Skip to main content

Sore joints and caugh syrup wine

I've definitely got a nuckle-oma. Yep. I do. Let me explain. Some time ago, a dear friend of mine was complaining of some soreness in her thumb. The joint was stiff and had been troubling her. We jokingly decided it must be cancer and dubbed it her "thumbanoma." My thumbs are fine (for now) but the first two joints on my index and middle finger, right hand, are acting up. They're stiff and sore and a little inflamed. Nuckle-oma.
Friday, I started studying for the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test). Why, you ask? I guess my answer to that is, "Why not? I'm not dead yet." It's just an experiment really. If I study (or, more accurately practice) for the test and score miserably, then I'll know I'm not, nor was I probably ever law school material. If I score respectably, I'll apply just for giggles. If I get accepted, I might just go. Why not. I'm not dead yet. And the jobs in my field aren't exactly plentiful here.
Ron continues to cut down waiwi (strawberry guava) trees like their an invasive species or something. Wait a minute... this just in... they are an invasive species. We've also planted a few more coffee trees and repaired a leaky pipe that leads into the house from the tank. All in a weekend's work.
Meanwhile, business at the winery is booming. I've been added on an additional day to the schedule. I also received my first performance review. I received all "4s and 5s" on a scale of 1-5 (so I guess that's excellent and outstanding). I also got a $.50 per hour raise. Yay!
Meanwhile, some of the wine isn't tasting so good these days. Every batch of the fruit blends tends to be a little different from the last. Friday evening, a co-worker decided to should check out the guava and reported that it reminded him of Robitussin. "Don't get me wrong," he said. "Robitussin's not that bad." I suppose that's true if all your drinking is a tablespoon full. But an entire glass with dinner? I don't think so. No matter. The stuff flies out the door by the case. Meanwhile, the new batch of blush, which is made with half jaboticaba (a tropical berry) is much improved over the last batch. Generally, the wines, for what they are, are quite good. I have been opting out of our pau hana happy hours after work lately, just because I'm finding that drinking the wines there is tarnishing my enjoyment of lovely, rich, fruity, dry reds at home.
That's about all for now. Abner just jumped up on the desk and is demanding attention. Must administer petties now.
A hui hou. Aloha!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mom

This is my beautiful mom. She died last Sunday. For those who knew her, my heart breaks with you. For those who did not, here's an introduction to the best confidante, role model and mother a girl could hope for in life. This is the obituary I'd planned to submit to the local paper, but have opted instead to publish here. Obituary: Beverly Todd Bev -- my mom -- was a longtime caregiver, advocate, and dear friend to countless elderly in South Salem. Hers was a kind and generous spirit. She devoted much of her life to the welfare of others, giving wholly of herself and doing so always with great affection and humor. She was born Beverly Marie Steinberger in Silverton, July 23, 1938, the first child and only daughter of Art and Marie Steinberger. Her brothers called her Bevvy Buns, a nickname she grew fond of and wore proudly within the family circle as an adult. Bev attended St. Paul’s Elementary School in Silverton, Silverton High School and Marylhurst Co...

Back at it

It's been some time since I've written. My mom died in February, and I haven't had the gumption to write much, other than a couple of feature stories for the paper and the occasional pithy email to a friend. Tonight, sitting in my favorite burger joint with a pile of fries in front of me, I dunk them into a deep pool of ketchup mixed with a hot sauce. That's how Mom liked 'em. My burger? The Spicy Hawaiian, a nod to my 808 connections. It's a brilliant combination of peppers and pineapple, a favorite on the Power Stop menu. I'm sure she'd have loved it, too. There's a bubbly beer with a lime in it. That's not a homage to anything. I just like beer. These past months, I've done little but work, search and apply for jobs. Two rejection letters have landed in my email this week. Search-and-apply has become a futile obsession. It's time for a break, at least until I hear back from all those applications still floating around out there. I am...

Goodbye Dan Fogelberg

Saturday started out as just another day to clean the house. Within a short time, however, I found myself on a mission; a mission of arachnid eradication. The spiders, for all their great bug-eating prowess, have a tendency to get a bit out of control in a place where there's no real winter. They're not only everywhere outside, but inside, too. I found webs with giant eight-leggers in corners, on the ceiling, hiding under window shades....everywhere! They were in places I vacuumed just two days before. Since the invasion of the beetles, the spiders have grown enormously fat and happy. So I sucked 'em all up. EEEEEEEEWWWWWW! I was none too keen on removing the vacuum bag. In addition to spider sucking, there was fun with fungi. What did the girl mushroom say to the boy mushroom? Gee your a fun-gi! Unfortunately, the prevailing fungus amongus was not shitakes or portabellos, but mold and mildew. Again.... eeeeeeeeewwwwww! I cleaned the top of the fridge, which was home to a n...