For real life reports about the conditions in the Puna area of the Big Island, be sure to check out Damon Tucker’s updates.

Stocking up of staples like non-perishable food and water (and of course, toilet paper) began early in the week, starting on Monday. Stores quickly ran out of bottled water while other items like instant ramen held strong.

Bottled water shortages were so severe, I briefly considered vending machines but realized better and filled up containers with good old Hawaiian naturally filtered water.

As the week went on and Iselle held course for the Big Island, schools and business started shutting down for safety reasons. I left work, telling our mascot Mele about the incoming inclemencies.

Of course with anxiety slowly building, I needed a hit to calm down so I had to stop by Starbucks for a drink and maybe some old school tunes. Instead, I bypassed the tunes and got donuts instead.

On Friday, Iselle’s effects were supposed to hit Oahu. Again, some places encountered extreme weather, but luckily, this was our view for the day. Some showers, a few gusts, and mostly grey clouds.

That night we had a family dinner and watched movies where I learned firsthand of the appalling audio of newer flat panel televisions. With its skinny profile, there’s just no space for speakers, so oftentimes, the speakers are rearward or downward facing. This makes audio very difficult to hear and cranking up the volume to 100 is just a no go. This resulted in a Saturday morning trip to Costco for supplies and a sound bar after a breakfast of a pancake made in a rice cooker.

Luckily, Costco has the well reviewed Vizio S4251W-B4 on special with a discount. Yeah, it’s kinda big and yeah, we really don’t need the rear satellite speakers, but this set is just too well reviewed to get Costco’s other soundbar offerings. Our Costco bill was a little ominous though.

Oh, and who knew Iselle and Julio’s impact would affect the poke supply at Costco?! The rest of Saturday night was spent at another family dinner, more food, hooking up the Vizio soundbar, and taking in David Ige’s win over Neil Abercrombie. As surprising as that was, the real turbulence was the Hanabusa and Schatz race which ended up essentially even with parts of the Big Island needing to cast its vote after Iselle shut down polling places. This political storm still rages on.

With Julio weakening and taking a northern turn, Sunday was back to normal which in this case turned into an out-of-character hike up Diamond Head. The weather and views were Hawaiian perfection.

Then came a few hours at the re-opened Ala Moana Center. Seems like these tanned Hello Kitty dolls at Sanrio are quite popular.

And since when did Starbucks Hawaii locations sell bags?

And to top off the crazy weekend is a supermoon! How was your weekend with Iselle and Julio?