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When is forever not forever?

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For Aunty, it was yesterday.  I had mailed some masks and pattern last week to pal Kay of Musings.

I wanted to use up my “ugly” forever stamps and knew the postage for a fat envelope was $3.80 if it weighed under 4 ounces, so I put on 7 of those stamps and popped it in the drive through mail bin.  7 stamps x 55¢ would be $3.85.

Yesterday, after opening my PO Box I was surprised to see the envelope addressed to Kay with a note about additional postage needed.  I presented the clerk with the envelope and asked her about the note, and she was very nice at first and said that I owed more.  When I asked why, she pulled out a book that showed the ugly forever stamp with a value of 41¢.

I was flabbergasted and I must have expressed it because I said it was a forever stamp that is supposed to be forever.  She pointed out the fine print on the stamp that says “first-class forever” and not just “forever”.  She then told me that I didn’t have to be so dramatic.

Pause.

I must admit, I really did have to pause.  I was still in semi-shock about different levels of forever and her smack down was unprofessional.   I had seen it before from her and another of her co-workers when dealing with customers they were irritated with.  It made me realize that they were very unhappy working a job that they had to keep.

So what did I do? 

I asked how much more I owed, paid, and apologized for not understanding,   Yup, I wimped out.

And the first thing that popped into my mind was that I had a great new post that would be titled “When is forever not forever?”

Lesson learned – get rid of those old ugly forever stamps and avoid those two clerks.

Update:  These “first-class forever” stamps will still work on letters and large envelopes.  However, if the envelope is over 1/4″ thick, it becomes a parcel – and then those type of forever stamps are only worth 41¢.  

A new life for old kim chee

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Aunty likes the Korean kim chee from Costco – it used to be Choonga and now it is called Joonga.  The big squarish bottle with the green plastic cover.  SO ono but TOO much.   I eat it with rice or saimin, or sometimes I would make it with spam – Ann Corum’s recipe.  But I can’t finish most of the bottle so it starts to get old and more potent and sits in the refrigerator until I guiltily throw it away after a few weeks.  So wasteful.

Jalna did a post about putting it in hamburger.  It looked really good and I still have to try it.

Recently I was watching a new Korean drama on Netflix called Mystic Pop Up Bar.  It is a cute show about a punished shaman’s daughter who has to save 100,000 people because of what she did 300 years ago.  Anywho, one of the characters shared a recipe with her using old kim chee.  It goes like this:

Rinse ripened kim chee.  (I also squeezed it out so it was like a big golf ball).  Chop it up finely and add shoyu and sesame oil.  Plop it on noodles and pour anchovy sauce over the bowl.

Sounds good and easy, doesn’t it?  So I made it tonight, but I didn’t have anchovy sauce.  (What is that anyway?)

It was karai, sour, and sweetish.  Strange but very delicious!  Perfect for a hot bowl of noodles.  And good for my digestion because kim chee is full of probiotics.  So glad to find another good kim chee recipe, especially for old kim chee.  No more waste, woo hoo!

 

MW’s Shoyu Chicken that is more like Nishime – winnah!

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Aunty doesn’t cook BUT Hawaiian Airlines has some neat local articles and one of them was chef Wade Ueoka sharing a recipe.  I used to get take out orders from him at the Farmer’s Market way before he and his wife opened the popular MW Restaurant.  That restaurant has unreal fancy food and desserts to die for.  However, truth to tell, I liked the homestyle cooking from his humble tent better because I like simple and cheap.

The Hawaiian Airline’s site has other local recipes and even videos.  I liked this recipe because the ingredients are what I have in the refrigerator.  Chicken, carrots, daikon, onions, ginger.  But it is not what I expected when the title said “shoyu chicken”.  I figured shoyu chicken is easy – chicken, ginger, shoyu and sugar – so I checked it out, watched the video, thought to myself, that looks like easy Nishime, and tried it tonight.

And you know what?  It was good – tasted healthy, light – and was easy!  I like how he cut the carrots.  I like how he shows us how he puts the chicken in and the other stuff and then takes the chicken out to chop.  I added shiitake mushrooms because I like shiitake mushrooms.  I also added tsukoshi (little bit) hondashi.

A really good cooking lesson.  I know he doesn’t know me, but I want to shout out, “Tanks, eh!” to chef Wade and Hawaiian Airlines.  He made a cook out of me!

Korean Movies for free – limited time

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Now that we don’t have DramaFever.com to binge watch Korean dramas anymore, I watch them on Netflix and Viki.com.  Prime Amazon has a few good ones too (Escape Landing on You and Prison Playbook being my latest favorites).  However, the pickings have been getting fewer and some of the dramas are more irritating than entertaining.  I tend to like movies because they are over in one swoop and I waste just 2 hours rather than several hours watching a drama series.

This weekend, during a family Zoom meeting, our nephew’s girlfriend who is Korean mentioned OnDemandKorea.com but not all showings have subtitles.

And then, another option came up:  KoreanCulture.org.  For a limited time, from now until June 30, 10 movies are available to view, for free!  Some of them are about the cruel occupation of the Japanese in Korea, some seem okay, so we shall see.  I am currently watching one about “A Violent Prosecutor” that hasn’t gripped me yet, but I like the actors.

I am also watching series 3 of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon Prime.  I really liked the 1st and 2nd series and love the way the producers captured New York, Paris, and Vegas in the late 50’s.  The characters are a blast and super fast talking.

What are you watching, and if not watching anything, what are you doing?

Aunty is chomping at the bit to go out like before and can’t wait for when Ross opens up so I can shop on senior discount Tuesdays again.

Do you have a mortgage?

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Many people of Aunty’s age have paid off their home mortgage.  Those are the smart and sensible ones.  I, on the other hand, have kept on refinancing and will be 90 years old by the time my mortgages are paid off.

Aunty’s real estate investment in the Ala Moana Hotel isn’t doing so hot because tourism has dried up to a trickle and may drop to even less than that if our State’s newest thinking of putting ankle bracelets on all incoming visitors to monitor their movements comes to pass.  Meanwhile, tenants can’t pay their rents if their livelihood is based on tourism.

Dismal 

Ahhhhh.  For sure.

Financial gurus are screaming about safe havens and putting your money in gold IF you were smart enough to pull your money out of the stock market in time.  Aunty almost always makes the wrong decisions in the stock market and is a forever optimist who gets smashed.

However, because of the current virus pandemic and disruption to all things financial, unprecedented opportunities are being offered to offset the worse case scenario of defaults, bankruptcies, and homelessness.  Small business can apply for loans that may be forgiven if funds are used to pay payroll, rent, etc.  The government is sending out free money to individuals and married couples.  Unemployment benefits will get a boost of $600 per week – which means you might even get more being unemployed rather than while you were employed.

Silver lining for Aunty

My mortgage lender is Provident Funding.  It is a a no-frills lender with easy log in.  I can view my loans all in one place and get as much info on them that I need.  Recently, they added COVID-19 financial assistance relief applications to their website.  I read their FAQs, and then clicked on the application link.  It was a super simple form asking if I wanted temporary (6 months) or permanent relief, and the reason for any hardship.  Click and submit.  That was last night, and this morning, I got a notice to check the status online.

I got a “Forebearance Plan Offer – Suspended payment for 6 months” for my loans!  This can be rescinded at anytime by me.  The only negatives are that it will hit my credit score and that I will be 90 and a half years old when it is all paid off.  A small price to pay for a current 6 months of freedom from the biggest bill each month.

Everyone is helping

I have 2 friends who are totally in the stay-at-home mode.  I call them the Rapunzels.  They have adjusted to this well because their sons do all their grocery shopping and errands for them and maintain the 6 feet rule and stay out of their house.

There seems to be more kindness going around nowadays.  At first, young people seemed angry and big trucks would swoosh by Aunty’s car as if they were pissed at me, a little old lady who caused their lives to change.

Recently though, people are more patient and considerate, and I think they are smiling but hard to say because we all have masks on.

It is such a strange and defining moment in our lives the way 9-11 was.  Maybe we will all be better for it after it is over and learn to value the simpler and slower way of living.  I needed this in my previously hectic helter skelter life of incomplete projects and too many things to do.  I wake up without looking at a clock and read the newspaper from cover to cover daily.  When the all clear is given I hope to continue this peaceful stressless lifestyle.

And, for 6 months, I can pretend that I was wise enough to pay off my mortgage already.

Masks Tasks

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Quite a tongue twister, but that is what Aunty has been up to.  Our Hawaii Stitchery and Fibre Arts Guild President – Aileen Kaneshiro – has been busy keeping us up to date with members tips and updates.  Some of the masks that I tried out were from her, some from blogging pal Kay of Musings.

The first masks I made (top row) were from a modified pattern of the Olson mask.  It is rather labor intensive with a lot of cutting, interfacing fusing, topstitching and turning.  It was a bit too small on my son-in-law and a bit too wide on my daughter, but it fit me fine.  Elastic tie fitting was the most difficult part of the process and I tried ponytail rings as well as tied elastic straps and cords.

I kept searching and saw a Vietnamese mask that looked easy and reminded me of origami.  Thoan makes it look easy but she also has a power sewing machine that can barrel over thick spots.  I tried it but my Janome machine couldn’t handle the second to the last step making the casing for the elastic to go through so I busted out my old Bernina for the job.

Now it is like a production line of speed cutting the rectangle pattern, marking sewing lines, sewing straight, turning, ironing, and defining the shapes with simple folds – just like origami.  The problem again becomes elastic ties and fit.

“Best Fit Face Mask Tutorial” by Brittany Bailey was full of great tips to solve many of my elastic problems.  Her pattern is more structural and must have a wire for the nose bridge.  I haven’t tried to make this one because I am currently enamored with the simpler origami mask pattern.  However, Brittany’s suggestions for using coffee bag ties or making your own with electrical wire and tape for the nose clip is ingenious.  Her alternate suggestion for elastic ties include 1″ wide strips of tshirt or legging material on the horizontal or using paracord or shoestrings with a craft bead is super useful.  The craft bead acts as a sizing agent to make the elastic loop smaller or bigger, depending on the wearer’s preference.  Brilliant!

Getting elastic has been a problem.  Orders on Amazon are delayed for weeks because of an overload of requests.  Aunty has found that ebay.com has faster shipping times, though the prices are quite high and many sellers are selling in 10 yard lengths.

It is now back to the sewing room for me.  This corona virus quarantine and mask imperative has actually been good for Aunty.  It made me clear out a sewing space in my messy messy craft room and help me to use up fabric and feel useful.  Days blend together without any commitments or schedules other than rubbish days.

I hope you all are doing well.  This is a most unusual and momentous time in everyone’s life.  It is both good and bad, a blessing or a curse.  It is also temporary – and the world will have more masks than it knows what to do with when it is all over.

Masks to help us all

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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

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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.