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Random Dozen 9.09.09

Another Random Dozen questions from “Lid” at 2nd Cup of Coffee.  This is the second of her memes I have participated in.  I like her memes because they are thoughtful, relevant and interesting — an all too rare and novel meme feature these days.

1. What is something that you have changed your mind about either recently or over a number of years?
Wanting to live in Hawaii. I dreamed of it growing up — a fantasy I thought would never come true — and now here I am and the fantasy hasn’t come true. It is hot and humid. I have perpetual heat rash; I almost never get to the beach; the school system is atrocious; it is difficult to tell the highways and the parking lots apart, although as a rule the parking lots are better maintained; and my Amoeba is always under way too much stress. (Please note: this is why we are leaving Hawaii. I am not saying the place is ALL bad. Check my comment to Susan.)

2. Choose either subject, but does your a) church b) job feel more like a dental chair experience or an easy chair (recliner) experience? Ha! I have no job! My church is neither an easy chair nor a dental chair experience — although I have experienced elements of both there.

3. Kisses or hugs? I actually typed “huts,” which might have been a more interesting question.
Kisses and hugs. I am an affectionate, out going person.   Amoeba and I amuse the younger set — and some of the other folks, too — with our hand-holding. As to huts — here in Hawaii “the little grass shacks on the beach” image has forever been replaced in my mind by the blue tarp & cardboard huts of the homeless.

4. What do you think is the biggest threat to families today?
Communication — most families are too busy filling up their schedules with sports, activities and television to actually take time to connect with one another.

5. A day after you grocery shop, you open a perishable item that is horribly spoiled. Do you take your receipt back to the store to be reimbursed or just throw it away and forget about it? I suppose it depends on what the item is. I’ve returned spoiled milk — there is clearly a stamp on it stating it should be fresh. However, here in Hawaii I have twice bought moldy bread and just tossed it. It really isn’t the store’s fault. It is the heat and humidity. I have learned to buy from the local bakery. Not only do I support our local economy, I get bread I know was freshly baked.

6. What personality trait (feel free to address good or bad or both) do you notice yourself adopting from your parents?
Aye. Let’s start with the good: My dad loved to tease. So do I. I have my grandmother’s heart of service. I have been told I have my mother’s wit. I would have liked to have known her so I could judge for myself. And the bad: Like my father I like to day dream and I can lose track of time. My grandmother could have used more tact. Sometimes I find myself in short supply, too. I’m told my mother loved books and papers and reading and writing and kept stacks of such things around the house …..

7. How many slices of bread do you leave in the bottom of the bag when you throw it away? Two? Three? Just the heel? None? (I really want to know if you eat the heel.) Usually I only toss the crusts away (feed them to the ducks or birds) — except when the bread molds, which it does very quickly in this land of heat and humidity. I actually have a special bread keeper that helps keep it dry and fresh.

8. What mispronunciation or usage error really irritates you? ‘S! How can people not know the difference between a plural and a possessive? Do you have more than one or does it belong to you. How hard is that?

9. In honor of the uniqueness of today’s date, what does the numeral 9 mean to you? (Any special life moments attached to the 9th? Are you the 9th kid in your family? Can you count by 9s really fast? etc.) Yes, I can count by nines relatively quickly until I reach triple digits. I don’t know why that slows me down, it just does!

10. Does the general color palette in your closet match the colors you chose to decorate your home with? Yes. Not that you could tell it here since we’ve not decorated this home, but my sheets and towels are earth tones as is most of my wardrobe.

11. When you’re hanging out with friends in the kitchen, do you automatically ask to help, or do you sit there and chat until the host asks if you’d like to help? I’m not implying that the 2nd choice stems from rudeness or laziness, just not a first-response like it is for some people. Because of the way I was raised, my first response is to offer to help — unless I am with my family, then I just help, otherwise they might not feed me.

12. Let’s end on a pleasant note: What do you enjoy about September the most? Looking forward to cooler weather and the fact that the thermometer drops to the high 70s (F) each evening. I almost cool off ….

~*~

35 Comments

  2. Interesting answers!
    We have similar issues in Ireland; the traditional image of the place is a loooong mile down the road from reality, and sometimes disappoints visitors while putting the locals in a rage.

    AMEN on that plural/possessive thing! ARGH! Last year sometime (it might have been on my previous blog come to think of it) I blogged about vandalising a Galway sign and forming the Apostrophe Liberation Front, whereby all superfluous apostrophes would be kidnapped and returned to service only where genuinely needed, id est, in possessives. My daughter was sooooo embarassed (YES! Score!) LOL
    .-= Susan at Stony River´s last blog ..The Farmer Takes a Wife. (or doesn’t…. then dies…) =-.

    1. Susan — the locals should love their island and there is much here to love! Visiting would be a wonderful thing. Staying, not so much. We have been here for over two years and only now are people starting to accept us — not so much because people are mean, but because family bonds here are very tight (which is a good thing) but it doesn’t leave a lot of room for new people.

  5. Since I grew up on Cape Cod, I know that so many people see these resort areas with rose colored glasses. Personally I could hardly wait to get away from all that and now live in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire!
    And yes, it does get real cold here, but keeps the tourists down south! lol!
    .-= Maribeth´s last blog ..My Boy =-.

    1. Maribeth — had I come to Hawaii as a tourist, I think it would have lived up to my dreams. It is the staying around and trying to fit in — and realizing the division within the island itself of what the locals want and how they feel about one another. I think that is true of any place though.

      The casual visitor and a local sees things differently and have different priorities. I came with a tourist’s dreams. I was bound to be disappointed. Paradise has crime, is over crowded and has major political issues. There are also race issues. Those I wouldn’t say are major, but the class issues certainly are.

  6. Those are great answers! I know what it is like to have moldy bread. I was hosting a Labor Day cookout over the weekend and one of my guests noticed the moldy rolls for the hamburgers. I was so embarrassed. I had only purchased those rolls two days prior to the party. Ugh.
    .-= Church Lady´s last blog ..Puffball =-.

  7. Yea… my brother said Paradise wasn’t Paradise when HE lived there… after that I never REALLY had the temptation to go. But you HAVE shown me some absolute gorgeous beauty in the land… but still… it’s a looooooonnnnnng plane ride… I prefer SHORT plane rides… or none.

    You and Amoeba are still in the Pubescent SPARKLE of your relationship! I’m sure the two of you put some of the youngsters to shame! 🙂

    Oh boy… I better watch my apostrophe esses from now on! 🙂
    .-= Melli´s last blog ..Another Random Dozen… =-.

  8. I so disagree with you on number 1. Maybe because I have lived here going on 24 years that it’s just commonplace to me. I go to the mainland and their roads are no better. They have just as many cars relatively speaking. I see their weather. It is no better. Rain and snow just to name a few. Today Susan tells me they have had rain everyday since she’s been back. And get this has to use her fireplace everyday of the year almost. Yes without the Trades it can be miserable. But give me that anytime over cold. Give me this laid back life style as well.

    1. Thom — there is always something to complain about with the weather wherever one is. I grew up with fireplaces and love a nice fire — though probably not every day, thank you. I don’t like being cold, but I hate the constant itching of this heat rash.

      And there is nothing laid back in Amoeba being expected to work 12 to 18 hours a day with facilities and equipment that are not properly maintained. However, the school district is plenty laid back. In fact, it is so laid back it has some of the lowest testing scores in the nation.

      For your career choice Hawaii is great. For ours not so much. Besides, read the comments, you’ll find I haven’t been trashing Hawaii, even if that’s how the first comment appears.

      1. I didn’t say you were trashing Hawai’i. . I just disagree with it that’s all. You make a good point. I don’t know the working conditions. But you are basing this all off of work. There is so much more to Hawai’i than that. Yes it is a big big part of our lives, but I think it’s what you put into it. That happens anywhere you live.
        .-= Thom´s last blog ..Three Word Thursday – #27 =-.

        1. Thom — with me unemployed and the Governor threatening to close the university unless everybody works for free, the “more” of Hawaii for us will be a blue tarp shack on the beach. Definitely not a good place for haoles! We’re taking some warm memories with us when we leave, but it is definitely time for us to go.

  9. I’m surprised by how many similar answers we had.

    I’m surprised Hawaii is that way re not welcoming newcomers — at least, not in the sense of feeling like they really fit in. Like you said, the touristy image is of everything being wide-open and friendly. I can see how putting a high value on family, good as that is, can make it hard for someone new to develop relationships.

    I battle heat rashes, too, due to the humidity here — I don’t think I could live in a place where it is worse — I’d never stop itching. Gold Bond powder has been helpful to me.

    ‘S is one of my biggest pet peeves, too — and even still I find it in my own writing sometimes. I know better — but when things are flowing I’m not thinking about the details so much. I hope I always catch them
    .-= Barbara H.´s last blog ..Another random dozen =-.

  10. Barbara, very few people have been unfriendly toward me. In fact, many people have invited Amoeba and I to join them openly and generously — this one time only and you’ll never see or hear from us again — not because they don’t like us, but because they already have their family and their lives planned and, until our lives accidentally cross again we’re forgotten.

    And I wear more Gold Bond Powder than I do clothing! LOL!

    I’ve not noticed you having any grammar problems — but I know I do all the time. I get in too much of a hurry and don’t go back and double check.

  11. Memes (or is it meme’s??? I am in doubt now!)
    Anyway, lists ( I think it should be memes)
    Lists like these are a great way to get to know each other better, and I loved reading this one. Especially your views about Hawai’i. ( And the replies in the comment box)
    .-= Jientje´s last blog ..Sepia Scenes =-.

    1. Jientje — memes. The apostrophe s is added to indicate possession. Quilly’s blog. Or to create a contraction — Quilly’s blogging — which is really Quilly is blogging. Does that help? 😉

      Jientje — I am glad you liked the meme. Please understand I do like Hawaii, but right now the drawbacks are greater than the rewards.

      1. Thanks for the lesson ! It can be very confusing sometimes, especially if I start to THINK about it. When I use my intuition and go on my instincts, it’s usually right. I think.

        And I DO understand your drawbacks right now. I SO hope that this tourist can give you a different view, and that we are going to be able to capture the beauty and the good moments, and take home the GOOD memories?
        .-= Jientje´s last blog ..Sepia Scenes =-.

  12. Quilly: excellent, thoughtful answers again. When I visited Oahu a few years ago, I drove around the island and was so saddened to see the poverty you mentioned. We do tend to think of it as Paradise on Earth, don’t we? Made me a little sad that you did not know your mother. But I’m glad to have met you. Mocha Linda says you guys are fast friends now. 🙂
    .-= 2nd Cup Linda´s last blog ..I’m Answering the Meme: Baby of the Family, Sexy M&Ms, and Spoiled Chicken =-.

    1. Linda — the poverty was a major eye opener for me, too — and the way the have’s treat the “have nots”. Hide’em is heard more often than “help them”.

  13. I can quit fantasizing about living in Hawaii now. I get heat rash bad enough here in Georgia. We finally moved to the country away from the coast and the schools are awesome. Much rather have great schools than the beach, the sand, and the heat rash. LOL
    Enjoyed reading your answers and now I know where to come when I need a laugh for the day. Look forward to reading more of your blogs.

    1. Thena — but be sure to stock up on medicated powder and visit (winter months stay in the 70’s). It is a beautiful state and you have never seen ocean the color it is here.

  15. Well I took the time to read through all these comments, so I felt like I should leave one on the Hawai’i discussion, too! 🙂

    My husband got a contract job on Oahu this past summer (May 09) and we can’t get back soon enough. The beaches and foliage and mountain views (and pineapple!) just cannot be matched!

    HOWEVER, unfortunately I did not get to leave Waikiki much because I didn’t have a car (hubby took it to work!) so I had to stay pretty close to the hotel all the time. I really wondered what the locals think about all the mainlanders coming to their islands. I did sense a division among the locals that I ran into; some I was afraid to talk to and others who would bend over backwards for conversation. I found that to be very confusing and I wondered what the division was really about for them. Do some feel like we are intruding, and others welcome the money we spend there?

    I also do remember seeing some of the homeless issues you’re talking about as hubby and I did get to walk around Honolulu one afternoon. It seems that if you can’ find a job, then you’re stuck because you can’t afford to GO anywhere else! In that sense, I wonder if people feel trapped there. Trapped in paradise; what a concept.

    Anyway, great answers to the meme…but I had to get in on the Hawai’i discussion because now those islands have gotten into my heart in some ways. I can understand what you’re saying, though. The grass is always greener…or should I say the water is always bluer… 🙂
    .-= Chel´s last blog ..Meme Without A Theme…Random Dozen Dos =-.

    1. Chel — Hawaii is a great place to visit. Things change if one over-stays their welcome. 😉 Next time you get here, even if you don’t have a car, get on the bus. Hawaii’s does have an excellent bus system and their bus drivers are among the best in the world. Waikiki and Honolulu can’t hold a candle to the rest of the island.

  16. Nice answers. So is it hot and humid in Hawaii? lol

    My parents vacation there often but I have never been. I would probably end up in the hotel room the entire time in front of the AC. I can’t stand the heat.
    .-= becky´s last blog ..A Random Dozen =-.

  17. Becky — visit in February. The temps will be in the 70’s and you can point at the locals and laugh as they shiver by in their hats and coats and boots and mittens. 😉

  18. I love Nr. 12.
    My point exactly.
    As much as I love when Spring’s around the corner after winter, I am also glad when there’s September and the weather finally cools down, yuck 😉
    .-= Nicole´s last blog ..Hopping places =-.

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