A Cautionary Tale

[Seeking Penance]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

isn't that always case - here on vacation for a 2 weeks - you tell yourself - hawaii is beautiful etc. etc - you decide to completely move your entire life to hawaii - end up hating it for the reasons known to yourself only - yet you pin the blame on hawaii and the locals for a mistake you unconsciously made by moving to hawaii

sounded like she was more of an indoor girl than outdoor kinda girl - or just a big baby

thanks for doing us a favor turtlegirl by taking her to the airport - i would have made her take the bus as a last farewell to hawaii

[surlygirly]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

11 more days....

See, I know there will be things I won't like or won't be accustomed to, but I can write letters home to my best friend and she can laugh at me from a safe 4000 miles away. And that's why I call my other bored friend at work now while I'm still on the mainland and we try to come up with all the things that could go wrong- like a turtle could nest in my bed while I'm at work or a huge pelican could swoop in and carry off my beach bag. Or I could get kidnapped by a gang of local surfers and be force-fed Spam. Or an incoming ship could miss Pearl Harbor and crash into my house.

Fall weather has not kicked in yet (grrr), so I set the AC here to 65 and am wearing my favorite sweaters and boots around the house before I have to kiss them good-bye.

[Jim75]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I remember nights when it'd get down to 40 below zero. Gettin' up every couple of hours to make sure the pot-bellied stove was full tilt. The metal on the sides near the hottest part of the fire would glow orange. You think to yourself "This is all that's keeping me from being a popsicle". The logs in the cabin would have little pockets of moisture locked inside them. Every now and the little bit of water inside a log would expand to the point where the wood finally had to give a little and there'd be a sharp popping/cracking sound. It can be a little eerie. Kind of exciting too. But believe me, it's an excitement I can live without.

One winter I was out at a freind's ranch first thing in the morning. One of the barn cats was sittin' like a Sphynx, frozen solid as a rock. In high school, one of my buddies played the drums and got a job on weekends playing in bars with this hillbilly band. They were travelling to another town on a blistering cold night. I guess they were cruisin' along in the old cadillac and there was a big jack-rabbit in the middle of the road. The guy driving figured he'd hit it. Well, you guessed it. It was frozen. When they went over the top it puntured a hole in the gas tank. They sweated it out wondering if they'd get to town before running out of gas. Poetic justice.

No like be cold.

[Nords]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

Imagine having to shovel a car out from under a pile of snow every morning just to go to work! That's after you manage to FIND your car, of course. I thought to myself: At least in Hawaii we don't have to shovel rain.

Pfffffftttt... don't forget the frozen door locks, scraping the ice/frost off the windows, and realizing that your battery really wasn't ready to go through another night of sub-zero weather.

Then it's time to hit the icy roads with the other slick drivers!

[kani-lehua]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I love sand in my car. Sand in my shorts, shoes, hair, crack, .... I even love it when I pay for beer with a sandy, wet $10 bill, that was in the velcro pocket of my trunks. And I love to be buried in the sand by my daughter and her friends.

I love being hot. In the snow, you have about 3 hours to figure out life. In the heat, you got 3 days before it gets real uncomfortable.

Tako Poke, Korean Style.....Ahi sashimi with mad hot wasabi.....char siu manapua, with a Nestle Quick......Long Rice, Lomi Salmon, Lau Lau, Smoke Meat, Smoke Fish, Huli Chicken, 2 scoop rice, 2 scoop potatomac, Li Hing Mui Margaritas, and a partridge in a pear tree.

And now for the ocean. I betcha the girl don't swim, surf, sail, scuba dive, fish, or enjoy the ocean. And that's why many of us are here.

a cautionary tale continued: tim, you've settled nicely into local kine grindz, but 2 scoops mac salad? also, careful out there today at the beach--looks like the winter swells are starting already. not for beginners!

[Composite 2992]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I was on vacation in Mammoth, CA in winter when a blizzard came through.

I spent better part of an hour videotaping people dealing with it. Shoveling their porches, etc. And there were a few snowplows that came through to clear the streets.

Imagine having to shovel a car out from under a pile of snow every morning just to go to work! That's after you manage to FIND your car, of course. I thought to myself: At least in Hawaii we don't have to shovel rain.

[Composite 2992]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

most of us can say, "lucky we live hawai'i."

i dunno. it doesn't sound as though she would be happy any where she lived.

That's what I was thinking, too.

I worked with someone like that for a few years. She came from elsewhere. Was always whining and trying to take advantage of everything and everyone around her.

Very thoughtless. An intern, hearing her chronic rants, suggested she should just leave. Eventually she pretty much burned up her professional career here and elsewhere -- her reputation got quite far on the grapevine. And she ended up going back to her home town to sell real estate. Wonder how far a salesperson can get with such a bad attitude.

[Jim75]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I think people need to be realistic about how much time it takes to adjust. If you move to a place that's like what you're used to, it won't take as long to adjust. The more different, the more time it'll take to adapt. I can remember moving to Salt Lake City and thinking the drivers were so damn aggressive, but after a while you learn to drive the same way. Kansas City seemed kinda rough and run-down at first. Later it felt like character, big and old and comfortable with lots of interesting nooks and crannies (and fireflies). In Astoria, Oregon I thought 'What? These people never heard of paint?', but after a while I figured out how rain affected things and why it didn't make sense to paint something just because of various stains and watermarks. After a while, it was totally outside of my awareness. I have a love of that place a mile deep. People can be like that too. Things about them that are hard to understand become known territory. You get to know their psychological weather. First impressions may have a big impact, but they don't always tell the whole story.

I was in the bedroom of my apartment a couple days ago, thinking 'This is my bedroom'. Like, not just a room with a bunch of my stuff in it that I sleep in, but 'This is my familiar space'. I'm developing more of a relationship with the dogs in my yard and now there's a fat, little puppy that is cool beyond description. I know my way around and I have some favorite places. I like my housemates and workmates, a collection of great personalities.

All of that takes time and there's nothing in the world that can make it materialize over-night. You don't learn to play a musical instrument in one sitting. Completing one semester of grad school taught me I could complete one semester. All I had to do was repeat it seven more times. Giving up because it was hard would have been the easiest thing in the world.

I sit outside at night and sometimes in the distance a jet will come in from over the Pacific. I think about how some of the people on it are coming for vacation. I think I'll go snorkeling tomorrow and add a little more sand to the floorboard of my car.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

That was one habut girl.

[Vanguard]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

That reminds me;

“I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and irritating and it gets everywhere. Everything here is soft ... and smooth ...”

[timkona]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I love sand in my car. Sand in my shorts, shoes, hair, crack, .... I even love it when I pay for beer with a sandy, wet $10 bill, that was in the velcro pocket of my trunks. And I love to be buried in the sand by my daughter and her friends.

I love being hot. In the snow, you have about 3 hours to figure out life. In the heat, you got 3 days before it gets real uncomfortable.

Tako Poke, Korean Style.....Ahi sashimi with mad hot wasabi.....char siu manapua, with a Nestle Quick......Long Rice, Lomi Salmon, Lau Lau, Smoke Meat, Smoke Fish, Huli Chicken, 2 scoop rice, 2 scoop potatomac, Li Hing Mui Margaritas, and a partridge in a pear tree.

And now for the ocean. I betcha the girl don't swim, surf, sail, scuba dive, fish, or enjoy the ocean. And that's why many of us are here.

[HawaiiMama]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I get the feeling that she's the kind of person that would complain anywhere, even back in her own original home. I have learned to get away from people like that, if possible. Life's too short to deal with that continually, and I'd rather be with the upbeat types.

I have a friend who is like that--fortunately, I don't see her or talk to her very often. I think she has some good qualities, but she does complain a lot. I try to lend an ear...and then do something fun after talking to her, to take away the "bad taste"!!!! Ha!

I also have an aunt who does nothing but gripe, bitch and complain about EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY. No one measures up to her standards. However, she is 81, in poor health, and lives alone, so I try to put up with that, too.

I know that I DO NOT want to be that way in another 30 years or so! Or even now!! And, boy oh boy, would I love to "complain" that there's sand in the house, or it's so warm at night......ahh, Hawaii......

[Menehune Man]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I do feel sad for that lady... she just doesn't know the important things in life.

I met up this morning with a visiting couple from the mainland to hike around Makapu'u. They're Geocachers and contacted me before coming.
We had fun! I enjoyed getting to know them and sharing our day together.

I of course I shared my love for Hawai'i and gave them real life differences in the way we live compared to their lifestyles. Like (Most of us) having smaller living spaces, less toys, etc. for negatives. And then how we (Most of us) play outside on our days off, don't have snow, share more, etc. for positives.

They both agreed that they weren't willing to give up what they have now in exchange. Smart people, because they know what's important to them.

Many times if we don't know what we really care about...
we just find fault in everything.

"Thank you TG for all you tried to do in showing ALOHA!"

[kani-lehua]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

most of us can say, "lucky we live hawai'i."

i dunno. it doesn't sound as though she would be happy any where she lived.

[matapule]

Re: A Cautionary Tale

I took her to the airport yesterday. Good riddance. But as a final insult, she yelled at me for not being there to get her on time. No thank yous, she just complained halfway to town, about how she was going to miss her flight, and have to spend more time here on this god forsaken island, thanks to me.

A belated Mahalo, TG, for taking her to the airport. You did all of us a favor.

malo'e lelei, matapule