Another Flat Tire

I just got off the phone with Alamo Roadside Service. It was apparent that the operator was not familiar with Hawai'i. Or more specifically, with the north end of Hawai'i Island. The operator started out saying they would send someone to tow the car in to Alamo and I could pick up another car tomorrow. (There is no spare in this car.) I let her know that the airport was an hour away. She said there was a place only 32 miles away, I said that would be Waimea and that was at least a 45 minute drive from here. Then she said I could do a ride along to go to the airport location tonight and pick up a new car. I asked her if they would stay open until we got there, since I knew they closed at 10:30 pm and it would take at least an hour to get there, and it was already 8 pm. She said they would be able to get me there by then; I was skeptical but didn't say anything. She was going to have the tow company text me when they would arrive, I said I would stay on the line until she found someone. When she came back on 10 minutes later, she said they would not be able to get me to the airport before they closed because the tow driver would be coming from Kona. I could have told her that! So my option is get up at 5:30 tomorrow and call for the tow; they are unable to schedule it ahead of time. Auwe!

My other flat was late at night on the road from Kai's dad's house out to the freeway.

This morning I ran a bunch of errands. I picked up my mail which included a box of books that I had mailed to myself here; it was supposed to take a month but took less than a week. (The notice was sitting in the mailbox when I checked last Saturday on my way out of town; I didn't want to go back to the house because I was on my way to the airport.) I also stopped at the Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union to check on the status of my Home Equity Line of Credit application. Tim helped me complete more paperwork, I am on my way to getting it approved! I also stopped at the North Kohala Community Resource Center and talked to Juanita about restarting my monthly $10 donation; when I make small automatic monthly donations I don't miss the money and can help out organizations I believe in effortlessly.

I had gone to visit Arlene and Joy this afternoon. Arlene suggested dinner at the Kohala Village HUB at 5:30. So I said I would meet them there after dropping in to see Uncle Kazu. On the way to the Kohala Hospital, the "Check Tire Pressure" message came on; so I did. I couldn't really tell which tire might be low, they all looked OK. Uncle Kazu was in the middle of dinner; so we just made arrangements to have lunch tomorrow at 11:45. That left me enough time to stop at the gas station across from the Kohala Village HUB and check the tire pressure to see which one was low. When I got there it was apparent which one was having a problem. But Minit Stop did not have any equipment; they referred me to Kar Tow across the street, next to Kohala Village HUB. But Kar Tow had closed 30 minutes earlier, all the equipment had been shut off; I would need to come back at 10 tomorrow morning. Auwe!

During dinner I decided to let Alamo take care of the flat tire instead of me having to pay for it on my own. (And now that I have found out I would have to pay for a repair of a flat rather than just changing the flat, that decision makes more sense.)

When we were originally talking about going out to dinner, we discussed where we had eaten and what the food was like. I raved about the burger that I had at the Kohala Village HUB that was made from Kahua Ranch beef, so we decided to got there. Arlene ordered a medium well done HUB Burger with green salad, Joy ordered a medium well done Overhead Burger with fries, and I ordered a medium rare Head High Burger with green salad. When the meals arrived there was a little confusion on the part of the waitress. And apparently there was confusion in the kitchen also. Joy got the burger that came with the fries, but that turned out to be medium rare, so that was probably my burger. We ended up cutting the burgers up; each person had 1/2 of what was originally placed in front of them and 1/4 of each of the other burgers. I think Arlene got the right burger because hers was the only one with cheese on it and that's what she got.

This was my burger. From this viewpoint they all looked the same, except Joy's had purple sweet potato fries. I think Joy really had my burger since it was medium rare when she cut in to it.

Earlier in the day I also went to Takata Store to get some supplies. I wanted some non-dairy milk substitute. I was impressed with the selection that Takata carries; besides soy, they also have almond, hazelnut, oat, rice, hemp, quinoa, & coconut alternatives. Not bad for a grocery store in a small, rural area (1,734 people in the 2010 census) an hour away from the nearest large population center (11,975 in the 2010 census). I also picked up a Holy's Bakery apple pie and Tropical Dreams ice cream for dessert on Saturday night with Lem and Jessie. I also saw the Ninja hand-held bug zapper.

So many choices!

I also saw this hand-held bug zapper there. It's like an electrified racquetball racket. I didn't get it.

Today was very rainy when I woke up. Rain was leaking through the garage roof and wetting some of the timbers Chris is preparing for the repair work.

Slightly wet in the garage, Chris has a tarp strung over some of the pieces.

A drier view of the prep work Chris is doing.

There are now 3 Gold Dust Day Geckos trying to claim the front porch as their territory. The first one I saw came in on the railing from the kokutan; or tried to, he turned around and left when he saw the other geckos. Gecko #2 came up from below the window in the door so I am not sure exactly where it emerged from. Gecko #3 was on the top corner of the window; I think this is the one I usually see because this is the location I usually see a gecko. (This is the GEICO gecko.)

Gold Dust Day Gecko #1.

Gold Dust Day Gecko #2.

Gold Dust Day Gecko #3.

Happy Birthday to Tsi-Cy-Altsa!