Brief Hawaii thoughts

It's been a few days since we flew back from Oahu, and my brain is still on vacation. I guess I left it in paradise, as well as a few square inches of skin off my right knee (from getting pounded into the sand by a monster North Shore wave while we were bodysurfing - we never did get the hang of diving straight into an oncoming wave rather than running away from it). Still, had a blast during my first visit to Hawaii. Chris and Karen have done an excellent job recapping the events of the trip, so I won't bother rewriting the events/activities/food excursions here. Check out their posts at the following links:

Chris' recaps:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5 part 1
Day 5 part 2

Chris' smugmug (all 1143 pictures consolidated by everyone on the trip)

Karen's recap

My highlights, in no particular order:

- powered hang-gliding - as a fan of pilots and flying for years, it was quite the thrill being able to take the controls and fly the thing myself
- bodysurfing - I even saw a turtle!
- the hotel room - gorgeous view from the 25th floor. Marvelous to wake up to, to have as a background while reading the Word, to just sit and look out at a clear blue sky and blue water. I recall sitting on the balcony looking at the skyline and wondering how pristine it must have looked like when the first people to colonize the islands arrived
- North Shore in general - much less developed than Honolulu/Waikiki
- visiting Pearl Harbor - I've been on the USS Missouri in the past when it visited California, but being a military buff, it's always fun for me to see things in real life that I'm reading about in Tom Clancy novels
- high-end Japanese buffet at Makino Chaya's - so painfully full
- Alan Wong's - the priciest meal I've ever had... and I'd have to say it was worth it
- plate lunch from Rainbow Drive-In (Express) - Portuguese sausage with eggs over easy on top of rice... good stuff

It would have been nice to:

- go snorkeling
- go kayaking
- go boogie boarding
- listen to live Hawaiian music with cocktails and a sunset in the background
- spend more time hanging out in the room with folks (we pretty much conked out or did our own thing at nights)

Maybe next time...

A hui hou, Ka Huaka`i Maika`i!

See here for translation.

Countdown...

[10:50:03 AM] Alex: you're on the Hawaii team, no?
[10:50:22 AM] Bob: yup
[10:50:31 AM] Alex: heheh
[10:50:32 AM] Alex: ready?
[10:51:36 AM] Bob: nope
[10:51:39 AM] Bob: well
[10:51:45 AM] Bob: no -> prepared
[10:51:49 AM] Bob: yes -> to go
[10:56:02 AM] Alex: hahahah
[10:56:10 AM] Alex: just bring some underwear and you're set
[10:56:10 AM] Alex: hahaha
[10:56:15 AM] Bob: and a credit card
[10:56:22 AM] Bob: that could totally be a commercial
[10:56:23 AM] Alex: yup. and some cash
[10:56:34 AM] Alex: you can buy all your stuff at the swap meet
[10:56:36 AM] Alex: seriously
[10:56:37 AM] Alex: hahahha
[10:56:38 AM] Bob: "I'm here in Hawaii with nothing but underwear and my Mastercard. Let's see if I can have some fun!"
[10:56:45 AM] Alex: hahahaha
[10:56:51 AM] Alex: dooo eeet....

Debt

Did you vote today? I'm sporting my "I voted Touchscreen!" sticker.

I noticed that there were several propositions that involve selling bonds in order to finance a particular initiative (cleaning up schools or making them safer, environmental research, and the like) and got to thinking... putting aside whether the causes themselves are valid or not, it seemed that the proposal for several of the propositions was to basically go into debt in order to fund the cause .

When, if ever, is it worthwhile to go into debt in order to meet a goal or a need? On the one hand, sometimes you do need to borrow to meet an immediate need. Sometimes, the end is perceived to be worthwhile enough to go into debt for (such as buying a house).

What about on a more personal level? How much can I "borrow" against what I know to be my own finite level of personal resources (energy, time, mental cycles) without being too adversely affected? What types of things should I extend myself in?

The ultimate plus-minus, revisited

About a year and a half ago, I wrote this post about my uncanny ability to jinx my teams when watching them play live - no matter how good (Spurs, Cal) or bad (everyone else) they might be overall, when I watched, they would make dumb mistakes, the other team would play above their real level of ability, and my spirits would be stamped down by the unending bad luck.

Some people don't believe my persecution complex (hello Karen!) but to add more evidence, this past weekend in an otherwise strong 38-24 victory for Cal football over UCLA (boxscore here), the game was on in the other room, but I purposefully stayed away and puttered around on my computer for most of the game... except for a few possessions:

Bruins TD Chris Markey rushed up the middle for 70 yard gain (Justin Medlock made PAT)

Bruins TD Chane Moline rushed up the middle for 1 yard gain (Justin Medlock made PAT)

I did get to see the Cal field goal, so I guess the plus/minus for my viewing time overall was just -11. Sigh. I also watched almost all of the season-opening Tennessee game. I should probably avoid watching the USC game in two Saturdays as well as the Rose Bowl, huh?

Speaking of the USC game... can't wait to get away to Hawaii. Mike P is trying to convince me to spend ~$400 to get scuba-certified. While I like swimming all right, I'm quite afraid of sharks (and death/dismemberment underwater in general), so I'm wondering whether to sign up. It would make for a rather cool story to tell and skill to have.

Wednesday funnies

Couple of chuckles to get you through the middle of the week...

Now that's deadpan
Starting out this post:

Like the marginal American Christians we are, we and our friends and all our marginally Christian offspring walked house to house in our neighborhood last night, paying tribute to the Prince of Darkness and all his minions. Apparently we'll do anything for candy.

Math brilliance





Caption contest
"Um... just keep reading the teleprompter, just keep reading, find razor to shave my mustache off at the commercial..."



He picked who?

Edited to add this little nugget, from Saturday's fantasy draft (only NBA hoopheads will get this one, probably):

[Team Owner A] drafts Shawne Williams (Ind)
[Blindmen] ...
[Team Owner A] oh crap
[Team Owner A] drafts Shelden Williams (Atl)