Boats, sleds, the highway and a throne

Boats, sleds, the highway and a throne was Originally Posted on January 17, 2010 by lavarock

Actually, the blog title is a bit cryptic as you will soon see.

My friend is still recovering from an operation and I am taking care of (it varies) about 10 dogs; mostly 70 pounds or so each. I drive up to her place about noor, feed the dogs, wait for them to finish, then take them for a run with the ATV. We start at the kennels and I rce the ATV up the farm and hope the dogs follow. Sometimes, some of them take a detour to the neighbors fence to bark at their dog, who lays in wait at the fece for them.

Up to the top of the farm we go, up to 3 dogs at a time, where they explore and go about their “business”. Then it is a race down the hill t othe other side of the kennels where they jump into the “seement pond” as the beverly Hillbillies used to call it. This pond is cement with lava rocks and a waterfall. They swim and play and we will throw tennis balls around. Soon they are led to their pens and another set of dogs are brought out to repeat the process. We are keeing the dogs in small, manageable groups and also seperating the males from the females who are in season. My friend breed the Labradors, but on her schedule, not when the dogs decide it’s time

I finally had some work done on my truck. Where there are usually lubricated front-end parts, I found disengrated seals and gaskets. For those car buffs, I needed upper and lower ball joints, rear brake shoes, a brake wheel cylinder, a radiator housing replaced and an oilchange and lubrication. All totaled it was $1600. I wish I could have taken advantage of the cash for clunkers deal late last year, however I had just purchased a $15,000 tractor and did not have the spare money for a truck either.

I found a leak in my new water system which appeared after some use. I lost 12,000 gallons or water and have been trying to find the best way to fix it. The problem was a piece of PVC plastic which should have been able to handle the presure, didn’t. A metal piece should fix the problem.

My friend with the dogs also havd a water problem. Between her water meter at the street and the backflow prevention device, a small leak developed. The water company noticed the problem (somehow) and turned her water off. When we noticed the water off at the house, we traced it back t othe meter. The 3/4 inch pipe had a small hole and I only had about an inch to work with it, without having t odig the whole thing up. I tried some special water pipe epoxy, but it still leaked. I broke that off and did what I should have done all along. I found a hose clamp and rubber piece that I could cover the pinhole and clamp down to stop the flow; much like an adhesive bandage (I would say “Bandaid” but it is a copyrighted name). That solved the problem until Monday.

Speaking of Monday, I was thinking is was King Kamehameha day, but I was wrong. It is Martin Luther Kin’s Birthday. Still, Hawaii had its own Kings and Queen. You would think they could be added to Presidents Day, as they were royalty (Americas only state to have Royal Palaces). One royal palace was damaged in the 6.8 earthquake a few years back and mentioned in the adjoining blog. read about the palace here: http://www.daughtersofhawaii.com/huliheepalace/ and they will still accept donations if you feel so inclined.

It is time to head up to care for the dogs, so I will have to go. Before I do, did you figure out the blog title? Boats float on WATER, a sled may be pulled by DOGS, my truck drives on the HIGHWAY and Monday’s holiday is for a King who had a THRONE. Actually, to be accurate, there is a throne in the Throne Room at I’olani palace on Oahu and also a throne in the bathroom

Here you see a rare luxury for King Kalākaua’s guests – a water closet. It would have been a marvel in its day, featuring both hot and cold running water—and a flush toilet at a time when this was unheard of, even in royal residences.

If you would like to take an online walking tour of the palace, do so here: http://www.iolanipalace.org/ but if visiting Oahu, I HIGHLY recommend that you take the actual tour. The audio tour is here: http://www.iolanipalace.org/visit/Audio%20Tour%20Script.pdf

One site states: Kalakaua enjoyed the most advanced technological advances of the time, having installed electricity, a telephone, and a modern toilet. In fact Iolani Palace was wired for electricity before the White House in Washington, DC.

So much for those who think Hawaii was a backward country at the time!