Done!

Finished doing a little bit of gasketing underneath the main pedal
chest and finished an hour ago. Well, around 3. Now I have the rest
of the day and most of tomorrow free. What to do? Will look into
hiking... I almost didn't make it out of the organ in time for the
next wedding though. I was almost done with what I was working on at
2:45, thought I could get it all finished before 3. Well, I finished
about 5 minutes later, heard some Japanese over the church's PA
system, looked out, and saw the bride at the back of the church ready
to enter! I rushed to get out, knocking into stuff and making too
much noise, but by the time I had everything together she was starting
to come up the aisle and it was too late to leave. At first I wasn't
sure what was going on, sometimes the weddings are a little late, but
never early. Then I thought it might be a rehearsal, but they were
going through everything, even the kissing of the bride. I decided
that the way they were going there'd also be a recession. There was,
and while everyone's focus was at the back of the church I crept down
the ladder and hopped out the back window.

What to do now? I'm hoping to get a good hike in tomorrow, if I can
get Vlady to take me. Go for a jog and hit the beach this evening.
I'd like to see the north shore, just get out and see the island
tomorrow. Saw a little last weekend when we went out to Hanauma Bay,
but would like to be out more. Yeah, last couple weekends we've gone
snorkeling on the reefs at Hanauma Bay. There are so many cool fish
under there, not too afraid of you, let you just hang out and watch
them. I wich I could have taken pictures, there are so many different
colors. Especially remember a big purple spotted goatfish, littler
fish with turquoise and magenta heads, very small white speckled
puffer fish, a white, black-flecked sea squid or something worming
underneath rocks, and one of those fish with all the angular colors.
Definitely recommended. Although drifting around, up and down with
the waves gets a little disorienting and nerve wracking. There's also
the possibility of running into a moray eel (very rare, I think they
usually hide) or spiking yourself on a sea urchin (difficult, as
they're mostly found inside holes in the reef. Oh, I also saw two sea
turtles! That was very cool, the first was just suddenly in front of
me, sort of startled me, then swam away. The second was down on the
bottom, shook of some sand as I came by. You're not allowed to hunt,
touch, or pursue sea turtles, but the currents kept us near each other
for a little while, and I was able to see that it's been tagged.

Anyway, I've been on-line long enough today. Time to go out and do
something. Relax and rest before I get to Scotland. Spend my plane
time sleeping.

Need a question

So I know I'm thinking about stuff and obviously I'm doing stuff, but
then I sit down to write and go blank. What should I write about? We
know where I am, what I'm doing in the general sense, but I can't
think of anything in particular to discuss. So if you could send in a
question, about anything really, but I suppose especially about places
I've been that I didn't write about earlier, that would be helpful.
And please, don't ask really general questions, but give them some
specificity, some focus. Thanks, and more soon.

Happy Fourth!

Well, now here in mostly sunny Hawai'i, getting ready to see the
fireworks tonight. Things are going well here as I work helping
releather and restore a pipe organ here. Most of what I'm doing is
actually replacing the gasketing on the wind chests and associated
entities in the swell division. It's okay, although there's not a lot
of space under there. I'll get some pictures. It's maybe 3 feet to
the underside of the chests, and most of that space is taken up by
reservoirs. The organ's about 40 years old if I'm not mistaken, so
most of the leather has worn out. One of the biggest things the
church does is put on weddings, mostly for Japanese couples.
Apparently with the gift-giving to the guests and everything, it
somehow ends up being cheaper to have your wedding in Hawai'i than in
Japan. That and Honolulu has a higher percentage of residents (and
guests) of east Asian heritage than any other non-Asian city I've been
in. That and it also sort of feels like a nicer, more laid-back,
touristier, greener, much smaller cross between LA and SF. Or one of
the nice smaller cities in between those two. Well, I guess not
really, but there's something... Surfing? Also, like those cities
there's a weird feeling that you've seen the place before, only to
realize that it was on TV or in a movie.

Anyway, this church does about 1200 weddings a year. None today,
which was a relief, except we only worked about half a day. All the
weddings are a problem, because of course we can't work up there
during them. Add to that hearing "Here comes the bride", the
Hawai'ian wedding song, Schubert's "Ave Maria", and Mendelsohn's
recessional march 3 times a day gets a bit grating. The other day
there were 5, all in the sanctuary (even more happen in a little
chapel next door). At least they're only about half an hour, 45
minutes tops, and usually start on time. Usually we manage to
schedule projects to do downstairs or lunch during them, but sometimes
they just suck up time. Okay, well, need to go, more sooner.