Saturnalia 2023

Io Saturnalia!

Yesterday was fairly uneventful. The weather was quite nice. The gym closed at 2pm, so an extremely early dinner was procured at Panda Express® on King Street. Thank Molech, the business hours were not shortened.

Upon return to the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki, the thought of vegetating there for the rest of the day and evening was unappealing. So, an afternoon outing to Ala Moana Center ensued, specifically to shop at Target. A new Braun® 310s electric foil shaver (made in China) was procured for the regular price ($41). It is the cheapest model in the line. A four-pack of generic blueberry muffins, a pint of generic coffee ice cream, and a banana were also purchased (with the last two items being the afternoon dessert).

Braun 310s

Incidentally, the new Braun® shaver will not be replacing the Norelco® 7100 (made in Netherlands) anytime soon. The latter is obviously a much higher quality gadget. The former was simply purchased out of curiosity. If it shaves better, then a conversion to foil electric shavers may occur. Who knows?

Target® was packed with last minute Saturnalia shoppers, which made for a very unpleasant experience. The fools were running amuck and grabbing everything in sight. This is the kind of madness that really cheapens Saturnalia, just lots of fools buying lots of junk.

Later, a stopover was made at the International Marketplace to exploit the great free wireless network. Then, back to the dreadful mausoleum. Well, not so fast. Another brief outing was made to procure an overpriced can of Guinness® Stout for no specific purpose. So much for the Eve of Saturnalia, eh?

Io Saturnalia! Praise Molech! The annual Saturnalia trek to Kahala Mall commenced at 8am. One of the neighbors in the “old folks home” was at the bus stop. He mentioned that his wife passed on about a week or so ago. Incidentally, that’s who I witnessed being carried off in a gurney by paramedics a few weeks ago. The official cause of death was terminal lung cancer. Another mRNA bioweapon casualty, you think?

Upon arrival at Kahala Mall, the usual donation was made at the Goodwill kiosk. Only one pair of shorts was donated, the other “stuff” having been dropped off previously (when the torn calf muscle incident occurred). Breakfast was courtesy the fast food joint adjacent to the mall. By the way, the same breakfast procured in town is a dollar less in Kahala.

Shopping at Longs® followed, with the balance of the Healthy Benefits+® card being used. Arrival back at the mausoleum was 1pm. Cleaning the tomb was on the agenda. The container of wet Swiffer® pads was finally opened after a year. A thorough cleaning of the floor and baseboards ensued. The mirrors were cleaned a few days ago. Then, the only shower of the year in the mausoleum was taken.

Subsequently, an extremely short bus ride at 3:30pm expedited the trip to the fast food joint in Waikiki on Kuhio Avenue. Two Big Mac® sandwiches (using the two-for-one coupon) were procured for dinner. Wheee! Afterward, extended loitering in the International Marketplace was the only viable option. The homeless guy was nowhere to be seen. Yeah, well, another Saturnalia holiday has come and gone. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Miscellany: The ridiculous need to conserve the iPhone 15 Pro battery health and minimize cellular data consumption have been abandoned. The iPhone will be replaced by the new model next October. So, why bother? And, the Visible+ prioritized cellular data is already allotted for the month. There is no carryover to the next month. YOLO!

Addendum: Chase® (credit card provider) has flagged the primary personal e-mail address as appearing on the so-called “Dark Web.” Several on-line scanners were used with only one reporting the issue. No other details were provided, so there’s no telling which accounts are affected. All important accounts have some kind of 2FA enabled.