Pizza Pack

I ordered a pizza pack from The Surfing Pig for dinner tonight. I had received an email a couple days ago about it. The email called it a pizza pack; they were flatbread pizzas. The flat breads were amazing! The bread pudding, however, seemed a little blah compared to the other desserts we tried at The Surfing Pig. I ordered the dinner to go to celebrate the anniversary of my divorce, which is actually on Monday. Sort of. I can't remember the exact date, but my divorce was finalized on the Monday after Mother's Day so that's the day I celebrate! 

From the email.

Kalua pig flat bread pizza.

Carolina BBQ chicken flat bread pizza.

Mediterranean vegetable flat bread pizza.

Petite bread pudding.

I saw a lot of regulars during my walk this morning. It started with  Romeo with Karpo & Lily down by the park; Lily has gotten a lot better about not barking at people so I was able to go up & play with Karpo. In fact, Lily has gotten so much better Romeo is now able to walk her; previously only Malisa could walk her.At the park I saw the 2 Pug Lady on the tennis court with her dogs. Below the park I saw Mary, Noe, Lynnette, & June coming up the hill; I stopped to let Lynnette know about Uncle Kazu who knew her late husband. While we were talking I found out that both Mary & Noe are nurses. As I got to the top of Lurline I saw Ken with Toto & Chico as I was headed over to Suzette's place. As I was leaving I saw Lorraine headed up for her walk.

Eight minutes before sunrise on Waiʻalae.

One minute after sunrise on Maunalani.

Twenty minutes after sunrise on Sierra. Yay! I finally remembered to take this photo again!

I stopped to see Suzette because the first time I passed her place I heard some yipping sounds of a puppy. I wanted to find out if she finally found a puppy; her other dog Lola died last year. Suzette's new puppy is a yellow lab like Lola; her name is Willow. She is a bundle of energy but can't go out and walk any of it off; she has to wait 3 more weeks until she has enough antibodies from her puppy vaccinations are able to provide her with enough protection.


I got home to find the Roomba stalled in the kitchen with the red error light on. When I lifted it up it told me there was a problem. Duh! It turns out before I started it this morning I did not do a thorough enough search to make sure no cat toys were in the section of the house that it cleans; it sucked up one of the cat toys which jammed everything up. While I had it apart I decided to replace the old brush rolls, edge-sweeping brush, and filter with the new ones I had just bought. It took about half an hour to do all that.

What is that?

Looks like it tried to suck up the mouse-on-a-string.

It took a little bit to get the cable out from around the wheel.

The cable used to be straight.

The old brush roll (top) definitely needs replacing!

Though this one (top) looks better than the previous one, it still needs to be replaced.

It's nice that they have printed directions on the parts to help with repairs.

The old edge-sweeping brush (left) also needs replacing.

There was even stuff trapped on the underside of the brush.

Because the Roomba never made it back to the base it was still full of debris.

From the outside the filter looked just a little dirty.

It was another story when I opened it up.

Old (left) and new.

The rubbish bin had an icon that appeared to mean I could wash it, so I did.

All cleaned and ready to go!

And after all that The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes tested out the toy; it still works even though the cable has several kinks in it. With the kinks it now springs up and bounces around when the cats swat at it.

Keala helps test the mouse toy.

When I checked my email later, I found that Ryan from Hakoda's Builders Appliances had responded. I had asked about an Energy Star certified refrigerator to replace the old one at the Kohala house. I bought a new one, like the washer, they will deliver it and haul away the old one.


I went to the dentist this afternoon; I just needed a cleaning. Some people were surprised that I was going to see the dentist; my dentist was one of the 1st to open up on May 1st. According to my hygienist Lori, they had a lot of things already in place. In fact, much of what they had was due to HIV & other blood-borne diseases. The changes I saw were that in the waiting room every other chair was removed to comply with the physical distancing, a lot of little things like magazines have been removed to make end-of-the-day disinfecting easier, when each patient leaves they sanitize the counter and door knobs, and the pens for signing your statements have a plastic sleeve like a lot of the other items in the exam room were before for blood-borne diseases. Before they allow you to go in, they scan your temperature, then note it in your chart. And before they start working on your mouth, you have to swish a hydrogen peroxide solution for 1 minute; they have also limited the use of the ultrasonic scaler which creates a lot of stuff flying about. The hygienists and dentist had previously worn gloves, masks, and face shields because of blood-borne diseases, so that was nothing new.

Chairs between those along the wall have been removed; the one at the end of the aquarium is new.

Not much has changed here.

Our number of new cases statewide has been in the single digits for almost 3 weeks now and the source of contact has been through the community rather than from travelers. So as a community we have done very well in flattening the curve. But there have been a number of tourists violating the 14-day quarantine and it is anticipated as things open up more on the continent, where there are still very high numbers of cases, incoming travelers will be the source of more cases as it was in the very beginning of COVID-19 arriving here. So there are new travel requirements that are being put in to place due to people who do not care about the lives of our kūpuna. The new travel declaration form will ask for more specific information so that individual incoming passengers can be located & tracked and departure dates will also be required for those who are not residents or intended residents; it has been likened to a TSA-level of scrutiny. Other changes include providing more detailed information on what is allowed during quarantine; some quarantined visitors had others come to their rooms which is not allowed. The issuance of one-use door passkeys at hotels has started in some places and will eventually be required for all hotels; if the visitor leaves the room, they will have to get another pass key from the front desk who will then notify law enforcement that quarantine has been broken. We are serious about protecting the lives and health of our kūpuna!


One idea that was suggested was having visitors tested for COVID-19 72 hours before they board the plane. If they test positive they will not be allowed to board. I think they should do something more like they do for cats & dogs for rabies. The Five-day-or-less quarantine program provides specific protocols that will allow your cat/dog to avoid the 120 day quarantine. If you do not follow the protocol your cat/dog may have to undergo the full 120 day quarantine at your expense. If your cat/dog arrives before the date specified by the state, your cat/dog will have to be quarantined at your expense until that date arrives. For use on humans in regards to COVID-19, they will have to first develop a viable vaccine, develop accurate tests for antibody level, determine how many vaccinations are needed to confer immunity, how long immunity lasts, how much titer (level of antibody in the blood) is necessary to provide immunity, a unique fool-proof way to identify individuals, and set up a quarantine hotel for people who do not comply. I anticipate the individual would have to pay for the quarantine hotel expenses or agree to be sent back on the earliest return flight (or both if there is no immediate flight they can wait for at the airport).

Since about a third of the population has become unemployed due to the shutdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19 it has become painfully clear to more people that dependence on tourism is not a good thing. A statewide group has been convened to discuss diversifying the economy as we move forward. I also think it is a good thing that the state has been working on food self-sufficiency, it has allowed our local farms to provide food for distribution to people in need; produce that was intended to supply hotels and restaurants is being redirected to food drives. It has also allowed the Farm Bureau to create the Farm to Car program for those who can afford to buy their groceries; there is a lot of interest in continuing the Farm to Car program even after the COVID-19 shutdowns are lifted. I think farmers like it because they know a week ahead how much they will need to provide and that they will get paid for it, unlike farmers markets where you show up and see how much you sell by the end of the day; it is also more time-efficient for the farmer.

There were no new COVID-19 cases reported today; this is the first time since mid-March when things were starting that this has happened. There were no new mortalities but 7 more people's conditions worsened so they have now been admitted to the hospital. A clarification was issued regarding the number of people "released from isolation". Previously the health department had included the mortalities and people who had left the jurisdiction in these counts, they are no longer doing that; which means only 87% of the people identified with COVID-19 have been released from isolation not the nearly 90% I noted yesterday. (Technically they were correct, but in terms of providing meaningful information I think this new metric is better.)

The blue bars are travel-related cases; red is community-related.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Evan!