My Summer Vacation: Delivery Day

Since Wednesday is HPM's day for deliveries to sites in Kohala, the holidays delayed things for 2 weeks! Materials for the renovation of the sewing room arrived this afternoon. Since the sewing room is closer to the front yard than to the garage, Chris had them drop things off in the front yard. Most of it is between the puakenikeni tree & calamansi & covered with a tarp; the footing blocks & decking are in separate piles that will be moved tomorrow. And I still have a place to park the car in the front yard.

This morning I met with Jaime & Dane at Lapakahi State Historical Park; Fred also met us there. Jaime is going to work with Fred to have the restoration area fenced off from the goats. Brad & Sam were also there to check out the proposed planting area. Based on input from Fred, the original footprint of the planting area has changed from what Jaime & I thought was a doable area; it is now larger.

(L to R) Fred, Jaime, Brad discussing the new fence.

Looking along the tentative location for front of fenced area.

Later in the afternoon, I ordered a new Genie Hand for the Cat Genie; the scrubber that is under the rotating basin is added free to the order. I really only need the scrubber for both units so will end up with 2 extra Genie Hands. The cost for the hands & scrubbers is $50 which is a little steep but I really like how well the Cat Genie handles wastes from 4 cats. The shipping though is a killer: $117.44! I could not believe it; the customer service rep I got on the phone to complain that there must be a mistake said it was because it was being shipped to Hawaiʻi. I know shipping to Hawaiʻi is a little more expensive, but shipping for the entire Cat Genie, which weighs about 35 pounds & is in a very bulky box, was only $105.24. And the cost for the quarterly shipment of granules & cartridges is only $52.46 for about a 13 pound box. I still think there is a mistake since 2 Genie hands & scrubbers weigh only about a pound. But I really need those scrubbers to keep the Cat Genie from making a horrendous sound with the damaged scrubber that is currently being used.

For an item weighing a couple pounds at most.

For a 13 pound box.

For a 35 pound box.

In contrast, when I ship things I look for the least expensive way to send; I use Pirateship.com. It will give you shipping rates cheaper than the USPS Priority packages; & you can even use the USPS packages! The trade-off is that you have to print your own labels; but I can handle that for the savings I gain. (I use scrap paper & rubber cement which is much cheaper than ready-made self-stick adhesive labels.) Currently the USPS Priority letter size envelope costs $10.45 via USPS; with Pirate Ship it is $9. The medium USPS Priority box is $19.35 with USPS & $16.85 with Pirate Ship. The graphics below show what I did during the calendar year for 2024; the high shipping point in July is because Kai sent his friends some made-in-Hawaii commodities while while here (Kaʻū coffee & Honokaʻa chocolate).

The NKCDP Access group held a joint meeting with the NKCDP Growth Management group to discuss 2 projects on the shoreline that have been in the works for 10 or more years. The issues for these adjacent properties is that there are an abundance of archaeological & historic sites along the shoreline including the Ala Loa Trail & other historic trails that are protected by kingdom law that has been incorporated into current law, i.e., those trails have been around & in use for a long time! It was a very interesting meeting to hear the history of the projects, what they have been doing to meet all the criteria needed, & where they are currently at. Needless to say the meeting went a little longer than usual.

I went to the Night Market after the meeting; I had to pick up 2 North Kohala calendars from Kimi. The calendars have photos of North Kohala locations & events; it is also a fund raiser for The Kohala Reunion that is held every 5 years & will be this year! I also had a smoke meat bao for dinner.