Category Archives: commentary

Bye Bye Maui

Posted on by

Every Hawaiian Island has its own flavor. Different paces and feelings.

The Big Island will always hold a special place in my heart. Maybe because it was the first Island we visited?

akaka-falls

But Oahu was special too. It was a much more urban Island. After all, it’s the “Gathering Place.” But Oahu will always be linked to Pearl Harbor for me. Very emotional. Everyone should visit the Arizona Memorial. Watching the History Channel specials about the Pearl Harbor attacks took me right back to the feeling I experienced the day of my visit.

100_0086

Maui falls somewhere in between. It seemed to have more commercial/urban areas but there was a lot of unspoiled area too. Of the 3 islands Maui was the hardest to drive around. The “Road to Hana” was without question the most dangerous and challenging. Its the only island I did not drive around completely myself. We took the tour.

dsc_3798

We didn’t get into the interior too much. That area is the wet section and is probably similar to the Hilo area on the Big Island. The road to the interior was washed out and closed. I hope to explore it more when I go back in February.

dsc_3975-copy

Maui was filled with things to do. We kept busy on the sea , in the air and under sea. We filled our days with sunset dinner cruises and luaus, helicopter rides over  Haleakala and a submarine journey 127 ft under the sea. Great adventures all. And all in a tropical paradise.

dsc_3867a-copy

So which Island do I like the best now? I’m still not sure. I’m beginning to think it depends on what I want out of the trip.

021

Its interesting that Sandy said the one regret she had about this vacation was that we didn’t go on the whale watch. That had been high on our must do list but the whales were just arriving while we were there. We probably would have seen some but the general scuttlebutt when i asked was that it would be a blow or a tail here or there. Not the wild antics Hawaii is known for. That comes later in the season. So we, or maybe it was me, made the decision not to include a whale watch trip this time. Maybe with the wisdom of hindsight, that was a mistake.

cropped-dsc_3206-copy.jpg

We’ll just have to time it better next time we go. And there will be a next time!

aloha

Election 2016

Posted on by

I think we all know there’s a big election coming up. Trump v Hillary; boys locker room v email scandal.; hyper bully V “old Lady” and on and on. This year is really a choice of  who you like the least. The choices are scary no matter what. I may just flip a coin. (sorry strong supporters of either candidate. It’s my blog and its how I feel.)

images

But I didn’t start this post to discuss who I think should win this travesty of an election. (Remember , it’s rigged)  No I just realized that I’ll be away on election day so I have to see if I can either vote early or by absentee ballot.

elephant-vs-donkey-boxing-757198

Have any of you been traveling when an election rolled around? How did you handle it?

I think I’ll start by calling my local registration office at city hall. I’ll let you know how it works out.

So light up that joint ( You can make the hard choice and be really mellow about it)img-2883717-1-marijuana

and

Remember…Vote Early, Vote Often!

voting-booth

Bad Blogger

Posted on by

updateblog_cartoon1

Yep, that’s me. I’m a bad blogger. Is there a bad blogger award? I certainly would have earned it!

badblogger

I should be making the effort and commitment to post regularly. That’s what all the “how to blog” books and posts say and I used to do it too. But then I started working full time. Well I always worked full time. It’s just that some of my work didn’t keep me busy all day. Not true of where I work now.

When I first started this job it was seasonal. I’d work 10-12 hour days for 3-5 months then things would slow down but things are changing in my work day world. The work load is being redistributed so that we’re busy all the time. My work load is a 12 hour day but there is no overtime so it’s crammed into 8 hours.

di9kr7y4t

That means it is non stop go! go! go!  all day. Plus I have to work from the  office so I’ve added a commute to my daily duties. By the time I get home my poor brain is mush and the thought of facing a computer is overwhelming. I become a couch potato. I can’t even stay awake to watch mindless TV!

Well, a vacation is coming and boy do I need it. But that also should give me time to find interesting things to share with you.

fake-hawaii-020a

I feel a stirring of excitement to get back to the printed page, the blank screen and put something there.

Soon, very soon!

Fifteen Years Later

Posted on by

It’s been 15 years since the planes hit the World Trade Center, 15 years since the plane slammed into the Pentagon, 15 years since flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

Are we any safer today that on 9/11? That is a question for another day. Today we remember.

I still remember the images as if I am just seeing them. I remember the feelings. It was surreal. It can’t be happening. This is America, my home. Wars don’t come to our shores and yet there was the black smoke billowing from the tower, there was the plane, seeming to be in slow motion, crashing into the 2nd tower.  For me it is like yesterday. I will never forget.

So it came as another shock to realize that there are children that have no memory of the events that day. Children that were born after that tragic event. Of course when I stop and think about it logically, there will be young people that read about 911 as history like I studied Pearl Harbor.

And as we remember Pearl Harbor we must remember 911. Never Forget!

NEVER FORGET!

screen-shot-2015-09-10-at-7-56-19-pm

And Now You Know the Rest of the Story

Posted on by

I left the dealership feeling pretty good about my purchase. It may not be coming at the time I planned but I was starting to get excited about it.

IMG_20160514_181047

It was time to get my feet back on the ground and address the problem of getting my poor old baby back home.

It sounded worse than ever when I turned the key and it tried to stall anytime I let up on the gas. I managed to make it up the hill out of the dealership and made a right turn. Less than 100 yards later it stopped dead. I got it to turn over one more time and run long enough to get it into an empty parking lot.

Time for AAA. They arrived in about 20 minutes and had me loaded up for the drive home. I’m not going to try to drive it again. 2 tows in one day is enough. It’s done.

RIP little White Saturn. You’ve been a good reliable car for 15 years. I will miss you.

IMG_20160514_123845

As soon as I got inside I logged on and found a charity to donate the car to. I hope to hear from them this week to arrange a pick up.

In the meantime I have to track down the title. I tried to order a duplicate but the bank never released the lien at the registry.   I can see what I’ll have to do tomorrow when the bank opens to get them to release something from 10 years ago. It’s never easy is it!