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Farmin' works up a powerful thirst

Saturday was sunny and beautiful, a nice day for a job interview. I think it went well. If nothing comes of it, at least I got to eat lunch at Cafe Pesto with an interesting person. She said she'd call sometime this week to let me know about the job.
Meanwhile, today I learned that the Hawaii Island Journal is going to print one of my stories next issue - as it's cover story. Cool! It took 'em long enough.
Sunday was Ron's big day; the big 6-0. Wow! First, he did a little farm work, tilling up some dirt on his trusty steed(aka the tractor). Then we went to Luquin's (where we always go) in Pahoa. There, we drank mango and guava margaritas, ate a boatload of heavy Mexican food, then came home to take a long, digestive nap. It was a very satisfying day for me. I think he enjoyed it to. I know Mr. Sox relished his snooze while we were away on such a warm, sunny day.
We've got zucchini coming out our ears, as you can see here.

This morning, our neighbor's baby goat was crying a little and I snuck up to shoot his photo. Cute, yeah? He's crying less and less these days, so I think he's adjusting. Still, he's so little. Poor guy! Shoots. He's just a kid! The blurry bumper sticker you see on the car behind him says, "Cook rice, not ice." That's a reference to crystal methamphetamine. Ice is what they call meth here. Hawaii has one of the worst meth problems in the U.S. I think it ranks second only to Oregon. Crackdowns, public information campaigns and legislation to make the ingredients more difficult to obtain have helped. In most states, ease of manufacture is the biggest problem. Here, most of the drugs are imported from Mexico, so trafficking is a bigger problem than "cooking" the stuff. Just before we moved here, two men who lived just up the road from our house were hauled off to the huscow for distribution of the stuff. It was a big bust, with the FBI, ATF and Hawaii County Police all involved. They also confiscated lots of guns and money. Those guys are now serving eight years in the big house, in California. Good riddance!

That reminds me of a t-shirt I saw some time ago that struck me as funny. It said, "Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms" in big, bold letters. Then, in small print below that it asked, "Who's going to bring the chips?"

Today, I officially took on the volunteer responsibility for doing public relations for the local Hilo chapter of the AAUW (American Association of University Women). Ron keeps calling it the American Association of Union Women. He thinks he's pretty funny. At least one person does. Anyway, I think it will be fun, if I can just remember how to write a press release.

A hui hou. Aloha!



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