I will be going to Georgia to visit my family in February for about two weeks. I had wanted to go to a basketball game in the hopes of seeing the Hawks play the Lakers, Spurs, Warriors, or the Jazz or some other decent team. Brian said that the Hawks rarely play those teams so it would not be likely that I would get to see any of those three. Well, he was right and wrong. Interestingly enough, the Hawks will be playing all four of those teams during my visit. Unfortunately, none of the games during my entire visit are home games. The last home game is the day before I arrive and the next home game is the day after I leave. I am annoyed.
The Superferry was never given a warm welcome on any of the neighbor islands. Many of us that live on neighbor islands would prefer to keep our islands rural, peaceful, less built up and polluted, and with less crime than Oahu. I know most polls show that a strong majority of the people that live on Oahu support the Superferry. I also don’t understand why someone would want to ride six hours (give or take) each way to go to another island just to be able to take their own car. Renting a car is often less than $20 a day so I don’t understand… When/If the Superferry comes to the Big Island I could drive two hours to Kona, board the Superferry paying a fare for myself and my vehicle, ride six hours, kill a bunch of sealife, and then arrive on Oahu. Alternatively, I can pay $39 (or less) to fly to Oahu in 30 minutes and rent a car for less than $30. I fail to see how the Superferry is a better option. The best part is the fact that they don’t seem to have thought about Hawaii’s very rough winter seas. If I board a boat in December (which oddly happens almost every December) I always vomit. Most of the people riding the Superferry lately seem to be vomiting as well because of the rough ride. Now, this taxpayer subsidized, environmental hazard, military transport, crime bringing, sea behemoth has had to cancel voyages because of the rough seas. People are being stranded and many are very angry because of this. Big surprise.
I think things will finally be returning back to normal since the holidays are over. Brian and I went on a vacation to Kauai and had a really nice time. We did some hiking, kayaking, and sailing and had quite a bit of fun. It did rain quite a bit and because of it I was unable to go SCUBA diving but we did get to see a number of whales and dolphins while sailing. We tried to go hiking on the Napali coast but it was raining, windy, cold, and muddy so we were unable to do the swamp and ridge hike. We did, however, get to see the Napali coast from the SCUBA boat and it was stunning. Unfortunately, rough seas and a storm turned us around before we were able to see the whole thing. We have also decided that Kauai should be renamed to the Chicken and Mud Isle instead of the Garden Isle…
The holidays were uneventful for me as I don’t really do anything for them. Brian went to California and will be back in a week. I have been using my spare time lately to do oil pastels and I am having a lot of fun with it. I’ve been doing a lot of sketches and have decided to do a Viking mural of some kind on a large canvas that I bought. It will definitely be a long-term project…
I also finally got around to watching the latest documentary by Michael Moore - Sicko. It was really rather interesting. We have certainly had our share of health care related issues living in Hawaii. Interestingly enough, we have had a good experience with Kaiser Hawaii (although I have heard bad things about Kaiser on the mainland). Anyone else see his film? Any thoughts about universal health care?
Anyone do anything fun or interesting for the holidays? What do you think of the assassination of Bhutto?
I apologize for not posting over the last couple of weeks. I was in Honolulu for a few days visiting with my parents and going to Pearl Harbor. I was able to take a tour of the USS Missouri and that was really very interesting. It is not often that civilians can take a tour of a battleship that was recently decommissioned. I was also able to see a nuclear submarine that was in Pearl Harbor along with an array of other ships. I also spent some time shopping for new clothes in Honolulu - fun, fun. After that excursion, my parents flew back to Hilo with me. It was not a fun visit - we did absolutely nothing. My father literally would not leave our living room because he was watching TV on his laptop the entire time. They complained about it being too hot all the time (it was actually cold) and complained about the people - well everything. My father also cornered Brian and talked to him for about three hours and told him we need to move to Florida because it is so great (so great that my parents moved from there). Brian was in a horrible mood the whole time, my parents spent the entire time planning where to sit on the plane ride back and complaining about how long it takes to get here (yes, it does when you don’t take the direct flight you should have taken and instead get stuck with 6 hour layovers so you can save $5).
After all of that, I had to get ready for a “trunk show” for all of my handbags, Swarovski flip-flops, pareos, and jewelry. I had a terrible first day but the last two days were fabulous. Several people actually had me autograph the items! It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to my next show and I was also invited to take part in a show that is by invitation only - so I am thrilled. My jewelry was also a hit and the cruise ship tourists loved it. A number of people told me I should open my own store on the bayfront and everyone was very complimentary of my products. The hours were extremely long - I arrived at 7 am and left after 8 pm and had to get up early and go to bed late to get things ready. It is a lot harder to work 13 hour days when you have to interact with people constantly compared to working 13 hours at home! I think I caught some kind of virus from the show - probably a result of being around all those people, handling money, being in recycled and air conditioned air, and keeping long hours. I have also been having gall bladder attacks again (I had a severe one in Honolulu) so I am currently taking care of that. Fun.
I am in the process of setting up my kitchen laptop since Brian just got a new laptop and he is having a great time getting it ready to use. I finally decided on some kitchen software - The Living Cookbook - it seems to be the most robust program in its category and it does exactly what I want it to do. I should be able to synch it with my new cell phone when I go get a new one.
Our trip to Kauai is coming up next week after Brian gives his final. Hooray! After that, Brian will be heading to California to visit his family for Xmas.
