Some Thoughts...

The photo is from Saturday...a nice Spring day around here...OK, it's a retention pond, but still...

Waiting for the repairman to show up and finish repairing our NEW clothes dryer. He replaced the "coils" and gas valve yesterday and, after calling his tech manager, said he would come back today to replace the "burner." This on a NEW dryer. I think if he replaced the motor, then only the cabinet and controls would be original.

See, this dryer is from a reputable company/store and is a brand that we've purchased in the past and had little to no trouble with for MANY years. What gives???

Sweet Home Hawaii:

Well, the agony continues for the birthplace. Aloha Airlines finally gave up the ghost last week after 61 years. Just the latest in Hawaii businesses that have packed it in over the last year or so.

Then ATA goes belly-up. As of yesterday, there were still several THOUSAND people looking for trips back to the mainland. Auwe...what next?

The latest local food business to close was Tropic Fish and Vegetable Market at Ward Farmers Market. This place was there for decades. I remember going in there to buy "local" food items that were not available at local markets.

Fresh veg and fish always there...now...who knows?? The "homoginization (??)" of Hawaii continues. I think I wrote here that a local fave spot at Ala Moana Center, Patty's Chinese Kitchen, which was there when I was in high school (that was during the age of dinosaurs), closed, in part to the competition from...are you ready...Panda Express!!!

Folks, there was NO comparison. Local, unique Chinese items vs "MALL food" Chinese. Yet, as an article in a Honolulu paper put it, most tourists want places they are familiar with (I call it the "McDonald's effect"...no matter which one you go into in the world, you know what to expect), so passed Patty's for Panda. Ugh!

FOOOOOOD

Mmmmmmm...Kirschbaum's Bakery...BAD place, BAD place.

Barbeque weather made an appearance this past weekend. BTW, today it's rainy and cold. SNOW showers expected by Saturday. Gotta love Chicagoland in the Spring.

Anyhow, made huli-huli chicken on the barbie. Yummmmmy. Can't replace that smokey taste you get from hardwood charcoal. AND...DON'T USE LIGHTER FLUID. Go get a "chimney starter" that uses newspapers to get the charcoal going. NO BAD TASTE.

Tomorrow, flatbread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Go buy the book.

OK...that's all folks.

A hui hou...