Health, Wealth and Happiness

I watched this morbidly obese guy with no helmut riding a rather small moped down Kapahulu today.  Oh yeah, he was talking on a cell phone.  I thought it was sadly funny.

Hawaii is different from what we call the mainland.  Many things are different.

Weather.  We only have one kind.  It’s ‘nice’.  It’s either really nice, or nice.  Sometimes it rains hard.  So what.  It is still warm out.  Anyway the air is different here.  It’s nice too.

You don’t see semis on the roads.  Once in a while you will see a big truck, but it is rare.

No billboards.  I think that’s cool.  There is actually some group or society to keep billboards out.  You can’t just sneak ‘em in in the middle of the night either…..

It’s OK here (and only here) to ride around in the back of trucks.  No seats, no seat-belts of course, and no safety.  Some states seem to allow dogs (also unsafe) but here we compromise the safety of people too.  The deal does not even get mentioned-ever.  You can tell the seasoned back-of-the-truck people.  They have this smug, defiant "I’m not comfortable, but I won’t let on no matter what" look.

You’d think perhaps that it was because of the great numbers of underpaid farm workers, but no.  As more and more subdivisons gobble up the available farmland on Oahu, we see that it is for all types of people.  Young, old, even kids on dates…..

No pro sports teams play here.  Bummer.  I mean the Lakers practice here for about a month, but that’s as close as it gets.  No one seems to mind.  We DO have the Pro Bowl, for at least one more year.

Anyway there are too many differences to tell in just one blog,     Rick Emmerich

As I walked out of the terminal, I realized that this was old-school flying.  I was going to have to walk up the stairs just like they did in the old movies, which was in character with this tiny airport.  TGNR  Thank God no rain.  As I went up the stairs I admired the brand new tires, and the shiny plane from the outside.  As an airport worker with a safety vest on was scurrying  around underneath the plane, I joked that everything checked out.  He chuckled and seemed like a pleasant guy.

As I went to my seat, I noticed that I COULD ask the aisle guy to move so that I could take my window seat, OR take the window of the exit row ahead of him.  Guess what I did?  Yep, got the exit row.  All of the crew was very upbeat, almost as if they loved their jobs.  I was told that I was in fact in an exit row, and could I perform the necessary procedures?

I laughed at the idea of a water landing, from Long Beach to Salt Lake City (SLC).  I was transfixed by the view of the brand new blue engine out my window.  When I asked, the gentleman told me that the plane was 13 days old (young).  Brandy New!

As we were informed of the proper procedures, I ignored them as always.  As we were getting ready to get ready to take off, I heard from the captains mike, "Buehler,   Buehler,   Buehler"  I heard some other chuckles, these guys just like to have fun.

The take off was prefect and we gradually climbed, leaving the LA area.  I kept staring at the blue engine as it shined when the sun hit it.  Did I mention I LOVE half full flights?  I know that JetBlue doesn’t like them as much as I do.

Each seat has its own TV, wow.  I did NOT get the headsets, and I planned to get some work done on the short hop to SLC.  Unable to ignore the TV, I was forced to endure 15 minutes straight of Martha Stewart.  When did she get out of jail?

OK, back to staring out the window.  It seemed like every 15 minutes there was another body of water.  I didn’t have a map. so I would only be guessing which ones they were.  At the beginiong of the flight they said "in the event of a water landing…." and I laughed.  I figured there was a better chance of Jet Blue buying Continental then us doing a water landing, but you never know.

I was given my drink and some cashews which I liked and got more.  They had other choices, and I REALLY liked that I did not get those teeny packages of pretzels this time.  I enjoyed the upbeat attitude of the crew.

Anyway, the descent into SLC was smooth and following some braking on the runway we were taxiing over to the terminal.

As we exited the plane following the great photo oppportunity, I felt they were sincere in offering up the pleasantries.

Thanks Jet Blue! 

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I’ll admit, I did not think Obama was for real, about three months ago.  I watched him at the time he campaigned with Oprah and felt, he’s overmatched with HER.  If she were the VP cnadidate, and Oprah herself the presidential option, now that would be something.

Then, when I wasn’t watching, he matured or grew.

I heard from my sister and bro-in-law from South Carolina who really burned the candle at both ends helping him out in the primary.  They mentioned words like passion, caring, intelligence.

There’s always the issue of abortion for me, but I can’t deny his smarts. his charisma, his charm, confidence and he doesn’t seem afraid of Mrs. Clinton or that Republican guy.

I’m wondering how this last group of important primary states will shake out.  Well, last night, my wife and I did our civic duty and voted in the Primary.  It was interesting and sure took a long time for us to wind our way up to the front in line.  When we got there we saw an old firend, and our landlord.  (Not the same guy.)

Through the line experience we shared with people who and why.  All of our little group was voting for Obama, and I kidded my wife that she had made her decision becuase she and Obama both went to Punahou School, though at different times.

The general consensus was that he was for REAL change (we’ve had 24 years of Bush and Clinton family members, and how has THAT worked for us?)  Also he is very intelligent, refreshing and now really appears strong.

I mentioned that at first my Obama vote was really an anti-Hillary vote, and we laughed.  She reminds me of the Lord of the Rings.  In the movie, the elf-queen Galladriel predicts the horror of how she would appear if Frodo would give her the ONE ring of power.  He was quite shocked, and I think Hillary’s anger and strength will would actually work against her.

I understand that all the candidates have a temper and there are times that that comes out.

It seems that Obama is appearing more, well, presidential these days.  He seems like a confident leader that is ready to take on the world.  He doesn’t seem like that guy that fumbled a little when he shared the stage with the Oprah.  Of course, it won’t be easy.

How about if he says “I’m giving you all a car!”  That’s a heck of a lot better than the chicken in every pot promise.  And not bad for Detroit, either.  

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I’m probably gonna hear about this, but Speak English already!

I get it, the land of opportunity, the melting pot, bring us your tired, your down-trodden.  I would be fighting to get across the Rio Grande if I were in that situation too.

You know, I can order food when in Mexico, sorta.  I can find the bathroom.  Heck, if I lived THERE, I would speak the language.

The deal is, I was at the unemployment office the other day.  First of all, the group that came in didn’t seem to speak our language.  We Americans are giving them money for not working.  No problem, that’s how it works.  If you’re eligible, get some money.  But is it too much to ask to have you speak our language when you are in the office where they cut the checks?  c’mon.

Then, about 5 minutes later, they had to call an interpreter to conduct another interview.  I mean the fact that they HAD a person that happened to speak Yabba Dabba do is amazing.  OK, I know.  It was some important language,  blah, blah, blah.  No disrespect meant, but it sounded like yabba dabba do.

Then, I happened to stop into a McDonalds.  This was before my wife and I watched  Super-Size Me.  So what’s more American than McDonalds, or Chevy or good old apple Pie?  They have Haupia pie here in Hawaii, which is another name for coconut, I think.

Anyhoo, the small person that took my order did not speak (much) English.  These kids, from other lands are taught just enough to take an order.  You go off the script, forget it.  I love to joke with the help, and hopefully make them laugh or at least chuckle.

Nope, no more of that.  No jokes, no playful banter, and certainly no questions about trans fats.

Not that long ago, I was working in a place that thankfully, I will never have to work in again.  Enough said about that.  Anyway, all of a sudden one day, a group of people showed up to picket.  They were trying hard to do things to dissuade people from doing business with me.  Trying to hurt my income.

Turns out, they don’t have a beef with my company, or the company that we are directly associated with.  These people have a gripe with a company that our two companies assciated or partnered with. THAT company took over management of a hotel, and put a bunch of these people out of work.  Sorry folks, but new managers and owners do that.  They get to.

So I went to confront a couple of the picketers, they were almost in my lap anyway.  They just stared back at me and would not talk.  Why?  They don’t speak English.  Hello, or is it Ola or something else.  Anyway, can’t you learn the language before you go picketing, trying to hurt the performance of other workers?

I guess they could go and work at McDonalds anyway….

I intend to solve my issue with this situation by avoiding BOTH of these establishments, and that employer…I hope I don’t run out of material to talk about….in English.