Water Water Everywhere

After a mysterious dampness spread across the floor of the hall yesterday, it was discovered that our water heater of nearly 35 years had finally sprung a leak. It wasn't terribly fast but it was due to be replaced sooner or later.

The old heater was a 40 gallon "low boy" style heater that was installed under the hallway counter-top. The plumber removed the old boy and my father in his effort to save money and power decided to replace it with a small and supposedly efficient 4 gallon heater instead. Granted, we have more than one water heater in the house and this heater only feeds one shower and a sink for the most part. The bad part is it feeds a shower and quite frankly 4 gallons is probably not enough. Mom took one shower and complained that it was cold in 2 minutes. She is not happy.

I for one would just like to have the hall floor dry out a bit. I don't know about you, but being that we live in Hawaii and go barefoot in the house, stepping on a damp floor is one of my least favorite sensations... especially first thing in the morning. Yuck.

Well, we'll see what to do about it tomorrow. The 4 gallon water heater may have to go back. We shall see.

Happy Veteran's Day

Despite the fact I don't support unnecessary military spending and wars, I am fully supportive of our active duty military and our veterans.

Many thanks to the many military service men and women of past and present. I know I don't want to put myself in harm's way, but they do it so I don't have to. I am mindful and grateful for their sacrifice every day.

May they all come home to us safe.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Dancing in the Dark - Count Miconia takes to the Ballroom

Went to the Masquerade Ball today dressed as Count Miconia. Those of you who know me well probably already know what Miconia is and why it is bad for Hawaii but for others, the skinny is this:
a)Miconia grows fast, matures fast, and is shade tolerant
b)It has huge leaves that shades out other plants below including our native ones.
c) Once mature (within 3 years) a Miconia tree will put out several thousand tiny poppy-seed sized seeds in small fruit that alien birds like to eat and poop out elsewhere. The seeds are viable up to 16 years (as far as we know).
d)The trees get up to 60 ft. tall and have shallow root systems.
e)Miconia eventually eliminates all other plants in an area and creates a dense monoculture. The ecosystem that relied on that forest is eliminated.
f)Rain falls, Miconia, unable to hold onto the soil, slides off the mountains causing mass landslides.
g)Dirt fills streams, goes towards ocean, dirt in ocean covers coral killing the coral and the fish.

So I went to the Ball and even performed and danced in costume as Count Miconia and hopefully raised some eyebrows if not some consciousness about the deadly threat Miconia poses to Hawaii's native ecosystems.

I promise there will be photos later.

Caster Semenya-There are no boxes

For those unfamiliar with Caster Semenya, she is a rising star in the international running world. Her low voice, bone structure, and her amazing record-breaking running times during the World Athletic Championships gave rise to questions about her gender. The IAAF ordered a gender test and the results are in.

The results show that Caster is intersex. She maintains characteristics of both male and female gender. What is unfortunate is that not only has she just learned of it, but that she had to learn of her condition in such a public way. I can only imagine how emotionally devastating this must be for her. Still, the questions remain: Is Caster's career over? If not, can she still run as a woman? Is there a place in the sports world for intersex people? We shall see.


http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/09/10/caster_semenya/index.html#

*This post was intended to be a Facebook link but FB was being stubborn and would not allow me to post this when I wanted it to.*

I am not amused by the "unavailable"ness of Facebook and the being logged out for no good reason.

Hmm. It appears Facebook is down. That's not good.

Closing down... heading for the door.

Plant Eats Baby

Okay so maybe such a headline would never actually happen except for in imaginary productions such as "Little Shop of Horrors" but invasive plants certainly deserve their due respect.

Sure, there's an obvious call to action when some pathogen, snake, or swarm of ants harm people. Plants, however, don't jump out and attack us. They are often a lot more subtle about their invasion and may have more far reaching, long term consequences that harm us on a much larger scale.

Miconia is one such invasive plant that could forever ruin Hawaii. This past week I attended the 2009 International Miconia Conference on Maui. This is the 2nd such conference in the long history of the Miconia infestation here in Hawaii. Miconia (Miconia calvescens) may look pretty but its attractiveness belies its potential to completely wipe out native tropical forests in island ecosystems. Over time it can cause the loss of whole ecosystems (leading to extinctions), increase erosion, cause landslides, and kill the fish in reefs with increased downstream flow of soil into the ocean which can smother the reef and the ocean life within.

What's more is that Miconia prevents water from getting into the soil and reduces the groundwater recharge that we all depend upon.

There has been a lot of good education on the need for Miconia eradication but many people still don't know what it is or how it can have a lasting effect our lives. For the most part, people living on Oahu and Kauai will never see Miconia... and that fact cuts both ways. On the one hand it is great that we may actually eradicate Miconia on these islands but on the other hand it begs the question, "How can we continue to garner public support for the work that we do if they can't see the problem for themselves?"

Maybe it won't take plants attacking humans to get more people supporting Invasive Plant eradication but sometimes I wonder if it couldn't hurt.

Room Service ;) : http://ping.fm/Bw3lr

I feel stupid.... in a Mad Season

Some times art speaks to me more than others. It may not all apply but parts will resonate as if at this moment in time... the art was made for me. This time it's Mad Season by Matchbox 20.

I know what I did. There are a fair number of factors going in.

In part there's the uncertainty of my job and the economic issues facing my program. I can't go into details but needless to say it'll be a rough 5 or 6 months. As a result of this uncertainty I appear to be losing some of my best employees. I suppose I can't say I blame them. Why continue to sail on a ship when it appears headed straight into an sea of icebergs? It is going to be a rough next year or so... unless something miraculous happens. We hope to be stimulated.

And in other parts of my life... the song applies. I can say that not all the lyrics apply but the spirit of the song is still there. Surely there are things I could have done differently. I made a decision where both sides of it could have ended in regret... but only one side meant moving forward. I had spent more than enough time waiting and contemplating. It was time to act. It may have been foolish. It maybe that I rushed it. But I've missed opportunities before because I've been indecisive.

Life involves risk. We can't always be safe. Life often presents us with choices that involve staying safe with what we know or stepping out into the unknown. This time I chose the latter. It may be madness and I may feel stupid. I will likely feel foolish and sad for a time... and yet in many ways the risk was still worth it to know what I know now... and step into the future eyes wide open.

---------------
Mad Season - Matchbox 20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWRFO23tEN4

I feel stupid - but I know it won't last for long
I've been guessing - and I coulda been guessin' wrong
You don't know me now
I kinda thought that you should somehow
Does that whole mad season got ya down?

Well I feel stupid, but it's something that comes and goes
I've been changin' - I think it's funny how no one knows
We don't talk about the little things that we do without
When that whole mad season comes around

So why you gotta stand there
Looking like the answer now?
It seems to me you'd come around
I need you now
Do you think you can cope?
You figured me out - that I'm lost and I'm hopeless
I'm bleeding and broken, though I've never spoken
I come undone in this mad season

I feel stupid, but I think I been catchin' on
I feel ugly, but I know I still turn you on
You've grown colder now, torn apart, angry, turned around
Will that whole mad season knock you down?

So are you gonna stand there
Are you gonna help me out?
We need to be together now
I need you now
Do you think you can cope?
You figured me out - that I'm lost and I'm hopeless
I'm bleeding and broken, though I've never spoken
I come undone in this mad season

And now I'm cryin'
Isn't that what you want?
And I'm tryin' to live my life on my own
But I won't, no,
At times I do believe I am strong
So someone tell me why, why, why
Do I, I, I feel stupid
And I come undone
And I come undone

I need you now
Do you think you can cope?
You figured me out - that I'm lost and I'm hopeless
I'm bleeding and broken though I've never spoken

Well I need you now
Do you think you can cope?
You figured me out - I'm a child and I'm hopeless
I'm bleeding and broken though I've never spoken
I come undone
I come undone in this mad season

In this mad season
It's been a mad season
Been a mad season

Miscellany

A few things happened this week that were noteworthy. Here are some in a somewhat chronological order. Warning: The following may make you cringe if you're particular about proper use of the English language.

Returned to work after a week away in Saipan (with Brown Treesnakes). Attempted to catch up with all the phone messages and all the e-mails... achieving an acceptable level of success, but not a complete success. Interviewed for a job. Started response letter to a strange person. Responding to strange people is just part of the job. Lost my friend and co-worker to the private sector. Good for him, sad for me. Finished the March of Dimes Campaign. Good for babies and for me. Enjoyed Earth Day downtown and at UH. Enjoyed John Cruz and the band Pressure Drop which performed refreshingly original and upbeat reggae music. Went to Molokai for a meeting. Returned from Molokai. Brought home Kanemitsu sweetbread. Sorry no "hot bread" this time. ( http://maona.net/archives/2005/08/molokai_hot_bre.php ). Work work work. Organized for dinner and relaxing. Cooked/ate dinner... chatted about travels... played Mancala w/ Brenda. Discussed issues that I probably have no business meddling in as I am no relationship expert... turned into a pumpkin and called it a night. Spent the day with the Folks. Went to Bishop Museum for Hawaiian Plant festival. Spun a wheel, got a nightlight. Saw some friends from work at the event. Failed to get new native plants. Ate Ramen Chicken Katsu. Went to Food & New Products show at Blaisdel. Stayed up too late contemplating life and writing blog ;).

Island Hopping

2 weeks 4 islands. In the next 2 weeks I'll be traveling from Oahu to Molokai, Big Island, and Maui.Invasive Species-v Carbon Footprint-^ hm

Greetings from the Future

Yup it's 10:30pm on Tuesday here while back home it is 2:30 in the morning Tuesday. Flying to Saipan for about 10 hours I lost a day in time... but hour-wise it is close to gaining 4 hours from Hawaii. Anyway... for those keeping up, I'm alive and well and ready to catch some Zzz so I can talk about Brown Treesnakes tomorrow.

Aloha. Pat

Easter travels... or not

Well there were reservations and plans at one point to get me to Saipan today but as life would have it, things change. Apparently the plane that was intended to fly me to Guam had mechanical issues and therefore pushed my flight further and further back. It got to a point where the updated times were way beyond any connecting flight to Saipan... and so it goes (name that literary reference).

If you've been following the micro-posts you'll see that I've just decided to stay in Hawaii another day. I'll miss the Saipan snake search Tuesday but that's life. There will likely be other opportunities.

More as it happens... P