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Kathy Johnson

The Official Home of Katjohn

A collection of images and observations on running, art, technology, family, friends, and a handicapped dog called Riley


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Aloha Kona! It was great running with you!

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I'm proud to say I've kept up my training while here in Hawaii.  I thought I might get seduced by the soft, sandy beach, or the cool and beckoning pool, but I was able to resist for a bit, as I headed out each morning, except for one, to explore the area around the Fairmont Orchid Hotel here in Kona.  After a couple of days, I felt like a regular - seeing some of the people each morning as well, braving the strong morning sun to get in some exercise before it become intolerable.  Most days I ran along the roads here, and one day I even ran along the highway, which wasn't very fun, but I had to get in a lot of miles and didn't feel like doing back-and-forth five times. 

I was baptized in sweat, feeling purified by the cleansing I received from the inside out.  Regrettably, my iPhone 3GS didn't enjoy the drenching, but the good news is that I was able to get a second-hand iPhone 4 at the local Radio Shack, so all went well.

I'm all packed now and ready to head back to the Bay Area.  Back to cooler temps, long sleeved shirts, and maybe even back to wearing my beanie vs. visor.  Counting down the weeks to the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, March 20th.

Iron Chef Michael Symon indulges my one-armed paparazzi shoot

We attended the James Beard Foundation's Celebrity Chef Tour dinner series in Kona, Hawaii featuring Iron Chef Michael Symon and Jonathan Waxman. Michael was great fun - you could hear his distinctive laughter whenever he was in the vicinity! He also indulged me with my one-armed self portrait which amused him... Except that I didn't account for the shadow from the light crossing from my arm back across my face. I had a couple of shots like the one to the left, which we laughed about. I tried putting the flash on, but it didn't work, and luckily, the last shot (below) came out great. You can probably tell from both of our faces we were cracking up by then. Chef can cook up smiles as well as he can incredible food.

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iPhones + Moisture = Disaster

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Well, I found out the hard way that iPhones are extremely sensitive to moisture (e.g. Hawaiian humidity and maybe a little perspiration from my 14 mile run in the sun... ahem). Old phone still trying to dry out in baggie of rice. New phone in a baggie I found to protect it while I take it out on a jog. Aloha!

 

"This accessory is not optimized for this iphone" but it is driving me crazy

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Ack!  This message keeps popping up on my iPhone every few seconds or minutes.  Meanwhile, I can no longer play any audio, as it thinks there is some phantom speaker plugged into it.  While this annoying message keeps popping up, it also drains the battery and I can't even charge it up as the interference seems to also be blocking the charging ability.

After researching the forums, it looks like the culprit may be moist or dirty pins in the connector.  I've tried blow drying it and cleaning it, but still no luck.  Today I'm going to try another suggestion - putting my iPhone in a bag of rice to see if the rice will pull out the moisture.

Well, the good news (I guess) is that this will force me to unplug - no calls, no texts, no checking in - while on holiday (although I really enjoy listening to my podcasts while running... uff, guess I'll just have to listen to my huffing and puffing instead). 

 

Ohio Players at Yoshi's SF


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Sure it's been a few years since the ruled the charts but their talent remains as sharp, fresh and as funky as ever. They opened the night with Skin Tight and proceeded to play several of their hits including the spectacular Love Rollercoaster, which had me dancing and head-bobbing with glee. These guys are da bomb!

The evolution of the Starbucks logo

Hmmm, I'm not sold on the new Starbucks logo. 

I liked the impact of the green and black together, plus I thought it was important to have the name Starbucks in the logo (plus, it's a great name that's fun to say).  I understand their decision to drop the word "coffee", as they do serve more than serve java (and I'm sure they have a lot more product intros planned).  However, I feel like their new logo is better designed for Princess Cruises than a coffee house.  Well, that's just my mocha cappucino grande's worth...

 

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