I am cleaning off the lanai and hope to be able to put Koa out there so he doesn't have to spend the day inside when I'm gone.

Koa's mother is having puppys any day now.

The new Target store has been open a while and I have not yet been inside.

I spoke with 2 neighbors who are also installing water catchment systems. I'm actually ahead of them, having my system all installed now. I still have to fill in a trench to get my last payment.

I have lots of cherry on the trees, but am having challenges getting all of the weeds out of there. I am having some problems with my flail mower and need to get it into town to be adjusted. I also have had issues with the gas trimmers. I hate to buy yet another one. but if I can't get it working quick enough, I'll have to.

More later.

NBC is rerunning the Ironman race this Saturday from 2:30 to 4pm Eastern time. It showcases my island. I took photos along the course a few years ago, but have been working the past 2 years on race day. This years race will be mid-October.

Monday night ABC has their finale of the Bachelorette which was filmed in Hilo (on my island). One of the vendors I book tours for, Kapohokine Adventures issued a press release that they are featured in the show.

I am searching through the movie "Black Widow" with Deborah Winger, because IMDB.COM says part of it was filmed at the Royal Kona Resort where I used to stay, and is next door to where I work. It is odd though. The listing calls the hotel the Royal Kona, but a year or so earlier it had changed its name from the Kona Hilton. If the hotel IS in the movie, I'll update the location. Their head chef used to be Sam Choy who still lives on island.

Speaking of "living on island" I still do and am loving it! If you plan upon visiting the Big Island of Hawaii, make sure you leave at least 2 weeks. Just driving around the island to see most of it will take you 3 days of trips. Then there is the 1/2 day (times two) getting to and from the island and playing with airlines. Then a day on the beaches (not the movie with Bette Midler (who owns a place here on my island)). Add in some shopping and there is your week.

Speaking of shopping, our Target store opens here today with a VIP-Only tour. Too bad the Emperor and Emperess Of Japan left so quickly. They could have done a bit of Western-style shopping.

Still speaking of shopping, I'm creating a shopping cart for the Kona Pacific Public Charter School. A similar school, kinda the one that got this one started, was started by Jessie Colin Young of the Youngbloods. That school kinda morfed into this one I hear.

I'm on my way to work, so aloha for now.

This just in...

The movie is called "A Perfect Getaway" and besides Kapohokine Adventures, another vendor I work with, Captain Zodiac, is also featured. I assume Capt Zodiac was on the West Kona side and Kapohokine was on the East Hilo Side.

My local VOIP phone quit so I'm missing local calls. I pay something like $12 a month, so I'm not too miffed.

Finally, often it look likes rain but just is (wait for it...) misty! Life goes on, or so they say, so I enjoy yet another day (in Paradise).

Speking of waves, there was an 7.8 earthquake in New Zealand and of course, we had a tsunami watch for a short while today. Luckily, there was no wave generated.

I'll be trying to mow the grass between the rows of coffee trees in the morning. We have had lots of rain spread out over the past few weeks. I see lots of cherry already, which means I'll be picking, processing and roasting this new crop this year! I won't have alot of coffee from the new trees, but what I do get, will be special as it is a year early. I was not expecting a crop this year at all or I would have spent an extra $750 to have all the tree mature, rather than just 2/3 of them.

On a completely different path... Would you like to have some quality software for free? There is a website called GiveAwayOfTheDay.Com and quess what they offer? They post a new software program each day and you can download it for free! Some of the software is "ho hum" but other offers are really useful. I leave it up to you to review the offerings and comments and decide fro your self. In the past couple of weeks I have grabbed 5 or 6 programs. The catch? Well, there is little or no support and you may only get this particular version and probably won't get any upgrades. Still, software recently offered allowed you to create website easily, edit audio clips, decompile Flash files and modify them and even add watermarks in images (useful to keep people from stealing your work and calling it theirs).

Until next time,

Mark

However, it appears that some people have decided that NOW is the time to start out on their own, starting a new online business. My hosting company has seen an upturn in people wanting to start a website and some opted for a shopping cart.

As you might expect, I have very low prices and it is possible to have a business website with a shopping cat for less than $100 a year! All you have to do is come up with some items to sell :-)

If you are interested, you can visit http://Planet-Aloha.Info and look around.

I DO encourage people to talk with me first so I can make suggestions as to te best package to fit your needs. I also can tailor a package so you get what you want and need, rather than what someone else things you need.

In total there were 6 puppies but two didn't make it. One was still-born and the mother dog did all she could to get it active, and we tried in vein, but it was not breathing. The second puppy was severly underweight and could not nurse. It was kept warm and tube fed, but we believe it had an internal blockage as it was not digesting the milk.

It is events like this that remind us just how fragile life is. Perhaps the teens of today should be required to help with these deliveries because some kids tend to believe that they are indestructable. Expressions like "Hey, watch this" usually don't end up well. I leave to others the discussions of when life begins. I just know that once delivered, it can be a real struggle.

I once was given the suggestion that I needed to learn to defend myself. When asked why, the answer was "Well, if you get into a bar fight...". I laughed. and told the person, I don't go to bars, thus won't need to defend myself there. The explanation was lost on him. By choosing to not frequent bars, and certainly not bars where fights tend to break out, I have spared myself of the whole path of weapons, hospitals, fights and the time wasted learning to fight. I believe I am a bit too mature to follow his path.

To go to a bar and get into a fight is a choice. To be brought into the world is not a choice (at least not for a child or as above, a puppy). We as adults must help all we can. Sometimes it just isn't enough.

Still, there remain 4 very cute puppies, 2 chocolate and 2 black Labs. They are now nursing and soon will start on raw meat. We expect them to be very healty from here on.

Speaking of Labs, Koa still wants to get up in the middle of the night. He wimpers as if he needs to go out. I put him on the lanai where he appears to sit or lie for hours. I need to get the kennel set up for him outside. I think he may be getting bored staying inside at night when there are all those farm noises going on outside. I don't really want Koa running loose all night, as we have wild pigs browsing the neighborhood and a pig/dog fight is not a pretty sight.

I don't know who started the idea that roosters crow at daybreak, because here they make noise all night long.

As for a farm update, many of the trees I planted have green cherry on them and in a short while I'll be picking the first fruit from the coffee trees! I wait with great expectation to taste that first cup of coffee from the new trees. It will be a very expensive cup based upon what I have spent to get to this point, so I will savor each drop. I'll also need to submit a sample to be cupped, but probably not for a year or so until the trees mature. My previous cupping was quite interesting and the results are posted somewhere on my website. The irrigation and care of the new trees will definately change the taste of the coffee. It also is a new direction for me and the farm as it too matures from mostly a macadamia nut farm to a big and productive coffee farm.

From my farm, I can see a very wide area and many people have aerial displays I can see for free.

Travel and Leisure Magazine has a list of the 10 best fireworks displays in the country. Boston, Mt. Rushmore, Washington DC, New York and Philadelphia are in the top 10. If you have not seen them, you might be surprised to see that Oahu is in the top 10! Yes, Hawaii made the list!

Common here are firework sales in supermarkets and Wal-Mart. It's not just for the 4th because we have many cultures for whom fireworks are an important part.

As we celebrate our independence, we also display the American flag. Here in Hawaii, while a territory, King Kamehameha decided to create his own flag; a combination of two counties he respected; the United States and, well, the United Kingdom... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

I guess we were not all that independent after all :-)

I got one for my business because it lets customers easily contact me. It also makes me look larger than I am (because most people associate a tollfree number with large busineses). This company seems to be one of the best prices for everything.

I opted for a vanity number (one that spells something) and it is the same as my internet coffee website domain name. It makes it very easy to remember and looks neat.

The number is actually an "877" number and If you decide to get a tollfree number I suggest AGAINST an 800 number. The 800 numbers look neat and are the most recognizable, but a particular number may have been used for decades by a number of companies and you may receive tons of calls for businesses that are out of business, but whose number was well published.

Common area codes are 800, 888, 877 and 866. Soon they may offer 855.

I choose a number and signed up. If I wanted a random number assigned the signup cost is $2. Otherwise for me to choose a vanity number would cost $15 to set up. Then, if you get no calls, the charge is a reasonable $2 a month. Thus, with a random number and no calls, the cost would be $14 a year! If I do get calls, they are 4 and 1/2 cents a minute. There is a "gotcha" involving calls forwarded to Hawaii, but I have a work-around. calls to Hawaii are 15 cents a minute. Hawaii has always been a special case because we are out in the middle of nowhere. Still, if I did get calls directly on the tollfree number, I would just call them back from my cell phone.

So once I had the number, I just logged into their website and told the system where to forward my calls. When someone calls my tollfree, the system just routes the call to whatever number I have chosen. It could be my cell phone or home phone or just some voicemail system somewhere in the US. You can log in and change that ringto number in realtime. You can download your call history, etc.

So for most people on the mainland, the cheap version is $14 a year and 4.5 cents a minute.

Although the system lets you have voicemail, I have free voicemail elsewhere. There are also other options I don't use, but I feel it is a very good deal and it has worked for me for many, many years.

I have neglected to tell you the company name for a reason; a very good reason :-) If I refer you, I get $5 and in these times, $5 is $5. Besides, I have done all the research and testing for you :-)

You are welcome to email me and I'll send you the link to sign up.

Their website allows you to enter text like "ATL-ANTA" to see if there is a number that spells Atlanta. There is not, by the way, but there are many with the letters "POOL" at the end, etc. It is fun to look up all sorts of words and unlike other sites, this lookup for tollfree vanity numbers is free. I checked and there are no numbers that spell MICHAEL or JACKSON available, but use your imagination. I also see 1-87-SEXY-ONE-2 available for those you want an easy to remember number :-)

Drop me an email by clicking on TMAIL in the left columnof this page and I'll send you the link to get a tollfree number.

Mark