This was a busy, busy day. I had planned a trip to Hilo to get my fingerprints from of Police station that would allow me to write in the ORI number, unlike the Kona Police station.
After my morning walk, I made two phone calls, one to doTerra and the second to the NY Times. I was having problems with my login on the doTerra site. It was really tricky. There was no way I could have done it without the help of a customer service rep. I was able to change my monthly rewards order from two items I don't need to one I know I will be able to use, On Guard capsules. Whenever I start feeling as if I'm coming down with something, I take some, and they help. One never can have enough On Guard on hand.
I learned from the NY Times crossword puzzle subscription services that I just didn't know what I was doing. I hadn't downloaded the program.
Next, I took a shower and got ready for my trip to Hilo. This was the first time I took my new car on a long trip, over fifty miles each way. All went well until I started going up Saddle Road, the cross-island highway which goes between two mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. It starts with a steep upgrade. I had the cruise control set to 60 mph, and the car was straining while doing under 50. It finally stopped working altogether. I tried to call Kia to find out what was going on, but I had no reception that high up the mountain. There was a printout saying run the car while in park to recharge. Huh? Besides my problem with the car, I had to go to the bathroom. I turned the car around and headed down the hill. I set the cruise control to 49 miles per hour to create braking resistance, charging the car.
When I got back on Mamalahoa Highway, I called Kia. I was told to just bring the car in. I could drive it into town without a problem, but most of this part of the trip was either on flat ground or descending. As Safeway came into view, I thought, "Their bathroom is closer, and I need apples anyway."
It was a good thing I did stop there. When I got to Kia, they had closed down their bathroom for public use. There is one mechanic who works on these hybrids. The rest know nothing about them. Will, the mechanic, is a wonderful person. He doesn't respond defensively, even though my tone was somewhat accusatory.
I hadn't been told before I bought the car that the gas motor didn't work unless the electric motor had sufficient charge, and I wasn't told it after I bought it. This put me in a dangerous position. My car broke down in a no cell phone reception area. Will did some research and confirmed that the electric battery does need a minimal charge for the car to work. Four white bars have to be up before the turquoise bars show up, at which point the car can been driven on electric energy alone. Will showed me that the electric battery is charged every time I hit the gas.
The question is, why wasn't there enough electric charge to get me to the top of the mountain if I had been using gas for most of the trip. It must be that the steep continuous incline was too much for the car without having a fully charged battery before I started.
In August, I thought to ask someone in the Kia service department what would happen to the gas motor if I never used it. I drive little enough that I was able to only use the electric motor for months. In response to the service man's advice, I stopped charging my electric motor and only using the gas motor. The goal was to use up the full tank of gas I had before it went bad. No one had warned me about the functioning of the electric/hybrid car. Not good.
After I was finished with Kia, I stopped in Long's and bought a bag of super absorbent Poise Pads to make it to the other side of the island without concern.
Then I stopped at the Post office to mail the three boxes I had in the back of the car. I had to bring in one box at a time. I set them on the narrow platform between the customers and the clerks. Then I got at the end of the line. When I was my turn, the available clerk was at the far end. I had to slide the boxes down the full length of the platform. Done! I must write Matthew Horowitz, the librarian at St. Patrick's Seminary, to tell him his first shipment will be in on October 7th.
I stopped off at Ulu Wini, the low-income housing development, on my way home to offer my tutoring services. I had tried to call them while I was on the road but couldn't find a number for them. A young woman was sitting by the door of the social services office. She didn't deal with the residents of Ulu Wini; she worked with homeless families. She took my name and promised to pass it on to the social worker. Let's see what happens with this. Will the social worker pass on the information to members of the community? Will any members of the community respond? Everyone is so overwhelmed by the online schooling. The third-grade teachers reported they never had all the children in their classes sign up.
I got a text message while I was talking to the lady at Ulu Wini. It was Paulette telling me that Judy was in the hospital with a serious infection. She had had a skin tag removed and went swimming the next day. This is how the young woman who lived with me got a serious infection in some leg wounds. Serious infections are one of the dangers of living in the tropics. Bacteria thrive here. Wounds must be treated with care.
I got the message that Judy felt better, less pain, and less nausea once she was admitted to the hospital; they were keeping her overnight. They will send her home when her white blood cell count comes down.
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Musings:
Seems I'm not the only person who has difficulty defining the difference between sympathy and empathy. I heard someone reduce sympathy as being no more than a saccharine sentiment best represented by a "sympathy card." The hallmark of sympathy for this guy was a lack of sincerity. Sympathy is knowing the right behavior.
I continue to advocate for the following:
Sympathy is feeling with the other person. Referred to by some as emotional empathy.
Empathy is the ability to understand what someone else is thinking or feeling, sometimes described as cognitive empathy. Empathy does not mean someone cares about another person. It merely means that they can see why that person feels and thinks. My favorite example: a good con man has empathy.
Compassion??? How is it different from empathy and sympathy. I find definitions for compassion that use sympathy as a synonym. A possible difference is that it moves you to action. The prefix com- means together. Sounds a lot like a synonym for sympathy. Maybe that's all it is.
How's this for a definition: Compassion is empathy plus sympathy plus respect manifested in action. Lack of respect is showing concern without respecting boundaries, assuming that you are doing something good because you mean well. It is the recipient who is at fault for being unappreciative.
I can think of examples in my own life when I reached out to people in a burst of sympathy, having them look at me as if I was crazy. The fault lay with me. I had misread the other person.
The other form of disrespect is pity posturing as compassion. Pity assumes that a person is less than you somehow, and you are some beneficent giver. Ow!
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