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| Shipping Items |
| 06.28.04 (2:28 am) [edit] |
Sometimes it amazes even me that I can come up with pus like this for subjects of the Blog... I take a subject and find similar items which relate to it.Items = more than 1 item Shipping = topics of this blog Thus, this blog look at more than one type of shipping. The first shipping item involves the Webpage I am creating. I had hoped to have had it online by now but am still wrestling with the shipping module. The second item involves my receipt of an item I had shipped to me. That item was a copy of Quickbooks, the accounting software. I decided to buy Quickbooks for my business and found a very decent price on Ebay for the current versions. I received it a lot sonner than I expected. The shopping cart software I'm using can integrate to Quickbooks, so I don't have to re-enter all sorts of data. Finally, a cruise ship owned by Norwegian Cruse Lines (Pride of Aloha) continued its trek across the Pacific to its new home. Stopping in Hilo yesterday and Kona today, it's on its way to Honolulu and I was part of the Kona festivities! I learned a while back, to be careful when asked if I have some free time. Once I ended up at the Kona Airport to greet arriving Air Canada passengers on an inaugural flight to Kona. Then, I agreed to help the Kona Coffee Council on a weekend project, THEN found out I was help pick up trash along the road :-) This time I redily agreed when told I was to help greet the pride of Alona (associated story from the Hilo Greeting http://the.honoluluadvertiser...). I joined the group at the Kona warf this morning at 7am and soon was on a Zodiac Boat being ferried out to the ship. We took leis of plumeria flowers and as we aproached the ship, pulled the petals off the string and topped the waves with the yellow and white petals. We had to be careful not to throw the string into the water and it can be fatal to fish and mammals. As we aproached the ship, we arrived after the canoes. It appeared as thogh the shipboard passengers were not quite ready for us, but as we tossed the petals on the water we bagan to see more people come out on the balconies. Soon we could hear cheers and "Alohas" being presented back to us. As we left the side of the ship (and it dwarfed us completely), we took a slight detour south of Kona and came to a stop. As we did, a pod or two of dolphin came right up near the boat and arched out of the water for us. I had both my video camera and digital camera with me and took a lot of photos, but I'm ure some of them will not come out. The rocking of the boat and the unexpected locations of the dolphin, made it difficult to get excellent shots. I'll try to post photos soon, but I seem to have misplaced the power cord for my laptop and that is the system where I load my photo card. |
| Flurries (of activity and of the ice kind) |
| 06.20.04 (9:26 pm) [edit] |
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First, as you may know, I enjoy looking at the weather up on mauna Kea, a few miles up the road and tens of thousands of feet up. Often times they have snow there... YES, snow in Hawaii! Recently, their camera and weather station stopped working. On their webpage is the following text: "The UKIRT camera and weather station are inoperable due to ice damage. A new camera has been obtained; it will be installed and the weather station repaired when the telescope maintenance schedule allows." I have yet to drive up there, but hope to in the very near future. As I mentioned before, my Sister is heading this way and will be staying with me for a while. I hope to put her to work here on the farm. I'm sure I can find things for her to do! Speaking of work, this past week or so has been quite full of work and I was almost lost in a flurry of activities. I got a call from the mortgage company saying they hace scheduled the appraisal for the property for the end of the month. It appears the last one expired :( I will be happy when I finally get to closing. Then I can begin working on the house and farm. On the mainland I would have been able to buy a wooden shed for the yard, but here all I can find are plastic or wooden ones. Perhaps I'll have to build one instead. It ahs to be cheaper that way, if I can find the time. I reviewed the drafts of my coffee labels, approved them and days later got the finished product. The resolution of the print of a photo of the painting is not perfect, but at least I have a decent label for the bags. I also designed, bought and received my shipping labels. I have been working on a routine which will automatically print the shipping labels, so I don't have to hand write (or cut and paste) each shipping label. I have verified shipping costs for various shippers, but have not finalized how I will ship each combination of items. I still cannot get the Postal Service module to work properly again. I have green coffee beans ready to roast, the bags, and about all I need to start things up. I just have a few more tweaks to do on the website. I've decided that the previous roast was a bit too light so sell that way, so I will be kicking it up a notch. Once the business is running, this Blog will probably take on a more personal slant again. Like Maui's "Road to Hana", this Blog has shown you that the destination may not be as interesting as the trip there :D |
| Ranches and farms |
| 06.16.04 (2:51 am) [edit] |
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Saturday was King Kamehameha Day, celebrating the late King's rule. As you may know, Hawaii is the only state which had royal lineage and palaces. There was great parade down Alii Drive along the ocean with the usual decorated cars and dignataries. One invited guest was Jordan Segundo, a recent star on American Idol. Also popular in the parade are horseback riders, varied and many. An interesting sight was the Hawaiian Women, in full flowing gowns and flowered hats, riding side-saddled and controlling their horses. After the parade there were outrigger races at the newly refurbished pier, and the pomp and ceremony to remind people of the King and his rule. As for the horses, the Parker Ranch is the largest private ranch under single ownership in the United States, spreading approximately 175,000 acres across the Big Island of Hawaii. It is also one of the country's oldest ranches, with more than 150 years of history. Although I have not been to the ranch yet, it sounds like lots of fun; especially the rodeo and horse races! My younger sister called me from the the other day to say that she decided to sell her house. She opted for FSBO (For Sale By Owner). While waiting for the listing to appear online, she posted a "For Sale" sign in the window and went out for a few hours. Upon returing to the house, she bound a buyer willing to pay full price with no haggling, no "what ifs", no worries about how anything. She lucked out on this sale, as was evidenced by my recent sale :-) So, it looks like my sister is heading out here to Hawaii to try a quieter life. I will have a bit of help now getting the farm ready. Speaking of the farm, Tuesday I reviewed the coffee labels and found a slight problem that should be easy to correct. I told the printer to adjust the color a bit and go to press. I should have my labels by Friday! This has been a long process, but it looks like it will happen soon now! I am still working on my website, tweaking and adding. I can't get the Postal Service shipping rates to work correctly, but I'll worry about that later. Since I can ship up to about a pound or pound and a half of coffee beans at a fixed price, having multiple shipping options only complicates things a bit by sending me all around town to drop off shipments. I have been looking for storage units for the property here with little luck. Back on the mainland you can stop by a Home Depot and find large wooden barn-like buildings which can house almost a car. Here the best I have found is 6' by 12' plastic or metal buildings. The metal ones will not last long on this environment and I'm not thrilled with the idea of a plastic one. Perhaps the wooden sheds are too hard to ship or no one here makes them. It might be easier and/or cheaper to just build one. Soon I'll have to be building drying decks and pulping areas, so perhaps building a shed would be a good start. That's it for now. |
| A Matter of Degrees |
| 06.06.04 (4:35 am) [edit] |
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In preparation for company, I have been cleaning the house for the past couple of days. A KonaWebber from Maui came by to look at real estate near by and also wanted to see my farm. Another friend also came down. Except for me, all names will be withheld for reasons soon to be obvious :) After a brief tour and a cup of coffee, we were all three off on an adventure. Recently, Madame Pele has been streaming lava down the pali and into the ocean. We went to investigate. We drove from Captain Cook along the southern route, past the entrance to the Volcano National Park and over to Pahoa to see some properties. Many of the houses are quite nice, but right next door there might be a real shack. Some homes show pride of ownership, some LOOK like a shipwreck :) We grabbed some dinner in Hilo and proceeded back to the park. Since we got there after dark, there was no one to collect our fees. Here I was prepared to buy a year’s pass too! We skipped the standard tourist things like the observation area and the caldera and lava tube and went straight down to the end of Chain of Craters Road. By this time, many people had already left and we were able to pull into a slot right near the end of the parking area closest to the volcano. We began our long hike. Parking is quite a bit further from the end of the road then previously, because of recent lava outbreaks (which actually cover the road and permanently disable it). One good way to determine what kind of viewing there is and how long until you get there, is to ask people you meet along the way. The hike to the end of the trail took about half an hour or so. THEN, after the end of the marked trail, we ventured further towards the glow in the sky. The trek reminds me of a science fiction movie where the alien calls earthlings to the mother ship and we blindly follow. Parents were carrying their babies along the trip and that is something, which I DO NOT recommend. There are dangerous and harmful fumes in the area. Sulfuric and Hydrochloric acid fumes irritate the nasal passages. However, onward we went. As we started the hike, it started to sprinkle; the rain getting heavier as we went. As we got to the end of the marked trail, I was drenched. Once past the marked trail, the park service prefers you do not go, but they understand the drawing power of the ability to see new land being formed. The park service does notify you that you are on your own and issues enough warnings to scare most people, but yet, onward we continue. Because of the rain, I did not try to take many photos. Once past the end of the marked trail, it is important to swing your flashlight beams away from in front of you and constantly look for glowing spots in your path. When the solid rock begins to get a sandy texture and you feel sudden warm air bursts, you may be closer to lava than you realize. I noticed that the front of my shirtfront was dry because of the heat and now the rain had stopped. This was my case. As I walked along and tried to be vigilant, someone noticed that I was standing inches away from a glowing crack in the earth. It appears I may have been a foot or two above 2,000-degree lava!!!!! The ledge I was standing on might give way and I could experience a really life changing event! I quickly decided that I was close enough to the ever-present lava flows in the distance. As is the custom, one of our lava-viewer regulars brought a bottle of gin, which all three of us had chipped in on. The gin is for Madame Pele and legend says it is her favorite beverage. You pour the beverage on the rocks just before she claims that part of the earth. Our member of the group was ready to pour the gin on the rocks as we retreated. I mentioned why not pour it into the spot where I had been standing. As he poured the gin in the hole there arose much steam and then the gin caught fire! Who would have known how big the fireball would be! We about lost a member of our team, and on this point I do NOT jest! It was as if he had lit gasoline with a match. Flames danced out of the hole in the dark light and other people nearby were as surprised and we were. The flames remained for what seemed like 30 seconds. That was long enough for a few of us to think that the flame were permanent and perhaps started some type of chain reaction where the flames would be self-generating. They did not, but we were worried nonetheless! We are not quite sure of the reason, but have suggested that either one of us still owes pennence to Pele for previous misdeeds, or she realized that brought 1 pint of the cheapest gin we could find... After much driving and hiking I have no real photos of the event. One attendee says she has a photo of the fireball, but we won't know for a day or two. I decided that I was NOT going to stick around out there and quickly retreated to a safe distance. The whole way back I purposely told many people to be very very careful if the venture past the end of the marked trail. In thsi case, I was warning people to avoid a fate worse then death :wink: |
| Progress |
| 06.02.04 (11:41 pm) [edit] |
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This past holiday weekend, I stayed in and worked on the website quite a bit. I added a few options. Today I went to Kona to help a friend with her computer. She was installing a printer and the cable was missing. She called her son and I could hear part of the conversation from the phone. She asked him if he had the cable. His answer (in typical style) was "Never Had..." :) Many times the local expressions are cute and funny. "Broke da mouth" means that the food was so good that the persons mouth is "broken" and may never work for anything else again, kinda like being spoiled. "Off Island" means the person is not on this island. A friend may aproach you and say "Howzit?" which means "How is it going?". Another expression is "Stink Eye" which means to get or give a dirty look. "Mo'bettah" means this is a better way. I also received two quotes for my coffee labels and decided on a local printer. This morning I dropped by my information and paste-ups and should see the drafts on Monday. Once approved, I expect the labels to be delivered soon thereafter! As with most of my tasks, I got very involved in price/performance. The other printer offered a cheaper price and may have done just as well on the printing, and I think they certainly could have used the busienss. In this case, I opted to spend a bit more money and got a bit more flexibility on the design and layout of my labels. I still have not heard whether my mortgage has been approved. The same company denied the loan a few months back becaus eof "contingencies" on the property. Those issues have been resolved so I expect this to be a no-brainer. The KonaWeb picnic is Friday night and Saturday I am scheduled to go with friends see the lava flow at the volcano. The news is reporting that the lava is reaching the ocean. News and photos of the current lava flow may be seen at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilaue... Enjoy! :D |