About Aunty

Aunty is a new senior citizen and loving this phase of her life. Less responsibilities, less fear of being weird, able to do more of the things that I want to do! Older, yes, slower, yes, but life is even more wonderful in my golden years and I look forward to even goldener ones.

Masks to help us all

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Aunty

Pal Jalna shared a video about wearing masks – presented by a young girl in the Czech Republic.

Aunty must admit to going on errands and not wearing a mask but after getting coughed on by a clueless girl who didn’t heed the 6 feet apart rule and was coughing without regard, I started wearing a mask and spraying my hands with sanitizer each time I touched something outside of the house.

Then, after watching this video, I will always wear a mask when I go out. Not just for my sake, but for all of us. Then we can get back to normal sooner, with an appreciation for what normal is (was).

Here is a video done by a surgeon teaching us how to make a mask: https://www.drstreicher.com/dr-streicher-blog/2020/3/a-surgeon-sewing-a-surgical-mask

Here is one that Kay of Musings shared and liked: https://www.craftpassion.com/face-mask-sewing-pattern/ This one looks rather easy (the 1st one by Dr. Streicher is the easiest) but when you click on your pattern choice, do NOT click on anything that looks like a green box with “START” on it. This will take you to another place – it is a link to an advertiser. I don’t like that, but the patterns are good.

And here is another one that Kay shared and liked better because of the fit: https://www.unitypoint.org/filesimages/COVID-19/UnityPointHealth-OlsonMask-Instructions.pdf

Here is a no sew mask with a large handkerchief and 2 hair ties: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBVtkX0yJ4Y&feature=youtu.be Very easy and actually brilliant! This version and the first version with Dr. Streicher was shared by our president of the Hawaii Stitchery and Fibre Arts Guild. Mahalo, Aileen!

Best wishes to all, and may the force be with you!

Hand Sanitizer recipe and virus update

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Aunty

Aunty’s Seattle based daughter sent an easy hand sanitizer recipe that she and her chemist PhD pal (Marcy Kang) made.

8 ounces (1 cup) of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol

2 ounces of distilled water

10 drops of your favorite essential oil

Mix in a bowl, pour into 2 oz. spray bottles and label them. (makes 4 bottles)

Easy! Right? Well, with this coronavirus craze going on, finding isopropyl alcohol was very difficult because most stores were sold out. The only place I could find it was at the Pillbox Pharmacy in Kaimuki. It was much more expensive there and I also ended up buying a pint of their awesome Oregon strawberry ice cream but both, imo, were well worth it. You could use the more normal 60% isopropyl alcohol but it won’t evaporate as quickly.

How did it turn out? Quite nice, with a strong alcohol after smell, which is rather comforting in this day of coronavirus paranoia.

Speaking of which

Dr. Edwin Endo sent an email about this virus and what to do.

Here is the text:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT – A simple but good to know guide on Coronavirus

1. If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold

2. Coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough with no runny nose.

3. This new virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees (82-85*F). It hates the Sun.

4. If someone sneezes with it, it takes about 10 feet before it drops to the ground and is no longer airborne.

5. If it drops on a metal surface it will live for at least 12 hours – so if you come into contact with any metal surface – wash your hands as soon as you can with a bacterial soap.

6. On fabric it can survive for 6-12 hours. normal laundry detergent will kill it.

7. Drinking warm water is effective for all viruses. Try not to drink liquids with ice.

8. Wash your hands frequently as the virus can only live on your hands for 5-10 minutes, but – a lot can happen during that time – you can rub your eyes, pick your nose unwittingly and so on.

9. You should also gargle as a prevention. A simple solution of salt in warm water will suffice.

10. Can’t emphasize enough – drink plenty of water!

THE SYMPTOMS

1. It will first infect the throat, so you’ll have a sore throat lasting 3/4 days 2. The virus then blends into a nasal fluid that enters the trachea and then the lungs, causing pneumonia. This takes about 5/6 days further.

3. With the pneumonia comes high fever and difficulty in breathing.

4. The nasal congestion is not like the normal kind. You feel like you’re drowning. It’s imperative you then seek immediate attention.

Overkill and hype

It is better to be overly cautious but keeping our hands off of our face and clean are the 2 best ways to stop this virus from invading us. In this day and age of internet news and reports, we sometimes have too much information and this can spread fear and survival behavior out of perspective.

Financially, it is killing the stock market and will affect Hawaii as a tourist destination, which will hurt us for a while. We can’t do much about that but we won’t run out of toilet paper and water.

A year from now we will look back and breathe a sigh of relief. For now, please keep on washing hands and don’t panic.

Coronavirus explained – really well

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Aunty

Jalna had this video on her blog. It is short and very informative. It is important to wash our hands and avoid touching our faces. Thanks, Jalna!

Bitcoin in your Retirement Account

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Aunty

Aunty might be considered weird because I do things differently. I think I was different from birth, much to the chagrin of my poor oriental traditional mother who struggled with the stigma of being a divorcee (at a time when no one was divorced) and worked hard to support her family of 4. She was strong, independent, and strict. I was spoiled, lackadaisical, and lazy.

She never chased a hot stock tip, would only play Keno in casinos, voted Republican, and believed in being debt free while keeping her money safe and sound in bank accounts and solid stocks. I, on the other hand, spent like there was no tomorrow, got into a mountain of debt in my 20’s, jump from investing guru to guru, went all in on options (just before the 1987 crash), love the craps table, vote for Independents, and occasionally bounce checks without feeling too terrible.

I am NOT a person to follow. However, if you have the belief that money is just a tool and not some special commodity that has to be protected, then use it to invest depending on your risk tolerance. Cash flowing real estate is for conservatives that want to grow a solid class of asset that can be passed down, exchanged, and give peace of mind. The problem with real estate is that it takes a substantial amount of money to get started.

A gift from our government

Aunty’s number one advice to anyone – young or old – is to have a Roth IRA. It is a gift from our government, allowing us to put money away for our golden years with unlimited growth and ZERO taxes throughout. If you have enough in your Roth IRA to purchase cash flowing real estate, you could set yourself up for monthly rental income that can be drawn out without penalties or taxes after age 59 1/2. There are rules that must be followed to maintain the sanctity of the IRA but it is well worth the effort, imo. If you don’t have enough to do that, then please consider investing some of it in crypto currencies, i.e. Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.

The reason I suggest using a Roth IRA (or regular IRA) for bitcoin investing is because you don’t have to file a tax return or pay taxes on the investment. The IRS rules for reporting gains and losses on cryptocurrencies are evolving because it is so new. In an IRA, you can buy, sell, make a profit, take a loss, exchange between currencies and build up a war chest for your future, without reporting it. Perfect for a cruiser like Aunty.

Aunty used to use BitcoinIRA.com for that purpose. However, they required at least $50,000 to open an account. I couldn’t open my kids accounts with them because of that [they may have lowered the minimum opening amount]. Their trading fees of 10% per transaction were super high, though they were very professional. They had a break up with their custodian, Kingdom Trust. It was rather nasty and I just rode along and by default ended up with Kingdom Trust.

Thus, I now use Kingdom Trust for bitcoin investing in my Roth IRA. It turned out to be a good default. $500 is the minimum opening! This is great because the kids can now have IRA accounts there. Transaction fees are a flat $150 – big savings on large buy/sell orders but steep for small orders. Instead of having fees taken from IRA account balances, you can set up an outside bank account or credit card, which is much better because IRA funds are precious. IRS rules on IRAs allow this – another gift from our government!

If you do open an account with Kingdom Trust, use it to buy crypto currency rather than letting it sit. Monthly fees are charged so just using it to park your IRA funds is not a good idea. It will take some getting used to filling out docusign forms to deposit, withdraw, buy, sell, etc. but the folks at Kingdom Trust are very nice – and many times I get the same person helping me on the phone, which is also nice.

What is Bitcoin? Truth is, Aunty doesn’t really know

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are difficult to define and many people think they are a sham. There is nothing that backs them up in value, so they are considered fiat currencies. Did you know that all “real” currencies such as the US dollar, Euros, yen, etc are also fiat currencies? Their value is based on nothing but faith in a government.

Aunty doesn’t really understand blockchain technology and the basis for bitcoin but does believe in using it as a tool for potential explosive growth. Proponents liken it to when the internet first appeared back in the 90’s with the World Wide Web. This was before Amazon, Google, Apple, etc. No one understood it in the beginning and now it is part of our daily lives.

Safe or sorry?

My mom (also known as Granny) would probably not have invested in bitcoin if she were still alive today. It isn’t for most people because of the great unknown associated with it, but I would strongly recommend it to everyone, in a Roth IRA, with Kingdom Trust using just 10% of available assets. Because the possible potential is gnormous. The downside would be a 10% loss in your portfolio.

I have an extreme fear of heights and avoid crossing bridges over freeways or hiking and climbing cliffs. I also have a fear of missing out on winning big. With cryptocurrency, the greatest fear that I have is choosing the wrong cryptocurrency so I stick with the more traditional ones such as Bitcoin BTC, Ethereum ETH, Ripple XRP, and now Ethereum Classic ETC. To follow the prices and keep up with the news, I use Coindesk.com. I also use the Blockfolio app on my phone to get a picture of the holdings that I currently have.

The biggest mistake I have made in this venture is getting too greedy. Set a “sell” target and stick to it. Two years ago, Ripple (XRP) went from 17¢ to $3.30. It has since returned to a range near 20¢. If only I had sold the 200,000 coins that cost a bit over $3,000 and sold at its peak, I would be sitting pretty today. Ah well. I did eventually sell as the price of Ripple slid down much too quickly and made enough profit on the trade to cash out and withdraw the initial investment, but the “if only” continues to haunt as a good lesson about when to sell.

Aunty is also afraid of riding roller coasters and bitcoin investing is like being on a roller coaster with feet on the ground and a computer screen in front. I also tend to buy at the wrong time but the prices move up and down so much, it works out well enough.

Ready, Fire, Aim

That is the name of a book by Michael Masterson, a guru that Aunty admires. Perhaps I need to learn to aim before I fire. I am working on it but not with much priority. I do believe, whatever order we do things, or the choices we make, we need to fire – sooner, rather than too late.

Embracing Auntyhood?

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Aunty

An anonymous reader posting recently as “Aunty” had this suggestion for me:

Just a thought….
Why don’t you start writing about yourself in the first person..
For the new year!
Embrace the fact of auntyhood!

So now, Aunty (I) is wondering – should I (Aunty) post as “I” or “Me” in the new year? It is easier to post in the first person but not sure if that takes away the Honolulu Auntyness.

What do you think?

Update:

Mahalo for peoples’ comments about this – it really is good to hear from you all. N has a very valid viewpoint, and Snoksred also. “I” not “she” is a really good suggestion, Gigi!

So, now Aunty will post as Aunty in the third person sometimes, and most times in the I, first person. It will be easier to write and read while still preserving the branding of Honolulu Aunty. Why is branding important to me? Not really sure, to tell you the truth. I love being called “Aunty” and whenever my hairdresser Mai greets me, it is always as “Aunty Honolulu!” and when I order at Starbucks and they ask for my name, I tell them it is “Aunty” and some of them chuckle and some look at me strangely.

Aunty, I am! Happy New Year to all and looking forward to another year of blogging while embracing auntyhood and being myself at the same time.

The Best is Soon Gone

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Aunty

Aunty’s favorite art gallery, Robyn Buntin of Honolulu Gallery, is closing.

Very sad. Aunty will miss them and their fantastic selection of art, jewelry, and treasures. They are always so nice and never seemed to mind Aunty coming in just to look and ooh and aaah.

Aunty did purchase a really cool old looking vase that resembles concrete but is a wheel thrown ceramic piece from the Silla Dynasty for a really good price. Do you know the Silla Dynasty? Hmmm? Well, you would if you watch Korean dramas such as Queen Seondeok and stories about the Three Kingdoms of Korea. This all happened over a thousand years ago. This vase was part of John Young’s collection of tribal and ancient cultures.

Everything is on sale. Everything. The have the yummiest gorgeous jade pieces and a huge selection of Japanese woodblock prints in pristine condition.

Just wanted to give you all a heads up to check them out before they are out of there on Sunday. Aunty will miss the best of the best. Time and change march on, but some things, like a Silla vase endures and will continue to give joy for a long time to come.

Aunty’s Silla treasure – about 10″ tall and exceptional in its simplicity and balance.

Ashland in the Fall

Posted on November 14, 2019 by Aunty

A small glimpse of Lithia Park

Last month, Aunty went to a 5 day clothing seminar with pal Diane Ericson co-teaching with Carol Lee Shanks in Ashland, Oregon.

What did Aunty make? Ha! Not much because having so many techniques, twists, and possibilities presented got rusty gears in Aunty’s head turning and moving again and Aunty’s hands didn’t know where to start.

The greatest message that Diane gave to us was to use the things you love the most.

Aunty is a hoarder of fabric, beads, and whatevers. Because of this, there isn’t much room to create in, much less have a working display board for ideas, treasures and pinups of parts. As soon as Aunty came home, a purging began, sort of Mari Kondo style. The message was to use the things we love the most and clear enough space to work. In the process of purging, the hidden treasures are coming to the surface again, and one of these days, Aunty will begin to create fabric masterpieces with the best of her hoard – though after the purge is done. (This may take awhile.)

A wonderful place to be

Ashland in the fall is a delight. It is a small town with everything you would want. Aunty had the absolute best facial at Waterstone Spa, connected to the Ashland Springs Hotel, a historic classy hotel where classes were held and accommodations for students were arranged. Each day was crisp and sunny with trees everywhere displaying the reds, golds, and greens of fall. Everyday, Aunty ate fresh salads and yummy soups, either at Lark’s in the hotel or walking down to the Ashland Co-op.

Cars stopped for pedestrians at every corner – which made Aunty remember a wannabe crossing pedestrian in Kapahulu who flipped Aunty the bird for not stopping for him as he approached the curb. He must have been from Ashland, lol.

Lithia Park is huge and drop dead gorgeous. Walking through it made me wish Jalna could see it. So many trees, set against even more trees, with bridges over a lively stream. Duck ponds with benches all around made for peaceful resting places.

Home with fresh eyes

It made Aunty sad to return to Honolulu with its high rises getting higher, way too much concrete and not enough trees. Our island paradise is losing its identity and roots to progress that isn’t always welcome. Auwe.

Sorry to be a downer. Hawaii is still beautiful with wonderful warm winters. Aunty will be concentrating on making her home a sanctuary and place to create. We each need to find our own space of contentment. Aunty will try to ignore the dang concrete and glass invasion. Maybe Aunty needs a shot of obliviousness.

The new iPhone 11 first thoughts

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Aunty

Way back when, AT&T used to give the newest Apple iPhone free for each line, every 2 years. Not sure how they did it but it was such a deal and opportunity, and Aunty used to have the newest phone until the free phone offers disappeared. After that, Aunty would make do with older models.

Aunty recently went to the Apple Store and bought herself a brand new wonderful iPhone XS and was happy as a bumblebee (are bumblebees happy?) until Apple revealed the debut of the iPhone 11 with 3 different models. Whaaaaa??? Suddenly, this bumblebee wasn’t happy, but the nice folks at the Apple Store assured Aunty that she could return her iPhone XS for a full refund if done within 14 days. Or, give Aunty a “rebate” of $100 because of the timing of the new product release.

AT&T makes the deal

Meanwhile, while google searching if the iPhone 11 was superior to the iPhone X, Aunty discovered that AT&T (our family plan) was offering a BOGO – Buy a new phone and get one free (up to $700 in value). Whoa Nellie, that sounded awesomesauce!

But it had a catch. The free phone offer was only if a new line was purchased, or a number ported over from a different carrier. NO problem! Brand new son-in-law’s Verizon phone line got ported over to Aunty’s family plan (welcome to the family, Jack!) and Aunty got her beautiful silver iPhone 11 Pro, and son-in-law got his new space grey iPhone 11 Pro that he graciously gave up to his brand new wife.

Big deal

The iPhone 11 Pro is really big compared to Aunty’s old iPhone 6SE. And much heavier. Much. It is also slipperier because of its rounded edges and thinner profile. So slippery, in fact, that it flew out of Aunty’s hands at the AT&T store, crashed on the tile floor to the gasp and intake of breath of everyone there – without a scratch, shatter, or damage! So, it passed the almost indestructible test with flying silver colors.

It does take getting used to swiping instead of pushing. And apps got a bit messed up because of the temporary storage in the iCloud such as Aunty’s Starbucks app which had to be re-enrolled on the new phone which Aunty realized after ordering an iced caramel ribbon crunch frappuccino at the drive through so she could get bonus points. It asked for user name and password and after several wrong guesses, Aunty was defeated and paid as a non member. Ah well. It is all good now once the super important secret notebook at home was consulted and user name and password entered correctly.

The camera to shoot for

This phone looks strange with 3 lenses. Aunty has no clue how to use it – yet. However, the camera is the reason that Aunty decided to go through the hassle of returning her brand new wonderful iPhone XS and going without a phone for a week. That, and the extra long battery life – 5 hours more than the previous model and wireless charging!

A picture taken indoor at night from 10 feet away was quite good. Surprisingly good, actually. The selfie above was taken at night with an auto flash that didn’t really flash. Pretty good and sharp, even with the mirror flip camera option, dontcha think?

Crushing candies

Candy Crush is more fun because the screen is so much bigger. It also seems smoother to play, with the explosions and falling rows of candy moving faster and with less jerk. Aunty is careful to limit her playing time because it really is a waste of time, just as Korean dramas are.

Ah, Korean dramas. Something that Aunty can do on her new phone because of the bigger screen.

Hmmm. Aunty thinks this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Cash or mortgage explained

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Aunty

A friend of our has a small remaining mortgage (~$65,000) at 2.75% interest. Monthly payment is almost $1000/mo for 7 more years.

Aunty thought that paying this off with available funds would be a smart move because then he won’t be paying $1000/month anymore. However, a visit to a trusted financial advisor (Jason Wong of Shiraishi Financial) changed that strategy because Jason said that the interest cost was so low, it would not be a good use of funds to pay it off and would result in lost opportunity to grow money. This sounded a bit confusing and it was bothering Aunty because she didn’t understand what that meant.

Until… a recent email post from Paul Tamashiro. Aunty doesn’t really know who Paul Tamashiro is. She just subscribes to his almost daily email updates because he used to have current mortgage rates at the end of each post. Well, he doesn’t have that anymore, but his articles are pretty good, and this one was excellent. It was titled “The Opportunity Cost of Paying Cash”. Aunty’s comment about this follows the article.

Here it is:

THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF PAYING CASH

When you pay cash for a property, you are missing out on the opportunity to earn a rate of return on that cash. In the illustration below, Option 1 is to pay cash for a $200,000 house. Option 2 is to use $100,000 of cash, and a $100,000 mortgage. If you go with Option 1, you’d be losing money by giving up the ability to earn a rate of return in an outside investment (such as stocks, bonds or another real estate property). If you go with Option 2, you’d be losing money by paying interest. You’d lose money either way.

These are the two questions you could ask yourself in order to find out which option would cause you to lose the least amount of money:

Question #1: What would be my after-tax interest rate if I used a mortgage? Mortgage interest may be tax deductible. For example, a 4.5% tax-deductible mortgage for someone in a 24% income tax bracket may only cost 3.42% after-tax (4.5% minus 24% tax benefit = 3.42% after-tax cost). For more details, please see my article called, When is Mortgage Interest Tax Deductible?
Question #2: What would be my after-tax rate of return if I keep my cash invested? Please see a financial advisor for more details on this.

If your rate of return on investments is greater than the after-tax cost of a mortgage, it may make more sense for you to use a mortgage and keep your funds invested.

Please contact me for more details, or if you’d like for me to run a cash vs. mortgage analysis for your situation.

Source: CMPS Institute

Funeral pictures and the new iPhone X

Posted on September 12, 2019 by Aunty

from “Miss Granny”

Miss Granny is still Aunty’s favorite Korean drama movie. A grouchy old lady who sacrificed her youth and life to raise a son who loves her – but still, she is a grouchy old lady that not too many people liked. One day she decides to get her funeral picture done because Korean funerals all have a nice 8×10 photo of the deceased looking their best surrounded with rows of flowers. She walks into a very good photo studio with amazing results.

Over a year ago, Aunty and a few friends hired Jalna to take our individual funeral pictures – several shots in various poses, and all in clear perfect flattering focus. These would come in handy for “that” day when a funeral picture is needed so our families don’t have to go scrambling around to find a smiling picture to put in the frame. Most local funerals that Aunty have gone to show a nice color photo of the deceased that has been cropped from a group photo, and not in the best of focus or setting because most local people don’t go to photo studios for individual head shots.

Then came the iPhoneX with portrait mode

And now, everyone can have a funeral picture of themselves, their family members, their friends, their dogs, etc. that is of Korean drama funeral worthiness.

Awesomesauce, really awesomesauce. Aunty is still learning how but all kinds of filters are available at the touch of a finger, sliding this way, that way, making backgrounds diffuse, disappear, get brighter, cartooney, etc.! There is more to find out – and one of the best bonuses of having an iPhone is the support at the Apple Stores and the nice folks there.

If you are ever at Kahala Mall and stop in the Apple Store there and say hello to Kale. Cracked Aunty up when he spelled his name K-A-L-E after pronouncing it Ka-lay. Super nice young man who would even make Miss Granny feel special.

An OOOPS update!!!

A few days AFTER Aunty got her new iPhoneX, guess what happened. Apple released its news of the newer iPhone 11! Aaargh!

However, because of poor timing, Apple will offer a credit of $100 to offset the pain. Or, better yet, if Aunty returns her “old” iPhoneX within 14 days, the entire charge will be reversed and Aunty can start over again and purchase the newest Apple phone beginning on Sept 20 either online or at the store. Aunty will do that but will be without a phone for a week. That is rather scary but then we didn’t have portable phones back in the day and meanwhile all the files will be stored in that mysterious iCloud until the new phone arrives.

Will it be worth the wait and inconvenience? Maybe so. The new iPhone has 3 (THREE) crazy looking lenses under super tough glass and longer battery life. Potentially Aunty can do awesome videos to post here. Potentially, possibly, perhaps. Another “we’ll see” in another chapter of Miss Aunty’s life.

by Aunty

a lot of stuff about almost everything

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