Alex is a genuinely friendly person. He immediately greeted me and took be behind the scenes. I met his wife and soon found myself next to walk-in ovens and freezers and in the midst of a commercial baking kitchen. We quickly passed through and he showed me the chocolate room. (Don't you wish you had a chocolate room?!)
But then his face lit up as he led me to his radio room. He pointed out the bundles of cables that led from the roof to his sealed radio room. As he opened the door, he unveiled banks and banks of buttons, dials and lights. It was awe inspiring! From this room he is able to speak to people all around the world. He showed me his meticulous logs of contacts from Belgium, South Africa, Brazil, Japan...everywhere!
It was tremendous fun to see his "radio shack". As I consider my humble beginnings (a walkie talkie, a scanner and a really big impressive clock) I wonder if I have just peeked into my future. Who knows what I'll be doing 25 years from now, but I sure hope it has as many knobs, buttons and lights!
Well now they've gone and done it. Right by Costco in Waipio, next to the freeway on-ramp, right on the way to work, a brand new Starbucks has opened,...and it has a drive thru!
I love the anticipation of getting your cup. The sounds of the steamer, the heat of the cup, the incredible scent of roasted coffee wafting in the air. The soft creamy kiss of whipped cream, drizzled with deep brown chocolate syrup, floating gently on a perfectly made hot chocolate... or the cool chill and ice rattle of a professionally prepared Grande Iced Chai.
KITV is racking up some great reviews of our 6.7 earthquake coverage. We were carried live by CNN for 7 hours straight. Our webpage had 2.3 million hits in 24 hours and was streaming video out to 114,000 computers worldwide simultaneously. Here are some of the comments:
It is amazing to see the difference electricity make in our lifestyle. This morning feels like business as usual. Yesterday we felt like we were in the middle of a crisis. I felt like we were pretty prepared, except that we did not have enough canned food for the long haul. That would have been a problem in an extended emergency. We had plenty of water (right after the quake I had the kids fill our emergency water tanks-27 gallons!), cars both had gas, light sources and batteries were plentiful and our communications was excellent.
I found the cell sites immediately were overloaded, but I could still get text messages out (like to this blog). We don't have a landline, and in this case I wish we had one, as they were supposed to be working too. We had an AM/FM radio, which was a great source of information from KSSK (people could also listen to their streaming audion via the web). But of all those things, I was most greatful to have my ham radio. I felt in touch with Civil Defense and it was interesting to see how the hams responded to the emergency. Within moments of the quake, hams had already set up an emergency net and were taking check ins and quake reports. It was cool!Turning in at 9:10pm. Ham radio battery finally gone. Cellphone showing 50 percent power. I can charge both on my drive in to work tomorrow. What a way to end my vacation!
(This message was sent from Rich's Treo 650.)
Still no power. Camp stove dining was great. We watched Star wars for 30 minutes before the batteries died on our portable DVD player. We then played a board game and then Em and the kids turned in early. I'm sitting in a dark room still listening and participating in ham radio activities. I will probably go to bed early too. We're still fine and have not yet opened up the fridge or freezer. We have saved some emergency water if we need it. Hopefully I'll wake up to a powered world in the morning.
Peace, Love and Electric Dreams,
Rich
This message was sent from Rich's Treo 650.
No power as of 5:30pm. Noodles, canned chicken, and cream of mushroom soup on a camp stove for dinner.
(This message was sent from Rich's Treo 650.)
Power restored to 21,000 customers and climbing. Parts of Mililani have power but we do not so far. Parents on Maui have had power for 2 hours. Full restoration may be accomplished by 8pm.
ETA for Oahu power restoration not until 8pm. We are now at 21 aftershocks. Oahu has not felt any aftershocks.
We're safe. At 7:08am there was a 6.5 Earthquake at 19.9 N, 155.0 W, 19 miles NNW of the Big Island. No Tsunami was generated. Power is out right now. Cellphones overloaded. Ham radio working great and puts me in touch directly with civil defense. Kona hospital may have sustained structural damage. Most people just reporting overturned shelves and TV. Linda Lingle was in Kona at the time of the quake. There have been 18 aftershocks since the quake ranging from 2.5 to 3.5. I'll send more info as I am able.
Last night Em and the boys took me to Spaghetti Factory for dinner. We were looking for something cheap with good bread. I love a good sourdough bread when I can find one and Spaghetti Factory has a great one.
This morning we were up early to go help Gary Lau and mGf Ministries with the Cat & Dog Theology seminar. Emily helps out quite often, and from time to time, Gary needs to have a video record of the seminar, so I tape those for him. Cat and Dog Theology is based on a joke about how Christians can think that God is supposed to bless and serve them (like cats think of their masters), rather than thinking like dogs and being excited by, being faithful to and serving God and seeking His glory rather than our own.
After driving home from the windward side I took the kids to Bryson's Birthday Xbox party. 4 networked Xboxes all playing Halo (or whatever) together. It was good fun! Happy Birthday Bryson!
Today is my 40th birthday! Imagine that. I was in my 30s when I went to bed last night and when I woke up I was in my 40s! I think I'm gonna have to see a doctor about this state of affairs. Entirely unacceptable.
We had a pretty full day goin' today. We woke up early and headed off to Starbucks Mililani for some Iced Chai and Hot Chocolate and a promised game of Chess. Bradley has recently learned the game and likes to play with me when we have the chance. I decided to make a Sunday morning game a regular part of our schedule with Bradley, so he can learn the game and we can have some one on one time together.
The boys and I had a good day today. We slept in, watched some Saturday morning cartoons and played a little football in the front yard.
time. There I met Danelle Pulawa who, even though I had not purchased my bow from their store, got my bow fitted and tuned for me and even replaced some of the smaller stock parts with better ones, free of charge. She spent a good 30 minutes with me, explaining my bow and helping me put on all the other little pieces that I didn't know where to put! She never gave me the "annoying rookie" look and even helped my boys find starter bows for them. I can't say enough about them and I really appreciated their help!
the Central Oahu District Park archery range. I couldn't believe that on a Saturday afternoon there was no one there! I was relieved because I didn't have the pressure of trying not to look like a rookie, when in fact I was one. We got the gear all set up, went over the posted range rules, and taped a sheet of paper to the built in carpet bales on site.
stellar, but I steadily got better, with tighter groups and even tighter muscles after a while.
