Field Training

Today was the field portion of the Potential Planting Sites training; Wai, Morgan, & Francisco led the teams which included Cindy & Joe, Zoe, Olivia, & me. We met at Petrie Community Park & walked through the neighborhood looking for potential tree planting sites. We walked almost 1 mile during the training.

L to R: Wai, Olivia (Joe is in front of her), Morgan, & Zoe. Cindy is behind me.

I was on Morgan's team along with Cindy & Joe. While Cindy & Joe did the measurements, I plotted the location on my phone with Tree Plotter. However, I had not been given access to the "Kaimukī" data set so Morgan had me enter it under "Tree Training"; she said she would move the points to the correct data set later today. Morgan also needs to remove a point I accidentally added when I tapped the screen when my phone went to sleep; we were unable to get the "delete tree" function to work during the training.

I accidentally added the red dot at the house corner.

On the way back home I stopped at City Mill. I picked up 2 keyed entry sets; I found out there is now a tag on the side of the package that tells you what the key code is. I got 2 with the same code so we only need 1 key to unlock both doors. I also got 3 lock washers for the screws for the office chair I am using. 

The code in the yellow area says the keys are the same.

Hardware for the office chair. (I took the loose bolt to be sure I got the right size.)

When I got home I changed the inner keyed entry set. You can just start taking things apart like I did; or you can follow the instructions that I found when I was throwing out the packaging. (In my defense, I have done this before. It's kinda intuitive.) I left the outer one for The Roommates to change; part of their education in how to take care of a house! 

This was the problem with this knob; the screw holding this in place disappeared so you could not pull the door shut.

Internal knob has been removed.

External knob & moving parts being removed.

The locking mechanism.

I also took a photo of the front of the house showing the ʻohai ʻaliʻi growing in the undeveloped sidewalk area. During the training Francisco & I had been talking about the potential planting site inventory that had been done on our street; I asked if they did not indicate our area as a potential site due to the ʻohai ʻaliʻi planted along the edges. He did not remember it so I emailed him this photo.

For lunch I made a chicken sandwich with the Organic Chicken Strips; I also added a slice of vegan cheese. Eating it in sandwich form tempered the saltiness of the plain chicken strip. I would make this meal again. 

I got some texts from Darla & Ken after lunch. Apparently they were concerned that they had not heard from me in a while; I missed wishing Ken a Happy Birthday yesterday. (I sent Darla birthday greetings in May.) We are all good now.

Today's Okage Sama De Chapter 4 "World War II Hawaiʻi" video covers the attack on Pearl Harbor & the warʻs impact on Hawaiʻi. Dad had shared his recollection with us of walking home & hearing sounds of explosions & wondering what was going on; at home his oldest sister told him what had happened. Mom remembers the military taking over her high school in Hilo & being under curfew. My maternal grandfather became an air raid warden for Halawa Camp during the war. My father was one of the 10,000 Japanese Americans who enlisted; he served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in K Company & was wounded in Italy.

Subaru sent me an email about the 2023 Solterra; it's an all electric vehicle that can go over 200 miles on one charge. No, I am not planning on getting rid of my Crosstrek & getting a Solterra. I am content with the Crosstrek's 17 mile range which covers 90% of my usual driving. If I were not living on an island I might be tempted to get a Solterra. (I like Subaru's quality & dependability.)

I had gotten an email from Morgan around lunch but did not see it until later; she added me to the other data sets. I checked them out on my phone. I was able to see the "Kaimukī" & "Kapahulu-Diamond Head" data sets. I found that both of the areas that I walk in have been inventoried so I can use the app to help me learn to identify trees.

The area I walk with the Neighborhood Security Watch guys.

The area I walk at Maunalani Heights.

The Kapahulu area I am helping inventory.

 

For dinner I finished off the last of the Red Curry Thai Chicken, Cashew-crusted Cauliflower, & Sauteed Kale. I ran out of shirataki noodles so there were none of those. 

Oh, no! Mutual Publishing's bricks & mortar store is opened up again! I always buy too many books when I am there. But they have such good books! And I will not be able to escape their allure after I move; if your order is over $30 shipping is free.

I got a text from my friend Sally this evening. She & her family are coming for vacation in December! They will be staying at a hotel about 10 minutes away from us; I will be picking them up from the airport when they arrive. I emailed her a couple of holiday events that will be happening while they are here.

Halema'uma'u crater at Kīlauea volcano is still erupting. The surface of the lava lake is about half the area than when it first started a couple months ago. The spatter cone that has built up around the vent is very pronounced in the thermal image; it looks like there is a secondary vent that has broken out along the west side of the spatter cone.

The Aix weather app forecast partly cloudy skies until the evening when it forecast drizzles, turning to rain after dark. During the morning hours it turned out to be rather sunny with no precipitation until well after dark. For Kapaʻau, Aix forecast light rain all day; the Honomū weather station record 0.10 inches by 4:35 p.m. For Marysville, Aix forecast cloudy skies all day; since I only did a screen shot after dark I couldn't really tell. But it would have been difficult even in the daylight since the camera was out of focus.

Kaimukī looking northerly at 8:11 a.m.

Kaimukī looking westerly at 1:11 p.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 4:38 p.m.

 

The waves appear to be small all around; not many surfers out there today. The Laniakea surf cam was off-line & I did not feel like looking for another for today so perhaps the north facing shores were doing better, but I did not see it.

Hilo Bay (E) at 4:40 p.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 4:42 p.m.

Banyans (W) at 4:42 p.m.

There were 142 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, bringing the total known cases up to 86,090. There were also 8 new deaths reported, increasing the death toll to 985; currently 1339 cases are considered active. As of today there have been 2,302,620 doses of vaccine administered, providing 72.3% of the population with full vaccination & 84.7% with at least one dose. Apparently there is a reporting glitch in the vaccine data for nā kūpuna in the 65 to 74 year old category; the graphic below shows 100% vaccination. It is very high but not 100%. Apparently DOH used numbers from the census as the basis for the eligible population & calculated the percentage against the actual shots administered; they are now trying to get a more accurate count of the actual number of people in that age group. Currently 54 cases have been hospitalized with 10 in the ICU & 8 on ventilators. The 7-day new case average for the State is 88 with a positivity rate of 1.5%. The 7-day new case average for Oʻahu is 48 with a positivity rate of 1.4%.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Jackie, Sue, Karen, Maru, & Catie!