A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight

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A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight was Originally Posted on October 25, 2014 by

I have a couple of things to pass along.

First the good news.

Yesterday afternoon I got a call that a friend was celebrating a birthday up county and would I like to attend and celebrate my recent birthday too. OF COURSE!

I had a side trip I could do to deliver some coffee supplies to a neighbor farmer and then drove about an hour up to Waikoloa Village. Last time I was up that area was September 16th for the taping of Wheel Of Fortune.

Three of us ended up at a very nice Italian restaurant in the village. I understand the chef came from the 4 Seasons and the food was excellent and desert was on the restaurant.

Afterwards I configured a VOIP adapter for someone who wanted to ship it to his sister in Canada. I added both GoogleVoice and Voip.Ms as carriers. Voip.Ms has Canadian telephone numbers for $1 a month and she will be able to call her brother for free because they are both in the same account.

I also removed a pesky virus from on of the computers.

On the way home I carefully watched the driver ahead of me. I think he/she had been drinking as they crossed the right solid line a few times. It is a reasonably well-traveled road even at night and people are not as careful driving it as they should. I kept track of the mile markers in case I decided that I needed to call police.

When I got home I found I had forgotten to put the baby gate up to keep the dogs in the bedroom. It appears that they did not venture into the house as the trash can was untouched :-)

As for the second event, it is of a more sad nature. The past few months we have been experiencing a lava flow towards one of the towns down south. The lava finally crept over one of the roads about 3am this morning. If you follow me on Facebook you will see posting of the status of the flow. The county has begun making a temporary road and told some residents to begin evacuating. The county also is considering realigning a road to allow people to exit the area via Volcanoes National Park. The road used to go trough the park but was destroyed in a lava flow. That road is featured in photos and postcards where the road abruptly ends at a 2 foot high lava flow. If residents are allowed to use that road, it can add well over an hour or two to their trip. I’m sure they would also be given a special pass because entrance to the park is normally by a fee.

If you have ever been to the park and driven down that long, slow, windy road to the ocean, then you know how those people would get back home. The road would be continued along the ocean (its old path) to the area cut off.

If people own property in the area being effected, they may decide to stay, but may not have fresh water or electricity. If they have a mortgage, whether their property is accessible or not, they still have to pay. That is a drawback to living at the edge of an active volcano.

The lava flow could stop at any time but then again, it could continue. The current lava activity in that area has been pretty consistent sine 1983. here is a review from last year http://tinyurl.com/nxkuo2n

If you want to follow our earthquakes you can go here: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/seismic/volcweb/earthquakes/

Our mountaintop weather here: http://mkwc.ifa.hawaii.edu/current/cams/index.cgi?mode=multi

Our volcano activity with recent and archived photos here: http://tinyurl.com/lmw8uj6

In case you are wondering, this is a BIG island. I am probably 90 driving miles from the actual flow and in no danger. Well, no danger from THAT flow but there have been flows near me in somewhat recent history, but every day without any flow means it is safer and safer. There is a chance of some type of flow where I live, but a very slim chance.