Happy Birthday

Aloha: Well, today is my youngest daughter's birthday. To be more precise, the 24th anniversary of her birth. Alter all, we are only born once. Today I will take my mo'opuna home for the night as Anakam wants to PARTY. My mo'opuna does not really like the dogs and the dogs don't know what to make of him. We will have CJ for most of the weekend.

The weather was nice when I left this morning. The Pu'u 'O'o webcam and the overlook webcam showed glow last night. All is SOS.

Take care and may God bless you all.

Pu'u 'O'o

Aloha: Last night, for the first time, I was able to see a glow from the Pu'u 'O'o webcam. Other than that the volcano report is SOS. The weather today is voggy. Since I do not have any sense of smell left I do not know if the white stuff in the trees is fog or vog. I checked the HVO webcam and they are socked in also, so am guessing it is vog.

Tomorrow is Anakam's birthday. We wish her a very "Happy Birthday". She lucked out and was not a Halloween baby, which was a big worry for her parents too many years ago. We were worried about the teasing she would have to endure if she was a Halloween baby.

Let's see, you have the weather report, the volcano report and the exciting news, so I guess it is time for me to close. God bless and take care of each other.

In Hilo again

Aloha: The title says it all. I am in Hilo. I just picked up my mo'opuna and am now waiting for him mom and dad to come home. Today he "officially" learned something he has known for some time. And that is that red and yellow make orange. He had to paint a pumpkin at school today. He has been mixing colors on the "Curious George" website for some time now.

The volcano and the weather are "same o, same o". Well, that is it for today. Very exciting. God bless and take care.

Sunday Update

Aloha: Well another week has come and gone. The older one gets the faster the world spins. I have found out that I am also getting taller. Either that or the faster spinning of the world is making it harder to bend down and pick up anything that I have dropped. It must be the centrifugal force. I know that you all are dying to know so I will not make you wait. The rainfall total for the week is 1.35 inches (+/- .025"). I have been told that the plus/minus thing makes it look more like I know what I am talking about.

Our volcano is continuing to shake and bake so all is SOS. The weather is beautiful. Just about all the rainfall happens at early (2/5a) morning. Right now it is bright and sunny, and 64 on the porch. A great day to be alive.

I sure would love to read some blogs. God bless and take care of each other.

Final Samoa (if you are lucky)

Aloha: I know it is a little late but.... My wife got in Friday morning at about 8:30a. The Samoans she worked with were really sorry to see her go. There is a great difference between the volunteers from the mainland and the ones from Hawaii. There is a great difference between the volunteers and the paid staff from FEMA. The FEMA boss in the big house and the staff in the hotels. The Americore(?), Catholic Charities, and the Red Cross in the gym, on cots, 70 to the room. When the last hurricane watch we had some FEMA "bosses" came and they have no idea of what is takes to live on an island. When my wife was in Texas for hurricane relief if you needed water, you got on the phone and the next morning a semi would roll up and you had your water. On an island you get your water a week later, if you are lucky, and only if the piers have not been damaged too bad so the ship can be offloaded. With a hurricane some hurry up planning and stockpiling can be done, but a tsunami gives no warning and what are needed are workers, not bosses. Pau vent.

I slept through the 4.8 quake we had the other night. I did not even know about it till I got an email from Kansas Vovo. I really do not mind missing out on that kind of excitement.

That's it for today. I can not wait to give you all the rain report tomorrow. I know you all are just on pins and needles wanting to know. God bless and take care.

Next to the last Samoa update.

Aloha: It is now final!! My wife will be leaving Samoa at 11p Thursday. She will be arriving in Honolulu around 5:30a on Friday. She will call me when she gets into Honolulu to let me know her inter island flight time and such. Funny how much anticipated news can be transmitted in just two sentences. Now what should I write about. Not to worry, I will think of something.

The weather today was misty. Anakam called this morning to ask me I wanted to go for a ride. She had to go to Pahala to trade out a couple of monitors and wanted company. We were back in Volcano by 10a. I went down to pick up my mo'opuna at 1:15p. Last night I got stuck in a line of cars that stopped completely. It seems a tree fell on the power lines and onto the road. I got home later that usual. Now wasn't that exciting!!!! I told you I would find something to write about. And how about three subjects in one paragraph?

The volcano is SOS. You can see the hot spots in the vent by logging on to the overlook webcam.

I will have mercy and quit now. God bless and be good.

Good News

Aloha: I just got a call from my wife. Very unusual; she does not call in the middle of the day. She will be leaving Samoa on the 22nd at about 10p. That is 11p Hawaii time. Again the powers that be were making noise about a passport so she called Immigration and was told that the papers I sent her when she was in Honolulu will be more than enough. It should be as that is the same paperwork Obama used to prove he is qualified to be president. Other qualifications are still in doubt. Stay tuned for a "nasty-gram" from some of my readers.

Our microwave went "kaput" this morning. I was reheating a cup of coffee and the thing would not go on. I just bought a new one "male" style. That means I went into the store, found the ovens, picked one out, paid for it and left. I will not spend $30 on gas to save $15 by shopping around. I am now looking for flannel sheets. Checked Sears and they did not have any so decided to stop. I just might go and try someplace else tomorrow.

The weather was misty when I left Volcano this morning. Wet all the way down to Hilo, and is now cloudy bright and humid. I am waiting for the clock to tell me it is time to pick up my mo'opuna from school. I am waiting to talk to Anakam as she had a parent-teacher conference on Friday.

The volcano report is SOS. There was a great view from the overlook webcam last night. The lave pond was quite high and you could see splatter and such. At about 10p the pond drained away and now there is nothing to see. The area is still inflating so we just might get some fireworks yet. Or not.

God bless and take care.

Sunday report

Aloha: I know that you all have been waiting with bated breath for the rain report for the last week. Your wait is over!!! We had all of 0.15 inches of rain this past week. Now, wasn't that worth waiting for?

My wife called last night and there is a good chance that she will be coming home on the 22nd. It is not firm yet but that is the date the powers that be are aiming for.

The weather today is great. On a day like today there is no place on earth more beautiful then Volcano, Hawaii!!!

The volcano report is, again, SOS. There has been a slight change in inflation of the volcano. What that means I do not know but it is a reason to check the report tomorrow. The overlook webcam view was nice last night.

That's all folks! God bless and take care.

Touching base.

Aloha: Just a short post to touch base with all my faithful readers. The return plans for my wife are firming up. They have asked her to stay at least one more week but she has declined. She does have a job and is not really foot loose and fancy free. They will be flying back via Hawaiian Airlines. She will call me when she gets into Honolulu for me to pick her up. This will be on the 23/24 or 25th. I said firming up, not firm.

The weather now is beautiful. It had been volcano misting about an hour ago. The volcano report is SOS. The overlook webcam does show two glowing spots, one has been producing Pele's hair. Other than that, SOS. Don't forget, tomorrow I will have the rain gauge report. I know you all are waiting for that.

God bless, be good and take care.

Tsunami In Hawaii

Aloha: Did you know that the tsunami that hit Samoa also hit Hawaii? I didn't. I just saw pictures on the Hawaii Free Press (www.hawaiifreepress.com) website of the wave on the Kona side of the Big Island. I think that Civil Defence should revisit what they consider an "all clear". We could have had a disaster. There are 3 pictures on the "front" page with a "more photos" link. Go to the "more photos" and there is a picture of a man standing at the top of the boat ramp with the water above his knees. That kind of surge could easily sweep a child away!

I got a call from my wife last night. It seems that in Iliili, where she is, has had a good old Hilo rain for the last 2 days. The volunteers from the mainland could not believe how much water can come down out of the sky. Don't they read the Bible? Of course the locals and the people from Hilo just change slippers (flip flops/shower shoes) for shoes and go about their business. A little water never hurt anyone.

I am in Hilo again today and it is clear and "warm". It was clear when I left Volcano this morning. The volcano report is SOS. I did see a report on, I think, yahoo, about the fumes from the volcano creating havoc with some flower growers. That has been a problem ever since the vent opened on the floor of Halem'uma'u. The SO2 values have been much higher than normal ever since the vent opened, but the higher values are what I call SOS., if that makes sense.

The cargo plane that took my wife down to Samoa was a newer version cargo plane so it took them 5 and a half hours to get there. Others flew on an older version and their trip was 8 hours. The Hilo group will be flying back on a normal passenger plane, but the final dates have not been set yet. The powers that be have been making noise about having people stay for a few more weeks but I do not think there are any takers. People do have to work and earn a living.

I guess that is it for today. Take care and may God bless all of you.

SOS revisited

Aloha: I got a note from a reader today. It is great to know that somebody out there is reading this thing. It seems that the reader had heard on the news, I guess, that the volcano was in fact not SOS. Since I missed yesterday I checked and did not see anything different. This is from the HVO website today: Activity Summary for past 24 hours: Monday's short DI event is nearing completion. Glowing spots were recorded in the summit vent webcam view. Sulfur dioxide emission rates from the Halema`uma`u and east rift zone vents remain elevated. Lava flows are active on the pali; lava is entering the ocean west of Kalapana. For those of you who do not know a DI event is just the lava moving up and down (Inflating and Deflating) in the plumbing of the volcano. Tremor (Harmonic Tremor) is the recorded sound lava makes as it moves through cracks in the rocks (conducts). When the volcano erupts tremor goes way up, sets off the alarm to wake the vulcanologists up so they can "ohh and ahh". The tremor usually starts before the lava breaks out of the ground. Some people say I have verbal diarrhea so if you want more information on what little I know you will have to ask.

The weather today is great. I will be down in Hilo later today as I have to pick up my mo'opuna from school and sit till his parents come home from work.

I could go on but will not. God love you all and take care.

Very interesting!

Aloha: I just saw a very interesting thing on TV. A guy had a pre 1964 quarter. He could remember when a quarter would buy a loaf of bread so he took the quarter to a metal dealer and sold the quarter for its silver content. He got enough for the quarter to buy a loaf of bread at the local supermarket. The bread did not lose value in relation to the silver. It is the dollar that has lost its value. Silver is at over $17 an ounce and gold is over $1000 an ounce.

My wife calls, using a calling card, every day, so far. She will be in Samoa for about 2 more weeks. There is a cruse ship in the area and she gets to go on board to get a hot shower and a hot meal every once in awhile. I think twice so far. The weather is hot in Samoa so just walking from the bus to the shelter and she is soaking wet from "sweat". (I know, horses sweat, people perspire.)

Today the weather is misty, but very pleasant. The volcano is doing its thing and is SOS.

Too bad my daughters have forbidden me from commenting on the news of the day. Things are getting very scary for our nation. That's all I will say as I do not want to get "nasty-gram" from my dear daughters, God love them!

God bless and take care.

Weekly rain report.

Aloha: I know you all are just waiting for the rain report so here it is. Would you believe 0.50 inches for the week ending this morning? Believe it or not that is what it is.

My brother-in-law, Chief, was on TV the other day. He was being honored for his work helping the Red Cross. He is a great help to my wife setting up for her classes when the Red Cross has their big push on CPR Saturday.

It was a beautiful day this morning but now we have a misty drizzle. That's the weather. The volcano report is no big changes from yesterday. SOS all over again. Very exciting day!

Take care and be good. May God bless you all.

You got to be kidding!!!!

Aloha: "April fools has passed, the Nobel Prize Committee is the biggest fool at last." I honestly thought it was a joke when I first heard about it. "Dear Leader" is now a member of what once was a very elite group. Lose an election to a Bush, win the peace prize; criticize a Bush, win a peace prize. Blame a Bush for all the worlds problems, win a peace prize.

On a happy note, Anakam and CJ came up to "Gods country" yesterday and we toured the National Park. Unfortunately my friend Arthur came along so we were not able to do much walking. All in all, it was a beautiful and enjoyable day. I hope to have many more of them!

Today is another glorious day. There is more air movement today then there was yesterday. A great day to be alive!

The volcano report is getting to be a drag. SOS........ Every day Same old same old. Hey, the news channel is like the volcano; "Dear leader" is talking again, this time to a gay rights group. SOS.

God bless and take care.

End of Flash

Aloha: I have decided to stop using "Flash X" as a title unless something really important happens. I can hear the cheering from here. Today "here" is in Hilo as Topher had to work as did Anakam, so I lucked out and got to sit my mo'opuna. It has been a very still day in Hilo and hot. It has just started to rain and I am hoping that the rain will cool things off. I will not find out till Topher gets home if I will be needed tomorrow.

My wife called me at 10p Hawaii time last night. She had called at about an hour before any tsunami would have hit Samoa and at that time was waiting for the buses, that had gone into the "field" to pick up workers, to return to pick up the shelter workers. She did not say so but I got the impression that the buses never returned to the shelter. Thank God that the earthquake did not produce a large wave as the shelter is at sea level. I have a felling that I will not get the "straight scoop" till after she returns. Today she, and the other volunteers, are getting language lessons and cultural awareness training. Again, she has not said so, but I get the feeling that the Red Cross is not too well organized in Samoa. Have I made mention that she can get a one hour calling card for only $5? Quite a deal I think.

The weather was clear when I left Volcano at 5:30a this morning. I had to leave early as Anakam had to be at work before 7. The volcano report is again SOS. I did not see any glow when I checked the webcams last night. (Spell check does not like "webcam".)

My former employer has just sold the last supermarket the chain owned to Foodland. I am still "on call", but can not remember the last time I did any work. When I do work I just do paper work. The guy in charge of the meat department at Na'alehu also works in the meat department at the supermarket so I have no idea how that will work out. The news release said that employees can apply for jobs at Foodland. (Foodland, Sack and Save, Emjays, Big Save, all are the same company, the largest food retailer in the state of Hawaii.)

That"s all for now. Take care and may God bless you all.

Flash 6

Aloha: I got 2 calls today from my wife. There was an earthquake in Vanuatu and Samoa is on a tsunami watch. She is at a place called Iliili, at the airport, less than a 10 minute walk to the beach. ETA for any wave generated is 3:10p Hawaii time. The tsunami watch for Hawaii has been canceled. I am now waiting for her to call to let me know that everything is A-OK. It is now past time for the wave to get to Iliili. No news is good news.

It is bright and sunny here in Volcano and we just had a great big "boom". I do not think it was thunder as it was quick and short. The dogs have been whining and fussing all afternoon today. Well, we just had a normal thunder so we just might get rain. The dogs sure do not like the noise.

The volcano report is SOS. The lava pond has receded below camera view but the glow says it is still there. That's all for today. God bless and be good.

No Passport

Aloha: I went down to Hilo today to see about getting my wife a passport. I tried calling and got tired of playing "punch the number", so went down to see what goes. To make a long story short I was right, passport have to be issued in person. It takes 6/8 weeks to process, but wait, for an extra $50 the time can be reduced to 3/4 weeks. When she was at Hickam she called and there were several members of her group that did not have passports so who knows what will happen in 3 weeks.

I told some of you this so please bare with me. She called the other day and told me that she had gone to a store to buy a phone care. When she told the owner what she wanted he let her call me on his store phone. I thought that was very nice of him. She told me that starting today she will be working the phone in the hospital fielding calls from people looking for loved ones. I do not think I could handle that. Just thinking about it is bringing tears to my eyes.

Hawaii has been on a flask flood watch from yesterday and will continue till Thursday afternoon. No rain here in Volcano yesterday and none today. Cloudy, some mist, but no rain. We could use a little wind as it is kinda voggy today.

The lava pond returned to the hole in the floor of the vent in the floor of the crater in the floor of the caldera. Last night the pond was crusted over by you could see how large the pond was because of cracks in the crust. It is a much nicer view when the surface is churning around. All else is SOS.

God bless and take care. Love to all.

News Flash 5

Aloha: I got a call from my wife this morning. The Red Cross has given each of their volunteers a calling card so that they can call those who care for them. Samoa is one hour behind Hawaii and she said that the area looks like the Hawaii of 30/40 years ago. Opihikao, Hawi, Kukuihaili, Milolii, only a lot hotter. They are keeping her very busy. She got to Samoa at 3a Saturday and has her own cot to sleep on, in a shelter. She has already been mistaken for a Samoan and has asked me to look into the possibility of getting her a passport. She does not like to have her picture taken so I really do not have one that could be used for that purpose. I guess I will have to go into Hilo to the main PO to check on getting a passport.

I just found out that if you drive across the border (with Canada or Mexico) you do not need a passport, but if you fly across the border you have to have a passport. Another government gem!!!

The weather is cloudy and kinda misty. Not really wet. The volcano is, I guess, SOS. I really can not remember if I checked the Kilauea update this morning. I know I checked the earthquakes and the webcams, but do not remember reading the update.

Oh well, that's all folks!!! God love you all and be good.

Sunday report

Aloha: The big news today is that for the week we got 1.45 inches of rain. How's that for exciting news.

Have you ever thought about how brave early explorers were? To leave family and friends behind, knowing that you will never see, or hear, from, or about, them again? No telephone or mail. Gone forever. Just something to think about. I know, sometimes my mind goes places I do not even understand.

The weather and the volcano are very SOS. I have not heard from Samoa so am guessing that no news is good news. Well, that's all folks. God bless and be good.

News Flash 4

Aloha: It is now 10a in Hawaii, and 9a in Samoa. My wife left Hickam at about 9:30p last night. The AT&T rep confirmed that there is a "roaming" fee in calls from Samoa to Hawaii and from Hawaii to Samoa so news from my wife will be very limited. The fee is between $2/3 a minute. It seems that AT&T does not service Samoa so all the palms must be greased.

The tale of FEMA requiring a passport/birth certificate to go to American Samoa reminded Nabru of the time he wanted to rent a car to go to New Mexico. The car rental company kept telling him that rental cars could not go across the border even after he showed them a map showing them that New Mexico is a state in the US and not a part of Mexico (for now). That reminded me of when I was in the Navy stationed in Maryland and I bought a car. I registered the car in Hawaii and proudly put the Hawaii plates on the car. Countless people, on seeing the plates, would ask me how long it took to drive across the Pacific. I got tired of telling them that the new bridge cut the time down to 12 hours.

The gods have been crying ever since my wife left the island. The volcano report is basic SOS. The biggest change is, from the HVO website, "The lava pond visible within the summit vent for the past few days disappeared around 2 am as lava retreated to deeper levels in the conduit, with glow diminishing accordingly. Prior to this, the lava pond was experiencing typical filling and draining cycles." I was asleep so did not notice the change.

That's all folks! May the Good Lord bless and keep all of you safe and may He bless all who live in our hearts.

News Flash 3

Aloha: Well, last night my wife worked till about 8:30. Got home at about 9:30, packed for her deployment and got to bed after 2a. We got up at 4a so she could be at the airport at 5:30 when they open. She flew to Honolulu via Hawaiian Airlines, then a cab ride to Hickam Air Force Base. That is when the trouble started. Drivers licences is not sufficient to get on a military aircraft so she would need either her birth certificate or a passport. Most of the Hilo group were caught in the same web. After looking in all of her "hiding" places I found her "Certificate of Live Birth" and had to run it down to Hilo and have it sent via air cargo to Honolulu where she will be able to pick it up after 4p. ($16) When I get home I get a call from my wife and they are driving her crazy. Now they say a fax will do. And it is not a military thing about the "birth certificate" but rather a FEMA thing. Now FEMA has decided that American Samoa is a part of the USA and that citizens do not need to prove citizenship to go there. Her drivers licence would have done just fine. She will still have to go get her paperwork from air cargo after 4p. Maybe she will not be able to leave Samoa and will need her "certificate" to prove she is not Samoan. For those of you who may not know my wife is Hawaiian. Close, but no cigar!

Today's weather is wet and the volcano is SOS. It looks like we got about 0.5 inches of rain last night. The overlook webcam showed the surface of the lava pond and spattering. Earthquakes and tremor keep going up and down, up and down. For the first time in a long time there was fresh tephra, not rock dust.

Oh, my wife was told that a call from Samoa will cost about $2/3 a minute so I do not think there will much talking going on between Hawaii and Samoa. I will have to check with my cell carrier and check it out.

God bless and take care. May God bless America.

News Flash 2

Aloha: My wife will be leaving Hilo on Friday to go to Samoa. Since she is a workaholic she went to work today and I think she will go to her second job tonight. That means that she will have to pack tonight and get ready to go. So far we do not know what time she will leave Hilo to go to Honolulu. The National Red Cross is making the arraignments and she will be going from Honolulu to Samoa by military transport. She thinks the plane will be filled with Hawaii volunteers. My oldest daughter told me that there is an article in the paper this morning about her going to Samoa. When I go to the PO I guess I will stop at the store to get a paper.

The overlook webcam had some nice views last night and early this morning. At night the camera will record in black and white. From daybreak to about 7:30a it will show color so you can see the pond of lava in the hole, in the vent, in the crater, in the caldera. This seems like a good place to sneak in that the volcano report is SOS.

Today's weather is wet. I made a small pot of soup and it is good soup weather. I cooked up some Tonbo Ahi (albacore tuna) for my wife as she really does not like soup although she claims she does. Whenever I suggest soup she shoots me down like she is the Red Baron and I am Snoopy.

We thank all of you for your wishes and concerns about my wife's trip to Samoa. May God bless and keep all of you safe and sound.