"The true meaning of “Stand by” reservations..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst N.Y. and has worked in the
medical field of ophthalmology for over 30 years.
Today she blogs about  flying the friendly skies of stand-by..
Greeting from California!

The true meaning of  “Stand by” reservations

I have been flying all over the country for the last 50 years and amazingly have never had my
Reservations’ cancelled because of the weather; well, there is a first for everything they say. Last week
we had planned a trip to California to attend some engagements and visit with family…a long awaited
vacation to escape the cold tundra of Buffalo.  We were surprised with a winter blizzard that froze
everything including the airline schedule.  At 3am on  the morning we were to leave, we were called by
Southwest cancelling our flight. The thought of being stuck in Buffalo after all our planning was
extremely disappointing.  Our only option was to go to the airport that was re opening later in the day
and sign up for “standby” ; it was a long shot with  one stipulation,  we had to be present when the
flight was announced.

We decided to lighten our carry on, take the bare minimum and get to the airport to camp out.  Even
parking our car was difficult because of the heavy snowfall and  the lot attendant had to plow us a space to
store the car.  We waited 4 hours in the airport until the flight was called; we were told to wait until
everyone had boarded and then we would be called at the end and  would get any seat left.  We were no longer
flying the route we had booked but going to Baltimore and changing planes twice and ending up at the
wrong airport in California; we were willing to make the sacrifice just to get out west.  I felt like a prize
winner when our names were called.  All our efforts to take on a small carry on were for naught because
since we were last to board we had to check our bags, no room in the overhead left either.  We were on
our way and relieved only to find out that the whole trip would continue to be standby and when we
then again made it to Atlanta we were asked to de-board the plane and got bumped.  By this time it was
9pm at night and we were exhausted and disappointed.  Of course our bags went ahead of us to Los
Angeles and we prayed that Southwest airlines would somehow get us out there still. After much
juggling we were offered Airtran that is owned by Southwest and would arrive in Los Angeles after our
luggage at 1 AM.  Drained from our ordeal we were still happy to be on our way and hoped our luggage
would not be lost.  We were to be the last flight leaving for the night which became delayed because of
a connection problem.  Arriving at the airport we walked into a luggage bone yard  with  others that had
the same experiences and began to sift through the many bags to find ours.  To my great relief with
some help from the airport staff  , we did find them and then began to wait another hour for the
transportation to take us to our hotel.  At this point it was four in the am and since we had been up from
our cancellation phone call that previous am at 3 we were taking on zombie features.  After getting
settled in the hotel we collapsed into a deep sleep for 7 hours; the most I have ever slept since I am a
light sleeper and usually only get 4-5 hours a night anyway.

It was well worth it though to see sunny skies and feel the warm breezes of California escaping the cold
tundra of Buffalo; I must be getting old because these cold spells  with “white out” driving are really getting
to me.  I think we need to start planning our future and spending some extended time in the warmth
during our cold winter months.  Now I know the true meaning of flying “standby” because we got to feel
the full effect on this trip. I must commend  the airline for trying every effort to get us on our way; it was
a nightmare for many airlines that week and we were one of the lucky ones to get through. 

Judith and husband Steve in Hollywood!

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50 Years Of Marriage..." 'Obama Da Dog' (Source)

Obama Da Dog says, "relax, laugh and enjoy life!"

50 Years Of Marriage

After nearly 50 years of marriage, a couple was lying in bed one evening, when the wife felt her husband, begin to massage her in ways he hadn't in quite some time. 

It almost tickled as his fingers started at her neck, and then began moving down past the small of her back. He then caressed her shoulders and neck, slowly worked his hand down, stopping just over her stomach.

 He then proceeded to place his hand on her left inner arm, working down her side, passing gently over her buttock and down her leg to her calf. Then, he proceeded up her thigh, stopping just at the uppermost portion of her leg.

 He continued in the same manner on her right side, then suddenly stopped, rolled over and became silent. As she had become quite aroused by this caressing, she asked in a loving voice, ‘Honey that was wonderful. Why did you stop?' To which he responded: 'I found the remote.'

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A Doctor, a priest and a lawyer..." 'Robert Bitos Gandia' (Source)

 Please  welcome Dakinetalk's newest guest-blogger,Robert Bitos Gandia.
Robert is an avid cook (ono gandule rice) and always laughing!!
He works at Syngenta as a Research Associate.
Robert lives in Kekaha on Kauai's west-side and loves football!!

A Doctor, a priest and a lawyer

An elderly man, 82, just returned from the doctor's only to find he didn't have long to live. So he summoned the three most important people in his life to tell them of his fate.

1.His Doctor
2.His Priest
3.His Lawyer

"Well, today I found out I don't have long to live. So I have summoned you three here, because you are the most important people in my life, and I need to ask a favor. Today, I am going to give each of you an envelope with $50,000 dollars inside. When I die, I would ask that all three of you throw the money into my grave."

After the man passed on, the 3 people happened to run into each other. The doctor said, "I have to admit I kept $10,000 dollars of his money, he owed me on lots of medical bills. But, I threw the other $40,000 in like he requested."

The priest said, "I have to admit also, I kept $25,000 dollars for the
church. It's all going to a good cause. I did, however, throw the other $25,000 in the grave."

Well, the lawyer just couldn't believe what he was hearing! "I am surprised at you two taking advantage of him like that. I wrote a check for the full amount and threw it all in!"

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"Pixies and horses..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux has lived on Kaua'i for  over 40 years and is a regular columnist  for the worlds greatest
newspaper, (The Kaua'i Garden Island news) Bettejo is pictured above with friends at Costco
Outdoor cafe. Haouli Makahiki Hou, (Happy New Year!)
www.bettejodux.com

Pixies and horses

I like the sound of pixie, but  really don't know much about them. Went searching, found this, first crack out of the box, and it and it made me happy. Read on 
The Pixie knows no sorrow, the Pixie feels no fear,
She takes no care for trouble but loves a mug of beer;
Age lays no finger on her, the reaper trots on by
The Pixie, she who changes not, does not grow old or die.
That was a stanza from a poem written by a late 19th century poet, Nora Chesson. I changed it a bit and fell in love.

Found out  pixies are drawn to horses;  and horse to them, I'm sure and it is their year.They like to ride unbroken colts and make tangles of their manes. My jungle must be full of them, Ari wakes up ever morning with a mane so tangled I despair. I have to use a special horse shampoo that untangles the tangles. His tail gets tangled, too, but nothing I read said anything about them making tangles in horse's tails and he's not exactly a colt at the ripe old age of 97, but he thinks he is. Maybe he fooled them.

I understand pixies  are still taken pretty seriously in South-west England and in some areas are actually believed to be real. I have no idea how they got to Kauai but when I see one, I'll ask. They are also, say some, racial remnants of Pictish tribes and, if you saw the film ARTHUR, you would have learned  this was the tribe that helped Arthur run the Romans out of England.  Guenevere was actually a great Pictish warrior who Arthur fell in love with and married.  Her tribe was the one that  painted themselves blue. (Maybe that's why I love blue? Thinking of my blue sweats, the floppy and my big bug blue sun glasses I used to wear.) They were also matriarchal.  It seems there is no proven connection between pixies and Picts and Arthur, but I think I'll just believe there is 'cause that's what I want to do. My roots are Irish, Scottish and Welsh and my husband, who was also irish-and Jewish-swore I was fey.  Don't you just love that word? Fey: having brought about by, or relating to supernatural powers or magic. Wow! I'm in way over my head. 

What fun.
As everyone knows I am a devout non believer but I think if I were to 'believe' in anything, I'd believe in pixies. Here's some more stuff. They have a taste for bits of finery but run around often ill-clothed or naked. That's nice.

They were quite small, loved music and dancing and nature and sought husbands among humans.  They are uncommonly beautiful and, don't forget, they loved horses. 
I'm going to cut this short. I just saw one swinging on a branch in a tree on the bank outside. I'll be back next week  unless I'm not...

"Pixie.  Here, pixie..."

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"Channeling Andrew Rooney..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen' (Column)

James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a
with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby...
This blog  appeared as my column "Kimo's world" in the
01-13-14 edition of the Kaua'i garden island news;
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/channeling-andy-rooney/article_7e47aabc-7c12-11e3-a686-0019bb2963f4.html

Channeling Andy Rooney

Andy Rooney the former 60 minutes commentator who always had the last word  on the show is my hero and  mentor. He was my favorite writer, columnist and satirist of all time. I used to watch the CBS show, "60 minutes" religiously only for the last 3 minutes with Andy Rooney. He was off the wall, always had a point, and always made me laugh. I miss Andy Rooney.

 If I could have spoken with him, I might had started my conversation with his famous refrain,"Did you ever wonder." Did you ever wonder why you are actually talking to me? 

Andy Rooney was  the reason I watched "60 minutes." Most of the shows anchor's are well advanced senior citizens and without Rooney the show has pretty much sealed it's fate.

Rooney was blogging before blogging was even a word, or people knew what blogging was. I  call Rooney the original blogger, the guy who blogged before  it became a word. Mr. Rooney had the best job in the world.

 If  Mr. Rooney could write an essay from beyond it  might begin;"Did you ever wonder why they say people "pass away?" What have they passed, footballs, baseballs or maybe just a little gas?

I am currently  reading a book of essays I  purchased at the Kapa'a library's annual book sale by Andy Rooney.  The book is titled,"Uncommon Sense" and only cost me  fifty cents.  I  am  hoping to channel Andy Rooney with my own thoughts and words on the usage of the word zero. Here goes;  

"Did you ever wonder why" sports commentators always announce the  score as 14-Oh, instead of 14-zero?. I was always taught as a child that  'Oh' is a letter not a number. When talking numbers one should use zero, not Oh.

I had a hard time explaining  this to my students in Japan when I was teaching English as a second language back in the day. The students always wanted to say Oh, in lieu of zero? They watch American movies, sports  and TV and often hear Oh used to represent zero.

It's never the other way around, nobody ever says, zero boy, or Zero man, it's always  Oh boy, or Oh man.

Oh is oh, and zero is zero.  With that said, others insist on saying the score is 35-zip. Zip seems better than Oh, just because Zip begins with a Z, just like zero.

Many will call the score 35- nothing. I still like nothing better than Oh, but not as much as zip when representing zero.

Zero is one of the few words in the English language that begin with Z. The only letter with less words are words beginning with X. My pocket dictionary show only  six pages for the heading" XYZ." Why are there so few words beginning with X,Y, and Z? 

Whether it's nothing, zip, or oh, zero is what I was taught to use in elementary school. The teachers drilled me that Oh was not a number and when I would accidentally say Oh instead of zero I was made to stand in the corner.

Thinking back on that teacher she was a big  zero , a big zip, a big nothing, or should I say in spite of it all a big Oh?

 Did you ever wonder why they say rest in peace? We miss you Andy, RIP. 

James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby; http://www.dakinetalk.blogspot.com/

http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/channeling-andy-rooney/article_7e47aabc-7c12-11e3-a686-0019bb2963f4.html


P.S.

How you can open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew. This is worth the 50 seconds to watch!

http://www.mirabeauwine.com/how-to-open-a-bottle-of-wine-without-a-corkscrew/



Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from Facebook...

'How to Survive working with women in the workplace..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst N.Y. and has worked in the
ophthalmology filed of medicine for almost 35 years!

How to Survive working with women in the workplace

I work closely in a medical office with over 20 woman; they consist of ages ranging from 24 yrs old to 60 years old. This wide range of personalities makes for a most interesting mix through out the day. Hormone levels can range from the very sensitive to the mundane. One never knows what the day will bring.

People work for all kinds of reasons; the biggest reason being for money to sustain themselves. Some work to keep busy and some for the satisfaction. Some people choose to bring their home life to work and share it with others for commiseration. Some choose to escape their home life, and loose themselves in the work day. Women working together must develop a special dance in order to get along with each other and they must delicately approach each other in order not to cause hard feelings when broaching different hot topics of discussion. I have been in the working world since I was 17 years old and have slowly devised these simple rules that make it easier to survive the workplace when working with women.

1. Stay a neutral person; office gossip will always move through a group of women at warp speed. When someone tries to entice you to take sides, stay neutral.

2. When your boss comes in and seems troubled, do not ask what’s wrong? Whatever you say can be the wrong thing and it is better to avoid them until they work it off.

3. Don’t bring your home problems to work; it makes other people feel uncomfortable and brings their day down as well. I have followed these simple rules during my 30 plus years of working mainly with women. It helps to change “aprons” when entering your office doors. Your productiveness and concentration reduce greatly if you are solving home problems during the day.

4. Don’t socialize with the people you work with, this can backfire on you during office hours and you may have said something you could regret later on. The worst mistakes can be said at office “after hour” parties, to coin a phrase, “loose lips sink ships”.

And Last but not least, don’t stay in a job that you don’t feel fulfilled in; look for another

One. Don’t look back with regret; we all know life is very short. Wishing you were somewhere else during the work day will only cause sadness.

P.S.
Cousin Ron (Martini) Makes a statement..! 
"A fork in the road!"

Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...

"If the President were gay..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen'

James Kimo Rosen with President Obama's sister
MAYA SOETORO-NG and Obama Da Dog...

If the President were gay

Who would had thought  50 years ago a black man would be president of the United states. It wasn't that long ago that blacks were slaves in America.

Hawai'i has recently  legalized same sex marriage, It's only a matter of time until same sex marriage becomes law in all 50 states. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

With same sex marriage becoming more and more acceptable, will there come a day when we have a same sex couple in the White-house?

Imagine the President of the United states being a gay man and I don't mean happy. If this man was married to another man what would we call his significant other? We call the wife of the President the first lady. If a woman was ever president the husband would be the first man. The question remains what would  the partner of a same sex marriage President be called?

We could call them the first homosexual, or in the case of a woman President having a woman partner, we could call her the first lesbian. How about the first gay?

 My Hawaiian friends might say, "the first dakine!" better yet,clean and simple, just call it the first.

James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby www.dakinetalk.blogspot.com

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