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Re: moving to oahu. need advice.
Hey Kimo..I just read your comments about Kansas...the cornfields, the lonely scarecrows...all of the hackneyed perceptions non-agricultural people have about farm life out on the Great Plains. It seems, in some sort of way, you're expressing sarcasm towards one of of America's most important agricultural states. I hope not. Inasmuch as I'm certain that you are thankful that the Gods above have chosen for you to live your idyllic life over in the relative calm and beauty of Hawai'i Kai, in the shawdows of Koko Head and Kohelepelepe, and not one of those who have been fated to farm the expansive prairies of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, I do hope you realize that it is these very farmers that make your life and the ability to perhaps poke fun at their expense, a possiblity and a reality, by providing your state with the food it needs to survive. Kansas can survive very well without the food contributions Hawai'i makes to it, but conversely, could Hawai'i survive without the food contributions it receives from Kansas?
I'm going to argue with you that nearly anyone can live the life of an average Honolulan, but your average Honolulan could never live the life of a Kansas wheatfield farmer.
Just about every day in Hawaii Threads, it seems there are postings from people from all over the mainland looking for advice on how to make the most impractical move a person can make in the USA...a move from the mainland to Hawai'i. They all want to know where they can find a job, a decent apartment in a decent (Read: excessively haolefied) neighboorhood, where are the best schools at. The usual replies with pejoratives come forth..Yes, it is possible to make it here if you have the right vocation, apartments are expensive if/when found, life is not perfect here on O'ahu, etc, etc. The one trait that most of these potential newcomers to Hawai'i have in common is that they are employed on the mainland in positions that can usually be found in Honolulu. Or there are positions in which one's training in a particular field can be transferred into another different, yet similar field.
Take the case of the 22 year-old Yale grad from the Northeast who recently posted a thread inquiring about the possibility of establishing himself in Hawaii. The general consensus, after excessive insults were directed toward him, is that if this grad applied himself, and actually took the time and effort necessary to secure a job, he would eventully find employment in his chosen field in Honolulu. I'm not sure what his major was, but I somewhat got the impression that he felt his Ivy League education was enough for the employers of Hawai'i to want to welcome him with open arms, as if his degree from Yale carried more clout than one, say from UH-Manoa. Maybe I'm wrong about this. In any event, what ever his major is, he can most likely apply it towards numerous positions in Honolulu. Or any other city in Hawai'i, for that matter.
He could easily find employment pushing a pencil as a mortgage specialist for the BoH. Or as a portfolio manager for a Bishop Street brokerage house. Or selling computers for the big box outlets. Heck, he could even be a sales manager for the latest townhouse mega-development being constructed on formerly productive agricultural land in Kapolei for Horton Homes! Gotta build them townhouses for all of the "Weather Wimps" ( a Rhode Island term for those who can't handle winter ) relocating to Hawaii, just so they avoid the three months of winter, crop lands be damned!
Now, let me change the story. Suppose our Yale grad went to "Kansas Threads" (should it exist), and asked the folks in Cheyenne County, Kansas if there was any chance of him finding a job there. Surely, with his Ivy League education and newly granted pedigree, he could find one. After all, he IS Ivy League educated. His book-education has taught him all of the latest business theories and concepts. The rubes of Cheyenne County are clearly no match for the intellegence and outright brilliance of this Yale grad.
Unfortunately for him, knowing the basics of Wall Street technical analysis as opposed to arbitrage doesn't do anyone much good in the aforementioned Cheyenne County. The sod-busters there aren't overly impressed with those who have mastered dubious theories of ambiguous worth such as "just-in-time inventory" basics or "human resources management". What they do need are people who know the difference between a heifer and a cow, know how to till out the back 1000 acres, and what 10-10-10 means on fertilizer. They need people who are willing to toil on a combine in 100 degree heat as well as get out of bed at 4AM on a sub-zero January morning to milk the herd.
Unless our grad took up Agronomy 101 at some point during his education at Yale, or was a member of the Future Farmers of America, New Haven Chapter, I highly doubt he has the skills, knowledge, and physical stamina required to make it as a farmer on the prairies of Kansas. Or in the orange groves of Florida. And especially in the mac plantations on the Big Island.
And with that in mind, I highly doubt most of the city-dwellers of Honolulu could make it down on the farm. Their lives in Honolulu are relatively comfortable to the lives of the farmers all over the US. Why should they bother with something like agriculture when they don't have to. The fact is, most Honolulans could not manhandle a John Deere if their lives depended on it.
But I can tell you this: I'm just an old farmboy from Ka'u, but I know how to make journal entries in T-accounts and reconcile banking statements to the penny, I know how to set up speadsheets, and I can express myself as eloquently as any Financial District manager. What the heck..I can even calculate the expectation and variance of a binomial random variable. Oh yes..I also know to how to raise a crop of seed corn. How many Honolulans can say they can do all of this?
So, with the dependence of the city-folk of Honolulu (or any other city in the US) on the farmers of America to provide them with their daily sustenance, why is it that we and the simple lives we live are often the butt of jokes, subject to derision? I don't get it. Remember, if it was grown, and you're eating it...thank a farmer.
Originally posted by kimo55
I'm going to argue with you that nearly anyone can live the life of an average Honolulan, but your average Honolulan could never live the life of a Kansas wheatfield farmer.
Just about every day in Hawaii Threads, it seems there are postings from people from all over the mainland looking for advice on how to make the most impractical move a person can make in the USA...a move from the mainland to Hawai'i. They all want to know where they can find a job, a decent apartment in a decent (Read: excessively haolefied) neighboorhood, where are the best schools at. The usual replies with pejoratives come forth..Yes, it is possible to make it here if you have the right vocation, apartments are expensive if/when found, life is not perfect here on O'ahu, etc, etc. The one trait that most of these potential newcomers to Hawai'i have in common is that they are employed on the mainland in positions that can usually be found in Honolulu. Or there are positions in which one's training in a particular field can be transferred into another different, yet similar field.
Take the case of the 22 year-old Yale grad from the Northeast who recently posted a thread inquiring about the possibility of establishing himself in Hawaii. The general consensus, after excessive insults were directed toward him, is that if this grad applied himself, and actually took the time and effort necessary to secure a job, he would eventully find employment in his chosen field in Honolulu. I'm not sure what his major was, but I somewhat got the impression that he felt his Ivy League education was enough for the employers of Hawai'i to want to welcome him with open arms, as if his degree from Yale carried more clout than one, say from UH-Manoa. Maybe I'm wrong about this. In any event, what ever his major is, he can most likely apply it towards numerous positions in Honolulu. Or any other city in Hawai'i, for that matter.
He could easily find employment pushing a pencil as a mortgage specialist for the BoH. Or as a portfolio manager for a Bishop Street brokerage house. Or selling computers for the big box outlets. Heck, he could even be a sales manager for the latest townhouse mega-development being constructed on formerly productive agricultural land in Kapolei for Horton Homes! Gotta build them townhouses for all of the "Weather Wimps" ( a Rhode Island term for those who can't handle winter ) relocating to Hawaii, just so they avoid the three months of winter, crop lands be damned!
Now, let me change the story. Suppose our Yale grad went to "Kansas Threads" (should it exist), and asked the folks in Cheyenne County, Kansas if there was any chance of him finding a job there. Surely, with his Ivy League education and newly granted pedigree, he could find one. After all, he IS Ivy League educated. His book-education has taught him all of the latest business theories and concepts. The rubes of Cheyenne County are clearly no match for the intellegence and outright brilliance of this Yale grad.
Unfortunately for him, knowing the basics of Wall Street technical analysis as opposed to arbitrage doesn't do anyone much good in the aforementioned Cheyenne County. The sod-busters there aren't overly impressed with those who have mastered dubious theories of ambiguous worth such as "just-in-time inventory" basics or "human resources management". What they do need are people who know the difference between a heifer and a cow, know how to till out the back 1000 acres, and what 10-10-10 means on fertilizer. They need people who are willing to toil on a combine in 100 degree heat as well as get out of bed at 4AM on a sub-zero January morning to milk the herd.
Unless our grad took up Agronomy 101 at some point during his education at Yale, or was a member of the Future Farmers of America, New Haven Chapter, I highly doubt he has the skills, knowledge, and physical stamina required to make it as a farmer on the prairies of Kansas. Or in the orange groves of Florida. And especially in the mac plantations on the Big Island.
And with that in mind, I highly doubt most of the city-dwellers of Honolulu could make it down on the farm. Their lives in Honolulu are relatively comfortable to the lives of the farmers all over the US. Why should they bother with something like agriculture when they don't have to. The fact is, most Honolulans could not manhandle a John Deere if their lives depended on it.
But I can tell you this: I'm just an old farmboy from Ka'u, but I know how to make journal entries in T-accounts and reconcile banking statements to the penny, I know how to set up speadsheets, and I can express myself as eloquently as any Financial District manager. What the heck..I can even calculate the expectation and variance of a binomial random variable. Oh yes..I also know to how to raise a crop of seed corn. How many Honolulans can say they can do all of this?
So, with the dependence of the city-folk of Honolulu (or any other city in the US) on the farmers of America to provide them with their daily sustenance, why is it that we and the simple lives we live are often the butt of jokes, subject to derision? I don't get it. Remember, if it was grown, and you're eating it...thank a farmer.
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