Bracing Up

Surviving Waikiki

This series is based on real events that transpired in the previous month. It has been inspired by The Martian, a delightful account of  how an astronaut, marooned on Mars, sets out through often ingenious ways to survive while awaiting rescue.

It uses sol, the measure for a Martian day.

Sol 1

For the most part, my life in sunny Waikiki had been on an even keel.

Until that day.

When Hubby left for a trip out of the country, I knew that I was on my own for 221 hours and 51 minutes (using a conversion factor of 1.02749125179 earth day/sol). It was like being stranded on Mars and relying on my wits to pull through. If this had been a mission, I would be in command if I were the only remaining person. What do you know?

I was in command.

For the record, I survived. As I'd spent weeks on many different occasions by myself, I knew what to do.

In fact, I'd documented my days for whatever that effort was worth. I wasn't sure who'd read this. Perhaps someone would, eventually. Maybe a hundred years from now.

Ok, enough moping. Let's see... where do I begin?

First things first: I assessed the food situation.

There were croissants, bread, and waffles plus Gouda cheese, peanut butter, and Nutella. Leftover Thai Lao food, two Taco Bell bean burritos, Safeway chicken wings, and a three-entree Panda Express box were also in the fridge. Salad ingredients: check. Lemon water: check. Snacks: check.

Enough for two people for three days maybe? According to my boring math, I was just one person, so it should last me six days. And that was if I didn't ration. I think I could eat a three-fourths portion per meal and stretch my sustenance that way to a couple more days or so.

If I ran out, I'd starve to death. But I could run to the convenience store nearby or use a McDonald's egg Mcmuffin bogo coupon before the Great Storm arrived. (Aside: Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you that one such storm had been predicted to arrive on the next couple of sols. But one problem at a time.)

Back to the eval. I labeled one of the burritos Last Meal. Maybe that was not such a good name, but I was certain it was my best bet for takeaway nourishment should I float off into space.

So, yeah. Food and water were all taken care of right now.

Feeling pretty okay that afternoon, I crocheted three multi-colored giraffes and a lion while watching The World's Best, a TV reality talent competition and a copycat of America's Got Talent.

Dinner was the unlabeled burrito washed down with soda saved from my McDonald's lunch. (Aside: Jeepers! What was in that soda? Couldn't sleep. Had to TV binge on a Ray Romano stand-up stint, Jackie, and Die Another Day.)

(To  be continued)