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

It’s here, and as usual I don’t care.  I am about as patriotic as the next person, but isn’t Memorial Day for that?

My wife (Dr. Malia) and I are chillin’ like villians and I could use a day off, but we really are hoping that there are some stores open when we go to run errands.  It has been a good year.  I guess this is the half way point isn’t it?

I have so much to be grateful for.  I live in Hawaii.  I now have a fantastic job.  I am slowly getting used to the fact that I now work 40 hours at an office rather than from home.  Give me a little more time on that.  The job will really reward me for the skills I have been developing over the years and I am a bit surprised still that it all came about. 

I am in sales at Your EZ to Use Island Pages, an independent directory here in Hawaii.  We are part of a huge company, Ogden Directories that runs many newspapers and telephone directories and even owns the Pittsburgh Pirates.  (I know, I know, I wouldn’t brag TOO much about the Pirates’ season, but it’s a small fraternity of people that are Major League Baseball team owners.)   Who do ya know that needs Yellow Pages advertising? 

I have my Zrii business, and I am ratcheting it down just a bit.  My wife and I are healthier because of this tremendous liquid nutritional and I get a check.  I will still make calls but the bulk of my non 40 hour work time THIS weekend is aimed at my new job. 

Zrii = http://www.rickemmerich.myzrii.com

My Holy Tea business is chugging along.  I am in profit and I have lost 20 lbs since last Christmas.  People are getting healthier becasue of it.  That’s a win-win, so adding in a bit of profit is gravy.  www.holyteaclub/rickemmerich

I have a new business that I feel is going to be a very timely operation.  Xziex makes water from the air, or atmosphere.  Just think about that for a minute. 

Anyone who lives in an area that has problems producing water from their aquifers, or wonders about its quality, read on.  Anyone who is concerned about the health hazards that come from posioned water, or who is concerned about terrorists targeting our water, pay attention.  If you think that we put FAR too many plastic bottles from the bottled water we drink into the landfills, this may be for you.  If you question the quality of tap water that is ‘purified’ by bottlers, like I do….check this out.  (I think I covered everyone there.)

Xziex = www.rickemmerich.myxziex.com

Thank God I am writing this today.  My life took a left turn about 4 years ago and in 6 weeks I will celebrate the 4 year anniversay of my heart attack.  Yes you read that correctly.  Thank God I had a heart attack.  You can read more about it at this blog site.  http://rickemmerich.com   I will be a part of a book that we expect to publish early next year.  It is Thank God I Had A Heart Attack.   Right now the first book of the series is out.   Thank God I…   To pick up a copy, go to http://thankgodi.com/?idAff=4

The real reason that I am NOT that excited today is that I am not a huge fan of fireworks-never have been.  My wife and I have two cats.  They like them even less.  So we may have to bundle them up and head to her office where they will not have to hear the noises that remind us all of ‘the bombs bursting in air.’  What good did those bombs bursting in air do anyway?  

I love these guys.  I really had thought they were a side show.  Not the big lumbering elephants parading around the ring (American) or the fierce tigers (Continental), but the clowns on their unicycles in the big circus.  That was fun, wasn’t it?

Then I flew the brand new Jet Blue plane.  Pilots Jeff and Lance, (one of them looked like a daytime soap actor, the other, not really) flew the A320 I believe, masterfully into SLC.

I then had a rollicking 4 days at the Zrii Launch convention, and came back to the airport for what I figured would be a quiet and relaxing flight back to Long Beach.  On the last day, I had found a check that I turned in.  The people were so glad that they gave me a hand made bust of Jesus, or Joseph Smith.  Since I am a Christian, I have named him JC.

But what was important at that moment was me trying to cram JC (bless his heart) into my luggage to get onto the plane.  The very nice people at the uncrowded ticketing area were very patient and understanding.  They allowed me to check my attache case.  That at least delayed the problem that I would have getting onto the other carrier’s flight at LAX, the next day.  I won’t mention names, but let’s call THEM Water Buffalo.

As I got on the plane I was met with enthusiastic smiles and more of the great attitude I now expect on Jet Blue.

I settled in and got a window seat.  That would prove somewhat profitable as I got some mountain shots on my camera out the window.  It’s a shame to be in a place for 4 1/2 days and not even get a decent look at the Wasatch Mountain Range.  Heck I wouldn’t even know THAT name if I hadn’t been there before.  You know what I mean don’t you, business travelers?

It was an uneventful trip back (which on airlines is good).  Did I mention the great Customer Service and the smiling crew members?  As we deplaned, I slipped through the tiny airport quickly, grabbed my case and waited for my ride.

I would not say that there is a new sheriff in town necessarily, but Jet Blue has zoomed to the top of my short-hop choices.  They assured me that those planes could NOT hold enough fuel to take us over the big pond to our rock in the middle of the Pacific.  

That’s too bad.  Some of THOSE endangered species are now extinct.  Since I got hung up on the animals, I will proclaim the Jet Blue JAGUAR of the airline animals.  (Thanks for getting me to Hawaii, water buffalo.)