Quick Update

Just a quick update to my last post:

The kitten perished in the night.

That is all.

Tragedy and Terror

Yesterday Stacey called me to ask my thoughts on adopting an orphaned kitten, of course I said it'd probably be fine.

It's mother was apparently roadkill, and there were some ravens looking to make a meal of this little kitten. So Stacey brought it in, set it up in the bathroom, showed it to the girls, introduced it to RJ, etc.

A furball with blue eyes.

Then this morning I wake up to a txt message saying the kitten was at the vet, and it's death possibly imminent. Apparently, the girls took the kitten outside to the grass and were playing with it (and very carefully I might add). For whatever reason, RJ decided it was a play toy and started chewing on it. Needless to say, this left it in a bad way. Stacey took it to the vet who thought it may have a punctured lung. However, the kitten made it all the way through the day, and so the new possible prognosis is broken rib(s). If the kitten makes it through the night, we should know more in the morning.

After all that drama, going back to sleep was going to be a no-go, so I just got up. I spent most of the day bumming around the crew house. I wanted to get out today, but was kinda tired and just couldn't get motivated, so I'll try again tomorrow.

When I went to shower, I noticed I had a little friend. At first it was a little odd being watched while I showered, the gecko content to stay right where it was, but I got over it pretty quick.

"Whoa, slow down there cowboy, I came to see a show..."

Other than that the day was pretty uneventful. The most I've really done all day is cut up a pineapple and do a few dishes.

However, tonight has been a different story.

It started while I was sitting on the couch watching a movie on Netflix. Something on the floor was moving, so I looked up to see what it was: lo and behold it was a centipede, a Scolopendra subspinipes. I was a little surprised as I hadn't seen one yet, but was intrigued at the same time. But as I got up to get my camera it must have seen me, because it spooked and ran right back under the kitchen cabinet it had come from. I went ahead and grabbed my camera anyways and sat back down.

As it turns out this was a good idea. I was changing TV channels when I saw the centipede re-emerge from it's hidey hole. I imagine that while it was in there it got all indignant at my presence and probably though to itself "Ima bite that fat bastard out there, cause I'm a centipede for f---'s sake!" (Centipedes are exceptionally foul-mouthed insects, or maybe it's foul-mandibled, I really don't know. Either way, their grammar and wordage is crude.)

I came to this conclusion when the critter crossed about ten feet in less than two seconds, and did it in a straight line to the couch, specifically my end of the couch. Without thinking about it too much, and not making a noise (I figured it could already see me, maybe if I could get in it's blind spot it wouldn't know I was there if I could be quiet...), I took the only weapon at hand...

Well, technically it was in my hand.

...and brought it squarely down right behind the head on this bastard, :

Maybe it just wanted a hug. Or maybe someone's first-born child, I didn't stop to ask.

While it was realizing it was maybe not the best decision to hunt the deadliest game of all (man), I heard a clicking noise. That's when I noticed this destroyer of innocence had pointed is ass end straight up, and was trying to dig into the controller with those elongated legs on it's rear end.

These elongated ass-legs are sharp and seem to have a mind of their own.

Now I know someone is going to say, "It's not very big, it's just slightly wider than the grout lines in the tile!" So I took a picture next to my Blackberry Curve for perspective.

It's as long as a BB Curve (about four-and-a-quarter inches). Those ass-legs are about three-quarters of an inch.

The scariest part was when I took a close up of it's head as it lay dying on the floor.

Pictured: what nightmares are made of.

Those small looking, black tipped things on the front? Venomous jaws capable of causing excruciating pain for hours. So glad I managed to crush it right behind the head instead of catching it towards the rear. I mean, I had the distance battle won with the remote (I had at least six inches of reach on it), but still.

Stacey will be here in less than fourty-eight hours (approximately thirty-seven hours at the time this is being written). It'll be nice to see her for the first time in about a month. Hopefully the kitten pulls through, but I'm not going to be overly optimistic on that just because, well, shit happens.

Hangning around Lihue

So far being back in Lihue has been great.

The first night here, I didn't go anywhere. This worked out nicely as I was able to stay up as late as I could (one am), then crash without being woken up. The next day, I was taking a nap and had been asleep maybe five minutes when I got a call to start early. An easy Barking Sands run, it allowed me the chance to see most of the south-west and west sides of the islands on the flight over.

After the drop in Honolulu I got to do my first actual night flying in the islands. That's a whole different experience unto itself: the only lights (from cities) are far and few in between. The rest of the view is nothing but darkness. Not like it's a little dark, we're talking absolute, total, inky blackness. An all enveloping shroud, not unlike standing in a cave, in the middle of the night, with a blind fold on. It's so dark (and clear), you can see the lights of Lihue all the way from Honolulu (roughly ninety miles).

Once back, that turned out to be it for the night, and I started checking out a few more websites. While watching a video on failblog, something landed on my hand, and when I moved to look at it, it jumped. Luckily it landed right in front of me, and I was able to take a pic of it. I don't know what the name of it is, but it's small; maybe a quarter-inch long. If my camera didn't have a macro mode I could have never shot it with any detail. After that I wound up crashing around three am and that was the end of the night for me.

I have no idea what this is, other than small.

At nine am, I got a call from one of the pilots to go to the beach. Of course I accepted the offer of a ride since A) I hadn't been to any beaches in Kauai yet, and B) I'm pretty sure in Hawaii, no matter the island, if someone offers you a ride to the beach it is illegal to say no.

A few minutes later we were at Shipwreck beach, where the waves weren't perfect, but they were boogie boardable. We wound up in the water for about an hour, but it only took about ten minutes to remind me that it's been roughly fifteen years since the last time I was on a boogie board, and just how much decent surf beats the hell out of you.

At one point, I caught a good wave, got a good ride, and then ate shit. I don't know how long I was under the surface, but I know I hit the bottom a few times. Everything felt fine, so I went back out. A short time later, I went to scratch my face and noticed my hand was covered in blood.

Owned by some rocks on the bottom.

The board I was using took a few hits too, and the side rail came mostly off. The regulars out there thought it hilarious that some haole with a beat up board was out there. They got a kick out of "da board I could use for da bottom turns and da kine. "

I think I'm going to trademark this as a "speed whisker".

luckily my hand wasn't too bad off, just a few cuts, and only one was decently deep. Definitely not enough to cause me to stay out when it happened. What finally found me on the beach was the Velcro on the leash let go, and my board disappeared, and I wasn't gonna just leave a board out there to get in someones way or get smashed on the rocks. So I went in to find it, and once on the beach, I realized how wiped I was, and that it had been an hour already since we arrived.

When we got back the crew house, I showered and ran to the grocery store. I needed (another) pineapple, and I also picked up some smoked marlin. I was a little bummed, as I wanted to get some more adobo pork and some rice. Apparently that stuff gets dropped off and the guy that drops it off either didn't come that day, or hadn't gotten there yet - honestly as soon as I found it it was a no-go I kinda stopped listening. On the plus side, that smoked marlin is freaking awesome, and I'll be buying some more of that for sure.

It's kinda like a smoky, salty, terriyaki, soft jerky. And it's delicious!

I think after the store I fell asleep for about three-and-a-half hours. I'm not entirely sure, as I don't know when I fell asleep - I just sat down and next thing I know my phone alarm was going off to remind me to check into work. When I went to wash some clothes, something on the wall in the garage caught my attention. Unlike the gecko in Kona, I had no problem seeing what it was.

Surprise, motherf---er!

It's a cane spider, and they're fairly common. They're not really aggressive, but they are venomous, and freaky looking, so I went ahead and hosed it down with some Ortho Home Defense. Word of caution: when sprayed with poison, cane spiders get pretty pissed and despite their size (this one was about four inches), can haul ass, even with only six legs.

Imagine this, hauling ass towards you, to spider rape your face in your sleep. When you're done crying you can write your thanks for my killing it in the comments.

So far it's been a slow night, we'll see how long that lasts. Tomorrow I might go for a drive to get a better feel of where everything is for when Stacey comes out in a couple days.

Back where I started

Last night was fun, and this morning came way too early.

Yesterday I got to have pho one last time in Hilo, had it as a late lunch. I didn't realize the absolute authenticity of the place until I read the little red tag that was attached to the porcelain cat with a raised paw.

Verbatim: "Fortune cat brings you very best wishes may happity and happy hocks be with you forever"

I have no idea what "happity and happy hocks" are, but apparently I'm supposed to have them. Forever.

After a decent little nap I started pre-packing my bag to try and save time in the morning. I realized that I had some rum left and this was a bit of an issue; I couldn't really take it with me, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna waste perfectly good rum. This happily coincided with the fact that I had some cans of diet Pepsi that had a likewise disposition. So, once I was off duty, the disposal of said adult beverages commenced in earnest.

Once I was properly buzzing, I went over the see Lilly the gremlin dog and have dinner with her owners (one of our pilots and his wife).

A very buzzed me and Lilly dog (just to clarify, Lilly was sober).

Dinner was awesome; a spicy Asian affair with chicken and tomatoes, and rice on the side. Lilly waited patiently for me to give her a bite, but it was really good, and I wasn't abut to not eat all the awesomeness that was on my plate.

Lilly was not amused at the lack of handouts.

The rest of the night was fun, spent watching Glee, playing Bad Company 2 on the PS3, and playing the couch game with Lilly (we run back and forth across the front room, she treats the couch as her personal obstacle course). Before I knew it, I was good an buzzed, and the time was approaching eleven pm. I bid my farewells, and headed back to the crew house to pack a few things, down a half gallon of water, and get some sleep.

The sleeping part was awesome, done on the couch with a blanket and one of the best pillows I've slept on in a while, directly in the air flow from the window unit air-conditioner.

The part that was not so awesome was getting up at a quarter till five am for a six-fifteen flight. I don't know how I managed to get my shit together, but I was able to get all packed up, tidy up the crew house, and drive to the airport . Unfortunately, as speculated, K-hop was a no-go. But I suppose it's another thing I have to justify a future visit to Hilo.

Once on the plane, things went fairly quickly. I managed to score an aisle, exit-row seat for both of my flights and only had to wait about fifteen minutes to board. I was doing the half-asleep, bobble-head thing shortly thereafter. In HNL I had a whole twelve minutes to get from the arrival gate to my connecting gate. This worked out fairly well, as I was able to get right onto the plane and fall right back asleep.

Once in Lihue, I hitched a ride with a fellow Hawaii Life Flight pilot to the crew house. Luckily I was switched from days to nights for the next few days, so I didn't have to worry about getting a call for a flight. This resulted in my crashing for three-and-a-half hours.

After getting up it was off to the grocery store, where I got to learn the hard way that groceries locally in Lihue are more expensive than in Hilo or Kona. However, I should be dining out less, since I'm on the night shift and not too many things are open late enough at night around Lihue to suit my needs. So hopefully the money kinda balances out between more grocery cost and reduced dining out cost.

I was also able to have a chat with one of the medics here and find out a good place to get loco moco here, as well as some fun things to go check out when Stacey arrives in four days. Now I get to try and stay up as late as I can to adjust to a night schedule, just in case I get one of those four-thirty am calls in the very near future.

Back in Hilo

It's been nice to be back in Hilo, even for a short time.

Yesterday, shortly after posting here, I laid down to take a nap. I no sooner started to fall asleep when I got a phone call that we had a patient. So up and dressed I got, and down to the airport I went. I was able to get a few pics of some old agricultural planes that are rotting away next to our aircraft shanty. At first I thought they might be Grumman AgCat's with a Super Cat mod, but they are apparently Emair MA-1B's, a plane developed by the Hawiian Murray company I believe in response to the need to tend to the sugar cane crops more efficiently.

There's three of them, or at least parts of three of them.

All it needs is a GPS and you're good to go...

The only way I found the manufacturer was on a data plate that looked like it was inscribed by a drunk three year old (DON'T JUDGE ME!).

I was a little surprised when I looked at the engine data plate; they use the same engine (although a different derivative) that powered the B17, although the latter needed four of them. I'd love to take one (they're free for the taking!) to make a cutaway-coffee-table with. But I'm not spending a fortune in shipping, truck rental, and tool rental to get it removed and home. Neither do I have the time or resources to actually finish the job. I'd also take a prop for decoration, but can't for the same reasons.

A Wright Cyclone 9 data plate.

Nerd/technical talk alert! This is a Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9, specifically an R-1820-202A (rated to twelve hundred horse I believe ). The B17 used four of the R-1820-97, also rated at twelve hundred horse, though I'm not sure of any further limitations. Also of interesting note; the horsepower rating in the cockpit states they are only rated to nine-hundred horses for five minutes, then six hundred continuously. I'm not sure if the airframe couldn't take the full power or what, since this particular engine model (the -202A) is rated to twelve-hundred horse.

The flight over was pretty normal, till I felt the trim wheel move. Many Kingair captains will fly with their right knee against the trim wheel, this way we can feel when it's moving, in which direction, and for how long. This can come in handy for a few reasons, one of those reason being that we can figure out when something is going on in the back with a patient.

About fifteen minutes out of HNL, I felt the trim wheel rolling forward, as well as the plane moving a little from people walking around and creating a CG change. So I look back, and sure enough, our patient apparently decided this flight was going to be suddenly, and exponentially more interesting as they were coding (aka crashing). What I felt in the trim and CG change was my med crew jumping to their feet to mainline some pharmaceutical into the patient and set things right. I delcared critical, got a direct clearance to the airport and started the descent. And then...it was mostly over and done with, patient stabilized, crew sitting down, just some trash being picked up and patients chart noted.

After landing we got word of a second flight, to Barking Sands. I got a little excited at this one, as it meant I would A) land at one of the few airports I haven't been to out here yet , and B) get to land at my first military airfield.

When we got there, I really wanted to take pictures, but though it might be best not too, just because. This is probably one of the coolest approaches I have done yet; the end of the runway is so close to the water, you almost expect waves to break over the threshold at high tide. Also, something hilarious, I guess the fire department either had nothing to do, or it's just SOP to come to the runway whenever a plane lands, and in either case to then follow the plane like a lost puppy. I was a little worried at first, thinking maybe they knew something we didn't (like maybe we'd spontaneously combust or something), but the Air Force ramp rat seemed to act as if it were normal.

We got back just before I was out of duty time, so we hung out for about thirty minutes waiting for the next pilot to take us all home.

Once back, it was time to go over and see Lilly the gremlin dog before I crashed for the night. At first she barked and growled at me and then, so suddenly it was hilarious, she started whining and trying to jump up and lick my face as she realized who I was.

I'm scheduled to head back to Lihue in the morning. I'm hoping to hit K-hop one last time before I go, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make that happen, as my flight leaves Hilo at six-twenty-three am, so I'd have to be at Ken's no later than about five am. That's gonna be a tough one to pull off. Oh well, at least I got to grab some loco moco with kalua pork this morning.

Kona

Sometimes I wonder how people can actually create a sign or slogan without thinking about what else it could convey or how it could sound odd.

I ran into a sign yesterday that I had to take a picture of.

The last time someone said "Spray Me," I'm pretty certain the police were involved at some point.

I was able to get out and about a bit a couple days ago. I was finally able to get a picture of a corner of the plumeria field down towards the airport. I was able to do so by climbing up the embankment on the other side of the road. I thought it was odd that the embankment had steps, then I realized those steps ran the entire length of the road. I think I got it figured out though: it's an old lava field , and I think the steps were successive layers of lava at some point.

The lava steps opposite the plumeria field.

I think this is probably one-sixteenth of the plumeria fields by the airport.

I didn't know yesterday when I woke up that it would be my last day in Kona.

It's all good, as I was hoping to get to Hilo one more time, so it worked out. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to kind of pre-pack my suit case for where ever I'm headed on the twelfth (I'm shceduled for Lihue (Kauai), but there are rumors of me going to Kahalui (Maui)).

Kona was awesome. I am gonna miss the plumeria field on the way to the airport, as well as the view from the crew house. I was a little bummed as there was a beach and a lava tube that I had planned on checking out today, but I guess I have a reason to come back now. The last picture I took in Kona was a view of the lights at night from the deck. All the public lights (street lights, etc) are orange in the state of Hawaii - to keep light pollution down for the observatory.

The biggest clump of lights (in the center) is the airport.

I'm also a little let down that the Kona Mountain Coffee Company doesn't open till six am, as I really wanted to get one more of the best vanilla lattes I've ever had. But, I had to be in Hilo by seven am, and that meant leaving no later than five-thirty.

Once in Hilo, I was starving and went straight to the old standby, K-hop. And in true K-hop fashion, the bar for loco moco was set ever higher. This time it was the kalua moco - rice, gravy, kalua pork, and two eggs over easy. It is awesome, and since I'm just eating out while in Hilo (for all of two days) I shall be returning for this. Maybe even get it sumo style...

After breakfast, I decided it was time for a walk. There's a road around the crew house that makes a pretty decent loop to go walking on. Along the way, I noticed a few things that weren't there when I last walked that loop about a week and a half ago; a set of old tires, a small rear-end (I'm guessing from something small, old, and rear wheel drive), what looks like a quarter panel that was freshly removed via collision (it's still very shiny - something out of place in such a corrosive environment), and what I think are the bones and offal of a goat. It's sad really, to live in such a unique place, only to trash it when removal of said rubbish takes more than a modicum of effort.

While I was out, I noticed that the horses from a nearby property were up against the fence. And there with them was the foal I had heard about but hadn't seen yet.

The foal and it's mother.

After the foal, I rounded the back stretch of the route. That's when I saw something up ahead run across the street. And then another little critter, roughly the same size and shape, followed shortly thereafter. I had no idea mongooses (mongeese?) were so active that late in the morning (around eight-thirty-ish). All in all I saw probably six, thus tripling the amount of mongoose I had seen in my time in the islands here. I was also able to approach one, very slowly, a little at a time, and get a picture.

The furry, rat-looking thing dead center.

I also found a source for coconuts that is fresher than getting them at the farmers market.

Straight from the tree (or directly beneath if you prefer).

The rest of the morning has found me waiting for a call to take someone somewhere. I'm thinking of going over and surprising Lilly the gremlin dog if nothing is going on in the next hour.

Hmmmm

Being in Kona has turned out to be about as busy as being in hilo - that is to say not so much.

Don't know whats up, but I spent the better part of 6 days sitting around waiting for a call that just wasn't coming. It's all good though, since it gave me the opportunity to walk around the neighborhood.

The first place I went, naturally, was the back yard. There's not a whole lot back there except a bunch of pumice, a few small (a stalk and three leaves) banana trees, and a bush with some interesting flowers, as well as a few geckos and such.

This is the first gecko I saw, then I couldn't stop seeing them.

I found this one in the same bush as above, literally jumping from leaf to leaf.

They also enjoy the banana trees...

...and playing hide-and-seek in the old, folded-over banana leaves.

I also went walking up the street. Kaiminani Drive, the street that runs the length of the neighborhood, is fairly steep, definitely more than the standard six-percent grade, probably approaching fifteen-percent in some parts. While it left my legs a little bit more than slightly tired, it also afforded a chance to take some pictures.

From the top of the street (look at the houses at left to judge the steepness).

A group of plumeria blooms, one of thousands in the immediate area, just up the street from the house.

Later, back at the crew house, it was found that the available drinking glasses were somewhat on the small side. So small in fact, that a can of soda poured over ice would probably fill the glass twice. This presents an issue, as I've found a rum here that costs around ten dollars, and is damn near as good as Sailor Jerry (which is approximately twice the price, by the way).

A) Hana is Hawaiian for bay, so this is Bay Bay rum? B) It clearly says "...from Hawaii", yet the back says it's from Mira Loma, CA. Whatever - it'll get ya drunk! (you know that reference.)

So, with the dilemma of how to get buzzed with the minimal amount of effort, I set to work to find a solution. With a little searching, it took all of about five minutes to solve the problem.

Behold, my drinking vessel. (I'm well aware that it's a measuring cup, drinking vessel just sounds so much more awesome).

So now I can not only hold a whole can of Pepsi along with the rum, I have the capacity to hold two if I so desire. And with the convenient graduations on the side, I can see exactly how much I'm imbibing. I can also pour at least a half a bottle of rum and a smidgen of Pepsi if that's how I want to roll (note: it isn't, at least not normally).

At the grocery store's hot deli, I found I can get loco moco fairly cheap. It's not as good as getting it fresh, but it's ab out half the price, and if I'm already at the grocery store and in the mood I might as well get it there. Of course if I'm just going out for coffee and the mood strikes, I'll pay a little more to have a hot, steaming pile of loco moco right then and there.

Pictured: a hot steaming pile.

I know the pic isn't great, makes it look quite possibly like the most unappetizing thing you've recently seen, but I promise you: it is awesome. Before you denounce it, I ask only that you have at least a bite or two first. It's not hard to make if you want to try to DIY it: all you need is rice, brown gravy, an over-easy egg, and some kind of protein (a hamburger patty is the standard, but you can use pork, fish (I've had mahimahi in it and it's awesome), chicken (either actual meat or even breaded patties), etc.), etc. Assembly is simplistic, nigh easier than assembling Ikea furniture - rice, protein, egg, gravy. Done. This is even better with a little hot sauce.

the vog finally cleared enough for me to get some better, clearer pictures from the deck of the Kona crew house. For those too lazy to look it up, vog is the resultant of sulfur dioxide (among other things) reacting to water in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. It's not unlike smog in appearance, though I've found it no where near as irritating or dirty.

You can clearly/more easily see the beach in the background.

The view is far better, sans vog.

Even the view from the airport is better. (note: the next land mass this direction I think is the Philippines, about five-thousand miles away).

I have found, with the help of a local, what is quite possibly the best pho place I've ever been too. It's called Bale (pronounced ball-lee), and like all awesome restaurants, it's not much to look at. But they do right by pho standards: on the side is plenty of basil and bean sprouts, with a little lime slice, and a few jalapeno slices. A little (or a lot) of hoisin and sriracha (or chili oil if you preffer) and you got yourself some damn good souo. My only complaint about their pho is that they don't have my favorite kind; the combination type containing meatballs, pork, beef, chicken, tripe, and tendons. I know, it sounds gross, but unless you've tried each and everyone one of those ingredients in good pho, you can just shut your world hole.

While I was writing this, something caught my eye. I looked over trying to figure it out, but couldn't immediately find it. But just as I was turning back, I saw it again, this time way up high. It was a night gecko (the little brown ones), coming down from the ceiling to look for buggies to eat. He made it all the way down to the floor, where it cautiously skittered along the crevice between the carpet and drywall. I was able to get a few pics prior to its descent, but can't really get a good pic of it at its current ground perch, and every time I try to get close it runs.

The little dot top-center...

...is this little guy (zoomed way in to get this pic).

Over the last couple days I have managed to get a sunrise and a sunset. I think I'll end it on that.

A Kona sunrise.

A Kona sunset.