SOUND CHECK SAGA

Most who have followed me blog know that this old geezer is hearing impaired.  Not deaf, but getting there.  It is something that has been of late much worse than before and am of the opinion that it is only a matter of time before sound becomes a distant memory.  Mind, the anger and embarrassment of hearing loss has been dealt with and am determined to face life with pluck.

One of the problems with living on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is the lack of good ENT doctors.  It requires a visit to Honolulu to get tests and treatment.  What follows is my latest journey to deal with something that would go quickly anywhere else.

I boarded a plane in the wee hours of the morn to make it in time for appointment.  The plane was full.  I had the bad luck to have a massively large person seated next to.  It was not until the person exclaimed at how tight the seat was and inability to buckle up that I learned that what I thought was a she was in point of fact a he.  Not that I was upset at the cross-dressing, more a matter of spending the entire flight pressed up against the window, with no hope of getting out if a trip to the toilet was required.  It was with great relief that I greeted the landing in Honolulu.

The ENT office was located downtown and I made it in time.

The lady working reception was not the most friendly.  One would have thought that if one worked in an office dealing with folks who had hearing problems, every effort would be made to be heard.  I was a bit of a chore and the lady did not take kindly to my pointing out her lack of effort.  Not the smartest move on me part but the harm was done as soon as the words left me mouth.

The good doctor was very capable and in short order had me in chair with all sort of tools digging in ears.  It turned out that there were polyps in me ears.  Not small ones but rather large ones.  Using a tool that both cut and sucked, the doctor went to town on the problem.  In short order I was much put upon by the endless probing in me ears.

The doctor told me that it usually happens that the polyp could be sucked out of the ear.  That was not the case with me.  Cutting away got some but not all and it was getting to hurt a bit.  The doctor had the cheek to ask if I wanted some of the cut out growth to keep as souvenir.  How horrid.  Who would want such a keepsake?

The visit confirmed what I already knew, the hearing was not getting better.  The only surprise was to lean of the nasty growths in ears.  I left with ears sore and mind giving a think on about wearing some sort of hearing aid.

I returned to Hilo well and truly tired and made an early night of it.

Truth be told, if one is going to suffer a loss, it would be easier to deal with hearing loss, so much easier than going blind.  That is how I deal with the problem.  Not much I can do to change the outcome.  It seems to be more of a problem to others that meself.  Used to upset me but am over that.

Right, there will be some who will rail on in emails that this post was more information than one would want to know.  I am of the opinion it was a most interesting day and perhaps I should have taken the nasty growth and passed round for all to see, much like I did with me gall stones.  Talk about a party trick...

Trip to Chocolate Farm

A few weeks back Scott and his lovely sister, Trish, invited this old geezer to visit a chocolate farm. Being a Sunday and always on the make for an adventure, I jumped at the opportunity presented.

It was a brilliant day in Hilo and the drive to the farm was on a road with a view of the ocean.

The Chocolate Farm is owned and operated by a most interesting chap by the name of Sparky. Am quite sure he has another name but we will run with Sparky. In a former life, Sparky was a science teacher, and upon looking at him one does see how he might have been the 'mad science teacher' we all had at some point in our education. Mad being used to draw light to his original persona and presentation.

Every so oft, when the cacao trees have plentiful pods, Sparky holds a class for folks interested in learning about growing cacao trees and producing the beans that chocolate come from. There is a fee charged and Sparky leads you on a lesson that reveals all you ever wanted to know about the process.

Did you know that the small plant that grows into the tree takes 3 years to produce pods? And that is only if you are lucky to have the proper pollination of the plants.

Cacao Trees require a certain climate. Hawaii has that as well as the elevation that seems to promote very healthy trees and a plentiful amount of pods per tree.

The video shows what the pods look like. Pods are picked from the tree and gathered up. One has to pick the right ones as it will mean all the difference as to what lies within the pod. Scott, Trish and this old geezer hit the trees with gusto and before long have a huge sack of pods to place with the others picked. I might also mention that Sparky has planted vanilla plants, these wrap selves round the cacao trees. They look like large pea pods. More on the vanilla later.

When the pods are in a pile, one has to use a mallet to whack the pod to crack it and reveal the cacao beans inside. Dear reader, upon seeing the raw product, this old geezer was almost put off chocolate for life. It is very while and slimy and attached to a placenta. One pulls on the mess, separating it from the placenta and placing the muck into a large bin.

Some of the more adventuresome members of the class were eating the stuff, right out of the pod. I looked in the direction of Scott and was going to take my cue from him. If he placed the horrid stuff in mouth I would try it. Scott passed on the pleasure, as did one other lady and I stayed away from the tasting.

As the bin filled with the cacao beans, it was placed in another bin, one that allowed the much from the beans to drain off into a large bottle under. This 'nectar' was going to used later. We will return to that as well.

Sparky is very keen on cacao, as much as he is about coffee, which he also grows. Fancy that...

Sparky told us that 1000 pounds of pods would produce 90 pounds of beans and that dried beans would produce 30 pounds of finished chocolate. I am pretty sure that is the math I heard, but do not hold me to it. There is nothing exact about my knowledge.

The beans are dried out, run through a process to remove the outer shell and them ground up to the fineness required for chocolate making.

I learned an absolute from Sparky. Water and chocolate do not mix. I also learned that one has to get the who batch up to a certain temp. The end result, with pure sugar added, is a very thick, dark, bitter sweet brew that is placed into molds and chilled.

While we were waiting for the finished product, Sparky has Scott go round with a jug of liquid. Remember the liquid that was collected from the raw cacao beans? It had been chilled and was now being offered as a beverage for the class to taste. I could not get pass the smell and passed but there were some who drank the stuff as if it were the 'water of life'. The true believers were in heaven...

The finished product was given out to the class. It was the strongest tasting chocolate this old geezer has ever tasted. I also must fess up to not liking it much. It was too much. I am a 'milk chocolate' lover.

While the raw cacao bean looked nothing like or smelled like chocolate, the vanilla pod was a different story. Sparky broke open a pod and the distinct smell of the vanilla was very strong. No mistake there.

Scott and Trish took me on a most excellent adventure, one that will stay me for a very long time. I was on a 'chocolate' high all day. Mind, the visit to the farm was made all the better by the excellent company had on the journey. I rather think I will never see M&M's quite the same again...

Try To Remember.....

It may well be that this old geezer is from a time and place long forgot. One has to wonder if the values taught to as a child are of value in this world we live in at present. Has civility gone from our lives. Have we all become a community of 'users'? As always, dear reader, there is a point to my rant. Dare I expand on it? I am obtuse, I shall...

Of late I have met many folks, young and old, who tend to think it is quite 'cool' to get over on folks who are trying to be nice. The attitude seems to be if I can get one thing for nothing, I will try to get another thing and it never stops until there is no more to get.

Would it be rude to go into a restaurant, order a meal, eat it, pay the bill and depart, only to return hours later and reclaim the table and expect to be fed again, with no further charge. I rather think it would be.

It is a bit hard to understand how one with the ability to pay own way can close pocketbook and expect kindness to shower down on them. Free has nothing to do with it, it is the blatant act of abuse that seems to drive some folks to act in this manner.

If I have a fault, and I do have faults, one would have to be the unwillingness on my part to see folks cared about abused.

Many years can pass and I will never forget the kindnesses shown to me by new best mates. One of the chaps has a heightened sense of 'social justice', is very keen on giving back. So much so that some who meet tend to think the chap naive. They would be so very wrong.

The chap I am thinking of is very aware of being put upon but tends to give the benefit of the doubt. That does not mean that from time to time he questions the actions of folks with regard to his business.

I am old school. I was taught it is a good thing to start a business, offer a product at a good price and strive for high customer satisfaction. Having met all of those conditions, it is a bit of a bother to see some try to claim more than was bought and paid for. Or to deal the attitude that it is entitlement for having patronized the business.

Getting back to that meal bought. Is a bit cheeky for the customer to place the plates, silverware and tablecloth into carryall and walk out the door. One has to be quite daft to think that the 'meal' came with all of the extras. Makes 'profit' sound like a dirty word.

My dears, is it rude on me part to try and protect the interests of one cared about. Would it be right to stand by and watch a wrong take place. It is shameful to remind folks who put out this behaviour that one must not do?

Perhaps this old geezer is too direct. I find it very hard to watch some take kindness as invite to get over on.

The world lived in is much changed from younger days. It may well be out of fashion to accept kindness with grace. To take what one needs and not all one can carry. To drain the purse of another all the while leaving own intact. More's the pity if that truly be the attitude one has to accept as the norm. Mind, I am an old geezer, what do I know?

'LESS IS MORE'

Avid followers of me blog might recall this snap from a post last year.  I had gone to Honolulu with someone who turned out to be 'a piece of work'.  In many ways it way the trip from hell, 10 days sharing space with a person who was hellbent on destroying self.  Mind, he lack the courage and thought that drinking massive amounts of alcohol would do the trick.  It did not and it came to pass that his return to reality was a date with the courts to deals with what was his trouble.  Talk about one's life turning to custard, this chap did it in total fashion.  Right, so I am going on a bit...

The snap was taken at a shop that sells Aloha wear and other things.  I was not a 400X but not small either.  I had already taken off a fair amount of bulk but there was more to come.  I have not taken snaps of self since last year, wanted to wait until the 'new' MOI appeared.  Would you believe that since October 2009 I have taken off a massive amount of weight.  Am happy to report that I am no long as large as I was in this snap.  Bloody hell, I do go on a bit...

Truth be told, there is less of me than there was.

I was going somewhere with this post.  I do tend to get lost at times.  Bear with MOI, I am trying...

What I have come to realize these past few months is that that which I carry within is the most dear, all of the rest can be replace, and can not be taken with in the end.  Sounds silly but so true.  How oft have I met folks who tend to put off positive change due to not wanting to deal with 'moving on' as they have too much stuff to deal with.  It has been my good fortune to come cross a few special folks who have re-enforced that belief.
I have settled in Hawaii.  A small town on the Big Island of Hawaii.  There is not a massive amount going on, it is very small town.  And it tends to rain a bit.  Can rain as much as 150 inches a year.

I was in pain and took the chance that some might be able to help.  I wanted to re-capture that spirit of ALOHA I had found so many years ago.  I can report that I have been the recipient of much ALOHA.  It is a bit overwhelming.

What works for me does not have to work for others.  That is the way of it.  I know that there will be many who will not understand why I felt the need to distance self.  I did what I needed to do to sort out the future.  It came with some hardship but in the end my feeling proved right.  I had returned to that patch of earth that would heal me.

I am of the opinion that I have sorted self out well enough to start the flow of stories my many readers seem to enjoy.  I warn one and all that I have gone from trying to save others to saving meself.  Tend to think that my telling of that process will be of interest as well.  From the emails received on the few posts of late, it would seem that many are willing to see where I go from here.  One lovely lady wrote that she was right mad to not have a post to read every day.   She has mobility problems and used me blog as a window she could peek in.  I am very honoured.

I also want to draw attention to James Rhoads. Lovely chap with a lovely wife and children.  Faithful readers will remember him from Christmas 2009.  James is doing well and wanted to make sure that he was getting his posts from the blog.  He had heard that I had started posting again.  Gobsmacked I was.

There you have it.  Another offering.  I seem to be getting back into the swing of things...

'CORN FLAKES DUO'

This post will add 'snap, crackle and pop' to your morn...

Week past had the good fortune to come to know two chaps from Minnesota on holiday in Hilo, Hawaii.  The meeting happened as they and I were booked in at the same hostel.  Mind, Clark and Garrett are backpacking way round the Big Island of Hawaii and this old geezer has taken to placing his hat on the peg for a spell.  What looked like me bolthole for a spell has become me home.  Much more on that later.

First night the two chaps got to the hostel, Clark asked if it was OK to close the windows in room as he had seen a mosquito and was loathe to have his blood taken in the night as he slept.  Informed that it would make the room rather closed feeling, he said he would try to live through the night with the window open.

In the morn, I came across Clark as he got self put right after the night's sleep.  "Nice to see that the famous Big Island Mosquitoes did not carry you off in the night", was my greeting.  Clark is quick and he caught the humour and laughed.  I mentioned that there was fresh coffee available and was informed that he, Clark, is something of a coffee snob.  That got me to know more.
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Clark had purchased a pound of Kona Coffee.  Not just any Kona Coffee but 100% pure Kona Coffee, at $35.00 a pound.  Bloody hell, talk about dear coffee, for that price it should come with healing powers or at very least hair growth powers...

Clark travels with his own coffee press.  Fancy that.  Boils water until 180 degrees and then makes his brew.  Being the perfect coffee snob, his beverage is taken sans cream.  I was allowed a small portion of the $35.00 a pound coffee and must tell true that it was RICH.

Clark and Garrett are on holiday, a backpacking adventure with a few stops in a place that has a roof and hot running water.  For the most part the are quite content to 'rough' it in tents.  Mind, one wonders how 'rough' the experience when one has $35.00 a pound coffee in the morn.

The two chaps met and became friends while working in a corn flakes factory.  Garrett is a bean counter and Clark was into promotion.  I think I got that right.  Garrett is the sort of fellow who would make sure that no corn flake was sold before its time, and the box would not be too packed.  Clark, on the other hand, is quite clever to make sure that that box of corn flakes reached the right hands.  Garrett is still with the corn flakes folks but Clark has moved on to other things to showcase his salesmanship abilities.  Both are as clever as a crisp corn flake...

When Clark and Garret left the hostel, the coffee press was left behind.  Sent email to Clark, wondering how on earth he would be able to manage without his press.  Not missing a beat, Clark mentioned something about being able to use banana leaves.  Fancy that.  Talk about flavoured coffee.

Most interesting chaps and one hopes that contact will be kept up.  Will be interesting to see where they next travel off to.  One gathers that they tend to share holidays and OZ might be the next big trip.

Who have you met of interest of late?

LONG OVERDUE POST

Some weeks back the lamp went back on and this old geezer was no longer wandering round in the dark.  It is a bit hard to know where to start, so many tales have found themselves into me book of life.

As I am the writer, it might be just as well to tell stories as I find them, no order to them, hoping that you, the dear reader, will be able to weave whole cloth out of them.  Mind, have always been of the opinion that stories flow best and are best told when not forced.

This old geezer went through a rather long period in the company of the 'black dog', there was much truth to the point made in October about life changing with the death of Paul.  When last looked, the crowd round the pity pole was rather sorry, so will not labour the point by filling this site with endless tales of tears shed or hard times met.  It will have to be enough for me to tell you that I have come through the dark period with a better understanding of how the future will be met.

Many is the time I have told readers that it is my belief that I have had a most charmed life.  When things look darkest, there was always a door opened that brought light with and a renewed energy to carry on.  With that in mind, I want you, the reader, to sit back and allow this old geezer to tell you of special folks met in recent weeks.

I owe my re-invention to the kindness of strangers, now close mates.

Two chaps.  Terry and Scott.  Terry met me at one of the lowest points in my life.  I had all but lost hope that things would right self.  Taking me in and providing me with a purpose.   What had turned to custard was soon forgot and I was looking forward again.  Enter Scott.  Between the two of them, they made me come to see that beliefs held were still valid and I was not completely gone off me head.

I do not do 'alone' well, never have, never will.  It was through the kindness of Scott and Terry that I came to feel strong enough to pick up the pieces and march on.  What with the holidays coming, what could have been the meanest Christmas ever, turned into one the  most grand in a very long time.

Terry is not the most public of men.  Rather private.  With no hidden agenda, he did many small things to make me feel a part of a 'family'.  I think I could come to know Terry for many years and never quite 'know' him, that does not mean that I have not come to know he has a heart as big as the state of Texas.

Scott and this old geezer have had a few heartfelt conversations.  I told of some of my life experiences, the joy and the pain and Scott shared some of his as well.  Were I to feel put upon in the future, it will have to be tempered by thought of some of the things Scott shared with me.

Early in life, Scott began fighting to keep living.  Struck with a rather nasty form of cancer, it was not thought that life would be long.  Beating the odds multiple times, Scott has gone on to have a family and a most productive life.  Along the way he fine tuned his 'social conscience', never taking anything or anyone met for granted.

I thought I had pluck, having met Terry and Scott, now know that there be at least two who have far more than this old geezer.  It is one thing to say that one stops to listen to the stories of life round and to meet up with two who not only listen but act upon the feelings roused by the stories.  It would be ever so easy to brush off or walk round some the things learned.

My dears, if you get the feeling that I have gone soft, you be wrong.  I am trying to reveal my strong feels for two who have come to mean much to, without going all gooey or painting a picture of saints.  Truth be told, I am much different and the experiences had these past months are where blame lies...

I am sitting here re-reading what I have shared and am of the opinion that many who are 'au fait' with me style will think me a bit strange.  Would it make it any easier if I told true that there be a large part of me that is not quite ready to reveal all.  Bit silly, coming from one who has shared so much with so many in the past.

I first started a public diary of me life to share the struggle of one person trying to make a difference in a community that had fallen on hard times.  It went on to include my dealings with elected officials.  I am still passionate about many of the same things; homelessness, benefit cheats, do nothing public officials and non-caring members of the community.  I am still very passionate about Civic Pride and Moral Responsibility.

I am in a different space and time.  After so many fights to right wrongs, now it my time to do some of the more pleasant tasks in life.  Like meeting folks who are upbeat and willing to walk through life with a keen interest in learning something new every day.  I rather think that that will be the new direction of my diary.

Self serving it might sound to encourage all of me readers to stay tuned, and hold back on the tales to come.

Truth be told, you have not been told much so far and am quite sure that as the stories roll out, you will be gobsmacked.  I would make book on it....

"Taking The Piss"

There be some who be right 'au fait' with this old geezer's style and will not be offended by the snap used to start of this long awaited offering from MOI...

Of late there have been troubled times for this old geezer and not wanting to crowd the 'pity pole' stayed off this site until self was sorted out.  I am happy to report that the dark clouds have lifted and am able to see much sunshine these days.

This old geezer has been on a journey.  In search of self.  I rather think I have found what it was that I was looking for.  It came at a time and in a place one would not have factored in, but then, is it not the case when one is much trouble and can not see any light ahead?

In the days ahead, there will be much to tell.  For now, let it be enough to know that I am well, well situated and much looked after by folks who have taken me into their lives.  I have no doubt that you, who have followed me thoughts for some time, will be well pleased by the stories to follow.  Truth be told, there be quite a few...

I do apologize for the long wait, many thanks for all of the emails sent during my months in darkness.