Panini Time!

No, not this panini.

Ripe fruit on Opuntia spp. cactus.

This panini! 

Our 1st panini! It's a little pale but the cheese is melting all over the place.

We learned a couple of things. 1. Set the preheat on the highest temperature & keep it there while grilling in order to get a nice golden brown color. (At least for this grill.) 2. Cut your food as evenly as possible. 3. If you are using food that has some parts that are curved, don't use those parts, e.g., tomatoes. Just eat that slice that has all skin on one side while you are prepping everything else. We are all still wondering why Mom bought this panini grill; it is not like we have ever known her to eat a panini, let alone decide she wants to make one. We surmise it was a gift from someone who did not know Mom that well.

The Potential Most Favorite Roommate also made chicken & corn chowder to go along with the panini.

My panini is a little lopsided because I used a tomato slice with skin on one side...

Because it is a Feast Day, I made a mango proothie this morning and added some sour cream to it. Even though I add coconut water up to the "Max Fill" line before I blend it, the proothie is always quite thick when I use mango. I add more coconut water after it is blended to make it more easily drinkable. 

But even with all that, today, when I got to the very bottom of my cup, I found this. And I had even blended it extra long since the mango was frozen. It sure sounded like everything was blended when I stopped the Nutribullet. 

I ate it!

Kai IMed me around lunch time; he is in one of the parts of the country being affected by the extraordinarily high temperatures. In all the years I lived in western Washington, I never experienced 100 degree weather. The highest temperatures I had to work in was the mid-90's and that was only up in Darrington where it is surrounded on 3 sides by volcanic mountains that had very sparse vegetation. Closer to Puget Sound it would only get up to 90 and usually only for a day or 2. And I only remember that happening a handful of times in the 30+ years that I lived there.

After lunch I got on a Zoom call with Eleta & Leona for Eleta's monthly mini-Kwanzaa. They had a difficult time hearing me no matter what I did. I have had other people say that but this time it seemed to be even worse. So while they were chatting I Googled, "Where is the microphone on a MacBook Pro?" The answer is "in the upper right portion of the keyboard"; which made it clear why I was having problems. I use a keyboard skin, aka keyboard protector, I have used one for about 20 years both at home and at work since I have a bad habit of eating at my keyboard. Once I folded the keyboard skin back, they could hear me just fine! Auē! I will have to remember that for future online calls with my MacBook Pro. 

This is what popped up on my phone.

Here is what I had to do.

Here's the info online.

In the CSA box today, we got arugula salad, Sassy Salad, magenta lettuce, curly kale, tatsoi, beets (auē!, they trimmed the greens this time), watermelon radish, cilantro, Tahitian limes, and mangoes. I will be giving some of them to Paris tomorrow.

My weekly report from Duolingo says I earned 4% more XP than last week and studied 3 more minutes than last week. Personally I feel like remembering the words & phrases is becoming more natural. I just wish I could spend as much time actually talking to someone.

The Aix weather app forecast partly cloudy all day both in Honolulu & Kapaʻau. I know it was accurate for Honolulu; it looks like it might also have been accurate for Kapaʻau. Notice the temperatures of the locations listed; Everett (WA) is by far the warmest of the 3. Kapaʻau is the coldest.

Waikoloa at 7:07 p.m.

Honomu at 7:09 p.m.

Hilo Bay at 7:11 p.m.

Dr. Ron talks about pyroptosis in COVIDEO #7 Know NLRP3, Your Immune System Alarm. This video explains about how NLRP3 is activated & how it is related to pre-existing conditions. He notes how lifestyle choices affect NLRP3 levels & prioritizing lifestyle changes can support mental & physical health.

There were 64 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, bringing the total known cases up to 37,596; the new case number has been steadily rising since the low of 14 was reported on Monday. There were 2 new deaths reported today, bringing the death toll up to 516; currently there are 562 cases considered active. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Erin, Valerie, & Mariah!