Not too much happened in October. We had a major earthquake, just a regular old month! According to the National Geologic Survey, the quake was a 6.7 and we had some significant aftershocks too. It happened at 7:07 am on Sunday October 15th. We were up, but not out of the bedroom yet. Todd went to let the dogs in and when they all got into the bedroom, the quake began. (The dogs are not allowed in the bedroom, but they must have felt something was going to happen.) We have felt earthquakes before since we moved to Hawaii and thought it would be like the others. It would rumble and make noise for a few seconds but, no big deal. Well, it kept shaking and rumbling and it was getting stronger and louder. So we ran outside and got away from the house and the power lines and just held each other. It seemed like it went on for much longer than it did. We were very lucky. We are fine, the dogs are fine and we had only one vase fall off of a shelf and a minor drywall crack in the living room. Poor Buddy, our big strong pit bull mix (NOT) was so upset that he sat on the lanai shaking for at least a half an hour after the earthquake. I tried comforting him, but he was just too upset. Louie was trotting around like nothing happened and had no apparent need for psychoanalysis like Buddy. There were many people on the island that lost their homes. Earthquake insurance is not the same as regular home owner's insurance. Therefore, if you didn't buy a specific earthquake policy which tends to be very expensive, you were out of luck.

     October is Iron Man which causes all kinds of traffic problems. Basically, you just don't go any where near Kona on that day. Our friend that lives south of us had an anti-Iron Man party, so we went there. It was fun, except that is absolutely poured. It put a damper on the live music outside since those fussy musicians didn't want their equipment to get wet nor did they want to get electrocuted. Geez. Where is your party spirit? There was lots of great food and interesting people. The hosts are true hippies and they have an eclectic set of friends. The weekend before Iron Man, we actually went on a date. We went out to dinner which had very disappointing french fries and then to the movies. I had a coupon for the movies and the kid at the theater didn't know what to do with the coupon. He left the booth and when he came back, we got in for free which was very cool. We saw Open Season since it was the only non extreme violence, sex, and bad language movie that was out at the time. It was enjoyable, but I am glad we didn't have to pay full price. We were quite the social butterflies. We then went to a Halloween party that friends of ours held. Of course we had to dress up. Todd wore his scrubs from his old job and went as a doctor. I wore my bellydancing coin belt with a big skirt and went as a belly dancer. Our Scottish friend, Charlie went as Ozzie Osbourne. He looked great. He wore Ozzie's black t-shirt, black lounging pants, necklaces, long black and gray wig and round sunglasses. With Charlie's accent, he did a great job. He couldn't see a thing in the glasses and ended up driving on the wrong side of the road for a little bit. (We followed Charlie and Grace to the party.)

     We didn't having any guests this month. It was a nice break, but then again, no income so that part stunk. Our friend Hiro had to move back to Japan because her visa ran out. We attended her farewell party. It was sad to see her go. She didn't want to leave. Hopefully, she can come back for vacation. Coffee picking is done for us. We have done the best so far. Many farmers didn't have a good harvest, but since we are starting from the bottom, it was good for us. I received a jury duty notice that would have had me in drug court in Hawaii on Halloween. Thank goodness when I called, I didn't have to report! You only get paid $30 for the whole day. Sorry, but that is a hardship for someone that does not get paid jury duty leave. We had to take Buddy to the vet. He was starting to look very skinny and he was licking around the base of his tail so much that he licked off patches of his fur. He lost 11 pounds since the last time he was at the vet. She felt that Buddy was just having an over anxious reaction to perhaps just one flea that was bugging him. We give them regular baths with neem shampoo and treat them every 3 weeks with flea medicine. So Buddy was put on antibiotics and steroids and because we need to take them to Paws University for boarding next month, they both needed a shot for kennel cough. A mere $137 later, we were on our way home with the mutts.

     Unfortunately, my mom's Aunt Dorothy died this month. She was a great lady who always dressed and looked great for her age. She had a knack for growing plants and was a very good cook. I remember spending time at her apartment when I was little. The place always smelled so good with whatever was cooking.