March Madness--Iditarod!

It's March and my version of the Madness is to follow the Iditarod! It's been running for a week now, and the leader is at the Grayling checkpoint, 429 miles to Nome!

Lance Mackey is leading the way again for the third year in a row. He's the only one in the top 10 to still have all 16 dogs running. He has taken both his 24 hr and 8 hr mandatory stops. His closest competitor who has also done those steps is about 15 miles (2-3 hrs) behind him. He could still be beaten, but his team is looking awfully strong.

Martin Buser, a 4-time winner and the holder of the record for speed, briefly took the lead close to the half way mark, while the others were taking their 24 hr break. But since then he has again dropped back in the pack, currently at 22nd. BUT 9 of the teams ahead of him have not taken their 8-hr break on the Yukon, and he has, so he's really 13th...

It gets confusing at this point about who is really ahead, but once they're out of the Yukon, and those mandatory breaks are complete, the picture will get clearer. There's one more mandatory 8 hr break that every team has to take at the White Mountain checkpoint (77 miles from the finish).

The lead contender for rookie of the year was a 38-year-old woman but she has since been passed by two other rookies, so things happen along the trail.

For the past few years a legally blind woman has been making the race and she has a companion dog sled team that goes with her. She'll likely never win but she loves the dogs and the race. Good for her!

I broke down and bought the "Insider" package which gives me the ability to check the mushers on a map with their GPS position. Mackey's GPS went a little funky at one point and he admitted at the next checkpoint that he fell asleep and the team lost the trail, so he had to turn them around, costing him an hour or so. Hasn't hurt him yet, though. He also joked about the hallucinations the mushers get from fatigue. Saw one girl reading a book along the trail and she waved and spoke to him.

Part of me hopes Lance gets a little competiton soon to keep it interesting! But the rest of the top 10 are close together, and there's still a lot of racing to do....

Target report!

Yes, with all the natural beauty and beaches here, I spent my day off going to Target...

But in my defense, we have had remarkably English-like weather here for about two weeks. It has been mostly overcast, windy and wet. And for here, it's been cool. 60's is cool! Our part of the island has dropped into the high 50's at times overnight. When you don't have any heat, that makes for a chilly evening, though great sleeping weather. We seem to be having a late winter here, and after the floods of Dec/Jan and all this cool, wet, windy stuff, I am ready for some sun.

And of course, I'm not quite ready for the great outdoors. The physical therapist had some very encouraging things to say about my progress, but I still can't get into the ocean for awhile. Getting into and out of the surf can be tough on a recovering knee joint.

So what else could I do but go to Target?? Both stores had a "soft" opening on Wednesday, but it was all over the news, so I figured today (Friday) would be crowded as well. But it wasn't too bad. I got to the Kapolei store just before 9am and there was plenty of parking and shopping carts. At first, I just walked up and down the aisles, seeing what they had. I was surprised at how much food they had. Finally I got a cart and bought some food that our nearby Safeway doesn't seem to carry, bought some vitamins, a skillet, and a pool toy! I got an adult sized floaty thing to lie in, hoping for the return of our sun.

But I'm taking back the skillet. Says "NEVER" use the dishwasher in all caps. If it can't go in the dishwasher, I don't want it. I just didn't read the fine print before I purchased. So dang, sometime soon, I'll have to go back!

Milestones--a new Costco! And Target!

And how could I forget?? Great things are happening here on Oahu in terms of shopping. A new Costco opened in the Kapolei area, which is in the southern part of the island, west of Pearl Harbor. It's not close to us, but I'm hoping that means that the Costco that IS close to us will calm down a bit. I almost never go there except at weird hours (8pm on Friday, 30 min before they close, for example), or to buy gas. With any luck, I can start enjoying my Costco card more...

The local papers recorded a madhouse at the new store when it opened. 750 parking spots and 1000 carts were all claimed within minutes of opening. People got there two hours early to line up. Shoppers also didn't fully realize that one of the interstate exits had been revamped to accommodate them, so they got off one exit earlier and jammed traffic. Locals who just wanted to get home spent 45 min going one block.

The article mentioned the two-for-one egg deal that was packing the aisles and the $3,000 designer handbags that were going for $1,999. What a deal.

On Wednesday, Target is opening two stores here, with the official grand opening on Sunday the 8th. Both stores are about the same distance from us. One of them is supposedly the largest store on the island, and the other is opening near the new Costco, further exacerabating traffic problems there. I anticipate both stores will be a repeat of the Costco madhouse, but that won't stop me from going there, though I may make it late in the day when sensible people are home.

So yes, unemployment is up here and the housing market is down and we are experiencing all the same problems that the mainland has. But we still need Stuff. And we neeed it at reasonable prices.

Quiet Sunday morning

It's a lovely cool Sunday morning here in Oahu. Some birds are going to town but so far no neighbors are out with weed wackers or lawn mowers. It's been cool all week, the closest we've had to wintry weather. A little sunshine would be nice, but it's looking pretty cloudy out there this morning.

The doctor did take me off the brace on Monday and I'm doing a little more each day. Trying to focus on not limping, since now it's as more of a habit than a necessity. I had some very long days at work but tried to do my home PT every night anyway.

Yesterday I went to a baby shower in Kaneohe. It's such a gorgeous drive over to that part of the island! If the mountains had a little snow on top, it could be Switzerland. After that, I went to a nearby mall. It was the first such outing for me since the surgery and it felt great to be out and about.

I went to the mall because I had a Macy's "thank-you" card with about $48 on it. I got a Macy's credit card last fall and somehow apparently signed up for this cash back program. I wasn't sure if it expired or not so wanted to use it. I couldn't find any clothes that appealed to me, so I went up to housewares. We needed a new meat thermometer, so I got that, and then poked around in the small appliances.

I thought about a blender, but decided I'd rather research them first. Besides, the ones they had were all huge. I ended up with a Cuisinart sandwich maker, and am looking forward to a grilled cheese or tuna melt today for lunch. It was $39.99. Today, I decided for some reason to poke around on Cuisinart's web page. Same sandwich maker is listed at $24.95. !!! Just goes to show once again how expensive it is to live here, and the premium prices we pay for everything. But that gorgeous drive to Kaneohe--well, maybe it's worth it...

But after a 58-hr work week this week and a long (but very enjoyable) day yesterday, I may really just stick close to home today. I'm planning to take this coming Friday off no matter what.