Random Thoughts – Page 9

Sea Chair

A wonderful little film and a neat idea. I will not spoil the effect by explaining here. Watch the film!

The film truly highlights the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean. Modern plastics do not decompose readily, but persist in the environment for decades. This is a problem that deserves more attention and should be in the mind of anyone who treasures our seas.

Apparently the biggest problem is not the large pieces of plastic like those used in making the chair, but rather the microplastics. Under the influence of wave and sunlight, plastic slowly breaks down into smaller and smaller bits. These are sand size or smaller granules that have come to pervade the entire ocean. The granules are easily ingested by the smaller creatures of the plankton community, the food on which all ocean life depends.

Walking a Hawaiian beach you see some plastic, even far from the major urban sources of this pollution. Walking the tide-line on any beach or cove reveals small bits of colorful plastic. There is not a lot, but it is always there.

Well Hidden

As I headed to the mid-week farmers market I spotted this absurdity behind the Parker Ranch center. Never mind there are no large trees nearby, never mind there are no fir trees in sight, firs are rare on the island. No… They decided to disguise this cell tower as a tree. It would have looked better as a simple tower.

You are not fooling anyone…

Rain Gauge

Desert dwellers take rain seriously. Living much of my life in the Sonoran Desert has instilled a reverence for rain. Waikoloa is little different, the driest area of the island, we typically get around 10-15 inches of rain each year.

The original gauge was a cheap plastic unit that was starting to crack. It had served many years, repairs to the lanai required its removal. The board it was fastened to was beginning to rot and needed to be replaced. The plumeria were overrunning its location as well, blocking the rain.

A glass tube rain gauge ordered on eBay was the starting point. The cheap stamped aluminum base just begged to be replaced with something better. A few minutes of thought and an idea was formed. Off to the garage with the tube of glass, rummaging through the stash of supplies commenced.

The holder was assembled with the same skills and tools I use for constructing and repairing electronic devices. Copper wire and solder, with thin brass alloy used for the leaves.

A couple hours bending and twisting the wire, soldering each joint as I went. A section of one inch copper pipe stood in for the fragile glass tube during forming. Twisted wire and little metal leaves… Much classier than the stamped aluminum base supplied with the gauge.

Who says engineers are not artistic!

Repairing the Lanai

I really have been putting off the repairs too long. There are several boards that have had dry rot set in. One deck board is right next to the usual route of travel, much more rot and it will become a safety hazard.

Repairing the Woodwork — Replacing a section of railing cap that has been destroyed by dry rot.

The lanai is all exposed woodwork, protected only by paint. Paint that is beginning to fail. The first step will be to replace or repair several bits of woodwork that really need attention. That process is now started.

After the repairs a full coat of paint is in order. That is going to be a major job. the latticework of the shaded area will require power-washing. Repainting all of those detailed bits will also require a lot of work. I do have an air compressor, perhaps a spray rig is the right way to go.

I have a quart of exterior white paint to try out. The first item painted will be the first replaced board. I need to see how the paint looks beside the older trim paint used around the entire house. I long ago learned just how many variations of white exist in paint.

It will be a lengthy chore to complete the entire lanai. It is something I can do in stages, a few hours here, a few hours there, it will get done.

Ear Infection

I have not been up the mountain in two weeks. This is getting to be a problem, there is a long list of stuff I need to get done.

An ear infection has made life a little troublesome.

Ear Anatomy — Anatomy of the human ear, credit Bruce Blaus

Beside the usual discomfort involved in an ear infection I had no hearing in my left ear. Pretty much none. I have had difficulty hearing conversations, can not tell where sounds are coming from, the normal sounds of life replaced with a constant ringing and white noise background. After several days of this I was getting to be more than a little concerned. Permanent hearing loss is not a comfortable idea.

The loss of hearing in one ear is interesting and highly annoying. I discovered that I answer the phone with my left ear. The better to keep my right hand available for a keyboard or dialing. Then I wonder why no one is answering. Even worse… Music sounds horrible. That stereo thing? Not much point. Even worse with headphones.

Continue reading “Ear Infection”

2013 In Review

A year in review article? Really? Yeah, everyone does it, and you get tired of them. I am going to do it anyway… It is a nice excuse to look back over the previous year and see what I spent the last 365 days of my life doing.

As Darker View is intended to be a web diary, in the original sense of the term blog, I can look back through a year of postings to do this. I have to admit a few surprises were to be had, things I had forgotten about!

Pāhoehoe — An active pāhoehoe breakout at Kupapaʻu

Looking back I have to admit it was not a bad year.

Andrew and the Galaxy — Taking astrophotos under the Milky Way Galaxy

2013 in Photos

It was a good year…

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Alignments

Through trial and error my friend Dean Ketelsen has worked out a perfect place and the correct dates to observe the Sun setting behind the telescopes of Kitt Peak National Observatory. The site is along the Mt. Lemmon Highway above Tucson, over 50 miles away from the observatories. The correct alignment occurs just a few days before and after the solstice. It has become a bit of a holiday tradition for the members of the local astronomy club to join Dean at the correct spot in an attempt to get just the right photo. This year the weather treated them well…

I have looked for a similar alignment on Mauna Kea. Unfortunately the telescopes are not highly visible from sites east and west of the summit where the Sun will rise or set behind. The full Moon might be possible, but much tougher to predict.

Sriracha Shortage?

It was horrible. Yelling, screaming shoppers cram the aisle, while store security is helpless to intervene in the mayhem. A mob of shoppers fighting over the last red bottle. Black Friday sales? No. Just the struggle for the last shipment of Sriracha. Looming shortages have created a nationwide panic. Where will we get the spice!

Maybe not… A judge has ordered a partial shutdown of production at the Huy Fong Foods plant in Irwindale, California. It is not expected to impact supply, but fans of the sauce are jittery, with the possibility of a sriracha shortage making news across the country.

Supplies are still plentiful at our local supermarket. Just as a precaution I bought the large bottle.

Bottles of Sriracha on the shelf at the Village Market in Waikoloa

Back Home

It is pretty. It is a view I have spent all too much time staring at lately. Four times from the islands to the mainland in a bit over a month. Four times I have run the route from Kona, to Seattle, to Portland. Six times I have bounced through SeaTac airport when I add the run from Portland to Juneau and back.

I am back home for a while. Still dealing with the slightly disconnected feeling I often get after a long vacation. Living in a totally different world for a few weeks changes the definition of normal. It is back to work tomorrow and a resumption of the normal routine of life.

Pacific Wing — Looking out from the window of Alaska flight 843 from Seattle to Kona, 8Sep2013