New Normal

There has been a lot of talk about the new normal with COVID-19. Since I was finally out of quarantine, today I did a bunch of banking, shopping, and going to the post office, and got to experience the new normal. Besides nearly everyone wearing a cloth home made mask, there were signs and marks on the floor to tell you where you should be standing.

My usual First Hawaiian Bank branch is closed.

But I guess if they were open they would make me do these things.

Central Pacific Bank was open, here are their recommendations.

Our local post office is tiny, so they limit the number of people allowed in the lobby.

This is at the Kapahulu branch of First Hawaiian Bank.

The floor markings at the Don Quijote registers.

They also have special hours for nā kūpuna.

One place I did not go to was the Hawaii State Federal Credit Union; the line to get in was so long I decided to come back on another day.

These people are standing in line for the credit union.

I didn't make it to my walk this morning. I woke up with a sore throat so I decided to see what that was about. I think it might have been because I was restless last night; I was too excited about being able to get out of the house today! The cats also woke me up a couple times last night playing in the laundry room and making lots of noise bumping the door. After gargling several times iwth warm salt water, the sore trhroat went away so I decided to do my shopping.

Sixty minutes before sunrise.

At my weigh-in I found my weight was stable over the last week. At next week's weigh-in I should again show a weight loss since I will be walking again.


I checked the Safe Travels Hawaii site again this morning. I did not get an email from them but I wanted to see what it would say if I clicked on the link after the end of my quarantine period.

I guess they don't have a separate check-in for residents.

While I was running around doing the banking & going to the post office, I passed by Otto Cake; its really tiny so only 1 person is allowed in at at time so there were 3 people standing in front waiting to get in. I decided to stop by and pick up some dessert. Since I had not planned on stopping, I did not check what they had today so I did not send out a list to The Roommates to see what they wanted. I just got 4 different flavors. It turns out all were good!

I got a slice each of blueberry, peach cinnamon, Kahlua, and Orange chocolate chip.

Don Quijote is where I was pretty sure I could get ancho chiles for dinner tonight. The Potential Most Favorite Roommate had checked Foodland and Safeway earlier this week and couldn't find them. I checked Times this morning with no luck. And DQ came through!

Part of the hispanic foods section at Don Quijote.

I also needed to pick up contact wetting solution at Don Quijote; there was none at Longs. While there I discovered that they had hand sanitizer, hand wipes, and masks! They were on the same aisle as the contact solution. I guess a lot of people don't think of them as a source of those things. Kinda like people didn't think to go to the little grocery store in Kohala near the end of the road for toilet paper.


A part of the 'new' normal that I really like is the light traffic. Driving along Kapahulu to go to the other First Hawaiian Bank was amazingly light; usually it is packed with cars on their way to Waikkīkī. Then as I was leaving Don Quijote, Kaheka Street was so empty! And turning on to Kapiʻolani was amazingly easy!

Heading down Kapahulu towards Waikīkī.

Heading down Kaheka towards Ala Moana Center & Kapiʻolani Boulevard.

The other parts for the Roomba came in today. Now I can change all the parts and get it back to working as good as new!


For dinner I made the Mole Poblano recipe out of Easy Everyday Keto. None of The Roommates had ever had mole before; they all liked it. The only problem was that the cookbook says it serves 4 but I think I really need to double the recipe for the 4 of us. That was the same with the Butter Chicken recipe.


There was 1 new COVID-19 case reported today, bringing the total of known cases up to 619. Hospitalizations have gone up to 72 but fatalities have remained the same. Currently about 86% of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been released from isolation and 2.3% of the population has been tested. Today they reported that each county now has rapid COVID-19 test capability; there are 4 machines on Oʻahu and 2 each on Kauaʻi, Maui, and Hawaiʻi Island. They have also started antibody testing. And are considering requiring visitors to be tested 72 hours prior to boarding the plane so that the test results are available before they board. Which would be like the restriction on cats & dogs for rabies; if you don't do it right and come in too early with your cat or dog, then they have to go to the quarantine station and you have to pay for them to stay there.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Fred, Noel, & Shoji! Today would have been Xander's 18th birthday.