Ouchie feet and violence data

June 5, 2012

E Komo Mai (welcome, enter). Tuesday today, nothing really special going on. Here's another appropriate song for you to enjoy. I'm listening to it now as I type this entry.

I had the hardest time falling asleep last night. Didn't get to sleep till after 2am. Here that is called Moi moi a (inability to sleep). So I was very tired when my alarm went off. I slept a bit longer and went in at 8. That means I got off at 4:30 instead of 3:30. On my way in from the parking lot I met Helene who is the... division chief? Maybe. I don't know... they have had a lot of reorganization lately. It is hard to remember all the names and who is who. here is a picture of my bed, which I was thinking of longingly today. I did have a small cup of the kona coffee with lots of almond milk. YUMMMMMMM.

Today I worked on data entry for the Hawaii State Domestic Violence Fatality Review (HSDVFR). The data itself was very interesting. However, I feel like my spine in my back and neck are fused in a scrunched position (can we say bad ergonomics of my desk and hair height) so I'm trying to stretch a bit. I entered data. ALLLLLLLLLLL day. I got 14 cases done today. That makes 24 total out of 40, so half done. The work is easy, just very time consuming. Tomorrow I will do a bit on it but will spend most of the day on my project. Ann and I will be starting to go over the CDC NISVS to select questions. We have 70 pages of survey to sort through. It'll be interesting.

For lunch I went to Kapiolani Community College cafeteria for lunch. I still had my half a sandwich but I wanted something to go with it and, honestly, I needed to get out of my chair and hike around a bit. I got a small cup of corn chowder. It wasn't great but wasn't bad either. Susan had brought cabbage rolls and gave me one of those. After eating one of those and my soup I was full. I did have the rest of the sandwich when I got home though.

On the way back from KCC Susan and I walked through Leahi Hospital grounds. There were a lot of mangoes fallen that nobody was going to gather so we gathered the ones that were still good and took them into work to give to folks there. We gave many away and I have one in the fridge to have with lunch tomorrow. I brought 3 home for the ladies here at the house also. We passed by this plant and it was pretty neat so I took a picture to share.

Nothing exciting this afternoon. The highlight of my afternoon was enjoying a cup of English Afternoon tea about 3pm. I know, try to contain your excitement. I have to say though, there are much worse things that having a slow, steady, not aggravating bunch of work to do that makes the day pass quickly and uneventfully. Not to mention I am very much enjoying working with this data. I walked home and took a picture of the heavily laden branches of my friendly attack mango tree. It didn't drop any gifts for me today (morning or afternoon) or at least none that weren't already taken by others. However, you can see from the picture that it is ready to drop more very soon.

So, that is it for today. I was going to hop on the bus and try to go to the beach this afternoon, but by 5pm it is not long enough before it starts to cool off and get dark. I will go in earlier tomorrow. Getting off at 3pm is plenty early, especially for me with my pale skin (a walking wannabe sunburn victim). I think the evening calls for a good book and an early bedtime. I'm reading Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assasin series as I said a few posts back. I am on the 4th book, Tangled Threads. I'll get out of work clothes and into something comfy and curl up with my book till I fall asleep.Resting my feet and the new blisters I have is high on my list of things to do tonight. My blisters now have blisters. ARGH.

I hope everyone is well. Aloha ahiahi (Good evening),
~Melissa

Monday delights

June 4, 2012

Aloha kakahiaka (Good morning) and Happy Monday! I've had this song in my head most of the day, so I will now embed it into your brain as well.

Today was a nice, quiet, productive day! I started entering the Hawaii State Domestic Violence Fatality Review (HSDVFR) info into the SPSS database. It is easy, but time consuming. A LOT of variables and we don't have paper copies, so I'm having to pull it from the Access database. Thank GOD for 2 monitors! I got 10 out of 40 finished today. They are going a bit faster now since I'm starting to memorize the most common choices for the variables so can just enter numbers instead of choosing from a drop list. We are waiting for Rose Marie to come back from vacation to schedule a time to go over the NISVS survey questions. I don't mind, I am learning a LOT about SPSS and how to code variables.

For lunch I went to Kapiolani Community College cafeteria. The grill (where the chefs who teach in the culinary program cook the food for you) was closed. Nothing else was appealing so I got a premade teriburger and fries. A teriburger is a hamburger cooked with teriyaki sauce. I had hot sauce on the side to dip my fries. All in all an uninspiring lunch. I just needed something to keep the hungries at bay and get back to work. I went with Susan (standing) and Connie (sitting). They do have a neat stained glass artistic wall inside the cafeteria.

The best part of lunch was the walk there and back. I got some neat pictures. Is that a smurf village someone has created inside a planter?

The afternoon was more data entry, nothing exciting. After work I went straight to the bus stop and too the #22 to Kahala Mall. That is where the Whole Foods is located. I was wanting some of the Beef Bourguinon stew again. However, they were out! I went ahead and got my few groceries I needed: 3 cans of wild caught albacore tuna (for when I am craving protein), a small bag of sugar for tea/coffee for work, some almond milk (cheaper than reg milk here and tastes the same in tea/coffee), and a couple of yogurts. Then the goodies/unnecessary but delightful additions: fresh salsa and tortilla chips, organic cherry/lemonade, and Talenti Blood Orange Sorbetto!!!! I love love love Talenti flavors. I haven't seen this one before but I usually love blood orange sorbet. It is expensive ($7 a container) but worth every penny. I had to take a picture to share this remarkable find!

I caught the bus home (#22 again, though 22, 23, and 24 all go between home and the mall so I can catch any of those). Instead of having it drop me at the bottom of the hill of doom (seriously, this hill is a killer, it is 2.5 blocks of ridiculously steep incline) I instead rode to the stop by where the Farmer's Market is on Saturday mornings. Well, let me just say, I got heavier stuff than I normally do on Saturdays. The stop I chose tonight was longre in distance, but less steep than the hill of doom. Normally I can walk from the farmer's market now without having to rest. Suffice to say, my poor hands were miserably cramping from the weight of the groceries. If I carried it in my left hand my upper back hurt, if I used my right, my left hip and lower back hurt. It was probably pretty comic to watch, but in truth it SUCKED. Lesson learned: just hike up the freaking hill unless you don't have much weight to carry. However, I walked past a good portion of the cactus garden, which is AMAZING. The light wasn't great so I didn't take many pictures. I want to go over in the light and take a lot of pictures to do it justice. I did get a picture of this one odd tree. I was pausing to rest my hands and it just looked neat.

Home and shower! I handwashed a few work clothes and hung to dry. Now time for a little food! Lunch was long ago and small (and less than exciting). Before I left the mall I stopped and got me a turkey pesto sandwich with bacon on rosemary bread. It is super delicious. The turkey and pesto are warm and the bread is crisp. Loa 'ono (very delicious). The panini place also had San Pellegrino! I got a Blood Orange (one of my 2 favorites, the other being the grapefruit). I also took a couple of pictures from the kitchen table (sorry about the window screen)while I ate half my sandwich. I'll save the other half for lunch tomorrow... maybe ;)

So that is all for today. Productive and pleasant. I'm sitting here in front of my fan as the sun goes down. Iy has almost gently blown my hair dry. The temperature is a delightful 76 degrees. There are a few clouds scuttling across the sky that can still be seen in the remaining light. I am watching the fronds from the palm trees blow in the breeze. I am sitting here utterly relaxed and happy. I want to again thank everyone back home who is making this trip possible - whether with money, keeping my cats fed and looked after, holding down the fort, sending care packages, or just reading the blog and enjoying this adventure with me. I appreciate the comments and the e-mails from those of you reading. I wish you could be here and see and experience what I am, it is amazing. Thank you all for just being you and making this possible. Mahalo nui loa (Thank you very much).

Aloha au ia ‘oe , (I love you all )
~Melissa

quiet day of resting

June 3, 2012

Today I accomplished exactly nothing and I am happy as a clam bout it. I woke at a bit before 6am and promptly chose to go back to sleep. I woke again about 9:30 and chatted a bit with folks back home. Then immediately went back to sleep again. Finally, about 4:30 I woke up again. I chatted a bit with folks from home again before they headed to bed. I steamed some broccoli and tossed it very lightly with the ginger onion dressing and reheated some rice. A little fresh butter with Hawaiian sea salt and I called it dinner.

I have been reading a series of books by Jennifer Estep, the Elemental Assassin series. I spent the evening curled up reading (and finishing) the second book in the series, Web of Lies. I'm about to download the next one (Venom) onto my Kindle.

I know this is about as dull a post as can be but I was super tired today. I normally go out exploring on Sundays but I was just way too tired. The extra rest helped a lot. Tomorrow is the start of a new week and I'm ready to get to it. A shower tonight and a bit more reading and I'll tuck myself into bed. Plenty of time left here in Hawaii to go do things.

I have been learning about directions here in Hawaii. It is completely different from the rest of the world. I'll post more on that tomorrow. I'm getting more info on it so I can share it. There is always something new to learn if you just are open to it. This was one little thing I found out this week was different.

Until tomorrow, aloha,
~Melissa

Laule'a day

June 2, 2012

Saturday morning and my normal Farmer's Market trip. I didn't really need anything so I didn't go super early. I took a picture of some of the lovely flowers at the first stall. (Susan, I try to share lots of pretty flowers for you!)

I went and got a roasted garlic baguette from the bakery folks and meandered around the stalls for a bit. Then I stopped at one of my favorite vendors, a little old lady who sells fresh made lemonade and a variety of foods. She is the one who made the falooda I got a couple of weeks back. I got a lemonade and a limoncello pannacotta. It was a very lemony not too sweet creamy cheese custard type food. VERY tasty.

I went up to the edge of the cactus garden on Kapiolani Community College campus and sat in the shade on a bench and enjoyed my two treats. The cactus garden is of course all cactus and many varieties. I want to come back and take more pictures and do justice to this garden but for now here was just the one i was sitting next to. It reminded me of a bundle of octopus or squids.

After I finished my lemony breakfast delights I wandered around the other garden areas for a bit. There is a nice little herb garden with many varieties of herbs, some I knew and more that I didn't. At the entrance to the herb garden are three small poetry trees. These have a box of supplies with instructions that encourage you to write a poem and leave it in the box. Each day they put those poems in plastic covers and tie them to the poetry trees. It is a pretty neat thing. I read some of them - some by little kids, some in Japanese and other languages, one by  parent who had written a poem to their child who had passed away... just a huge variety.

I started back to home and walked through campus. I found a courtyard I hadn't seen before with this tree. I have NO idea what type of tree it is, but it looked really neat so I took pictures.

I came home and took a nap. I didn't get much sleep since I got in late last night and was very tired. So I napped for an hour. I had some of the bread while it was super fresh and finished off the macadamia nut pesto hummus that I got previously. I am still very stuffed from yesterday so I just wanted a small snack. I basically spent a few hours just relaxing after tidying my room a bit (swept the floor mainly). I caught up with folks from home and updated the blog. Now I'll go read and get to sleep early. I'm trying to decide what to do tomorrow while being financially frugal. There is a play at Diamond Head Theater but I'm not sure if I should go. They are playing Xanadu. Plenty of time to decide tomorrow what to do.

May you have a laule‘a day, (peaceful/happy)
~Melissa

Friday revisited - FOOD, FOOD, and more FOOD

June 1, 2012

So Friday morning started out strange at work. I got there and my computer couldn't turn on. There was a buzzing noise like a bunch of angry bees. So  started hunting the sound and it was coming from the surge protector. I am accustomed to working at places where the IT folks don't want you messing with anything. So I went downstairs and got an IT guy and had him come look at things. After a while of turning things on and off he decided the surge protector was bad. Considering it is probably older than me, this is not a surprise. He unplugged everything and plugged it into a plain power strip. I asked if they had surge protectors downstairs and apparently they don't keep them in stock. Just weird. Susan had brought in a treat from her trip to Maui - monju and fresh strawberries.A monju is a cookie like pastry, stuffed with some sort of sweet filling. This one was okinawan sweet potato filling (those sweet potatoes are purple, hence the color). It doesn't taste like the sweet potatoes we have back home, it is sweet and a very mellow flavor. The pastry is buttery and flaky. Very tasty.

So anyway, the computer started working and I pulled up the SPSS database for the HSDVFR and worked on that. Ann popped in to remind me that we were all going out to lunch at 11:30. An hour or so of work on the database had been lost whenever it did it's power problem thing, so I got back to where I was and saved it all. Multiple times.

For lunch we went to Asahi Grill. Ann, Lisa and I all ordered different things and we shared everything. Hence why I got to try so many new things.

This is lup cheong fried rice. This is a sweet dried Chinese sausage variety that is diced and put in the fried rice. It is served here with a fried egg on top. It was tasty. The fried rice was absolutely delicious, probably the best I have ever had.

This is a loco moco. It is a local favorite. It is a bed of white sticky rice with a seasoned grilled hamburger patty on top. This is all smothered in an onion brown gravy then two fried eggs put on top. There is a scoop of macaroni salad on the side (of course). It is a heart attack waiting to happen but it is very good. The folks here eat it with everything all together per bite, which I tried and it was good. I preferred it with everything together except the mac salad. I can see why this is a favorite.

This is oxtail soup. I tried VERY hard not to thing about the oxtail part. This is served with a side of 2 scoops of rice. You take the small container of ginger (which is like a paste) and put about a half teaspoon in the small bowl, then add about 3 tablespoons of shoyu (soy sauce). Then you pick up the oxtail with chopsticks and dip it in this mixture and bite off the meat from the bone. There is a lot of fat but it is broken down by the cooking and is super soft and just sortof melts. Mind you, the thought of this makes me want to gag, but I did in fact try it this way. It tasted fine but I just have a mental issue with eating that much fat and the fat was kindof mushy. So I picked the meat off the bone and tried dipping that in the sauce mix and it was very tasty. Lisa said she knows many people who don't eat the fat like me, so I'm not such a weirdo! I guess it is like people who eat the skin versus not eating the skin on fried chicken or wings at home. So anyway, the meat was good. However, the broth was FANTASTIC. It was simply amazingly seasoned. I had every drop of the broth in this bowl, and it was a big bowl. By then I was stuffed after having tried some of everything and just couldn't eat any more.

Ann had to leave for a meeting immediately so Lisa and I rode back together. On the way she took me to Ala Moana Center (which for a long time was the biggest mall in the world) so I could see where the bus stop there was and be able to find it. We stopped in at a Foodland there so I could get my month bus pass. It is a pain in the rear to constantly have to keep $2.50 in exact change to catch the bus. They charge the same amount whether you get the month pass on the 1st or the 29th so I hadn't gotten one till now. The bus pass is unlimited rides. So, I have my bus pass and will be more mobile. While I got my pass Lisa went to Beard Papa's and got us cream puffs. OMG these are so freaking amazing. The pastry is light as air and not greasy at all, the cream filling is not too sweet, just very mildly sweet and unbelievably good. This chain started in Japan and spread to Hawaii. This is the best cream puff ever!

On the way back to work we drove around Magic Island, which is a popular beach. It has a reef which keeps the undertow under control and makes a big shallow swimming area. A lot of people take small children there because it is safer. Also, it is near the Ala Moana so people go there and get food and bring it to the beach to eat, swim, and just enjoy the day. Then they head back to the mall for some shopping, food or whatever then go home. I plan to go back there soon and enjoy the beach.

We went back to work and I spent a while talking to folks about the questions for my project. Then I finished entering the variables into SPSS for the HSDVFR. So the SPSS database is coded! I can start entering the data on Monday. This is great :) It was the end of the work day so I went to Lisa's office and we left to enjoy pau hana. Pau (after) hana (work). Pau hana is when people get together after work to go eat, drink, be social, whatever. Lisa offered to drive me there and back home. This is Lisa in front of Sam Choy's. I love the sign - breakfast, lunch and crab. I made sure to ask if crab was a new meal of the day.

We met up with some other ladies there. From left to right - Momi (this was sortof a retirement party for her, she just retired as the Maternal and Child Health Branch Division Chief) whose whole name is complicated so she goes by Momi. Next is Ann, my boss. Then Barbara Yamashita who used to be over the Community Health division when all these ladies worked there but is now the Deputy Director of the Hawaii State Department of Health. The far right is Lisa :)

We all had some drinks and food (as you can see from the table) and had a great time. I discovered a couple of new drinks. I had a BC's Cream Soda (whipped cream vodka and ginger ale) which tastes JUST like a cream soda. Ann also gave me a Midori (Midori melon liqueur and crushed ice) which was like an a melon smoothie. Both were very tasty. Top left is salt and pepper chicken wings (which are apparently not common over here) which I didn't have so I could save room for new stuff. Top middle is fried calamari, which is better than places I've had it before. By the hot sauce is lau lau which is a big chunk (or several small chunks) or pork wrapped in taro leaves and steamed in a big outer leaf wrapped bundle. The taro leaves taste a lot like spinach and they give the pork this yummy flavor while holding in the juices. Bottom right is kalua pork (the smoked pulled pork here) quesadillas.

There was live music as well. I tried to take pictures and video but I am not sure it turned out well. Yes, the man has an electric ukelele. He also played a harmonica at one point. All american songs, mostly soft rock. The ONE country song they do was when I was trying to record video just to get an example to share. (Ok the recording suck so I deleted them.)

After we all left it was only about 8:30 so Lisa drove me to Don Quijote's which is a HUGE supermarket that is a mixture of japanese, chinese, korean, indian, and american. freaking awesome place. I didn't take pictures because I will have to go back and spend a long time browsing. Lisa showed me the Japanese/Korean/Chinese areas specifically so she could tell me what things were. She got me two items as well. One was seasoned seaweed which is thin and crispy ( I thought it was all floppy). I have NO idea what it is called. The first bite it is kindof odd, but as you take a few bites your brain settled into the idea and it is very tasty! The next are Gummy Choco fruit flavored candies. They are fantastic. They apparently come in many flavors but Lisa gave me her favorite flavor (the fruit ones). They are gummy inside, with a layer of flavored chocolate. I can't describe them well but they are so so so good!!!

After this we were getting tired so she brought me home. I showered and tried making the blog but the internet wasn't cooperating. So you get it now instead. All in all it was a super fun day filled with a TON of yummy food and great company.

Aloha,
~Melissa

tired but happy

June 1, 2012

What a very busy day today. It is now 11:20pm and I am just getting in, showered and ready to blog. The internet connection has crashed already multiple times so I'm going to wait until tomorrow to continue this post. I think I ate a week's worth of food today, met a lot of nifty people, had some great drinks and am one tired wahine (lady).

I have a LOT to share, so check back tomorrow! Aloha!
~Melissa

The snail lands a step ahead this time

May 31, 2012

MUCH better day today! I am a firm believer that if things are going poorly it is by far best to just have a discussion, get everything on the table, and straighten things out. Usually that solves any issues. I'm not one for holding things that bother me inside (hehe as you all know VERY WELL about me). I was very concerned about my project, that it was going South in a major way or was going to be cancelled, in which case I'd be scrambling to get a new project approved to fulfill my internship requirements. I met with Ann this morning and we hashed out the project specifics and got everything back on track. I am VERY relieved. The survey itself will be a slight bit different, it will include some family planning questions (contraception use and the like) and some questions on STD/STI's. In addition our contact at the CDC got back with us this morning and sent us the NISVS already! Super fast! We are going to start reviewing the questions on Monday.

Today and tomorrow I am working on the Hawaii State Domestic Violence Fatality Review (HSDVFR). Ann and I sat down and coded all the variables this morning, then I started building the SPSS database. She showed me the basics of how to enter the variables and get going and I went off from there. I worked on that for the rest of the day and got over half done. I should be able to finish it tomorrow morning. Then I can start entering the case studies (the data itself) into the database. This is an excellent project for me to work on in between working on my project. My project is a lot of "Hurry up and wait". Big pushes and productivity, then longer waiting while other people do their portion or we gather data from recruits. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. So in those periods of waiting this project can easily be picked up and I can work more on reviewing the case studies and transferring the data to SPSS. So I spent the day up to my eyeballs in homicides, suicides, and fatality questions about weapons, service agencies, location of injuries and fatalities, etc. I really enjoyed it. Not that people are fatalities but working with the SPSS side of things.

Lunch was also pleasant. I forgot to get pictures!Ann and I both needed postage so we walked down to the post office a few streets away. We took care of what we needed at the post office and walked around the corner to get lunch. We decided on burritos at BC Burrito on Waialae Avenue. I got the BC Plate with spanish rice, black beans, fresh salsa (medium), beef carne asada and tortilla chips. I mixed it together into a big heap of yumminess and scooped it up with the chips. I ate half and was STUFFED. I dumped the rest in my container with the last of my black bean soup and took it home. I saved half the bag of the tortilla chips to eat with the leftovers. We walked back to the office and ate there.

After lunch we went to the garden behind the building. I sat and talked to Lisa while Ann harvested. Lisa was having a bento box and gave me a bite of everything! There as miso butterfish, a seasoned broccoli, a very thin stranded black seaweed dish, a sweet egg thing like a souffle, a shredded veggie salad type thing, japanese pickles and another type of pickle. I LOVED the pickles, egg thing, seaweed, veggie and broccoli. The miso butterfish was alright. It also had a small chunk of chicken, a sausage of some sort and a bunch of rice and grain mixture. I didn't try those, it was Lisa's lunch after all! I felt like a Hobbit with first luncha nd second lunch. So we sat and talked about domestic violence stuff for another hour and enjoyed being ouside. So it was a 2.5 hour lunch, walk and discussion.

After working till the end of the day I got caught up in a conversation with Ann and Lisa. They were planning where they want to go with me to lunch tomorrow so I can try more new stuff. People here think watching my eagerness to try new things is great fun. So we are all going to lunch tomorrow, I'm not entirely sure where but I will be sure to get pictures and share. Lisa and I stayed and chatted for another hour or so, "talk story" as they say here. Just talking about our jobs and college experiences and the like. Discussing differences between life on Hawaii and Kentucky/Virginia life. It was a great time.

She offered me a ride home but I preferred to walk. It was very pleasant outside and cool. So I took a leisurely walk around the neighborhood and home. I took some photos of some of the pretty flowers and plants while I walked.

I got home and relaxed while I watched Botany Bay a 1953 movie about transporting prisoners from England to Australia (New South Wales then) under an unethical ship captain. I reheated and finished my lunch leftovers. That finished off the last of the black bean soup also. I normally haven't eaten twice a day but I was hungry tonight so I did. I eat when I'm hungry. I spent a little time chatting with Nozomi after washing my dishes. Nozomi is a housemate here from Okinawa. She is super nice. She is taking a yoga class and we discussed yoga and all the foods I tried today. I started the movie A Yank in the R.A.F a 1941 movie with a cute love story set in wartime between a pilot and  WREN.

Here is a photo as the sun was going down with a few clouds in the sky. Also, this is my attack mango tree I walk under daily, you can see it is still loaded up and ready to fling mangoes on unwary passerby. I am the mango fairy at work since I bring in mangoes dropped from this tree almost every morning. Most evenings I bring more home and give to the household. None have fallen on me since my first walk to work, but I have a special bond with this tree. I enjoy seeing it on my trips to and from work each day, it always brings a smile.

So that is all for today. I am off to sleep early since I couldn't get to sleep last night till midnight.

Ke Akua pu a hui hou, (God bless you and see you later)
~Melissa