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| The Answer My Friend... |
| 05.22.05 (2:05 pm) [edit] |
There is a popular song which contains the refrain "The answer my friend" and I thought of it when I came up with this blog.Last month or so I needed to know how many macadamia nut trees I had. I also wanted to map the area to decide where I was going to plant 5,000 coffee trees. Since GPS is not accurate enough for what I wanted, I decided to try to determine where each row of trees were and how many trees in a row. I decided a non-technical way to count many trees was to flag each row. Ace Hardware sells little flags and I opted for Orange. They are small 2" by 2" plastic patches on a small thin wire. You just decide where to put them and push then into the ground (not easy if you live on rock). It is also not very easy to see the orange flags. They are small and seem to blend in with existing weeds. Walking alonmg the driveway and although it was difficult but I think I accurately identified each row with the flags. I say it was difficult because it appears the rows are not very straight and trees have been allowed to grow inbetween the regular rows. I estimate 50 rows of 10 trees for a toal of 500 macadamia trees! So along this driveway I have 50 little orange flags, each denoting what I believe to be an original row of trees. On another note, I was up in town yesterday helping install a refrigerator. Why? It seems that I have this truck... :D By the way, a few days ago I was caring for that lost dog and had taken it up mauka to get some exercise. I found a few kids walking up the road, exploring I guess, as they appear to be new to the neighborhood. They saw me and decided to leave; realizing that this was my driveway and not just a road. They may have been 9 years old or so, I don't know, but certainly pretty young. On my way home last night it was dark as the moon was behind heavy clouds. I turned down the driveway and part of the way down the headlights illuminated something. I almost drove past but then something registered in my head. I stopped and backed up, getting out of the car to investigate. Sure enough, I HAD seen something, something that made my spirits drop just a bit. There was a pile, well a clump if you will, as it they were, all standing upright. All picked like flowers and planted in one spot. As the song goes, "The answer my friend was blowing in the wind..." The answer was 30 little orange flags, all together in a clump, blowing in the wind! :( |
| Rushing Waters |
| 05.19.05 (3:32 pm) [edit] |
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Speaking of Russin Waters, Reuters is reporting that recently a Russian village lost its lake. Oh it was there when they went to bed at night, but in the morning, it was gone. The thought is that the water drained into an underground cavern or water course. Now the difference between Russia and here? Well, here in the US we blame aliens from space who suck up the water to a space ship to take back to their own parched planet. In this article they found a Russian woman who blames the US... "I AM THINKING, WELL, AMERICA HAS FINALLY GOT TO U.S.," SAID ONE OLD WOMAN, AS SHE SAT ON THE GROUND OUTSIDE HER HOUSE. What the U.S. wants with water from her lake, and how we made it disappear, I have no idea. However, remember my recent post about the U.S. government helping me build catchment tanks for rainwater collection... maybe we DO have a water shortage... and if Russia has all this water... :twisted: |
| Transitions |
| 05.15.05 (10:55 pm) [edit] |
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The dog I found is back with his owner. It turns out that on one walk he was about 100 feet from his house and a few yards from his yard; yet he didn't know it. It appears a couple got him from their son and the dog must not have been there long enough to know the neighborhood. Now he knows at least one other person :D I got approved for a grant to help me add water conservation to my farm. I'm in line to add some catchement tanks and 500 coffee trees! First I have to remove about 350 of the existing macadamia nut trees. Can you say MULCH? The work will start very soon. The mangos keep dropping to the ground fatser than I can pick them up. Most are going to waste. They are not the best type of mango and many are not very tasty. I'm still not sure why someone would plant fruit trees right next tothe house. The fruit rots and brings fruit flies. At this very moment I estimate 50 mangos on the ground. On the other hand, I have hundreds of avocados on trees up at the mauka (mountain) side of the farm. The tree was never pruned is is 2 stories high and thus hard to pick the fruit. When the avocados drop they me be too ripe. I do have a fruit seller up in town who says he would gladly buy them from me, if they are a good variety. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to do that at present. I may have to start hiring part-time help soon. I had hoped to have used some of my nephews but they are working on the mainland. I'm helping a neighbor get her website running and I'm about ready to switch shopping carts myself. The new cart is a rework of the existing one I'm using, but I will not be able to copy the user account over. Still, the new cart is quite good because it has many of the extras built in that I used to have to add manually. The big deal about the recent earthquake is justified. It was the largest in like a decade. We get quakes often enough however most people never feel them. This one was felt by almost everyone I asked. I still have some coffee up on Ebay. Take a look if you want. |
| I've got the shakes |
| 05.13.05 (8:41 am) [edit] |
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Isn't it interesting how one word in the English language can mean so many different things? Shake(s) A milk shake To rattle A fair deal (a fair shake) To extort money (shakedown) To work out problems (shakedown cruise) Involuntary muscle twitches from too much drinking (the shakes) Music titles (shake rattle and roll) Hurry (shake a leg) More examples at http://dictionary.reference.c... Which one am I refering to? Well, I COULD have used a drink last night, but I was awoken at just after midnight by a violent shaking, caused by, you guessed it, a "small" earthquake. The house shook for what might have been 4 or 5 seconds it seemed and this was the biggest quake I remember feeling. The others were small shakings or perhaps like someone threw a baseball againt the side of the house once. This time there was no question that it was a quake. I waited for it to subside and then said "wow, that was not good" meaning that it was not a slight nugde in the earth but much rock moving. I went online to my sources but could not find this quake listed and finally and hour later went to bed. This morning the data has been reviewed and is available. It was in fact a 4.8 and located well offshore near our new volcano, 3 miles SSE of the Lo`ihi Seamount, the newest volcano still struggling to appear above sea level off Hilo. Now I realize that 4.8 is not very large a quake, but this whole island is rock and these quakes or quivers reverberate. That it was 15 miles offshore and 7 miles deep, still add some excitement. It also appears to have been 90 miles from my home. I can image how it felt to people further down the coast. Many of us live in pier and post homes (those built up on stilts as it were because the land is rocky and unlevel here. Many houses, if shaken enough, will head towards the ocean :D Current earthquake data for Hawaii is located at: http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/result... and if you happen there in the next couple days, you will see the big square above the "H" in the work Hawaii. That was the quake I felt. Clicking on it gives you more information and if you look enough, you can find the waveforms from the detectors: http://130.118.88.100/results... I believe the scientists use these waveforms to see how the vibrations were felt at various locations and you can probably estimate the epicenter by which detectors register in what order. Anyway, interesting stuff. As for me, I went down to check on the dog, now officially named "Dog" or "Puppy". That is about as close to making it a pet as I dare. Pit bulls may make very good pets, but I am concerned that it could be too rough to have on a farm with children visiting, etc. So far the worst it has gotten is he jumps up pretty hard when I go to chain or unchain him and I can see how a small child could easily get knocked down and hurt. He also wants to chase most of the birds on the property. Since my house is on pier and post, imagine concrete footings (squares of concrete) with metal fasteners on them and beams sticking up and cross members. There is siding along most of the bottom floor but you can see the joists above and there is dirt below. The siding does not touch the ground and as the ground slants away, you can actually duck under parts of the siding. A good view can be seen at house.itskona.com the second photo marked "The back side of the house". These photos are a couple years old now and were taken before I moved in. I have to admit, the house is more "lived in" now. I moved what was a full 5 bedroom house and a two car garage to this two bedroom house. The closets are packed high with stored items and one day I hope to sort through the rest. However, over the move I was able to eliminate most of what I had accumulated over the lifetime. As I was saying, I went under the house and consoled the dog who was shaking and trembling from the quake. As for my comments two or three blogs ago about having lots of work ahead of me... there is a government program whereby farmers get help installing water conservation items. In my case, the largest items are two or three water catchment tanks to be used for irrigation. It is common here on this island to save rainwater in giant tanks and use that to irrigate crops. This helps to conserve fresh water from the county and insures crops don't wither during dry spells. I was finally approved for tank and pipes and so on, so NOW the major work on the farm can commence! I will be documenting work as it progresses. I'll be clearing 5 acres of existing macadamia nuts and making way for up to 5,000 coffee trees! Oh the shipments I'll be able to make! :D Speaking of shipments, I still have Medium whole been coffee available which was roasted a few days ago. If you go to ItsKona.Com, you can get it at a discount by using TBLOG as the checkout coupon. Checkout is with Visa/Mastercard and shipping is 3 to 5 business days. The coupon is good for 10% anything in the "Roasted Coffee" category and can be used up to 10 times. So 4 ounce, 8 ounce or 1 pound bags can be ordered with the discount. Just remember to enter TBLOG in the checkout coupon box. Note that "whole bean" means the coffee is NOT ground and you will need to do that before brewing. If some of you are daring and know how to roast coffee, I also have a supply of extra-fancy beans just waiting for you! What better way is there to read blogs and have a steaming cup of 100 Kona Coffee by your side? Besides, some people who don't get their caffeine literaly get the "shakes" and we have had our share of them lately, haven't we? Until next time, aloha! Mark |
| More tails |
| 05.12.05 (11:30 am) [edit] |
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Perhaps it should be spelled tales? Anyway, the dog is still here, but not for the lack of me trying to return him to his owner. I posted his photo on two telephone poles in my neighborhood and then down at the ChoiceMart (local supermarket). I added an entry on the local Animal Rescue website. I also posted the info in the chat area at KonaWeb. Then I posted an ad on BigIslandClassifieds and in the local newspaper (who kindly offers a 12 word for 3 day free ad for things like this). I got a phone call this morning at 6 am asking if I found a dog. Luckily (or is that UNFORTUNATELY) the dog had me up at 5am, so this call did not wake me. The caller lost a similar dog, but his dog runs loose and it appears this is not his dog. Anyway, I refered him to the ChoiceMart bulletin board. I am glad that I was able to catch the dog and care for it, fully sure that had it continued to run wild it would have gotten hurt. Pit bulls are not know for their disposition; however, that MAY be over rated. This young dog likes to play somewhat rough, but it also is well behaved, appears to to bark often and likes to play and be scratched. Unfortunately, I cannot keep the dog. I used to have a collie/golden retreiver mix, but decided that until I had the room and time to care for an animal, I would not get another. So in the meantime, I'll be forced to take the dog to the pound on Monday if the owner has not come forward. One bright spot is that many dogs in Hawaii carry microchips which can identify the owner. Since there appear to by no vets near me, taking the dog to a vet or the pound 20 miles away to scan for the chip, pretty much means taking the dog up there permanently. I'll let you know the outcome. |
| To the Dogs |
| 05.10.05 (12:00 am) [edit] |
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I was working on my property when I saw two dogs run past. One was dragging a long metal cable, like you would clip around a tree to leash the dog. Fearing the cable would get caught on something, I stopped the dog. There were no tags on the very thin dog. It might have been kept hungry or perhaps it had broken lose days ago and not eaten. I don't know what breed it is, but I suspect it might have a bit of Rottweiler in it. It seemed quite content to run around behind me, followed my truck and wanted lots of attention. It also had not had any water in quite some time. I had to go into town and it followed me until it found another dog at the neighbors. I was hoping it would be their problem but when I got home the dog was again sitting under my house! Against my better judgement I decided to feed it. He was looking pretty starved and after seeing him start to rip some of my things to peices, I opted to feed him in the hopes he would stop chewing other things. He tried multiple times to get past my gate at the bottom of the stairs so he could come up to the lanai and be near me. I stopped that with a piece of cardboard against the gate. I don't need a boarder... I took a photo and sent it to the Animal Rescue Coalition here on the Big Island with the hopes they will post the info on their Lost and Found page. If the dog is still hear in the morning (and I have no doubt it will be), I may have to call animal control. I have a farm tour at 1pm and don't want a stray dog running after me and jumping on the visitor. Sonn I'll tell you the outcome of my application for water conservation for the farm. FYI, I have LOTS of paperwork in my future! |
| The View |
| 05.03.05 (1:08 pm) [edit] |
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There was (or perhaps may still be) a show on TV called "The View" with 3 or 4 famous people sitting around discussing their view on things. With that said, I just had a friend come visit from the mainland. What a difference! Because he lives in the DC area (and used to work on Capitol Hill) his life seems to be all encompassed with politics. Often times a simple discussion would turn to politics. I could try to steer the discussion away, but was not very adept at doing so. Sigh. Do I trust politicians? Not really. I mean, watch C-SPAN some. What is the first thing the guys ask, each time they speak? They ask for the ability to "extend and revise their remarks". This means that later, they can retract or add to their speech whatever they want, and that corrected speech is the one that counts. I believe they can even go back later and re-revise the speech. There appears to be no "Final Answer". This items shows that it is probably not as big a problem as it once was, so take all my comments with a grain of salt.. http://www.c-span.org/questio... The past two weeks we have had a lack of heavy rain. I may still put in a catchment water system. Yesterday I dropped off some green coffee to be roasted. That may be all I have to sell for a while. Time will tell. Many other farmers are out of current stock. Today I received another call from someone asking that I help them with their computer woes. In between creating websites for people, fixing their computers and so on, I am finding less time to do coffee than I should. I need to start trading computer expertise for use of a bulldozer... But then again, I may be out of coffee for the time being anyway... :-) As a final note for today, I found a neat site for those who like streamed audio, commercial free… go to www.sky.fm where there are some audio feeds! |
| Water, Water Almost Everywhere |
| 05.03.05 (12:32 pm) [edit] |
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A few days back I asked my next door neighbor about his water supply. He gets his water from the Country via pipes, like many here do. Some people use rainwater for crops and some for drinking. I get my water from the County, but am investigating catchment for crops. He told me that he has a standpipe that is large enough to handle a fire hose and could be used by me in an emeggency. I can contact my insurance company and asked to get a reduced rate. When he turned on his standpipe to show me the pressure, it was well, less than we expected. In fact, it was more like a dribble than a gusher. He was going to have the installer come back out and investigate. Not two nights later I was on the lanai (porch) and heard what sounded like running water coming from his house. I knew he had just had dump trucks of mulch and dirt delivered and perhaps I found the cause of his water loss... a truck broke his underground pipe... I grabbed a flashlight and headed south. The sound got louder and louder as I aproached the property line. Even at 10pm I decided it was not to late to call me neighbor. We met at the property line and as I directed him towards the noise I began to realize it was a gusher rising int he air behind some trees on his property. I envisoned a steady stream of water rising out of the ground and hitting the tree ahead of me like rain falling from the sky. That is, until we couldn't find the water! After much searching we fould the culprit. WIND! Yes, the wind was rustling the leaves in a tall palm tree! I had called my neighbor out to investigate trees making noise... Afetr a number of apologies, he continued to tell me that it was alright and not to worry. In fact he suggested that all the neighbors gather together and watch out for each other. That we report problems and strange things to each other. He suggested I head up the "neighborhood watch". HUH? Wait, I was just reporting the wind, not looking for a job :) Oh well, I don't know if I'll take on that position, but as the song goes, stay tuned. The answer they say is "Blowin in the Wind..." |