wisdom teeth

One week ago today I got my wisdom teeth removed. Both the dentist and the oral surgeon talked to me about the consequences, the healing times and what to expect. The surgeon was very confidant and was not worried about any of the things that scared me, specifically the promiximity of one of the teeth to mandibular nerve. His confidence made me feel a lot better and I went into the surgery with little fear. Here is what I wrote last week:

The procedure was quick to start, an IV and I was sedated but not quite asleep. Dozing but aware of what they were saying. The overwhelming pain, confusion and fear that came from hearing one of my teeth break during removal.
I heard "he's a bleeder," I heard myself moan in pain and their response "relax, we've given you all the medicine we can"
There were several complications, the sinus was nicked on both sides. and I bled profusely on the right lower side.
i remember the pain spidering across my jaw on the left side when they removed the tooth that was so deep into the jaw that on the x-ray it showed being close enough to hold hands with the mandibular nerve. The dentist had tried to explain the elevated risk of losing complete sensitivy of my lower jaw, a risk that there was no way around, I couldn't not get the surgery, and the longer I waited the harder it would be. It's been about 9 hours since they took my teeth and I still can't feel my chin, but my lower lip is incredibly sensitive and stings whenever anything touches it.

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The sinus was hit, I bled a lot, I never went under, and my lower lip, lower front teeth and part of my chin are still numb.
I am still quite sore in my gums. I can close my mouth but it's still not a resting position.

I'm pretty mobile now, until yesterday I hadn't been beyond the mail box. Last night we saw Angela Davis. I'm doing a shift at work tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Fine day

This morning I woke up and realized how to take long exposure pictures during the day in plenty of light! Boy I was excited. I also figured out how to use the AF-L (Auto Focus Lock) button. What a productive day and I'd only been awake for 20 minutes. Gosh what a beautiful day it is too! Not a cloud in the sky, I can see all the way up to Mauna Kea and if you look closely you can see the observatories where Kevin works.
Today is a special day so we decided to do something special and go somewhere I'd never been before, Akaka Falls. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I'd already seen Akaka Falls and many many other places on the Big Island without actually having been there personally. I see tourist pictures of these places every day. Everyone takes the same pictures of the same places Sometimes they put their boyfriend or wife in them but usually they're content with what's there.
Since I'm not interested in posting the pictures with me or my fiance, you get a generic picture. I did try some of the delayed exposure stuff that I learned, but there was just too much sky and it over exposed very easily. There's a little bit of the milky effect from the fall, but not much.










Here is where I really lucked out with the long exposure. There was just enough tree cover to allow a 1.3" shutter speed. If only the leaves weren't so over exposed but I'm still learning and I'm very pleased.

What are you really trying to say?

Partly working means kind of broken, right?








(can you tell I'm enjoying the "blog this!" button in picasa?)

A respite from the rain

I took this on Monday waiting for my surgeon to open their doors after lunch. some people miss the changing of the seasons. I understand that, but I never get sick of this weather, and the rain provides a balance that's good enough.
There's claim that those that suffer from seasonal affective disorder can reap a great benefit from living in this climate. Sometimes January and February are just rough months.

Mauna Kea Observatory

Gosh it was cold up there. The sunset is more beautiful than this GIF.

Tomorrow I go to research the proper name for the devices that can trigger a picture every x amount of time. Whatever they are called, I'm going to find one so I can sit in the car next time.
After the sun went down I tried to take a couple of delayed exposures because they're my favorite. Unfortunately because of all the snow, the pictures came out brighter than when the sun was up. This is one of the last we grabbed:

How to make a GIF in GIMP the easy way.

1. Open the first frame with GIMP.
2. Select all the sequential frames minus the first frame and drag to the picture from step 1
3. File -> Save -> filename.gif -> Export as animation

gear

I like tools. I like having the stuff to do other stuff with.
In the car I have a flash light and an oversize 1st aid kit.
In my backpack I carry a full size leatherperson Core, lock picks and batteries
On my key chain I carry a leatherperson micra (I feel the same way (Leatherperson warranties are the best, I highly recommend their products)), a 4GB USB drive with tonnes of troubleshooting apps, and a red LED light. For a while I had a tiny little maglite on there as well that I just loved. Unfortunately it wasn't very well designed and fell off while riding to work last week.
What kind of tools do you keep around?

There is nothing false about hope

Last night while checking out Craig's List I came across a job posting on O'ahu that's right up my alley. I sent an inquiry asking about the hours, but it got me briefly excited. While I'm in not position to take a new job right now because of my upcoming nuptials, I still want to play the field a little bit.
I fantasized about a full time job with a livable wage and having a career and no longer just a job. About living in Hawai'i and thriving, not just surviving like I'm doing now. I thought about living in a town where there's more than just a pancake house that's open after 8pm and the majority of the population isn't under 18 or over 35. Where concerts happen, where I can learn to surf.
I got so excited. I'm sure I won't hear form them. I probably wouldn't get the job and I can't afford the move right now. But for a moment I was really happy about the idea.

the only way to fix it is to flush it all away

Flooding is another one of nature's recitals that can be added to the list. Hilo is getting a lot of rain right now. This makes for excellent pictures! It's very difficult to shoot in the rain without getting the equipment wet. I missed an amazing photo opportunity at rainbow falls but I just couldnt' bring myself to expose my camera to that kind of rain.

Today we went out again to try and grab a shot of rainbow falls, and while it's still an awesome shot, the falls aren't nearly as big as they were last night. Here's the shot of the day, a drainage canal with a 10" exposure time:



For context of the amount of rain that's been showing up, Rainbow Falls before and after