March!

It comes after February, and my time here will be shorter than it was in February.

March 1, 2026

I will be returning to Arizona on March 9, so this will be a short month – at least, as far as my time in Hawaii is concerned – so I need to start thinking about wrapping things up . . . but not today!

Instead, I need to add blocking and bracing to the roof structure of the bathroom. Blocks that extend through the last 2 x 4 rafter directly above the exterior walls out to support the barge rafters (commonly called “lookouts”) have been added. I have enough H2.5 framing anchors for one side, so I install them to hold down the rafters on the shower side of the roof. The rafter tails on the shower side overhang are marked and cut off to the correct length, and the fascia is put up. The barge rafters on the street side are cut and installed, then the ones for the porch/entry side, which is slightly more complicated because of the different roof slopes. But all-in-all, the bathroom roof is pretty much framed.

Last month, I had to decide where to have the sand/gravel delivered – to Holowai, or to Ahi. At both locations, the need for this material was much the same – I have projects at both sites that require this material. But at the Ahi site, it can be dumped in the road, but not be blocking traffic. No matter where I thought of dumping it ar Holowai, it was kinda out in the traffic area. Also, there is less through traffic at Ahi (being a dead-end), so less likely to have others helping themselves.

That means that I have to haul it over to Holowai to complete the projects there.

First, I setup the mixer and the generator, then bring over a load of sand/gravel. I get out a bag of cement, and mix up some concrete.

Using the wheelbarrow, I take it back to the rock wall at the front of the house, and shovel it into the space between the rocks. The driveway here at Holowai is not nearly as steep as the one at Ahi, so I can fill the wheelbarrow.

At the kitchen gazebo, there is an area that I have prepared for a concrete lanai. I formed it up a few trips ago, but I have not been able to get around to pouring the concrete! Well, I have decided it is time to work on this. I have set up a form to separate a small portion of the lanai, so I can pour this part..

The floor of the other lanai has flat rocks embedded in the concrete and flush with the surface. I want to continue this style of cobblestone effect in this concrete floor as well. I have gathered enough flat rocks to do this section – that’s how I decided how much of the floor to pour.

But first, I gather today’s crop of tomatoes. They are not large, but there are about a dozen of them. And they taste great!

The Northern Red Cardinal stops by to check things out.

He even comes down to the feeder for a bite to east.

The portion of the lanai I had sectioned off has been poured. It turned out great! Just like I wanted it to, and I had a few flat rocks left over to start on another section.

The ocean was calling. Past Whittington Beach, and past the turn off to Honuapo, there is another road that goes out to the ocean. It is definitely a four wheel drive road, and I would not want to drive here when it is raining, as it is in the lowlands where it floods when it rains heavily.

There is a lagoon out here that they call a fishpond. Like every other thing in Hawaii, it is sacred, because the ancient Tongan and Polynesian original invaders – I mean settlers – did something here! They used to catch fish here or something like that!

Anyway, there is an interesting rocky beach here, and I should feel priviledged that they will allow a haole like me to even come here!

The road back to the highway is just as difficult as the road out – probably because it is the same road!

After returning to Na’alehu, I stop off at the transfer station and fill a bunch of empty water bottles I had in the truck.

A few nights ago, I was in bed and the bed started shaking. It shook for a few seconds – maybe ten seconds – and stopped. In the morning, I checked online and it was an earthquake over 3.0. I was a bit more qurious today about earthquakes here, so I went to the US Geological Survey website and found that in the past year there have been over 8,000 earthquakes in Hawaii. Most of them are below 2.0, but they still are earthquakes. And apparently, a vast majority of them are centered on the big island!

And a large portion of these are centered around the town of Pahala – less than 15 miles away! Life is a choice!

At the street side of the kitchen gazebo, the area was quite rough and tumble. I spent some time rearranging the rocks and hauled some sand and gravel over from Ahi to smooththis out. I have to carry buckets/containers of water past here to water some coconut tees that I had planted there a while ago. Making this easier to walk on is great! I also carry my propane bottles for the stove over this pathway.

So, I poured a small concrete pad for my propane bottle to sit on.

And another section of the walkway leading to the gazebo.

Back at Ahi, I had placed a larger and longer piece of pipe over the one that was poured into the rock column at the property corner marker. At the top of this pole, I installed a pulley and a small ball. I now have a flagpole!

Back at Holowai, I finish installing smooth round rocks as the flooring tiles for the shower. Now I need to grout them.

The siding goes on to two walls of the bathroom at Ahi. I am following the same pattern I used on the bathroom at Holowai. At the corners, the 1x boards I salvage from the pallets are installed at a diagonal to add lateral strength to the walls. In the area between the corners, I am usng 1 x 6 cedar fence slats installed vertically.

Then I started installing 1x boards to the roof, and covering these with osb plywood.

March 9, 2026

After a bus ride from Na’alehu to Kona airport, I get a paper boarding pass from the airline agent and check one bag.

The congressmen and women of the US Government are continuing their blatant fraud, by collecting their paychecks and not doing the job they are paid to do. The government has been shut down for a couple of weeks, so I was concerned what the lines would be at TSA.

As I get my boarding pass, and check my bag, I look over at the T?SA checkpoint.

There is no line at the TSA checkpoint.

When I go through the checkpoint, I walk right up to an agent checking ID’s. There are agents at four stations checking ID’s so there is no wait. I walk right up to the conveyor belt and begin to put my carry-on bag into the plastic bin. there is no wait! The bin follows two others through the x-ray machine and comes out the other side. 9 out of ten times, my bag is pulled aside for “further inspection”. Not this time. And I look at the other two conveyors operating and see that none of the bags going throgh are being pulled aside for further inspection, and I wonder – “Are these x-ray machines even turned on?” I guess that if the TSA agents are not being paid, this s their way of not doing the job! As if it really ever has made any difference!

TTFN