Mr. Microscope Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Great video. Sorry to hear about all the difficulties you're going though, but at the same time that place is amazing! Best of luck with finishing it up. I hope your job situation improves. Take care tiki! 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 It's looking really great! The kitchen in the main house has a nice flow to it. Do you have any plans for landscaping once the house is complete? It looks like you're on the desert side of the island with some native trees and plants similar to what is here in Phoenix AZ. I was on Kauai in December and was amazed to see mesquite trees and cacti on the south side as well. We're planning to do mostly xeriscaping with cacti and drought tolerant plants since we're on private water which is many times more expensive than the municipal water in areas like Kona. We will have a vegetable garden since fresh produce can be hard to find here and expensive. I'm also going to try my hand at hydroponics which use far less water than traditional gardening. We're also looking into using grey water to do some of the irrigation. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 I saw my first scorpion the other day. Sadly, it was dead. An unfortunate side effect of having the perimeter of the houses sprayed for cockroaches, centipedes (we have really nasty stinging ones here) and other creepy crawlies. Despite the scorpion's devilish reputation, the species we have here has a sting no worse than your average bee. It is the lesser brown scorpion, or Isometrus maculatus if you want to get technical. I have yet to find my UV flashlight to go searching for these little critters at night as they fluoresce under UV light and should be pretty easy to find. The expired one I found was pretty small, maybe two inches from tip to tail stretched out. 1 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Ehhhhhh... a scorpion is still a scorpion to me... Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Cool. Sounds like a fun night. I'll bet you'll find more stuff glowing under UV than just scorpions. 1 Quote Link to comment
KyleRay31 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Was just out on Oahu a couple weeks ago. Seeing this thread makes me miss snorkeling with the fishes and next to honu at hanauma bay, then kicking back some kona longboards. 1 Quote Link to comment
SquishyFishy Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 John, I am blown away....did you do all that work by yourselves? It is absolutely sanfrantastic!~ You could sell that and make a fortune what with the Buying Hawaii episodes I've seen! Can't wait to get there and meet you guys! Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 John, I am blown away....did you do all that work by yourselves? It is absolutely sanfrantastic!~ You could sell that and make a fortune what with the Buying Hawaii episodes I've seen! Can't wait to get there and meet you guys! Oh gosh, no. We're not doing all of it. We have a contractor doing the brunt of the work. Seriously, this is like three years of work for one or two people. I'm estimating that we'll be able to move into the main buildings in the next three or four weeks. We've finally 100% given up on sorting out any resolution with our cabinet/countertop supplier and that will inevitably be going to court to sort out the details of what we owe him vs. what he actually deserves to be paid for since there seems to be no other option now. He may be the world's biggest buffoon. We're not particulary concerned about that issue now beyond figuring out how to make him not part of our life any more. We've ordered replacement granite countertops from a very reputable supplier, and they should be installed next week, so this saga will be over, and the replacement granite, despite being very different, is more awesome than the quarts countertops. We have yet another set of family members coming to visit tonight for three weeks. Fortunately they are staying at a local resort as I don't think the garage will be too comfortable for more than two of us. Before they leave, the fourth set of family members will be visiting! Wow! I really look forward to people coming to visit us AFTER this renovation is over. Pamela found us a dog. I don't think I mentioned it, but our 12 year old male standard poodle was diagnosed with malignant melanoma just a month before we moved to Hawaii. It was an extremely invasive form of cancer and we ultimately had to make the decisision to have him put to sleep days before we moved to Hawaii. This new dog is also a black male standard poodle, only three years old, and a real gem of a dog. He's being cared for by a local rescue group right now, but they let us host him last night at our place to make sure he was a good fit for us and our African Grey parrots. Everything went super well, so now we're getting a fence installed, and will he will be joining our family in the next couple of weeks. This are slowly proceeding forward with the business that I'm looking at purchasing. Keep your fingers crossed. I was really hugely bummed to see that the back corner of my 25 gallon acrylic tank stand was broken in the move from the rental house to here, but I discovered it too late and it wouldn't have even met the deductable, so at least it's the back corner and I don't think it will cause any structural issues. I may attempt to repair it. Aside from that, one of my boxes with one of my two Fluval Spec tanks was half-crushed, but I haven't been game to open it and see if it's totaled or okay. I'm not quite ready for the disappointment if it's smashed. They sell Fluval Specs at the Petco, and Amazon might even ship one here, so it is replacable. I'm kinda kicking myself for not bringing a Nuvo Fusion tank with us in the container. There's probably no way of getting one here for any sort of reasonable cost. My next tank will probably be a 40b since that's what's available, but no $1/gallon sales here. We watched lots of whales the other day, which is nice. 3 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 With the exception of that hang-up I'm glad it's working out. Ha! I bet you are going to have relatives, and often! Not to mention future nano-reefers here n' there. Hope all your plans go as desired with your business as well. 1 Quote Link to comment
SquishyFishy Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Well don't worry about us, I'd love for you to show it off to us, but we understand all about that having built our own house 4 yrs ago. We'll be happy to sit and chat and hoist a few in town somewhere in Hilo. But we'd love to meet you. Will call you when we get in on May 20th. You may even be moved in by then. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 This morning's project: Completely reinstall the glass shower door that was installed backwards by the workers. Also, one out three parts that go to the frame asssembly were backwards, upside down or installed wrong. In all fairness, you would be hard pressed to get the installation correct from just the instructions. The manufacturer's YouTube video was necessary to get it right. I even got one of the side rails wrong initially. I'll post lots more pictures later this week after the granite counter tops are installed in the kitchen and bathrooms. We're getting closer to move-in time every week even though the garage is kinda growing on us at this point. This week has been one minor disaster after the next when it comes to the renovation. We're getting down to details and things like light switches that are in weird places or don't do what you would expect. Kitchen cabinets getting large scratches in them and workers leaving stuff out in the rain that shouldn't get wet (IE: bags of concrete). Lost keys for new door locks that are pretty hard to re-key if you don't have the original key. Paint over-spray on expensive lighting fixtures. Important parts to expensive things getting thrown out. That kind of stuff. Ah well, this is the way renovations often go. We're getting close though. 3 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 We're still enjoying hearing about your home improvements! Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Shower looks nice! Sorry to hear about all the mishaps. I hope your new poodle continues to bring warmth to your family. Any news on the new business? 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Shower looks nice! Sorry to hear about all the mishaps. I hope your new poodle continues to bring warmth to your family. Any news on the new business? The whole house is really going to be awesome when we're done. There are lots of little details at this point. I'm excited to see the kitchen start to go together over the next couple of days. We're working on getting a fence installed for the dog so he can have outside access when we're not at home. Fences are expensive. As far as the business goes, we're having some issues getting the necessary financial information since the business owner's accountant has cancer and is currently on chemotherapy. We also need to find out what the rent is on the building since the current owner has a reduced rent because he also had cancer a couple years back. I'm assuming I wouldn't get the reduced rent, but we need to find that out first. If the rent on the space is what it used to be prior to it being reduced ($4300/month) then the whole deal wouldn't look so great, but we don't know at this point, and this is Hawaii, so nobody returns your calls and things take forever, and everything is always a little flakey. Other than that, here's tonight's sunset... 6 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Oh... Google Earth. This is us: 5 Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Cool! Is it just the three in the middle, or is that the garage on the right that you're living in at the moment? Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Cool! Is it just the three in the middle, or is that the garage on the right that you're living in at the moment? Yep, that big building at the upper right is our temporary garage-home. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 So, the other day I discovered a fairly extensive group of tide pools about three minutes from work and have been visiting them on my lunch hour. Lots of great stuff in them. Wild zoas! This area is in a protected marine area, so I can't collect them here, but there are places that it's okay to collect your own... if you can find them. These are the first zoas I've seen in tide pools. There were literally thousands of urchins in these tide pools, but not very many red ones. And... my favorite macro algae. Scroll algae! Sit tight, YouTube is processing the video I took as I type this. Thee words: Giant Spaghetti Worm! 4 Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Neat! True palythoa! Looking forward to the worm. Sounds like something out of a nightmare! Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Neat! True palythoa! Looking forward to the worm. Sounds like something out of a nightmare! Do you think those are zoas or palys? They weren't very open, so it's hard to judge how big they'd be when fully extended. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Remember what I said before: Giant Spaghetti Worm! P.S. Anybody know how to get the preview graphic for the youtube video? It used to work through the normal link button. Now it just posts a link. 2 Quote Link to comment
SquishyFishy Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Awesome! I spy..,.so you live over by Waikoloa Village? That looks closer to Kona than Hilo. Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Do you think those are zoas or palys? They weren't very open, so it's hard to judge how big they'd be when fully extended. Yeah, I think those are the true form of palythoa (like how people call big zoas palys but they're actually zoas, and no actual palys are in the trade). Remember what I said before: Giant Spaghetti Worm! https://www.youtube.com/embed/cg7mmEEAP2c P.S. Anybody know how to get the preview graphic for the youtube video? It used to work through the normal link button. Now it just posts a link. Fun video! Thank you for sharing! Yeah, I've noticed that too. I was posting some vids in my microscopy thread yesterday and they just appear with the link. Hmm...I'll ask an admin. Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 So, do you think because you've had your own reef tanks that this gave you even more appreciation for these wild pools?? I bet you say to yourself....I can't believe I'm looking at these wonderful FREE things!! Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 So, do you think because you've had your own reef tanks that this gave you even more appreciation for these wild pools?? I bet you say to yourself....I can't believe I'm looking at these wonderful FREE things!! I certainly do have more appreciation for the tide pools after having had multiple reef tanks. I really get excited about identifying everything I see. I have no idea why knowing the common name or species of a particular creature is so important to me, but it is. Collecting things from the ocean is a sticky topic here. I certainly feel a need to be careful in what I collect and I really want to collect things that are in serious abundance that aren't normally collected. IE: I don't want any yellow tangs. Ok, so the granite went in today! Do you want to see some pictures? Of course you do! Not too shabby if I do say so myself. 8 Quote Link to comment
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