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Rubbah Flippahs

I tried to get out early again to get some pictures on Summer’s run, but got there after she had finished. We walked around the harbor a bit and took some pictures of crabs and fish along the dock, and then came back up to get ready for the day. Dad made breakfast this time since Julie didn’t wake up until much later. Mom stayed up all night, wired on coffee ice cream.

Dad and Summer picked up snorkeling gear, and eventually we got everyone downstairs for Susan to take us to the Makai Research Pier. She stopped in a few scenic places along the way and showed us around, and even took some pictures for us. Dad took a spill at one of them and scraped up his knees pretty badly, but Susan came to the rescue again and patched him right up.

The research center itself was closed to the public, but there was a pretty good beach with lots of live coral for snorkeling. Julie was upset that there were clouds out for part of the day, and didn’t feel like the snorkeling was as good, but I felt like it was quite a bit better than Hanauma Bay and the skeleton of its reef. I don’t remember seeing tons of great fish there – mostly giant parrot fish, which I guess was interesting too, but this time I felt more like we were in a real ecosystem. We also didn’t have to camp out tickets at 7 in the morning, and there were WAY fewer people there.

Dad, Summer, and I spent the most time out in the water, and we kept getting spread out. Dad and Julie saw a sea turtle at one point, but I never did. I spotted a seahorse and showed Summer, and we think Dad saw the same one just a little earlier based on where we saw it. It was super hard not to just touch the little guy. He was bright yellow, and had hitched himself to some seaweed relatively near the shore.

Mom never even got in the water, and stood in the shade to play on her phone the whole time. Julie tanned for a while, then made us sandwiches for lunch. When we were finally ready to leave, Susan had to send her boyfriend, Kevin, over to get us since she was on the opposite end of the island. He was pretty cool too, though.

On the way back, we stopped and picked up a bunch of fresh donuts from a Leonard’s Bakery truck. Both Susan and Kevin kept telling us about it, and we figured we wouldn’t have a better chance to pull off the road to get some. Kevin insisted that we eat in the car, but I was the only one that did. I kind of regretted it because they were pretty messy, but they were also way better fresh than when we got back to the room.

After cleaning up and resting a bit, Dad, Summer, and I went to return the snorkeling gear. Just as we got there, Susan said she could take us out to eat, so we hustled back and met Mom and Julie out front. We went to Nico’s Pier 38 after Susan’s suggestion earlier in the week, and after a bit of a wait, we got a table. The food was pretty great, but my mojito hit me super hard and I felt like I had a midget sitting on my shoulders the rest of the night.

Kevin was the one to take us back to the room after dinner, and from there it was straight to bed for us.

See horse?

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Don’t Be Shellfish

I got downstairs early today to walk the beach with Summer. She was finishing up her run as I got down there, so I got a couple pictures of her in front of Diamond Head in the sunrise. I missed a good one with the moon between a couple palm trees though. When she finished, we walked around by the water to see if we could find anything neat, but they do so much combing of all the trash and everything else that there weren’t any shells at all. Just some larger broken pieces of coral.

We headed back up to the room to try and score tickets to Hanauma Bay, but were unsuccessful. Julie came down and made French toast, bacon, and eggs for breakfast. Summer got us all tickets to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, plus housekeeping had to come by in our absence to check all the lamps for women’s underwear. Once everyone was ready, I was able to get in touch with our cabbie friend, Susan, for a ride to the harbor. She had to send another friend of hers to get us, but it worked out fine.

I liked the memorial quite a bit more than I thought I would, and I really enjoyed for one of the few times in my entire life learning about world history. At first I got a bit confused by the audio tour because I didn’t see the numbers that were supposed to prompt me to play the next track. Once I had that straightened out, I moved through the displays as quickly as I could. We almost didn’t get to take the boat to the Arizona Memorial, but they started it up again and we managed to make it on the standby line.

After we finished, Suzan was able to come get us herself, and she helped us decide on dinner at Karai Crab. It was kind of a Cajun-style seafood place, and I think everyone really enjoyed it. Even Dad got adventurous with the mussels and clams. I was a little worried it wouldn’t fill me up, but I felt good afterward. Susan checked in on us as we finished up, then took us back to the Lagoon Tower. It’s been fun building some rapport with her, and she’s been really helpful just in our chatting during our rides.

We got back to the room just in time for the sunset, and then we went back downstairs for some ice cream. I had a five half-scoop waffle bowl that was super good. Summer finished hers and then crashed. Everyone else watched TV while I worked on my evening journaling. Tomorrow, we hope to find better local snorkeling than the super popular tourist destination that we failed to schedule today.

Can you eat the barnacles too?

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Diamond Head to Go With These Hands

Summer got out for a run super early, and I didn’t sleep in much but didn’t realize when she had gotten back. When I finally found her out on the balcony, we decided to get out for breakfast. Dad was up too, and the three of us went to Blue Water Shrimp again after CJ’s New York Style Deli couldn’t get their doors opened within an hour of their posted opening time. The food was really good, and seemed cheaper than CJ’s anyway. I had some super thick French toast that had a great crunch and squish.

After breakfast, we came back and tried to get around to do something. We didn’t have any set plans, so we settled on a hike up Diamond Head. Summer and Dad were most excited about it. I was interested, but leery of the physical toll. Mom and Julie had no interest. We wandered downstairs to try and get some coffee, but the taxi showed up before we got through the line.

Leading up to the hike, we actually drove through a tunnel to get into the crater. Then it was a long hike up the inside of the crater to one of the military installments at the peak. You could see all around the island, and it was just beautiful. The sun was pretty brutal though, and I was drenched with sweat by the time we made it to the top. Some of it was paved. Then it got to a carved, rocky surface, went up through a tunnel again, and then ended with a bunch of stairs.

After a bunch of pictures and cooling off in the strong breeze at the top, we made quick work of the trip down. They had a couple food trucks there, so I got a pineapple smoothie, and Dad and Summer got Dole Whip. I ended up getting a free Doll Whip myself when the girl stuck her head out of the truck and offered it to anyone. Nobody else jumped on it, so I was happy to eat it.

It proved tricky to get someone from Charley’s Taxi back out to take us back to the resort, but we finally got a lady out that ended up being our favorite driver yet. She was super affable and informative, and made it a short trip. By the time we got back, Julie had gotten Mom out of the condo and out to the beach. We changed and joined them for a while until I knew we needed to start planning dinner.

Summer and I came back to the room to shower and change, and then we all took a taxi to Phở Bistro 2, which Julie found nearby with good reviews. I had oxtail soup, which was really rich and tasty, but it was weird that it was made with lettuce and rice in it. I’m pretty sure those beans were peanuts, too.

We had trouble getting a taxi again, so we just walked the mile back to the resort. I started sweating pretty furiously with the humidity, and couldn’t stand to wait in line for ice cream or drinks. Summer and I just headed back up to the room where she fell asleep while I took a cold shower to cool off.

I came downstairs for my blogging ritual at the end of the night, and Dad came out of their room with a pair of panties he found in one of the lamps in their room. Julie called the front desk to talk to a manager about it and negotiated a $100 credit on the resort fees, but I don’t really know what I would expect in a situation like that. Gross? Sure, but I don’t know what kind of resolution would really make me happy. I probably wouldn’t expect anything. Now I feel like I have to clean my own mess up so they can clean around me.

What a time to have a place with stairs to get to the bedroom.

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Why Did the Chicken Cross the Terminal?

I woke up at 3:30 this morning so I could have plenty of time to shower and pack up. We made it to the airport in plenty of time, but things got hectic super quickly. After checking our bag, I forgot to get my ID back, and made it all the way to TSA before panicking, completely forgetting that I had just had it out minutes earlier. Fortunately the girl that helped us brought my ID back, but then Summer had a couple oversized bottles of liquids. It would have been different if we hadn’t just flown to Florida earlier this year.

We made it to Houston without any trouble, but did have to huff it a bit to the next flight. If we had known better at the time, we would have chilled out for a while and maybe gotten some food. As we made our way out to the runway, a lightning storm blew in and kept us on the ground for about an hour and a half later than we planned. The pilot made up for it though, and we just barely made our connecting flight in Los Angeles.

That last transition really hurt us, because then we didn’t get any food, the snacks on the flights weren’t very substantial, and we also couldn’t precheck for the COVID requirements. When we finally made it down to Honolulu, we had to wait in an awful line for about half an hour just to get out of the gate.

Julie did great and arranged a taxi for us, so I made the call and made our way out to meet the guy that came out. He took us to Lagoon Tower, where Julie met us at the taxi. We got room keys and made our way up to the penthouse to unload.

Summer and I were starving, and it was dinner time for the others as well, so we went downstairs and out into a tiny, cramped marketplace to find some food. I felt super sweaty due to the heat and humidity after such a grueling flight, which just made me even hangrier. We stopped into an ABC store for a couple things and eventually got our food that had been ready for a while. Evidently the buzzer didn’t work.

We took everything back to the room to eat, and then I took a real shower and crashed.

Because his connecting flight was delayed and he had to be re-routed by the airline!

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Blast from the Past

Summer and I got up and out as quickly as we could this morning. I had to run to the house to swap shoes for comfort, then to my parents’ for some meds, and we were almost ready to leave town. Too hungry to wait, we stopped at Sonic to split a chili cheese coney. Then it was off to Fayetteville. Rogers, more specifically, to meet up with Josue. I hadn’t seen him in so long, so we picked him up for a day around town.

Our first stop was the Rogers Splash for a free wash and detail of the Murano, as a fringe benefit of dating company management. Summer had a blast wandering around and chatting with the employees to see how they did things.

Once we were done there, we drove back to Fayetteville to eat at Sassy’s Red House. The food was decent, but for as much as we ordered, I didn’t really feel overstuffed. From there, it was just a quick jaunt down the road to get to Arcadia Retrocade. Neither of them had ever been, and it had been quite a while since I had gone. We only had a couple hours left before they closed, but it was still well worth the fiver just to wander around through the relics.

Summer probably played the most games, bouncing all around the rooms. Yes, rooms. They expanded to the next room over, approximately doubling their size. They had so many more machines down the long ramp, though not much I recognized. It’s incredible just how many arcade machines were made back in the day. The highlight was probably watching Summer blow out an Atari cartridge so she could kick back with a joystick and play some Pac-Man.

We nearly closed that place down to take Josue back home. Then it was a relatively short drive to wrap up the day. We did stop at Braum’s to share a sundae. It was tough winding down early, but we’ve got a loooooong day ahead of us.

But the dawn is breakin’, it’s early morn’.

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Baggage

I didn’t want to sleep in too late today, so I rolled out of bed once I woke up. I had a COVID test at Walgreens at 1, so I went home to clean up first. The test was a super simple and painless nasal swab, and not even too far up the nose. As soon as I was done there, I had to run to Mark’s to help out a bit. What he needed from me took seconds, and we ended up chatting about school stuff for a while after that.

When I left, there was nobody in the Ridgewood Brothers’ parking lot, so I crossed the street to see how things were going. Grant almost immediately offered me a sandwich, which I couldn’t turn down. I took it back up to Summer’s with me since he didn’t have time to chat, and on the way there I called Josue to see how he was doing.

Summer got back with Autumn from their car show fund raiser shortly after I got in, and then Summer and I went to do some shopping before packing. We went to Leonard’s first to spend a $5 coupon I had. Then we went to TJ Maxx for some cheapish rubbah slippahs. Summer got a neck pillow as well, and I’m not sure any of it was a bargain.

The packing took forever due to my travel anxiety, but I’m pretty sure I got everything. Fortunately we’ll have another day nearby in case something goes horribly wrong.

When we finally got back up to the girls, Autumn was in bed. I warmed up some leftovers for us, and then filled out some travel forms with my negative COVID test. Eaddie and I finished up the night with some House, and then went to bed ourselves.

Forget it, just grab all the sinks.

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Pizza Pie, Piece o’ Cake

Summer took Autumn to school this morning, then had to run by work for a while later. Eaddie and I got up and watched some House. When Summer got back, they went out for lunch and I went home to clean up.

I cleaned up the aquariums a bit, but they’ll need more work tomorrow. The day went by really quickly, and I didn’t get as much accomplished as I wanted. Eventually I got back out and went to get some things from my parents’ house before making it back up to Summer’s.

Autumn’s friend was already there with her dog, and Summer took them on down to The Garage Arcade for Autumn’s birthday. Eaddie and I followed shortly thereafter, stopping to pick up some pizzas along the way.

The kids had a good time, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the arcade selection. It was still neat, but I don’t have a clue how they make rent there. We got home pretty late afterward, and everyone shuffled off to bed pretty quickly.

Now they’re FROZ-N-READY!

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Playing the Game

Today was perfectly short, since we would be getting out early for the end of the year celebration. It wasn’t the usual mandatory district-wide thing that everyone hated though, and instead each building celebrated on their own. That, of course, meant that our department wasn’t celebrating anything at all.

I didn’t accomplish a whole lot of my own stuff today since I was mostly cleaning things up in preparation for being away. We did get our COVID tests scheduled, which was important. Zach, Greg, Ben, and I went to Wendy’s for some pretty slow, below-average service. My Baconator was good though. Then after lunch I went to the high school to take care of some of Mike’s stuff since he’d been out for a couple days. It all ended up being super simple stuff.

I met Autumn right after school and took her to the shop to see Summer, and then I took her home to start some laundry. Once Summer got home with Eaddie, we took them to karate and then went to my parents’ house to clean up some leftovers they had.

When we got back home, Eaddie wanted to watch some House, which carried everyone to bed.

Alright, back up.

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Two Feet Back

Summer surprised me at home as I was getting ready for work. I was thrown off of my autopilot for a while, but I made it in on time. I finally got rid of the iMac this morning as I watched Doge dive some more. I thought my buy order from days ago was set pretty low, but it just kept going lower. It’s probably a good time to just get out. Zach was still in a mood all day. Ben had to go upstairs for an admin meeting to learn more about how you never destroy the ‘establishment’; you simply replace it. If you do take over, you become the establishment.

I took a super late lunch after nobody else wanted to go, so I ordered two feet of sandwich from Subway and ate with Summer. Then I ran by Crawford to take a look at their copier and get a hard copy of the letter Shavon wrote me. The rest of the afternoon was super quiet as things wind down for the year.

I picked up the girls after work, and went home to change. Then I took them straight home, where I tried to start Summer’s car after a week of sitting. I don’t know if the oil or fuel had settled poorly or what, but I rolled the car off of its little hill, hooked it up to mine with some jumper cables, and eventually got the thing started. I almost got completely creamed by someone running a stop sign on the way to see Summer, but I avoided it with some angry honking.

I dropped the car off and we came home for a quick scavenging dinner, and then Eaddie and I watched some House before bed.

One more day, and we’re off early at that!

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Mac Daddy

It’s been rainy all week, but not the bad, floody, muddy kind. Spending last week with Summer has shifted my morning schedule enough that I’ve actually been a few minutes early to work every day. Yesterday was a single big project day, and today proved to be the same. I knew I had to get into the iMac enrollment again in Jamf, so I tinkered with that between being tasked with other things.

Taco John’s had their lobby open for business again, so a bunch of us went there for lunch. Unfortunately the tacos were super chewy and stale, and the salsa bar still wasn’t open. Crunchy tacos and salsa are pretty much the only reason I like eating there.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly, but I think I was successful in getting the Mac enrolled again. It kept its wireless profile and directory binding, so now I just need to figure out the naming script. Kyle came by at the end of the day and asked for some help at Oakland, so we ran over there to look at their AV setup. I let him take off at quitting time, and stayed to chat with Sheri for quite a while after.

When I finally left for home, I called Summer back and chatted with her while I fried up some more rice and ham. Then I got to tinkering with my résumé and a fun cover letter that is anything but serious. I had such a blast that I just kept adding more and more to it. It’s way more fun when you already have a job and don’t really care if you get a different one, and maybe the showing of fun personality traits will actually help somewhere.

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