A Volcano Christmas

So Christmas finds me on the Big Island - active volcano country! Sadly, my stay will be ending before the January 2nd official kickoff of Volcano Awareness Month, but I think I can manage a little advance celebration. January 3rd is the 27th anniversary of the ongoing eruption of Kilauea. That's right - this volcano has been erupting continuously for 27 years in a more or less civilized manner that lends itself to being a tourist attraction. Although the former residents of Kalapana might disagree with the civilized part. But it's amazing - almost indescribable - to be able to look into the active vent at night and see the red glow of liquid earth.

Active crater vent under a full moon, May 2008

And you can hike over the older flows and imagine how the liquid lava flowed and poured and dripped as it gradually cooled into fantastic formations.

Pahoehoe lava on Mauna Loa, December 2009

It's a landscape like no other. I guess some people would call it bleak or barren. They might give it a name like "Craters of the Moon." But it's remarkable how quickly plants take root in the cracks and crevices. Although some of the terrain is definitely inhospitable. I remember a friend of mine telling me the reason the jumbled, rocky form of lava was called "a'a" was because that's the sound you made if you had to walk on it. The National Park Service describes it as "jagged and clinkery" and warns that "falling on lava can result in severe wounds."

The difference between the jagged a'a lava and the smooth, ropey pahoehoe lava is pretty distinct and makes for some really interesting hiking.

 

Photos of pahoehoe lava flow over older a'a lava, December 2009

On my May 2008 visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, I stayed at the Volcano House, Hawaii's oldest, continuously operated hotel. Some of the rooms overlook the active crater, and you can see the red glow from the window of the restaurant while you're eating dinner. The Volcano House is a funky old place. It's got a huge fireplace with rocking chairs in front for those chilly, 45-degree Volcano nights. And Uncle George's Lounge where the bartender, Cy, entertained us with photos of the wild pig he had killed on a recent hunting trip somewhere on the island.

So I get to enjoy exploring an active Hawaiian volcano on my Christmas vacation, while people in the Phillipines are evacuating and preparing for a major eruption of the Mayon volcano. I'd say that's a pretty good Christmas present.

Thanksgiving on the Beach

Trying to decide how to celebrate Thanksgiving in a new place is rather odd. Do you go ahead and attempt to prepare a traditional meal in your new (and not very well-equipped) kitchen? Do you break with tradition and just fix a pizza? Or do you accept an invitation from a well-meaning stranger who is kind enough to think that newcomers shouldn't be all alone on this family-focused holiday?

Back in the old days, we dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner. The folks would invite another family over and the kids would go off into another room and watch TV or play Twister or Clue or Life while the parents did whatever parents do when the kids are out of the way for a while.

When all the food was finally ready (which always seemed to take forever), Dad would be called upon to carve the turkey, which he did with much dedication, carefully segregating the different types of meat onto the platter so the diners could easily select their favorite portion: white meat, dark meat, drumsticks, and the cherished tuchas (or tukus, or tuckus, or however you want to spell it)...that is the rear end where the tail feathers used to be. I never personally liked the tuchas - I was a thigh girl.

Dad (carving) and Grandpa Kordner (observing), circa 1965

In recent years, our Thanksgiving family get togethers have been pretty stressful. I've taken to referring to it as "Angst"-giving. Everyone seems to spend more time getting their feelings hurt and being angry than enjoying each other's company. I usually try to lay low until around 5 pm when I can get Dad to whip up a couple of martinis. A few years ago, we thought that maybe it would be less work for Mom (and fewer meltdowns) if we went out for dinner. So we all met in San Francisco for a Chinese dinner on Thanksgiving Day. I won't go into the details, which are better off forgotten, but suffice it to say that this strategy did not work and has never been tried again!

So this year, here I am in Maui, with not enough time or money to enjoy a family Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad. But happily, a coworker of mine at Maui Community College invited me and George to join a Thanksgiving potluck on the beach. We did not know a soul there - even my coworker, Renee, was someone I had only met once and did not even recognize in her hat and sunglasses! Fortunately, she recognized me and introduced us to lots of other really nice people. Although Renee had extended the invitation to the MCC community, everyone there was actually asociated with the Kihei Canoe Club, where Renee is a member.

There was lots of food - all of it delicious! We had our share of traditional Thanksgiving fare: turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie...plus other delicious potluck food like ham, baked beans and cornbread. It was a beautiful day, but incredibly windy and every so often a big gust would blow through and everyone had to chase down a tornado of plates and bags and foil.

 

  

Thanksgiving at Kamaole III Beach Park

So this year, the Thanksgiving story had a happy ending (except for the turkey). And we made sure to carry on the tradition of the Thanksgiving martini, inspired by my friend Robin, a somewhat tall girl...thanks Robin!

And the best part? Three more days off!

 

Turkey on the deck, back in Idaho, says: "Eat more ham!"

Struttin' his Stuff

One of the first things that I discovered I had overlooked when choosing our rental house in Makawao is the noisy neighbor. This is not a human neighbor - not someone you could go have a friendly chat with, and ask nicely...Say!...you wouldn't mind keeping it down a little bit at 3 am, would you?

No this neighbor is a rooster. A colorful, strutting, hen-chasing, night-crowing rooster. I don't have a picture of this actual rooster because I'm afraid if I got close enough to snap a photo I might also snap his scrawny neck. But he looks like this:

So this here rooster (who belongs to our landlord) has the run of the place, which pretty much means the whole two acres around our landlord's house, our house, and the neighbors' house right in front of us. It might seem pastoral, but when this guy winds up at 1 am during a full moon night, and then keeps up a regular rumpus until about 7 am, it can sure mess up a good night's sleep. Most mornings he sleeps in til about 3 or 3:30 am so I found that if I sleep with earplugs and slap a pillow over my head for a couple of hours, I can just about tune him out.

I can only be thankful we only have one of these close by to deal with. Cockfighting is big sport in Hawaii and just a few blocks away, there is a whole rooster planned community that pretty much looks exactly like this:

Now, I can only imagine what" it must be like to live next door to this. But as a popular bumpersticker reads around here: "Chicken fighting is not a crime. Please respect local culture." However, according to the U.S. Humane Society:

Cockfighting is illegal in every state and the District of Columbia, and any animal fighting activity that affects interstate commerce is a felony under the federal Animal Welfare Act. Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have made cockfighting a felony offense. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia prohibit the possession of cocks for fighting. And 41 states and the District of Columbia prohibit being a spectator at cockfights.

So actually, yes, chicken fighting IS a crime. But in Hawaii, it is not a crime to possess a fighting rooster, be a spectator at a rooster fight, or possess rooster fighting "implements." If you are busted for cockfighting in Hawaii, it's a misdemeanor with maximum jail time of one year, and maximum fine of $2,000. Hawaii ranks 47th out of 51 for severity of cockfighting penalties - above Kentucky, Idaho, Mississippi and Alabama (where the maximum fine is $50).

Our landlord's rooster is not a fighter - he's a lover. A loud one.  So I got to thinking - I can't be the only person who is losing sleep because of a rowdy rooster. Hasn't anyone thought about coming up with a genetically-engineered rooster that doesn't crow? I did a little searching, but got distracted by this Foghorn Leghorn cartoon.

Blue Line Project

Today, as part of the activities for the International Day of Climate Action a group of us got together at one of the busy Kahului intersections to draw a blue chalk line on the sidewalk representing areas at risk from flooding if the sea level rises by one meter. Coastal geologist Chip Fletcher, chair of the Geology & Geophysics Department at the University of Hawaii Manoa created maps using Google Earth to show locations that would be impacted by sea level rise.

Alex, Phyllis, Joie

 

Phyllis, Alex, and a blue line friend

The one-meter increase was selected based on predictions of where sea level will be in 100 years if CO2 levels (and global temperatures) continue to rise at their current rate. The International Day of Climate Action was conceived by Bill McKibben's 350.org to raise awareness about climate change and inspire action. The organization's name comes from 350 parts per million, which is considered to be the safe limit for CO2 in the atmosphere (current level is 390 ppm and rising). The Blue Line Project was organized as an activity to specifically highlight impacts to the Hawaiian Islands.

 Sidewalk fish

 

Alex in the flood zone

So we met in the parking lot of the Maui Mall, put on our Project Blue Line t-shirts, grabbed our box of blue chalk and information cards, and came up with some creative ways to draw the blue line on the sidewalk next to the mall. I have to clarify the term 'mall' here...the Maui Mall is a not-too-busy strip mall that houses Long's Drugs, Subway, Wendy's, the currently boarded-up and maybe future home of Whole Foods, and my favorite hangout of late - the Maui Department of Motor Vehicles. So there was not much action going on there at 11 am (except at Wendy's). But across the street was Safeway and Jack-in-the-Box (yes, there ARE a lot of fast food places in Kahului!) so the street had a fair amount of traffic.

Yours truly

We were attracting a modest amount of attention and managing to hand out a few information postcards when we were rudely interrupted by Maui Mall security, a no-nonsense, unsmiling team who surely had seen a lot of hard core crime going down at the mall. Our leader, Alex, explained what we were doing, and that the Maui police had actually been informed ahead of time about our activities, but Starsky and Hutch were having none of that. They looked at our chalk drawings as if they were the most offensive grafitti they had ever seen, and seemed unconvinced that the chalk would actually wash away in the rain. It was at this point that our team decided we had made our point sufficiently and we might as well call it a day. Although we briefly considered going for the publicity shot of being dragged away in handcuffs, we ultimately agreed to leave the scene and live to fight another day. We had our photos anyway and the sun was kind of hot. So now I'm back in the Paia studio, using electricity to run my computer, the refrigerator, and of course the window AC unit, which is really only running to drown out the annoying tinkle of the shave ice truck parked outside.

Top row, l. to r.: MJ, Phyllis, Joie, Alex

Bottom row: me, Satdeva

Relaxing with Dick van Dyke

Often in the evenings after work I find myself too unfocused for reading, and I just want to pick up the remote and passively watch something mindless and entertaining. I don't want to be challenged by anything too PBS-ish or pseudo-educationally Discovery-ish, or offended by toilet humor (those words don't even go together in my world), or yelled at. I rarely find what I'm looking for on cable TV, and after a couple of trips around the channels I typically give up and go online.

But now, thanks to high-speed Internet and my Netflix subscription, I have my perfect prescription for unwinding before bed: the original Dick van Dyke Show. This show is the definition of comfort to me. It was the show I watched when I was home sick from school; the reruns that I could always find in the afternoon between classes in college. I loved everything about it: Rob and Laura's cozy bedroom with the twin beds, knick-knacks and bedside lamp; the nosy but lovable next door neighbors, Millie and Jerry; Rob's office with the TV, dartboard and piano where worked as the head writer for the Alan Brady show; and his coworkers, wise-cracking Buddy and husband-hunting Sally. It was funny without being mean, slapstick without being stupid, clever without being patronizing. Even the theme song has a calming effect on my brain. It's kind of jazzy, but also has funny little cartoon-like riffs so you know it's not taking itself too seriously.

Sometimes people ask you, if you were ever stranded on a desert island, what would you want to have with you? Given that the island has a magic television, I choose unlimited access to every episode of The Dick van Dyke Show.

Inside the labyrinth

Ever since my car arrived at Pier 1 in Kahului, I've been slowly making my way through the labyrinth of registering a car in the County of Maui. When you pick your car up, you're given a temporary registration that's good for 30 days...MAX! And you need every one of those thirty days to accomplish the long list of tasks laid out for you by the Motor Vehicle Registration and Drivers Licensing division of the Maui County Department of Finance.

Direct from their online FAQs is the list of "requirements to switch from out of state license plates to Hawaii license plates and obtain Maui registration:"

• Complete and sign an appropriate application for registration form. If the vehicle is registered in joint ownership, both owners must sign.
• Submit the last issued out of state certificate of registration.
• Submit the last issued out of state certificate of title if you are listed as the lienholder.
• Submit a bill of lading or shipping receipt which shows the date the vehicle arrived in Maui.
• Submit a current Hawaii certificate of safety inspection.
• If vehicle’s year model is 2007, 2008 or 2009, submit a G-27 form with any required attachments. This form may be obtained from the State of Hawaii Department of Taxation or from their web site at www.state.hi.us/tax/alphalist.html#g. Questions regarding the G-27 form should be directed to the Maui District Tax Office at 808-984-8500.
• If we do not have the weight of the vehicle as established by the manufacturer, you may be required to have the vehicle weighed at a state certified scale.
• The required fees will be determined by registration personnel.

What's not on the list? In order to get a current Hawaii certificate of safety inspection, you need documentation that you have Hawaii car insurance.

So far I've accomplished the insurance transfer (and found out that insurance in Hawaii is nearly double the cost in Idaho even with a MUCH higher deductible) and the safety inspection. Next up is the scary-looking form G27 - otherwise known as the Motor Vehicle Use Tax Certification, which I gather is intended to prevent residents of Hawaii from purchasing vehicles in another state and importing them so they can avoid paying tax on their purchase. Now considering the hassle and cost I just experienced shipping my car to Hawaii, I would personally be happy to pay the tax instead, but that's just me.

Since I actually purchased my car for use in Idaho and shipped it to Hawaii as part of my household goods, I am happily exempt from the MVUT - you know the roulette wheel has to land on your number once in a while just to keep you in the game.

So I'm ready to make the trip to the registration office, gripping my application form, registration, title, bill of lading, safety inspection form, G27 form, documentation of gross vehicle weight, and checkbook, and as long as I don't lose anything on the way, I think I'm good to go!

Join the Y, buy a van, rent a house

I got a lot done yesterday, although I hadn't really intended to ahead of time. When I checked my email in the morning, I had a message from George with a link to a used van for sale on Craigslist. George isn't shipping a vehicle over here, planning instead to get a useful old beater to haul all kinds of things around in - dogs, kayaks, coolers, furniture, and all the boxes of stuff he's been mailing over here since I left. So when he sent me the link to the Craigslist ad, I decided to go check it out. It was being offered for sale at a used car dealer in Kahului. I have no interest in or aptitude for car shopping - really a car dealer's dream. So after I drove it around a little and decided it looked and sounded okay, I plunked down the $2,600 and it was a done deal - a 2000 Chevy Astro with 142,000 miles on it.

The dealer was accomodating enough to accompany me to the airport where I returned my rental car, and they'll store the van for a couple of weeks after my own car arrives from the mainland until George gets here at the end of the month.

Although I claim to be the cartoon expert in the family, it was my sister Judy who reminded me that Astro was the name of the dog on the Jetsons. (And we can't forget that Judy was the stylish teenage Jetson sister!)

I drove off the car lot in plenty of time to make my 2:00 pm appointment to put down the deposit on our new home (at least for the next few months). We ended up going with the 2-bedroom place in upcountry Makawao (maka-wow), after the owners came back and decided that they really could wait until November 1st to rent it to us. I handed over the check and left with a welcome gift of two avocados, a graprefruit, two lemons, and eight tangerines from the owners' fruit trees. I think we're going to like this place.

My other accomplishment for the day was to join the Maui YMCA. It's within walking distance of school (a rare and happy feature) so I will be able to get back on a regular exercise schedule again, and get away from my desk for a while every day.

For as small as this island is, I'm amazed how car-dependent you have to be to live here. There's a bus system, but from what I've heard, the stops are infrequent and not conveniently located. There is no place I can walk to from the studio I'm staying in right now in Paia - no markets, restaurants or parks within walking distance. As I've been writing this post over the last hour, the next door neighbors have come and gone three separate times in their car. And the roads are not very bike-friendly. No bike lane or even a narrow shoulder where you could feel safe riding with traffic whizzing by (usually at least 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limits). The other day I was horrified to see a young woman out jogging, talking on her cell phone, with her back to traffic on a narrow winding two-lane road with blind curves and no shoulder. Thus, the necessity of purchasing Astro and maintaining a car-dependent lifestyle. Though with gas prices at a dollar a gallon higher than mainland prices, I think we'll be motivated to limit our driving as much as possible. Judy said that our new van Astro reminded her of a Flintstones car. Now that could be a gas-saving modification - the Jetsons meet the Flintstones?

Waiting for the trade winds to return

It's been extra humid this week since the trade winds disappeared. The trade winds, which blow from the northeast, create the pleasant tropical breezes that Hawaii is famous for. Winds from the southeast are Kona winds, and bring with them the volcanic fog (vog) from the Big Island, along with hazy, muggy conditions. According to the Pacific Disaster Center, "during the summer, trades prevail more than 90% of the time, sometimes persisting throughout an entire month. However, in the winter, January through March, trade winds may occur only 40% to 60% of the time."

Mean monthly frequency of the trade winds over Hawaiian waters/and strong trade wind percentages (Pacific Disaster Center).

Even the locals complain about the humidity and the heat when the trade winds stop blowing. Maui meteorologist Glenn James, who has the most interesting Hawaii weather website I've found so far, says the trade wind breezes should be back for the weekend, but gone again during the week. Hope you're right Glenn! This Paia studio gets pretty stuffy when the breeze stops blowing.

Last night I drove out to both rental properties that I've looked at to see what the neighborhoods are like after the sun goes down. I've learned from my experience in this little studio that neighbors who seems non-existent during the day can come to life in a big way in the evenings.

Also, George wanted to me see if I could hear any coqui frogs (pronounced ko-kee). These little invaders have wreaked havoc on the Big Island and there are populations of them on Maui. Coquis are originally from Puerto Rico and are only the size of a quarter, but when you get groups of them together (some areas have reported up to 10,000 in an acre), their distinctive mating calls have registered as high as 90-100 decibels. Now that could keep you up at night.

But both places seemed peaceful, with no coquis to be heard. Say...I wonder if Hoppity Hooper was a coqui?

Goodnight Aunt Gerrie - I love you.

Tonight I'm thinking about my Aunt Gerrie who passed away today. I wish I had a photo of her that I could post, or even better, that I could translate the images of her from my memory. But lacking that ability, the best I can do is describe one of my favorite photos, which includes my mom, and may or may not also have included her sister, Gerrie. In my mind, it is a photo of the two sisters. One day, when I have a chance to see the photo again, I'll find out if the other woman in the photo is really my aunt, or if it's only that my memory has preserved it that way.

In the black and white photo in my mind, my mom and her sister Gerrie are posing for the camera with arms around each other. They are wearing matching shirts with horizontal stripes, and they have short, boyish haircuts. They are probably about 25. They are grinning like mad, and both have placed black paper over their front teeth so that they look like gap-toothed hillbillies, or maybe pirates. I've loved that photo since I was a kid, and it's the one that keeps appearing in my thoughts.

My Aunt Gerrie and Uncle Mel lived in Santa Ana and owned an art gallery in Orange called Art Angles, which they started in 1970. According to the text on the website, it has since been passed down to an old family friend. I cannot separate the memory of my Aunt from her beloved gallery where she also gave art lessons and my uncle did custom framing and fabricated lucite boxes for museum exhibits.

They were also very active and well-loved members of Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana, where the memorial service will be held on Thursday.

The last time I saw Aunt Gerrie and Uncle Mel was in 1995, when I was working in Fullerton and living in a rented room in Seal Beach. We got together several times during the months that I was there - for Cuban food, for do-it-yourself sushi, to see the movie, The River Wild, and once to stroll through Virgin Records, where my aunt looked for a videotape of Cirque de Soleil. We had bagels and cream cheese in their sunny, Santa Ana kitchen, and they framed two posters for me, which are hanging in my house back in Idaho. I've always been thankful for those times we spent together because it was then that I really got to know and love my aunt and uncle. And the next time I have a chance to go through those old photos - I'll find that one of my mom and her sister playing pirates.

Looking for a home

I started househunting this weekend - I looked at two places, either of which would probably be fine. But why rush into something right off the bat?

The first was a nice little 2-bedroom place located next door to the owner's house. Possible drawback - the owner's family had been really close to the previous tenant and might be looking for another family member rather than a couple of tenants who pretty much keep to themselves. I'm not saying we're anti-social, just...well...maybe non-social is a better term. We had actually decided to go for this one because it had an excellent dog area and lots of room outside, but then the owner decided he didn't want to wait until November 1st to rent the place. Since I've already paid for a temporary spot through the end of October, I'm not too anxious to pay double for two weeks. So I wish him well!

The second place was in a gorgeous setting, but had an odd type of setup where the owner slept in a "bungalow" on the back of the property, but had an apartment in one end of the main house for her kitchen and living area. She travels a lot for her work, so some of the time we would have the whole place to ourselves, but other times, there would be someone else in the house. She did sound extra nice on the phone, but the jury is still out on this one.

Meanwhile, it looks like Craigslist is the place to find rentals here. I was surprised that there actually were a few to pick from in our price range that would allow dogs.

That brings me to the end of my first weekend and week here. If the past three nights are any indication of what the rest of the month will be like, I will not be sorry to leave this little studio in Paia at the end of the month. The proximity of the neighbors has taken a little getting used to after the solitude of my home in Idaho. In fact, I'm not used to it, and I will never get used to it. One thing about living in Hawaii - much of daily life takes place outdoors and the houses are so close together in so many of these neighborhoods that your neighbors' life becomes an extension of your own. If they decide to burn trash, the smoke drifts into your kitchen. If they have a family get together, then all the guests and their vehicles and slamming doors and boisterous greetings happen right outside your open window. So while I'm not in a huge rush to rent the first acceptable place that turns up, I will be happy to find, if not my own private Idaho in Hawaii, just someplace that will feel like a haven to come home to at the end of the day.

Riley passes his test...finally.

I was thrilled to find out this morning that my dog Riley passed his OIE-FAVN rabies blood test on the second try, meaning that YES! he can come to Hawaii. At $200 per test, this was not a trivial thing. If he had passed the first time, it would not only have saved me the $200 for the second test, but also 21 more days in quarantine at $30/day.

Why did he fail the first time? What exactly is the OIE-FAVN rabies blood test? I had to find out more. 

After a little online searching (okay, more than a little - this info took a bit of digging), I found out that OIE stands for Office International des Epizooties, which is the World Organization for Animal Health, an "intergovernmental organization responsible for improving animal health worldwide."

  The FAVN is the Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization test. Apparently, even if an animal is infected with rabies, the rabies antibodies are not so easily detected. So the FAVN test was developed in which a sample of the animal's blood is combined with a known dose of rabies. If the animal is effectively vaccinated, the antibodies in the blood sample will reduce the infectivity (neutralize) the rabies virus in the test. A fluorescent marker is used which binds to the antibodies and gives a visible sign of the neutralization. So there you have it. I would have been happy to provide a link to this information if only I had been able to find it all in one place.

So why did Riley fail his first test? He was due for his vaccine, and they drew the blood for the test before he was re-vaccinated. So his antibody level was too low for him to pass the test. When I had him re-tested two weeks later, the vaccine had stimulated his antibody production and he was A-OK.

What a relief. I was starting to worry that Riley was on his way to becoming another Cujo.

I love a parade

Yesterday I was most fortunate to have the opportunity to take part in the opening parade of the Maui County Fair! My coworker, Joie, and I were invited to walk with county employees behind the custom-painted Prius, symbol of the county's initiative to promote electric vehicles on the island. From Mayor Charmaine Tavares' 2009 State of the County Address:

With the help of Maui High School’s nationally recognized automotive program, we converted a county‐owned hybrid vehicle into a Plug‐in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). This was made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Idaho National Laboratory. This vehicle will provide valuable data to further improve and develop vehicles for broader use.

I had the honor of meeting the mayor and several excellent members of the county team. I did experience a brief out-of-body sensation seeing the INL logo on a Prius in the middle of a parade down one of the main streets of Kahului, but I just kept it to myself, not wanting to make a scene so soon after arriving on the island.

 

Lacking more traditional leis, Joie and I chose to distinguish ourselves by wearing shopping bags with the name and logo of the Sustainable Living Institute of Maui. Unfortuantely, the SLIM graphics were not very visible and we just looked like two goofballs with shopping bags hanging around our necks, waving to the crowd. But hey.

 

Hawaiian Airlines float

 

View from behind the Prius

Networking, Haleakala and dessert

Yesterday started out with a workshop about energy efficient lighting. The workshop content did not hold my attention, but happily, I sat next to Jean Young and John Bendon with Green Building LLC, a local green homebuilding and energy rating company. Jean and John are also active with the Hawaii chapter of the U.S Green Building Council, so I had the chance to express my interest in participating with the chapter and Jean invited me to sit in on a conference call with the chapter's education committee this morning. Just goes to show, you never know what will come out of these workshops. I always felt that the most value was in the networking.

On the way back to school from the workshop I caught a beautiful view of Haleakala with the peak just showing through the clouds.

I actually had to leave the workshop early to meet Chancellor Clyde Sakamoto for lunch at The Class Act, the very classy restaurant run by the Maui Culinary Academy. The food was just incredible. And even though I was so full, I had to make room for dessert.

I spent the rest of the afternoon readjusting my mindset to one of the cubicle-dwelling working class.

Errands, campus and the yard guy

I got a lot done yesterday: got a PO Box at the Kahului Post Office (had to have the clerk show me where it was since many of the box numbers were rubbed off...why?); got a storage unit to stash all the boxes of stuff for a couple of months, opened an account at the credit union, got my MCC photo ID and UH email.

The MCC campus seems weirdly unpopulated. I guess 4,000 students can spread themselves pretty thin.

Central MCC campus

My building: Kupa'a

When I returned to the Hibiscus Room I visited Ruby the macaw. That beak looks extra sharp - no poking fingers through the cage wires!

Ruby the loudmouth macaw

I walked around Wailuku looking for a likely place to scrounge up some dinner, without much luck. Since I wasn't able to locate the market that showed up on my BlackBerry navigator, I ended up with a pile of Chinese buffet that was edible, but more or less overcooked and unappetizing. It was somewhat improved by two Steinlagers, but just barely. I'll put out a little more effort next time.

It was a noisy evening in the Hibiscus Room, what with the yard guy raking and chopping and mowing and leaf blowing all directly outside my window. It takes a lot of work to beat back the ever-encroaching Hawaiian vegetation.

Menacing vegetation threatens the doorway to the Hibiscus Room.

But after sunset, things gradually quieted down until all I could hear was the fan in my room.

A good first day

After I arrived at the airport in Kahului, retrieved my bag and picked up my rental car, I headed over to the Maui Community College campus right behind my new co-worker Joie, who had come to meet me at the aiport. We went straight to the cafeteria, run by the school's culinary academy. As Joie told me over a plate lunch of chicken katsu, one has the opportunity here to become either very fit, or very fat!

I spent a couple of hours with Joie, met Chancellor Clyde Sakamoto, Vice Chancellor Suzette Robinson, and several other people who I will have to be re-introduced to, and saw my new office space before I gave up for the day and headed over to my temporary digs in the Hibiscus Room at the Wailuku Guest House. I was warmly welcomed there by owner Maureen and her two very friendly dogs who were jumping in and out of the salt water pool. If you're not a dog lover, this might not be the place for you! (Also, if you don't like the sound of an extremely loud and vocal ruby macaw, but more about that later.)

After a quick trip up the street to the mini-mart at the Chevron, I was back in the Hibiscus Room, drinking a Steinlager and catching up on email. All in all, a good first day.

Three more days

This week has been a whirlwind of packing, list-making, and middle-of-the-night anxiety. It still is not sinking in that in three days I will be in a new state, in a new job, on an island in the middle of the ocean.

I know I will miss all my good friends in Idaho. But I've moved so many times and had good friends move away, and still kept in touch with most of them, so it doesn't really feel like I'm saying goodbye. There are always opportunities to get together again.

Reunion with the Knoxville gang.

And of course there are other things I will miss about living in Idaho:

Baby elk peeking in my window.

 

The view from my front yard.

But there are things I won't miss at all:

My icy driveway.

Shoveling snow.

 

Looking for my car.

I feel like I've fully lived the Idaho experience, especially over the last six years up here in the hills. I'm looking forward to my new life in the islands. Going native!

Last day at work in Kaneohe, 1997.

A re-creation of the night my bike light was stolen

It was a dark and stormy night on the outskirts of boner-land. A moron lurked in the shadows, his neanderthal brow furrowed in concentration. He gazed longingly at the sleek, black headlight perched jauntily on the handlebars of the bike locked to the rack. Dimly, in the recesses of his unwrinkled cortex, he was aware that the device could bring light to his shadowy, filthy cave. The she-thing would be pleased. Looking furtively over his hairy shoulder, he made a sudden move and grabbed the object he coveted so dearly.  But it refused to come loose in his hand and he howled in frustration at the heavy clouds that lumbered overhead. Looking more closely, he spied the strap that held the light to the handlebars. A dull red gleam appeared in his greedy eye and he unsheathed the knife he had acquired the night before from the weakling he had left unconscious under the bridge. Slicing through the thin strap he howled again, this time in victory, and held the trophy high in the air, grunting and hooting in triumph and glee.

Pookie, Bert and SpongeBob are ready to move to Maui

A Green White House

I was interested to read on Sierra Club's GreenHome website that President Obama intends to seek LEED certification for the White House - a challenging goal considering obvious requirements for security and historic preservation, but one that is definitely achievable according to Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and President of the U.S. Green Building Council.

According to the article, White House environmental advisors are:

"...looking to reduce the carbon footprint of the White House by implementing computerized energy management systems, automatic light sensors that turn off in unoccupied rooms and low-flow water valves. Paints and sealers with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), biodegradable cleaners and recycled equipment will all be used by White House groundskeepers and engineers, according to a White House spokesperson. Window films that will lower UV rays and save energy will also be added."

Now I wonder who will be in charge of the documentation for that project? Wouldn't that make a great case study for a green building class?

Small Pieces, continued

The Making of a Serious Employee
An Interview with Jonas “Small Pieces” van der Winkler

Today’s interview takes place in Jonas’s “Deep Thoughts Study”, a dark-paneled and heavily curtained room. The curtains are drawn and the only light in the room comes from a 40-watt desk lamp that is trying valiantly but unsuccessfully to banish the deep shadows.

Q. Uhh…what is that on your head exactly?

JvdW. This? Oh, this is my thinking cap. It helps me keep my thoughts focused. That’s why it’s pointed on top. That’s the focal point.

Q. Oh. Well, let’s get some background information if we could. What were you like as a child?

JvdW. I was a very serious child, naturally. When my pet hamster died when I was five years old I learned that life is no laughing matter. I gave such a solemn eulogy at Hammie’s funeral that my entire family began sobbing uncontrollably. That’s what got me started officiating at all the neighborhood pet funerals. I still get requests to appear at functions that require a particularly heavy note.

Q. I see. And just how did you get your nickname, “Small Pieces”?

JvdW. Well, that’s a funny story…

Q. Do you mean funny – strange, or funny – ha ha?

JvdW. What?

Q. Never mind. Go on.

JvdW. Oh. Well, you see, I never enjoyed going to those childhood birthday parties although fortunately, I wasn’t invited very often. But what was even worse was when it was MY birthday and all those happy idiots would come over to MY house and scream and run around and break things and eat large, large pieces of MY birthday cake. It gave me nightmares. I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, “NO! NO! Take SMALL PIECES!!! SMALL PIECES!!!”

Q. That must have been very traumatic.

JvdW. Oh, it was. You can’t even imagine. I have it under control now, mostly, but every now and then I have a little flashback. Just a couple of months ago I was attending a very nice birthday luncheon for one of my coworkers. All was well until they brought out the cake and I just blurted it out, “SMALL PIECES!!” I pretended to laugh it off of course.

Q. Of course. What else could you have done?

Small pieces

One of the greatest things I've learned in the past month has really helped me deal with not giving in to procrastination. Thanks to Meggin McIntosh, "The PhD of Productivity"  (http://www.meggin.com/) I no longer wait for that imaginary "block of time" that I think I need to accomplish the tasks on my to-do list. Instead, I tackle much smaller pieces in the much smaller periods of time that I actually have in between interruptions. If I have 10 emails to send, I'll take a few minutes to send one at a time instead of putting off all 10 until I have two uninterrupted hours. It's amazing how much stress relief you can realize from finishing one or two small things.

Thinking about finite tasks instead of large goals has really helped prepare for my upcoming move. I can usually find some task that fits into the amount of time I have before my next scheduled appointment or meeting. I can pack one box. Or I can empty one cupboard. Or email one friend. And I continually make progress towards the larger goals, which then get smaller, and smaller, and smaller.

I know this is nothing new - I've been telling myself to approach my work this way for a long time. But I kept putting it off until I had a bigger block of time to make my to-do list...