Hawaii itinerary

What follows is the bare bones description of our time in Hawaii, mostly so that I don't forget it:

Friday, October 19, 2007 - arrived Kahului (flight from Denver to Honolulu was delayed for 4 hours so we missed our original connection but luckily caught the last plane from Honolulu to Kahului), picked up convertible, checked into Pioneer Inn Lahaina, Steve & I walked around Lahaina, passed out.

Saturday, October 20, 2007 - early morning walk for me around Lahaina, breakfast with Steve & Rachel at Pioneer Inn, beach at Kamehameha Iki Park, walked along beach to 303, back to Pioneer Inn, pool time at Pioneer Inn, Rachel and I drove to Kaanapali for sunset, dinner with Steve and Rachel at Leilani's on the Beach.

Sunday, October 21, 2007 - Steve, Rachel & I had breakfast at Lahaina Coolers, Rachel & I checked out of Pioneer Inn, Rachel & I did internet time at Livewire Cafe (I had to do payroll & Rachel homework), lunch from Foodland (poke, yum!), drove to Launiopoko, met Danny & Christine at Puamana, Rachel & I swam at Puamana.

Monday, October 22, 2007 - Steve & I took ferry to Molokai after a stop at Livewire Cafe for coffee, shuttle to Kualapuu airport (Molokai Offroad), picked up rental car, drove to Kalaupapa overlook, hiked short ways down Kalaupapa trail, drove to Halawa and played at beach, drove back to Kaunakakai, back to airport, ferry back to Lahaina, Steve, Rachel & I had dinner at Lahaina Coolers

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - Rachel & I drove to Hana, breakfast at Moana Cafe in Paia, stopped at Honomanu Bay (photo above), stopped at Keanae, stopped at Wailea Valley overlook, hiked to Waimoku Falls in Haleakala National Park, rushed back (as much as you can rush on the road to Hana), went to Tuesday night dinner with Steve and Rachel at the neighbors'. (ran out of time for Hamoa Beach)

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - Rachel & I had a beach day at Kaanapali, lunch at Leilani's, convertible broke, Steve, Rachel & I had dinner at Old Lahaina Luau, rental car swapped out.

Thursday, October 25, 2007 - I got up at 5 am and watched the moon set at Puamana, Steve & I walked into Lahaina and to Starbuck's early morning, Rachel & I had a shopping day in Lahaina, lunch at BJ's Chicago Pizzeria, I did sunset at Puamana pool, I had dinner with Steve, Danny, Christine & Mason at Westin, I had drinks with Christine & Melanie at Westin

Friday, October 26, 2007 - Steve, Rachel and I drove to Kihei to meet Robin & Laurie, swam with the turtles at Makena Harbor, lunch at Wailea Whaler's General Store, convertible broke again, drove Steve to Lahaina, Rachel & I drove back to Kihei to go to the Grand Wailea Spa with Laurie, dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

Saturday, October 27, 2007 - Steve, Rachel and I had breakfast at Livewire Cafe, lunch at Hula Grill Kaanapali with Trevor, Donna, Toby, Brielle and Shane, Rachel and I drove back to Puamana to finish packing, drove to other side to leave. (never did get to Haleakala for sunrise . . .)

I wasn't ready to leave which is unusual for me.

I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow

Yesterday, I was going to Hawaii today.

Today, I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow.

:-(

Since it was snowing all day yesterday and since the 7 am flight is the most often cancelled flight (at one of the airports with the most cancelled flights), I knew it wasn't looking good. If the last flight in on Wednesday landed, our chances of getting out were better.

So I kept checking the flight status of the last flight in, Flight 6337. I was relieved when it was listed as IN FLIGHT.

It's currently still listed as IN FLIGHT . . .

Hmmm. You'd think they'd have run out of gas by now.

Just as I was commenting last night on the fact that we hadn't gotten a cancellation call yet, the phone rang. I'm not making this up.

Of course, because the airlines are flying so lean these days, everything for the rest of the day today was booked. We could have taken our chances with standby but there's two of us and two connections so the odds weren't with us.

Since it looked like I was going to be stuck somewhere overnight, I opted for my own bed.

At least The Pioneer Inn in Lahaina let me modify tonight's hotel reservation . . .

Jumping through hoops

Come to find out that some dog rescue agencies have a hard and fast rule that families with children under 14 can't adopt small dogs.

Huh?

A responsible pet owner will teach his/her children how to behave with and around pets. The mere existence of children shouldn't automatically disqualify anyone. The fact that the potential pet owner is childless does not insure that he/she will be a responsible pet owner.

The irony here is that the rescue agencies, at the same time they're supposedly attempting to save dogs, are forcing interested (and likely qualified) parties into purchasing dogs.

When we purchased Ellie (4.5 years ago when Rachel was 11), we didn't have to go through this kind of b.s.

Happy?

I've been feeling pretty contented recently. While nothing's perfect, my job, kid, husband, house, hometown, etc., are all pretty good.

Life is good.

Yesterday, I got a phone call out of the blue offering me a job 45 miles away for approximately 3 times what I'm making now.

Wow.

I said, thanks, but no thanks. I was asked to consider it a little longer so I said I'd talk to my husband and get back to them if I was interested.

It's a job with a lot of growth potential and increased earning potential (over and above the immediate 300% increase).

I am extremely flattered. I am a bit intimidated.

My house is tied to employment in Pitkin County. This job offer is not in Pitkin County.

It would mean commuting 2 hours a day, which I used to do. 15 years ago.

I purposefully opted out of the rat race. But, as it stands right now, we don't know how we're going to pay for Rachel's college or our retirement. This would certainly help.

I always knew that I was undervaluing myself but justified it by counting it as a sacrifice necessary to live in such an incredible place.

Now, that sacrifice has been quantified. When assessing the balance sheet, how do you quantify the unquantifiable, the other side of the equation, the intangible?

I blame the teachers

I'm a big one for personal responsibility. I don't have much patience for those who like to blame others for their shortcomings and bad decisions.

So, it's taken me a while to get here.

For years now, Rachel and I have been struggling with the fact that she has a very hard time getting her assignments in. This fact has caused much angst, conflict and tension in our home.

We have appealed to the teachers for help. Every year I start the school year by letting her teachers know about our struggles and asking for their assistance. I can't police her homework if I don't know what her assignments are or if I don't find out until weeks later that assignments are missing.

Over the past few years, her school has become more and more internet interactive. We can now check grades and homework assignments online. Of course, it's totally dependent upon the teachers taking the time to upload the information but it's a step in the right direction.

Even so, Rachel still struggles. It's so different from my experience at her age. She's bright and intelligent like I was but not as organized and much more distractable. Try as I might (and believe me, I've tried), I don't know how to help her.

I've given it a lot of thought, for quite a while. But it wasn't until the other evening, when my parents and I were rehashing it all, that a little light bulb went off.

When I was in grammar school, if a student didn't turn his/her homework in, the teacher called him/her out in front of the whole class. The teacher went around the room, collecting homework and everyone in class knew who hadn't done theirs. The teacher would stop and question the student right then and there.

Public shaming.

The anxiety about being publicly shamed was a huge motivator.

Immediate consequences for negative behavior. Not bad grades at the end of the semester. Not difficulty getting into college years later. Immediate public shaming.

My parents said, yep, it was the same for them in the 50s. Pursuing my hypothesis, I asked a bunch of friends last night. Yep, all seven of them, ranging 20 years in age, said it was the same for them.

But not for Rachel. Not here in Aspen. Didn't do your homework? No worries. That's just between you and your teacher. No one needs to know.

Yep, I blame the teachers.

Community

The majority of Aspen locals are transplants, people who are living far from their extended families. So, we have become each others' extended families and we take care of each other.

It's pretty amazing to see.

On Friday, 800 people paid $35 a piece to attend a benefit for a friend, Bob Sloezen, who is fighting bladder cancer and who has found that the gap between his health insurance coverage and his medical expenses was sickeningly large.

So his friends rallied to the call. In addition to all of the liquor and the entertainment for the party, there were approximately 200 items with values ranging from $50 to $5000 donated for the silent auction.

The place was packed. The parking lot was full. The line to get in stretched outside the door. I was there for 4 hours and probably never even saw 500 of my fellow attendees. Maximum capacity was exceeded by scores. Entrance fees alone netted $28,000.

They're calling it the party of the decade.

Whiner

I work in a building that was built some time in the 1880s (we think).

It's pretty awesome and funky and unique.

It's got character.

It's also got old, historic windows that don't open.

Now in Aspen, that's usually not a problem. It doesn't really get hot here. Or at least it doesn't get hot here very often or for very long.

However, in my little office, on the second (or top) floor with four computer servers, a copier and a printer and the windows that don't open, it can get pretty darn warm in July and August.

So much so that there are afternoons when my office is a good 10+ degrees warmer than the rest of the building.

So much so that sometimes I have to leave early because I'm just too hot and irritable to be productive.

So much so that I recently brought a room thermometer so that I'll know just how hot it is when I'm too hot and irritable to be productive.

Well, after listening to Morning Edition this morning, I feel like a big ole whiner. It seems that for government buildings in Japan, the air conditioning is set at 28 degrees celsius or 82 degrees fahrenheit. Factor in printers, PCs and other machines and the temp climbs to 31 degrees celsius or 88 degrees fahrenheit.

All of this in offices which aren't nearly as tolerant of the casual dress code (tank tops, capris and flip flops) that I'm able to get away with.

Illustration credit.