My Summer Vacation: Drug Take Back

Today there was a DEA Prescription Drug Take Back event. It was held in the parking lot at Kahala Mall. After Mom passed, I took all the drugs I could find to one of these events. But about a year later I found a few more bottles of pills in the back of the refrigerator; I waited for another drug take back event but never heard of one. Until now. I threw all the outdated cat meds in the bag also; they said those were fine to drop off with the people meds. The 1st time I took old drugs in they said they incinerated all the returned drugs so it did not matter that I left the labels on the containers.

You can drive up to the tents; an agent comes to the car to pick up the drugs.

Last night Francisco sent out an email about next week's inventory; I checked it out this morning. We will be doing the section of Kapahulu Avenue from Crane Park to Ala Wai Golf Course. I also signed up for the Adopt a Tree Arbor Day event.

Here's the area we will be doing.

Francisco specified some trees that we will likely find along that route: Fiddlewood, Shower Tree (there are 2 types), Monkeypod, Tulipwood, & False Olive. Unless otherwise noted, photos shown below are from the Citizen Forester guide.

This is from SelecTree Tree Selection Guide.

Since it is a Feast Day I made a blueberry proothie. I used half a cup of berries this time. There is one more days worth of blueberries left in that bag.

I got a little side tracked this morning. The Potential Most Favorite Roommate was talking to Bryi but I'm not sure how we got to the topic of a glass case for the Okinawan doll; she knew where to get one! There was a Japanese goods store called Iida's in Ala Moana for a long time; but when I was recently looking for it to check for glass cases, I could not find them. It turns out they are now doing sales on line only & Bryi knew that! I found a lot of things on their website; if you're in Hawai'i & looking for Japanese goods, I would suggest starting there. They ship to other parts of the country as well, but depending on where you are there might be someplace local for you to check first.

They also have a special themed section.

The Potential Most Favorite Roommate had an appointment and needed to leave at 12:30 p.m., so when it was time to move my car I went to the Drug Take Back event. From there I went to Kokua Market; today was their 50th Anniversary Celebration. I didn't really need anything but whatever I bought would be 10% off so I bought a few more frozen plant-based entrees, some Roast Zucchini, Artichoke, Mushroom Mix, & also lunch. Today I tried Makana Provisions Tres Tacos; it's one taco each with beef, venison, & fish.

As I was putting things in the car, the plate of tacos slipped out of my hand! I'm glad the helper securely wrapped the plate in foil; nothing escaped. However, the sudden stop rearranged the contents a little so what you see in the photo is not as nice looking as it was when they gave it to me. Three was too many for me; I ate the fish & the venison taco for lunch. I am saving the beef taco for later; I am hoping it is better than the others. The venison was tough & stringy; the fish was bland.

L to R: venison, beef, fish.

I had passed by the old Goodwill building on my way to Kahala Mall. It looks like everything is down except for the back wall.

For dinner I had the items from Kokua Market that I bought yesterday. It was all a little bland & I couldn't find any capers in the mixed veggies.

Clockwise from top: Provençal Chicken Stew, Curry Roasted Cauliflower, & Roasted Mixed Veggies with Capers.

In the evening I watched The Bob Ross Experience in honor of my friend CJ; she would always tell me about him. I had never seen it or even heard of it until she told me about it. I did a little Googling & found out that his show The Joy of Painting was on television from 1983 through 1994; this was in the middle of the 30+ year long period that I lived in a house without television. It is one of the reasons my brother says I don't know about Popular Culture; so don't choose me to be on your trivia team! (Unless the subject is biology...)

This evening I heard someone puking out in the cat run. I thought it was Keala since I saw her go out there. It turned out to be S'mores; she puked twice. I let The Roommates know; they will be watching her to make sure she doesn't get impacted like Luna did a little over 2 weeks ago.

She looks annoyed that I saw her throw up.

She now appears to be embarrassed that she threw up twice!

A couple of days ago the Volcano Watch column was about the eruption of the volcano on La Palma Island. Apparently some people have been speculating that the La Palma volcano might collapse & generate a mega-tsunami based on a 2001 study. The Hawaiʻi Volcano Observatory scientists think that's unlikely due to improved tsunami modeling which now predicts wave heights of 3 to 7 feet would be generated, in line with storm surges but not mega-tsunamis. Kilauea continues to erupt though it looks like the output is slowing down a little more.

At 8:25 a.m.

At 5:51 p.m.

At 8:25 a.m.

At 5:51 p.m.

When I move to Hawaiʻi Island life will slow down somewhat. This is one of the top 5 news stories for today: HFD rescues stranded calf.

The Aix weather app forecast partly cloudy skies all day for Honolulu; it was accurate today. For Kapaʻau, Aix forecast rain all day with it being heavier before mid-afternoon; Big Island Now forecast scattered showers in the morning with a 50% chance of rain. The Honomū weather station had recorded 0.11 inches by 8:09 a.m. & did not see any further precipitation for the rest of the day. For Marysville, Aix forecast lots of rain all day; the traffic cam did not show that.

Kaimukī looking westerly at 8:08 a.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 8:09 a.m.

Marysville looking northerly at 8:10 a.m. HST.

Kaimukī looking northerly at 12:22 p.m.

Kaimukī looking westerly at 5:44 p.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 5:44 p.m.

Marysville looking northerly at 5:44 p.m. HST.

The surf school rules for Kahaluʻu Bay (on Hawaiʻi Island) have been amended; permits will be issued for smaller classes that will be held in morning as well as afternoon shifts. Surf schools wanted to maintain one large class in the morning. I'm glad the DLNR took the health of the bay in to consideration in issuing this rule change. There were a lot of surfers out today taking advantage of the conditions.

Laniakea (N) at 8:10 a.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 8:22 a.m.

Banyans (W) at 8:25 a.m.

Laniakea (N) at 5:47 p.m.

Hilo Bay (E) at 5:48 p.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 5:48 p.m.

Banyans (W) at 5:49 p.m.

In the morning I saw some surfers walking in to the Hilo Bay surf spot; at 1st I only saw the one. But 3 minutes later another walked up. Then a minute later 2 more came up together. Three minutes later, the last 3 surfers paddled out together. Unfortunately the camera is set up to watch for tsunami & not surfers so the area where they line up for the break is not visible.

Surfer #1 at 8:12 a.m.

Surfer #2 at 8:15 a.m.

Surfers #3 & #4 at 8:16 a.m.

Surfers #2, #3, & #4 paddle out at 8:19 a.m.

Today there were 168 new cases of COVID-19 reported, raising the number of total known cases to 83,188. There were also 2 new deaths reported, increasing the death toll to 885; currently 1719 cases are considered active. The 7-day new case average for Oʻahu is 70 with a positivity rate of 1.7%.