Why do we think some numbers are “lucky” and some are not?

I once took a lava rock back to Kauai not because of bad luck, although I had lots, but more because the rock needed to be back from where it came from. It is a cultural thing.

Have you noticed that tall buildings often have no 13th floor. Well that is not true, I used to work on the 14th floor of a building without an announced 13th floor. So I was really on the 13th floor and got let go as fast as people on other floors! If you want to get technical, there were single and double floors below ground level, so where really was the 13th floor?

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. It is so prevalent that we named it. There are people who are also afraid of Friday the 13th (paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia).

Tetraphobia, fear of the number 4 in China, Japan, and Korea keeps them from having a 4th floor and Italians don’t like 17.

It is a wonder these buildings can stand on their own without these floors.

As I said, 13 is supposedly unlucky, HOWEVER, it is more prevalent in US society than you can imagine. Take the lowly dollar bill; 13’s all over it. Look closely at the Seal of the US, the eagle with 13 leafs and 13 arrows, 13 stars for the original colonies…”E Pluribus Unum” is 13 letters…

So what makes 7 so lucky? I can tell you that is doesn’t come up more often on the roulette wheel. I will admit it shows up often on slot machines, but only because the manufacturers hope that you will associate luck with that machine and feed it until it pays off!

We have all sorts of things we do to change our luck, throwing salt over our left shoulder, not stepping on cracks in the sidewalk, picking up pennies… many of these luck-changing reasons are forgotten by most. Most of us would not stoop to pick up a nickel, let alone a penny.

Remember penny loafers? They were shoes with a place to put a penny. I wonder if you wore shoes with pennies, could you step on a crack and NOT break your Mothers’ back?

Luckily, I would never do that!

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Speaking of luck, imagine how lucky you would be if you knew that just today I had some coffee roasted in Medium. I’ll be shipping it out over the next few days to lucky buyers J

We Kona Coffee Farmers are fighting blenders against what are unfair marketing practices and consumer fraud. We would ask that you sign our electronic petition in support of two bills introduced in Hawaii. These bills may have a hearing in committee within the week, so time is of the essence!

As you know, I only sell 100% Kona Coffee. However, many mainlanders and visitors in Hawaii buy what is called a "Kona Blend", not realizing that it is 10% Kona beans and 90% foreign (non-US) coffee. Because the bag is clearly marked KONA, the public thinks they are getting a blend of Kona Coffees. The product is substandard and thus people go away thinking Kona is substandard. Even the experts at Consumer Reports made the mistake of thinking a Kona Blend contained all Kona Coffee! If they were fooled, you can imagine that the public has no chance!

We are asking the state of Hawaii to change the law to require 75% Kona in a bag marked Kona and that the remainder be listed as to country of origin. This law is modeled after a similar bill Napa Valley Wineries passed. Once this coffee law passes, it then goes on to the US Legislature. It cannot become Federal law until Hawaii passes it.

Blenders are making enormous profits off our name and they have lots of money to hire lobbyist to stop these bills from passing. We farmers are doing what we can and every name on the petition helps us.

I ask that you consider signing the petition at the following address:

http://www.petitiononline.com...

If you would like further information about these bills, you are welcome to visit http://KonaCoffeeFarmers.org and click on the link "KCFA Legislative Programs/Blend Law Reform."

Most of the public is fooled into thinking these blends are really all Kona Coffee. We are not asking blenders to stop making a 10% blend using 10% Kona, they just can't advertise it as "Kona" when 90% comes from somewhere else.

I thank you for any help you can give us farmers.

http://www.petitiononline.com...

You often hear the statement that “On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate it an 11". Should 10 become 12 or maybe 14 (to give us some leeway for inflation)?

In school we created lettered grades with “A” being the best. Yet we give “A+” so I’m not sure what “A” needs to become to give us more room. Perhaps the Exclamation Mark?

The credit reporting people give typical range for credit scores between 375 and 900, with 375 indicating a poor credit risk, and 900 indicating a high liklihood that any credit extended will be repaid as agreed. However there is a lot of disagreement as to what the bottom and top numbers of that range truly are. The average credit score in the US is around 680. So, there is room on either side of that range for inflation I guess. Based on that scale, Oprah (the richest woman in the US) should rank what? A 1250? Actually HAVING money does not make your score go up, it is how fast you pay back money borrowed. It used to be said that without a credit card, the credit companies had no way to measure you, and thus credit card companies and mortgage companies had no idea what kind of credit risk you were.

As I have said before, a 2 by 4 is generally (there are different reasons and milling processes) that are not 2 inch by 4 inch.

A Quarter-Pounder hamburger is not a quarter pound; it WAS before cooking, but then why quote that price? It USED to be a cow and many hundreds of pounds before cooking…

Hot dogs come easily packaged in 10’s perhaps because 10 weigh a pound. Buns come in 12’s because Bakers like dozens and equal parts thereof. Perhaps their pans are pre-made. In any event, to not have buns or dogs left over, you need 4 packages of hotdogs and 5 packages of buns. There are exceptions, for example, go to COSTCO and get like 50 hotdogs in a package. Or, there are the companies that sell hotdogs already in the bun.

Ask someone how bright a light is and they quote it in watts. Light is not measured in watts but in lumens. Yes, a light bulb may use 100 watts of electricity, but I have a printer that uses 100 watts yet gives off no light at all. Want to switch to florescent bulbs? Compare lumens with an incandescent bulb and you will see that the fluorescent gives off the same number of lumens at a greatly reduced wattage.

Since I’m repeating bits of previous blog entries, let me repeat the following:

Here in Hawaii, we have blenders who buy Kona coffee and blend it with foreign (non-US) coffee. They call it a “Kona Blend”, which many people take to be a primarily Kona product. Unfortunately, the blends contain 10% Kona and 90% foreign coffee. We farmers are going to the legislature to have that changed and hopefully, enforceable US-wide. You can imagine that the blenders (who triple the price of the product) don’t want that to happen.

If you want to read the Hawaii County Council’s resolution, here is a link. http://www.konacoffeefarmers....

Speaking of coffee, want 100%, go to http://ItsKona.Com where I am offering FREE SHIPPING!

A major reason I moved to Hawaii from the Atlanta area is that I got tired of the ice, cold and tornados. We are not without our issues here. I recently acknowledged Hawaii is prone to every known natural disaster and some of them at the same time.

I am hearing of mainlanders enduring snowstorms and lack of electricity and I am reminded that residents here are probably better prepared for the inconveniences, maybe because we practice more.

During the recent major earthquake, we lost power statewide (which is amazing because each island generates its own power). Because we are a tropical location, lack of electrical power is not a major problem here. We often can lose power for hours at a time because many of the power lines are not buried and are prone to be knocked down by cars or mudslides. Our weather is such that not having heat will not cause undue problems. I hesitate to mention that there are people who live at higher elevations where it gets below 60 or even 50 at night, but they already have woodstoves and wood handy. Unlike the mainland where the winter is much colder than the summer, here our cold period happens at night and the difference between winter and summer lows is only about 5 degrees. Thus we don’t have wild swings in temperatures between seasons, we get it between day and night based upon the altitude. Still, unlike the mainland, where a winter storm would create an area of frigid temperatures spread across many states, someone here on the Big Island would only have to drive a few miles down the road closer to the ocean to get back to tropical temperatures.

Many islanders live a good distance from major stores, although we often have a small Mom and Pop store near us. Items like toilet paper and canned goods travel from the mainland on freighters and can be weeks away by barge. We have had storms and dock strikes that have slowed or stopped delivery of critical items and it is not unusual to have to stock up on items, which could have a delayed arrival.

We are lucky here because we grow many of the items we need and are pretty good at trading what we have much of. I’m sure this is the same as small towns on the mainland. It is not unusual to go to the Captain Cook Post Office and on the outside table, see avocados or mangos someone has left for others to take. Just yesterday I picked an orange from the lone orange tree on the property and a pineapple I am growing has started to grow fruit.

Papayas grow in the wild, as does guava. In fact, here in Hawaii, guava is considered a weed J The soil is so rich that rather than fertilize often, you need to stock up on Roundup to kill weeds that grow rapidly.

So in a pinch, someone here could trade his or her fruit or even their coffee for something else to eat.

Some people here rely on rainwater caught from roofs for use on crops, around the farm or in the house. With some preparation they can also use it for drinking. It rains often enough in most places that even if you rely upon county water for your house, in the event of a major water outage, there would be sufficient rainwater to wash with and so on. If you have visited before, you will know that locals here can clear a spot, dig a hole and make an oven. Practicing primitive cooking (I hate to call it that, but there are no metal utensils needed) is performed often for the tourists at their luaus!

Well this is all well and good, but it doesn’t help you much if you don’t live in Hawaii, does it?

Well, some of the things we do here along with some common sense, can get you through many outages and problems on the mainland. This is not rocket science; it is more of being prepared.

For outages of electricity, make sure that you have flashlights and batteries. There are flashlights that don’t need batteries and rely on sunlight or hand winding or even shaking them. The new LED flashlights use such little battery power that you could leave them turned on for days at a time. A radio with a hand crank or low power usage would help during storms and so on.

When the power goes out, most people need to be worried about keeping warm and dry. Having blankets and warm clothes around could not hurt. Even here in Hawaii many of us have at least one long shirt and pants, if for no other reason that to travel up the mountain to see our yearly snowfall!

On the mainland I used to have a kerosene space heater (make sure you open a window somewhat to let the fumes out). During heavy cold snaps in Georgia it was quite affordable to heat up a couple of rooms for just pennies!

Do you have a mechanical can opener? An electrical one won’t help much if you have no power. How will you heat things? I have a propane grill in the garage that I can use (only use them outdoors). If you have one, why not make sure you have sufficient propane for an emergency. Have a little propane lighter also if your grill doesn’t light automatically.

Have some food available that you can easily make whether packaged or canned. If you can boil some water, a package of ramen noodles and a bowl makes a nice hot meal on a cold day. Some cultures live on ramen so you having to rely on it for a few days won’t hurt you. I always have a couple of gallons of water here, so even if the water goes off unexpectedly, I have some to drink. Perhaps having a few canned meat products and a handy loaf of bread would help you.

If you live hand to mouth (only buying items when you run out) you are not prepared for an emergency because many of them happen without warning. With our massive earthquake we had not 1 minute of notice and lost electricity and a few lost water. Many people relied on cell phones (until the equipment got overloaded) and cordless phones and Voice over IP phones (Internet phones) often were unusable when the cable and DSL lines didn’t work. Even cell phones need charging and if you don’t have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply), perhaps you should get a car charger at least for your cell phone.

Keeping your car gassed up is always a good idea, and if it is not dangerous, perhaps having some relatively fresh gas in a gas can will help, especially if you have to drive somewhere and you are nearly out of gas. Anytime you drive in cold weather where there is danger of snow, make sure you have an empty gas can with you in case you need it. I would not drive around with a full can of gas in the trunk of the car, but I seem to remember that there used to be some kinds of emergency car fuel you could carry safely but don’t remember the details.

Speaking of driving, I would NOT be driving anywhere near snow or ice anymore. I have been stuck before at the bottom of a hill in a remote area and had to sleep in the car with a heater that was broken. Although not very common, you hear of families stuck in blizzards on side roads for days with no provisions. If you have to travel, make sure that you cover the bases and are prepared for problems, which might arise.

In Hawaii, most houses are built to take advantage of the sun, shade and prevailing winds. In Georgia I saw little of that. Here our houses have large overhangs to allow a view but keep the direct sun out of the house. The houses are often positioned and have windows and doors, which can take advantage of winds for cooling.

Back in Georgia it used to get hot, very hot and yes, even humid during the summer. The house I was in had small windows and no overhanging roof areas. Thus before leaving the house I had to close the windows and the shades. The windows were closed to keep the rain out because even with a slight breeze, water would come in. The shades were down because the sun would heat the room quickly. Thus I had to run the air conditioner all summer when often opening the windows (and having some shade) would have been better. I still cannot understand why houses there seemed to never have an overhanging roof or even awnings over the windows! Imagine no electricity and being able to open the windows to get a breeze, even in pouring rain. My windows are open all day, rain or shine and not a bit of rain gets in.

Under that overhang I can also dry my clothes. I don’t use an electric drier and most clothes dry fine in our breeze, even if it is raining out. I realize that may not work well on the mainland, but it does here.

In Maryland we used to get lots of snow and cold too. During each snowstorm when I used to have the heat cranked up, the kerosene heater running and a wood stove smoking, I used to dream of building a greenhouse that would capture the sunlight and perhaps pump a bit of that heat into the house. Of course this would not be a solution just to keep warm in the unlikely event I lost power, or would it? There were times I spent hundreds of dollars a month just to heat the house during the winter. The kerosene heater was a great money-saver but was also something I could use in an emergency as my only heat source.

I once had to help an elderly lady at the New Jersey shore. She lived in a house with a large porch and Jalousie windows (those horizontal windows that open like Venetian blinds) and open with a crank. They often allow quite a bit of air infiltration. She had me cover the inside of the large window opening with clear plastic and small long strips of wood (quarter round) to hold it in place, thus making the porch a mini greenhouse. Thus, even in an emergency, just having plastic and wood and nails might help you warm up a room or protect it from the elements.

Not all money-saving ideas also help in emergencies. I am about ready to get rid of my aging hot water heater and replace it with an on-demand heater. This eliminates the tank and I will no longer heat water all day and night. Instead, the on-demand heater senses water flow when you turn on the tap and instantly heats the water, and then turns off the heat when you shut off the tap. Thus you can have constant temperature, constantly flowing hot water for hours if you wish. The problem is that if you lose electricity, you lose hot water instantly too!

With a bit preparation, you can easily get through any emergency. In advance review what you might need, be it food, water, heat, light, personal items, drugs, etc. If there is a storm coming, that is not the time to be going out and buying plastic or food, you should already have that handy. This also saves you the gasoline everyone else is wasting while you use the extra time to prepare for what lies ahead.

Have some preparable food handy, have some alternate heat sources, have a plan. This is NOT Rocket Science. Rocket Science requires more preparation!

Because we have two 14,000 foot mountain peaks on the Big Island, the temperature up there hovers around 35 degrees or so. Give it a slight temperature drop and a bit of moisture and there you go, snow. The observatories up there have web cams so that they can evaluate the road conditions and it gives the rest of us an opportunity to see snow without actually having to get cold.

On a trip up there I took photos and wrote up the trip. It is online at http://snow.itskona.com

Then we come to the “other” type of snow, the fragrant kind. Kona snow is what we call the blossoms on our coffee trees. You awake one morning and all you see is blossoms on all the trees, looking quite like a fresh dusting of snow. You can almost count the months to picking time again.

I had an Ebay sale going for six 8 ounce bags of coffee and there is only one problem. Some people want whole bean and some prefer to get the coffee already ground and give it as a gift. Well, I had s buyer purchase 3 of these specials, so it is 6 bags of coffee I’m preparing. Unfortunately he didn’t specify what type he wants and I can’t reach him. I hate to ship an order like this without knowing. I still have 4 hours to get it to the Post Office before they close for the weekend.

On a different note, I spoke with a couple of my neighbors and we decided to package a bag of each of our coffees together and let customers try an assortment. We suggest they brew a bit of each and have a tasting party. Like wines, each Kona coffee has a different taste, some subtle and some not quite so. There is actually a taste wheel that allows people to qualify the coffee tastes that tend towards woody or earthy or fruity and so on.

The say that Hawaii is unique in that every kind of natural disaster finds its way here. We have blizzards that close some roads, the occasional thunderstorm and tornado, earthquakes, forest fires, hurricanes, draught, floods, landslides, the occasional lava flow and much more.

In associated news, there was an earthquake overseas last night and for a few hours, Hawaii was among places with a tsunami watch or warning. Our watch was eventually cancelled, but it is a bit unsettling to turn cable channel and channel and only see a Civil Defense warning. The waves would have hit Hawaii just after midnight and except for shoreline damage, most people would have been home fast asleep. Campers were directed away from the shores, also due to the high surf and high tide conditions. Last time a similar quake caused minor flooding and some damage to boats.

So I guess it is also the occasional tsunami you have to watch out for too, and that is no “snow job” :-)

The banana is the 4th most commonly consumed food after rice, wheat and maize and grown in 130 countries and usually come in two types, yellow desert type and the green plantains used for cooking. When you go to the store, most people only see one type of yellow banana, the Cavendish, because it is the easiest to transport without much damage.

Because most varieties of bananas don’t ship well, people often never taste the other types unless they travel. One common banana here in Hawaii seems to be the Apple Banana, which tastes like a banana but has a slight aftertaste of, well, apples. The ice Cream variety has a hint of vanilla flavor, the Rose tastes a bit lemony and Dwarf Red’s taste a bit like peach. The Ladyfinger is smaller and thinner-skinned than the Cavendish and has a better flavor.

So you can see that the variety you see in the store leaves a bit to be desired, but, at least you get it fairly ripe, even thought they have to gas them prior to shipping.

So as you travel, you might want to try some of the local fruit. Just be sure that you wash all fruit well with clean water.

Now speaking of different tastes, years ago I was on a flight from Honolulu to the mainland and the flight had just come from Japan. As I took a sip of the can of “Coke” I immediately asked the stewardess for all she could spare. Outside the US, Coca Cola has real sugar in it, rather than high-fructose corn syrup. I could almost feel my teeth rot! Ahhhh!

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I mide a few modifications to my eplanation based upon an email from a freind. Here is Bryces explanation of how I mispoke.

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You imply that bananas don't ship well -- I know -- you meant certain varieties don't ship well. But the history of banana shipments suggests that they ship far better than most fruits.

Since bananas actually taste better if they are not left to ripen on the tree, they are ideal for shipping green. They were the first truly tropical fruit to reach the burgeoning urban markets in the 19th Century, as they could stand the delays of shipping by sailing ship from the Caribbean and most of the time arrive at markets in East Coast cities in acceptable condition.

This promising situation led banana companies to breed varieties that emphasized good keeping qualities and eventually applied controlled atmosphere and specialized ships to the trade. It became a big deal

I am told that today, you sometimes see several varieties of bananas, including the relatively delicate "apple" bananas in Mainland markets. But since I don't live there, you can't prove that by me. Cheers! Bryce