TODAY HONOLULU...TOMORROW SEATTLE...THEN OFF FOR EUROPE

First, about Super Hurricane Milton. Started the day at 180 MPH, dropped to 145 MPH, then re-strengthened to 155 MPH. The size also grew. The eye was yesterday headed directly for Tampa as a Category 3, but today seemed to move south towards Sarasota. If this path prevails, Tampa might just miss its storm of the century, for it is vulnerable to storm surge. A 2010 evacuation survey found that 2 million of its 3 million population in the Metro area would need to evacuate if a Category 5 hurricane came. 2000 deaths and $250 billion in damages were projected. With the eye veering south, Tampa would further be saved from impact by the forceful northeast quadrant. If there is any further movement to the south, areas including Cape Coral and Naples would then be in especial danger. Milton is now projected to leave Florida Thursday morning, with the eye over Cape Canaveral, as a Category 2 into the Atlantic.

Tomorrow we're off to Seattle, then on Saturday board the Norwegian Encore, via the Panama Canal, to Europe. There was a time when I looked forward to these adventures. Still kind of do, but find that just staying home at 15 Craigside is a lot easier on my body and mind. Yet, any next journey could well be my final one, so off we'll go. Thus, the following lifestyle in photos will be missed, beginning with my aquarium and lanai.

We are served three meals a day, but have specials every so often.

Our Chief Operating Officer Bree.

The meal.

My breakfast is usually fruits, like papaya with yogurt.

We have regular golf tournaments. The latest was at Royal Kunia. A rainbow greeted us, so I thought must be an omen for my first hole-in-one.

When we returned to 15C, they had a Wine Down welcome home for us. Not only did I not get a hole in one, as a random pair of golfers with David (in the photo above, the person looking towards the camera), we came in last, winning 50 cents each. Embarrassing, but better than nothing.

The Chef and Marco.

The coordinators for this tournament were Avin, Viva and Maryann. You see them in commercials for 15 Craigside.

Some of the residents have formed Sounds of Craigside, and this is a typical show, a Hawaiian program.

My neighbor John on his guitar.

We celebrated Octoberfest.

About my new Apple 16 Pro iPhone, went to two photo sessions at the Ala Moana Apple store.

Wide angle to normal to 25x telephoto capability, scenes from my computer seat at 15 Craigside.

And twilight time.

15C blessing for pets.

Brunch at Orchid, Halekulani Hotel with Mayumi and Tadashi Matsunaga, starting with Bloody Mary and champagne.

Note the price of this brunch.

The sumptuous buffet.

Ice cream and piano music.

View of Diamond Head from Orchids.

Tomorrow, off to Seattle.

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These a...

OSAKA EXPO: Day One

Well, the day finally came for us to go to the Osaka Expo. We were told ahead of time that the long walks would be fearful, giant lines will need to be tolerated just to get into the Expo, with those ocean breezes, it would really be cold, and so forth. Maybe it was pure luck, but we avoided all the above warnings We had a grand day, and are looking forward to Sunday, our second day at the Expo. So come along for an enjoyable ride. Our hotel is adjacent to the Tennoji Station, a very large one with several lines. We upgraded our Suica card and caught the Misosuji red line towards Umeda. Transferred to the Chuo green line at the Hommachi Station. This Osaka Metro train took us to the Yumeshima Station at the Expo site. It was a very large mob leaving the train and heading to the entrance. Took only a few minutes to get to the entrance. This mob was multiplied by at least a factor of ten of those already waiting to enter. However...

WHY YOU SHOULD CONVERT TO A JAPANESE HIGH TECH TOILET

Did you know that Oktoberfest in Germany is mostly in September? The very first day of Oktoberfest 2021 was supposed to be today, September 18, extending into October 3. Well, as in 2020, Oktoberfest was cancelled. So why is it called by that month when it is held mostly in September? The first celebration in 1810 was in October. Did you also know that Oktoberfest is held only in Munich? These days seven million drink more than a liter ( about three typical cans ) of beer each, costing around $11. Except for my wife and I when we followed the crowd to board the S-Bahn to the fairgrounds near Old Town. It was drizzling a bit. We bought a large pretzel outside of a typical barn where beer is served. We did not know that you needed to get this inside the hall. So no one came to serve us beer. After a while we decided to have lunch, and the restaurant we settled on only served wine. Thus, we might have been the ...

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