Tuesday, May 23, 2023

 Tuesday, May 23, 2023

I weighed 145 lbs. today despite eating thirteen nuggets and lemonade with honey last night. Oh, well. I like the scale going down, but I remain concerned about my health.  

On my morning walk, I went to the top of Kukuna. I turned around and walked down the mountain just before the sun came over the ridge. According to the weather app, the sun rises half an hour before I see it crest the rim. I could see the sun shining brightly several miles away, close to the shoreline, while I was still in the shade of the mountain.

    The other day, one of my walking buddies, Carol, said she had to get up at five if she wanted to walk her dogs on a beach before the sun came up and heated up the world. It was the first time I realized the sun's rays hit the shoreline before they did higher up the mountain. The mountain blocks the sun. Weird!

    I ran into Yvette on my walk. She told me she heard I had a playmate for Masha. Masha was a three-month-old puppy but not available for play. She broke her leg and was sporting a cast. She had to be watched 24/7 to ensure she didn't walk too much so the leg could heal. Once the cast came off, Beverly could bring her 15-week-old lab to play with Masha, who is too energetic for Little, Yvette, and Josh's older dog. 

     I planned to go to town to the computer tech, Bailey, at Jack Be Click. He transferred my files from my old Apple to my new one. Yesterday, I tried to use it. I didn't have access to my OneDrive. When I tried to open a file, I couldn't. If I did get it open, I couldn't modify it. I would type, and nothing happened. I couldn't print from my computers, the Apple, or the Surface Pro tablet. Bailey told me to bring my printer in so he could figure out the problem.

     On the way to town, I stopped at the Civic Center to visit the DMV. B asked me to drive Elijah to the DMV to take his driver's test for his instructional permit. It occurred to me he might need an appointment. I checked the DMV scheduling site. It did seem so. But the one for Kona said, "No appointments available."' Did that mean there were no appointments or appointments weren't necessary? The Hilo site had appointments in July; this was the earliest.   

    The line at the DMV was short. There were only two people before me, and they were quick. The DMV greeter showed me that there were three windows used servicing those coming in for the written driver's test. Two of them had appointments scheduled so far out, but the scheduling app was closed. A third window was open; the first appointment was on July 10.  I texted the information to Brian and Elijah. I thought I would make an appointment at every DMV site. Elijah texted us, saying he had made an appointment in Hilo for July. Great! 

    I drove to the computer tech store. When I came in the other day, Bailey downloaded the Microsoft 365 package, and I had access to my current files on the Apple. I discovered I still couldn't modify my files when I got home. I tapped a key, and nothing happened. I called Bailey. He had never heard of such a thing. He said to come back. He solved both my problems with the Apple and the Surface Pro. He had to reload Microsoft. A part of the program hadn't been downloaded the first time. The printer problem was because we hadn't selected it.

     I asked Scott to load my printer into my car, and I headed back to town. I carried the two computers in and asked Bailey if he could take the printer out of the car. I stood at the door while he did so.

      My first question was, do I have a lifetime subscription to Microsoft 365? No. I guess that was part of the scam Alex ran on me. He sold me several lifetime programs. No way to go back and undo that. Onward and upward. Bailey said I had an annual subscription for $99 a year. What about switching to Google Docs. He told me it would be easy enough to do; just click and drag. OMG! It all seemed too much for me.   

      I looked around the shop while Bailey was working. I saw a fantastic painting leaning against a wall. He said his wife had picked it up. What did she do here in Hawaii? She was a teacher at Hawaii Tech Academy. I missed the grade but thought it was at the elementary school level. I asked for her contact information. I have been generally more assertive about getting my work out there. Time is running out, and the need is great. Through my work with the Step Up Tutoring tutors, I learned others can be successful with the teaching methods I developed as I have been. The tutors I worked with received less than one hour of instruction from me, and they saw improvement in their students. The program is easy, cheap, and successful. You would think people would be banging down my door.

    When I got home, I composed a letter to Bailey's wife. He had given me her school address, but it didn't work. I finally got her personal one and sent it. Hopefully, she will be interested.

    When I asked him how much I owed, he waved me off as he had yesterday. I put $10 in the tip jar sitting on the counter.

I had a few additional chores to do in town while I was there. I dropped off an Amazon return at the UPS store and returned two bottles of tea tree oil to Island Naturals.  I stocked up when a doctor friend told me tea tree oil would be better for Elsa's lesions than the steroid cream the vet gave me. Fortunately, I shared that information with the vet. Tea tree oil is toxic for dogs; it leaches right through their skin.

I had an appointment with first-grade Iz at 4 p.m. She was reading on a 3rd-grade level with me, so she must be at least on a second-grade independent reading level. I won't see her for a month over the summer when she travels to the mainland to visit her grandmothers.