Promise not to tell anyone?..

If you ever want to get the word out about anything, tell 5 people 'promise not to tell anyone.' if one wants to keep something secret you cannot tell a soul, there is something in us humans that makes us want to tell things to others.

Personally, I had a few medical issues that I wanted to keep confidential, I told two friends that I would appreciate this between us. to make a long story short, before long everyone I knew what my personal problems were. The irony about all this is beyond the betrayal of trust is the issue retelling the situation wrong. Just like the experiments with telling a joke, by the time 10 people have told the same joke, down the line it becomes something totally different than the initial joke.

That's why if you have a personal issue it's best to tell nobody, unless you want it repeated numerous times with a different twist.

Hey guess what? If you promise not to tell anyone I will tell you where the best fishing spot on Kauai is!

Dumpster diving...

Dumpster diving, something that many look down upon is now becoming main stream.

NBC nightly news, 60 minutes and Oprah have recently featured a college professor who not only dumpster dives but has a class on how to do it. You can find everything from televisions, cd's books, microwave ovens and just about anything you can think of.

The supermarkets and department stores throw out food that may have a blemish or two. Every night I take a walk with my dog to my favorite restaurant right after the dinner hour and find my dog a dinner that is fit for a king and the beauty is that it is free.

It's a fun hobby and you are helping the environment by recycling. There's a new word that has transpired in the last decade, it's called "freegan." Freegans are people who live off what others throw away and who try to live outside consumer society and search garbage for edible foods and items.

Many of these people are wealthy and do it out of principal and as a fun hobby. Freegans are not just poor people or bums.

In these rough economic times dumpster diving and becoming a freegan is an economic stimulus package available to us all.

a fun way to meet people...

Hitchhiking is a great alternative for getting around our cosmic hamlet by the sea.

In Kauai hitchhiking is safe and acceptable, many started out on kauai without cars and hitchhiked themselves. There are good & bad area's to hitch, you always want to be where the traffic is slowest in the area and where there is a safe spot to pullover.

Most people would not consider hitchhiking or picking up a hitchhiker in most major US cities, one of the many beauties of Kauai is that hitching is safe, reliable, fun and environmentally user friendly. I hitchhike regularly from Kilauea to Kapa'a and have never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride, I am not a beautiful woman and people still stop. I have been picked up by visitors wanting to know things to do that aren't in the tour guides, I have been picked up by young and old, male and female, from island beaters to brand new four wheel drive pickups.

Why not give tax incentives for people to hitch-hike and people to pickup hitchhikers. Imagine if every time you hitched it was worth $10.00 and every time you picked up a hitchhiker it was worth a 10.00 credit towards a write-off on ones taxes? There could be designated hitching stops for safe pickups and drop-offs.

Hitchhiking would allow people to meet their neighbors save gas and keep the environment cleaner. Hitchhiking is not only environmentally friendly but a fun way to socialize and meet people.

To expedite getting a ride do not wear sunglasses or have direct eye contact with on-coming cars and look relaxed. I have met many good friends by hitching.If you have never hitchhiked, try it you'll like it.

Osama Bin Laden, does not exist...

" In yesterdays Kauai garden island newspaper there was a great editorial on why the U.S. attacked Iraq...

Here's what the article stated, " critics of the war in Iraq have long contended that the real reason why the US invaded was so US oil companies could grab control of Iraq's vast oil reserves." " Even former Reserve board chairman Alan Greenspan wrote, " The Iraq war is largely about oil' in his memoir.

Now for all you conspiracy theorists out there, my friend in Honolulu believes that Osama Bin Laden, does not exist.

My friend Chester Lau a Korean war veteran states the following of which I totally agree,"No Merry Christmas & Happy New Year for our Military30,000 plus economically poor US military & their families will not have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year while the war profiteers are enjoying their blood money created by the GW Bush propaganda machine on a false Osama Bin Laden that never existed !!! There is no such a person as OBL,any Hollywood Make Up artist can create a false OBL with long gray beard & sneaky eyes from any goat wrangler !!!

After 8 years ,we were doped to believe a lie invent by the war profiteers & the controlled medias !!! in the name of national defense,we keep making enemies killing one goat wrangler after another so two will replace him with hate & endless wars,when will this end? President Obama ,say this is Not true!!! you can rescind this Afghanistan troop surge order,declare victory & 'Advance' forward out of Iraq & Afghanistan,rebuild our own economy ,health care & a military second to none to help all people to include our decease ,wounded veterans & their families,we owe them so much for our freedom, Keep both eyes on Al Qaeda,if they even blink their evil eyes on us,commence world war 2 Dresden type bombing on suspected goat wranglers,if their civilian population do not self police the evil doers,they are also guilty as part of the problem.

SUPPORT OUR MILITARY ,do not abuse their lives on unnecessary wars for political & private financial gains,SUPPORT OUR MILITARY,BRING THEM HOME ALIVE NOW !!!"Now this is something to ponder...

Nature's fast food...

Papaya plants occur in one of three sexual forms male, female and hermaphrodite. Unlike our society The hermaphrodite is preferred since they can pollinate themselves, the male does not produce fruit and the female requires either a male or hermaphrodite to pollinate the flowers into fruit.

Women in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other parts of the world have long used green papaya as a folk remedy for contraception and abortion. Medical research has confirmed this folklore.

The black seeds inside the papaya are edible and have a sharp taste. When ground up they can be used as a substitute for black pepper. The young leaves of the papaya can be steamed and eaten like spinach. In parts of the world papaya leaves are made into tea as a preventative for Malaria.Green papaya fruit and the tree's latex are both rich in an enzyme called papain which is useful in tenderizing meat and other proteins. Many hair conditioners and shampoo's are also made from papaya.

Frozen Papaya makes for a great ingredient in any fruit smoothie, every morning a half of papaya to keep the evil spirits away.

The branches of the Papaya are hollow and can be used as a straw to drink water from coconut or any other favorite drink. For people that require the use of medical marijuana the stem also makes for a great peace pipe.

Did I mention if you save the seeds from your favorite Papaya for future trees make sure and not refrigerate the fruit since refrigeration can retard the seeds. Many times I just throw the seeds out my back door into some turned soil and miraculously within a month a few small trees usually arrive.

Papaya's can also grow out of nowhere, many times the birds eat the ripe papaya's and when they go to the bathroom the seed is planted with natural fertilization.

Papaya is my favorite fruit, try a half of papaya with some low calorie cool whip, topped with fresh shredded coconut. No Lucky we live Kauai, rather Blessing, we live Kauai.

Obsessed with my dog...

People are obsessed with my dog. these are true stories;

My dog travels with me along side my bike or is in the basket on the handlebars,but none the less is my constant companion.(hence the term, man's best friend) A lady is driving screaming out her window that I shouldn't run my dog, it may have a heart attack, I yell back it's really none of your business, and little to her knowledge my dog is part miniature greyhound, (these dogs are bred to run) she gets irate and almost has an accident, her and her dogs are both obese, there the ones that are more prone to a heart attack. All this because my dog is having the time of her life.

Another woman on the pedestrian trail screams to me, I should not use a choke chain on my dog, all this while her dogs are dragging her along the trail, at least my dog heals on command.

Just last week a man comes up to me and says I have his dog, he proceeds to grab my dog, telling me I stole his dog, I had to grab my own dog back from a man twice my weight and strength and run for my life.

I do not understand the fascination with my dog, she never even won a Nobel Peace prize, although it could be because I named her Obama!

The check out counter...

Every time I go to a particular grocery store I need to calculate the cost of my items before checking out. I usually only buy 1-4 items per grocery visit, so I can figure out in my head what my total cost will be.

I always find a mistake in my favor, How many people must buy $100-$200 worth of groceries and wind up paying 10% or more and really have no recourse?

This particular franchised store rings up the non-sale price and is suppose to deduct any sale or discount coupons at the end. By limiting your items you can watch the register.

.Pay attention, even bring a small calculator with you to the grocery store. It will pay for itself in a very short time. In these tight economic times, watch your checker and don't be afraid to tell them they made a mistake.

They usually don't argue and with a smile on their face they will apologize, but behind their breath, I believe they are thinking, "ba humbug, "bummer we got caught.