was delicious!  I had a great time–seeing them was like a little bit of home.  Wayland is originally from Hawaii so it was great to get his perspective on alot of things like art and community on the Island.  They told me to check out Makapu’u Beach Park/Waimanalo and Sea Life Park.

We had pad see yew and fried tofu with garlic sauce.  YUUUM.  Oh yes and I drove myself to dinner for the second time.  Which again, is very exciting.  If cars weren’t one of the leading contributors to global warming I’d want to drive everywhere.

I picked up Honolulu Magazine recently.  The current issue is 50 reasons to love this city. The two things that stuck out were Waimanalo Beach and plate lunches at The Rainbow Drive-In.  Seeing Wayland and Desiree made me miss NY a bit.

I’m going to attend a Bamboo Ridge meeting tomorrow.  It’s interesting because part of why I wanted to come to Hawaii was to get some distance from things including community–to discover a new world.  But I find the more that I meet people here that anonymity is something you have to consciously maintain.  I’m not sure how I feel about that right now.

Application

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We went into Waikiki today and the day before.  It’s very strange to find how living in Kailua has made me  soft.  The normal bustle of Ala Moana beach felt very exciting  🙂 I mean that’s hysterical.  K and I live on a street in New York that is non-stop noise and activity.  Meanwhile I felt like a bumpkin walking around Ala Moana Mall.  I had to stop at every storefront and peer at the merchandise displays.  Even the koi pond was more entertaining than usual.

We went to Ala Moana beach to practice our swimming.  At Kailua Beach the surf has been a little more active and when we try to practice we get tossed around.  K had alot of success with his swimming in Waikiki.  I mean he basically swims well now.  I, on the other hand, had a harder time swimming in calmer water.  I still haven’t quite figured out what the deal with that is.

top rated swim goggles from slate.com

  • Speedo Speed Socket $24.99
  • Tyr Nest Pro Goggle $20.00
  • Swedish Goggles $5.00

Today K drove me into town for my first meeting at HIFF–which was great.  I met some of the staff and went over some of the outreach process.  I was telling K that the HIFF people are like New Yorkers just more gentle. That’s pretty much the speed I want to be at for now.

After HIFF, K and I went for lunch and a movie at the Dole Cannery.  Recently there was a NY Times article reviewing and summarizing iPhone apps that were great for travel.  I’ve been downloading apps like crazy this past week.   Local Eats and iWant helped us find our lunch place which was delicious and our movie directly after.

my favorite iPhone apps:

  • Air Sharing
  • Feeds
  • White pages mobile
  • Yelp
  • Pageonce

I had macadamia nut encrusted Mahi Mahi at Sam Choy’s Breakfast, Lunch and Crab.  It looked like a very standard sort of lunch place but it turned out to really hit the spot.  There was a luau plate that looked so delicious but definitely a ticket to the town Fattsville.

We went to see Tropic Thunder afterwards and I was so surprised at how much I liked it.  I love Robert Downey Jr. but  I heard all the bruhaha about the use of the word ‘retarded’ and was pretty indifferent to seeing it.  It turned out to be oddly touching and I’m glad we went.  I actually cried at the ending even though it’s basically a big spoof.

K noticed that their was a recurring snowflake theme at the Dole Cannery Theater.  A bit random but I like snow flakes.  I told K that maybe it had something to do with Dole and he said, ‘you mean pineapples?’ and I didn’t have anywhere to go after that.  When we came out of the film it was raining so hard that there was a waterfall running through the elevator shaft and down the stairwells.

Another way my new iPhone came in handy was this morning.  At 7:45AM I was jarred out of sleep by what sounded like a 20 piece brass band.  The grade school by us was having an early assembly for the students.  I looked up grade schools in  my zip code through the white pages app and I found the school’s phone number.  I didn’t call this morning but I got their number now.  Brass bands beware.

Bulalacao

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the moon behind the edge of a cloud
the Kailua moon behind the edge of a cloud

Last night I saw my very first shooting star. It’s amazing that it’s taken 34 years for me to see one. It’s likely because I’ve never lived in a place that the sky was so clear and free of city lights. I made a wish after the fact. It was exactly as I had imagined a shooting star would be, only better.

HIFF and I love driving!

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I got to take the car out this morning! Kind of exciting because I don’t drive in New York and I’d resigned myself to being uncomfortable in the driver’s seat. But driving in Kailua is awesome, mainly because you only really have to make two turns to get anywhere. Today I had a meeting at Morning Brew so I woke up early, grabbed the GPS, jumped into the car and turned up the radio really loud to sing along… to drive half a mile.

It was pointed out to me by a friend that there are similarities between my arrival in Hawaii and scenes from Jerry Maguire. The scene where Tom Cruise secures Cush as a client and he’s trying to find a song to rock out to on the radio but he can’t? That was me this morning.

My meeting this morning was with a staff member of the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF). I was introduced to them by a friend and will likely be helping them out for the festival in October. It was really great to meet with him. They seem super nice and I’m looking forward to getting to know them and working the festival. Visit HIFF

The only other notable event today would be another episode in my ongoing drama with Hawaii creatures. I went to close a screen door and something soft but substantial landed on my head. Apparently I took the gecko by surprise when I slid the door closed, rousing him out of a mid-morning nap. He landed on my head, then my hand, and after I screamed he landed on the ground and seemed as shocked as I was as it took him a few minutes to scurry under the washing machine.

one of my many gecko friends.
one of my many gecko friends.

Camera/Chimera

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I risked my life to take the garbage out today. There was a pterodactyl-like monster guarding the door. I further risked my life to document this strange and rare monster that was as big as my face.

K said he saw a frog so big the other night that he thought it was a statue. When I asked him how he knew it wasn’t, he ominously said that you could just feel it wasn’t 😀

I was procrastinating my writing (as I am now) by randomly searching on google. I found a very interesting video and blog post on how to learn how to swim in 10 days.

from fourhourworkweek.com (excerpt):
My Top 8 Tips for Novices

Here are the principles that made the biggest difference for me:

1) To propel yourself forward with the least effort, focus on shoulder roll and keeping your body horizontal (least resistance), not pulling with your arms or kicking with your legs. This is counter-intuitive but important, as kicking harder is the most universal suggestion for fixing swimming issues.

2) Keep yourself horizontal by keeping your head in line with your spine — you should be looking straight down. Use the same head position as while walking and drive your arm underwater vs. swimming on the surface. See Shinj Takeuchi’s underwater shots at :49 seconds. Notice how little he uses his legs; the small flick serves only to help him turn his hips and drive his next arm forward. This is the technique that allows me to conserve so much energy.

3. In line with the above video of Shinji, think of swimming freestyle as swimming on alternating sides, not on your stomach. From the TI Wikipedia page:

“Actively streamline” the body throughout the stroke cycle through a focus on rhythmically alternating “streamlined right side” and “streamlined left side” positions and consciously keeping the bodyline longer and sleeker than is typical for human swimmers.

For those who have rock climbed or done bouldering, it’s just like moving your hip closer to a wall to get more extension. To test this: stand chest to a wall and reach as high as you can with your right arm. Then turn your right hip so it’s touching the wall and reach again with your right arm: you’ll gain 3-6″. Lengthen your vessel and you travel further on each stroke. It adds up fast.

4. Penetrate the water with your fingers angled down and fully extend your arm well beneath your head. Extend it lower and further than you think you should. This downward water pressure on the arms will bring your legs up and decrease drag. It will almost feel like you’re swimming downhill.

5. Focus on increasing stroke length instead of stroke rate. Attempt to glide further on each downstroke and decrease the number of strokes per lap.

6. Forget about workouts and focus on “practice.” You are training your nervous system to perform counter-intuitive movements well, not training your aerobic system. If you feel strained, you’re not using the proper technique. Stop and review rather than persist through the pain and develop bad habits.

7. Stretch your extended arm and turn your body (not just head) to breathe. Some triathletes will even turn almost to their backs and face skyward to avoid short gasps and oxygen debt (tip from Dave Scott, 6-time Ironman world champion).

8. Experiment with hand swapping as a drill:

It’s difficult to remember all of the mechanical details while swimming. I short-circuited trying to follow half a dozen rules at once. The single drill that forced me to do most other things correctly is described on pg. 91-92 of the TI book: hand swapping. Coach Laughlin’s observations of the Russian Olympic team practice were a revelation to me.

This is the visualization I found most useful: focus on keeping your lead arm fully extended until your other arm comes over and penetrates the water around the extended arm’s forearm. This encourages you to swim on your sides, extends your stroke length, and forces you to engage in what is referred to as “front quadrant” swimming. All good things. This one exercise cut an additional 3-4 strokes off each lap of freestyle.

I’m not sure what it all means but all I can do is doggy paddle or swim without breathing. Some of the suggestions seem very intutitve. So I’m going to try these tips the next time I’m at the beach.