Now We're Talking,

APEC is Upon Us

Usually when I get back to Waikiki town, I take the route along the beach than spin back to the Ala Wai. Well, that's what I did tonight and Kalakaua Ave. (the main drag) as you enter Waikiki was cordoned off for security reasons I presume. APEC. I surmise there's a little bit of word play on "OPEC." Asian Pacific Economic Countries. Anyways, the barricade detours and shifts the traffic onto Kuhio Ave. Kuhio Ave. is like "middle street." Greater Waikiki has a one-way street running along the beach and a parallel street also one-way in the return direction running along the Ala Wai canal. Kuhio Ave. runs in the middle of the two main streets with two-way traffic. Anyways, Kapiolani Park, at least, the section directly across from the Waikiki Zoo is also off-limits. The soccer moms must be pissed. Or, perhaps the kids practice on another parcel of the park. Dunno for sure. It's just that the street that runs between the zoo and the park is closed to traffic and in the same motion to the parking lot. That's another, dunno for sure. As soon as I got near that section and spotted the barricades from that distance I made an immediate left turn and swung back 180° to Ala Wai Blvd. Oh, I almost forgot, the section of the main drag that's closed that I mentioned in the beginning of the post is where the only service station in Waikiki is located. As in, cannot get gas in Waikiki. Still I think the temporary inconvenience should be tolerated by the residents. No easy feat since Waikiki is the home of the biggest bunch of complainers in the state bar none. They of course represent the vocal minority. Or is it the majority as of this writing? I'm the last local person living here. Hmmm. The stupidity of it is that most of these residents have lived in Waikiki only a few years than in a few more years from now they'll pack up and move to another state and city and start up complaining about this or that as is their M.O. While they were here, they probably never made it down to the beach. Just savored the fact that the live next to Waikiki beach. Now I might rant intermittently. Okay, perhaps, more than intermittently. But that's on a blog. There were many major cities bidding to have the APEC event held in their municipalities. Obama who grew up in Honolulu most probably influenced the decision to hold the APEC summit here. It's not only other cites were in contention, but other pacific rim countries themselves wanted to host the APEC summit. Obama, the President of China, et. al. actually arrive here on Friday or the weekend. That should mean even more street closures. Impromptu kinds.

Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

A more kinder looking Marcia Clark (former LA prosecutor), let's us in on a tactic that's often used by the defense which is that the defense tries to plant in the jurors' minds a "reason to doubt." Note the distinction between the standard "beyond a reasonable doubt" and a "reason to doubt," which in her own words is, "a more elastic almost illusive concept." More simply put, stretching the truth. If the jury is deliberating on a high profile case, their nerves might be so jittery due to the importance of their verdict, live national media coverage and so forth, that they mentally interchange "reason to doubt" with "reasonable doubt" and on cue acquit the defendant. Of course, "all this pales in importance with the doesn't Marcia look better nowadays?"

Sunday Shopping

Oh, like I had nothing better to do tonight than make a run to the store to buy some Brillo Pads. When I'm running low on sundries or for that matter anything else I buy a second batch to stock up as a backup. 2 to 4 more. I don't agree with running out. However, for some reason the low Brillo pads went under the radar. Anyways the store that I went to must have prepared in advance for my grand arrival, as in, Brillo Pads neither, the other brand, were not on the shelf where they normally are any other day of the year between this household item and that household item. Neither were they sold out. Brillo Pads were just well there were no Brillo Pads. Anyways, I'm only so glad that they haven't started playing Xmas music quite yet in the stores. However, stores are beginning to stock Christmas decorations and wrapping paper and thusly the things that are usually stocked on a given aisle are moved elsewhere to make room for the Christmas decorations. It's the season. Just in case it slips my mind, Merry Xmas.

75°-76° All Night Long, Not Too Shabby....

On Locking the Door

I thought about something that I've been doing for years well at least an aspect of it. Before we get to that, conventional wisdom has it that if you lock the dead bolt on your exterior door which can only be locked from the outside then you definitely won't forget your keys providing you had the wherewithal of keeping the house keys in your hand on the way out. That way you'll never lock yourself out. And when I take the elevator downstairs to check my mail in the lobby and plan to be right back, I just lock the door knob and leave the deadbolt unlocked.

However, when you're leaving for the day, is it necessary to also lock the door knob too along with the dead bolt? If people can break through the dead bolt, the less stronger door knob's lock won't keep them out either. What I'm getting at is that when you return home, you have to unlock both locks instead of only the dead bolt. Two locks instead of one. Yeah the same key operates the tumblers on both my door knob's lock and the dead bolt but still it seems like an unnecessary step. The door knob's lock doesn't really provide a second level of security.

Of Apples and Oranges

I was selecting an apple in the fruits and vegetables section in the grocery store and another shopper came by and asked if the apples were guud. Only 99¢ per pound which is the equivalent of paying $2 for gasoline in Hawaii fresh fruit prices. However some kind of off-variety apple that I had never heard off before. To my fellow shopper's good fortune I had done my research. The night before I bought a single apple and had returned to the orchard to pick a bunch of apples from the same tree. The apples passed the taste test, so to speak. So I related the story to the shopper that I had purchased a single apple the night before and it's indeed worth buying, etc. etc. Then to beleaguer the point our shopper asks, "are the reds better?" Meaning the apples with more red skin on  them. Ask Steve Jobs about apples already. Hey, I just divulged some pretty privileged info to you so without saying a word I made my leave. Was the person a product tester for the grocery store? Or, perhaps the grower himself? We'll never know that.

In Hawaii News ....

Two men caught trying to steal downed street light pole.

 The thieves had already cut up the aluminum pole and had the pieces in the bed of their pickup truck when they were arrested at the scene. The state Department of Transportation said the light pole was previously knocked down in a car crash and was sitting on the side of the road until crews could return to the scene and make repairs.

DOT spokesperson said that the pole weighed 150 lbs. He says if the suspects wanted to re-sell the aluminum, they would have received about $70.

Fine Dinning

On my way home I stopped by the Costco in Hawaii Kai, and there wasn't too much of a line at the Costco food booth much to my delight. The food booth at the Honolulu Costco always has a long line any time of the day and that's even with 4 or 5 counters open. What a break. Moreso since I usually just buy the $1.50 Polish hot dog with sauerkraut and won't spend a nickel more. Well, tax is 6¢ but that don't count. This lady carrying her two-year-old at the next counter had place her food order and the counter had closed. Her's would be the final order and they'll call her when things were ready. While she's stepped to the side, the cashier at our counter went, "Can I help you?" The lady explains that they're preparing her order. But the cashier, who I think was overzealous, almost demands that the customer divulge what was ordered so she can check on the order for the customer's sake whom doesn't even mind waiting without the undue badgering puleeze, or what, peril waterboarding.

If you're wondering, I wasn't eavesdropping in on their conversation. It's just that I'm standing right behind them in earshot range. So the customer politely tells Mrs. Over Zealous Cashier what she had ordered, and the cashier goes and checks to see if the order is ready. Sure enough, the order isn't ready just yet, just like the customer said from the get go. And like I was saying, it ain't like there were 500 million people standing in line that service needs to be streamlined to speed things up unless there's a craving for an artificial rush in a bozo cashier's mind who couldn't do a decent rendition of a Jerry Seinfeld food nazi to save her okole on a good day. When everybody else is in a Sunday frame of mind, on a Sunday, no less, it makes you wonder what's going on up there.

For Example

This is after midnight last night on the Ala Wai. Yawn if you like. If you don't know, there's a one-way street between my apartment building and the Ala Wai canal. I hear this couple having an argument or I guess quarreling on the Ala Wai canal side of the street. However I and the neighborhood only get to hear the female's side of the story because apparently the male half of the couple isn't able to squeeze in a word as she summarily berets her significant other. After this goes on for 20-minutes, I look down from my lanai (balcony) and lo and behold, there's only a girl sitting on her bicycle by herself talking to what I assumed was one of those ear pieces or hands-free devices for a cell phone. Apparently, she's berating somebody on the other end of the cellphone connection. Finally after another full 20-minutes, all quiet. Perhaps, the battery ran out. Dunno.

6am Monday

....8am

Gingerbread Man

How long did it take the TSA to think of using a generic representation of the human body in place of explicit naked photos? I never felt at ease with the TSA's repeated reassurance that  the only person that gets to see the security photos or x-rays whatever the label is a lone screener in a backroom, not because I thought that the screener was a pervert, but because things have a way of getting posted on the Internet without expressed permission from the former owner of those things that get posted on the Internet without prior permission. I'm not claiming anybody's okole is better than the next person, but I still would prefer private parts to remain private. With the older explicit photos, the least the TSA nincompoops could have done was blank out the eyes of the person exposed in the security x-ray, but for reasons all to their own, they didn't.

  

  

If it Bleeds, It Leads

It may be only me, but I can't see the media's obsession with replaying the video of  last week's plane crash at the Reno air show over and over again. Oh, it's not an 'air show.' It's was an 'air race.' Big difference. How many Formula One 'races' went from start to finish without a crash? Sure a race car crash on a road track is less tragic then a plane crash into the ground but it's something that is gonna happen. The Reno plane crash stands out since people in the audience were killed but still why replay the video of it so often. The news hosts are usually talking about the latest developments in the same story, but the video footage is the same. Even military precision flying teams experience plane crashes. It's no secret that the vintage airplanes in air races are like 60-years-old it's a testament to the aerial skills of the pilots and the mechanical ability of the ground crew operating on a shoe string budget that there haven't been more disasters. The distinction is that the media never shows accident free air races.

$64,000 Question

I was at the bank yesterday pushing in a wheel barrel of cash to make a deposit when I happened to notice this sign on the wall. What I don't get is the "Sell" and "Buy" quotations. If you "sell," isn't the exchange rate suppose to be lower than the "buy rate?" I mean you buy at the going rate of the foreign currency and sell at a lost so the bank can make a profit for providing the service. In this situation I interpret "buy" as you buying foreign money from the bank, not the bank "buying" back money from you.

Rolling Out the Red Carpet

If you drove through Waikiki lately you probably noticed that they're busy tearing up the sidewalks and installing new slate tiles for the APEC Summit (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) 2 months from now. 21 heads of state and dignitaries from the pacific rim member nations will have something nice to walk on. I don't know if the average citizen will be allowed to share the same sidewalk because of security reasons when presidents and prime ministers are strolling around taking in the T&A (teeths n' buttocks) on the beach. I'm sure every APEC nation wanted the summit to be held in their capital, but thanks is due to local boy, President Obama, who scheduled the event here. Somewhat related, they finish paving the roads in Waikiki town even many of the side streets which is nice.

This is an older section of sidewalk with the same slate tiles. That's after they tore out the previous square tiles and re-tiled the sidewalk with slate.

IMHO, not the best wearing material.

Hawaii Five-O Live Season Premier

I haven't been able to find the full replay of last night's 2-hour coverage of Hawaii Five-O season premier's pomp and ceremonies, but the video clip directly below is from the late news. *It takes almost 5-seconds to load up and appear on this page.

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Hawaii Five-O live video stream from Sunset on the Beach Premier, here. The resolution of the stream isn't da best.

Tuesday's Edition

 I was heading to Makapuu via the scenic coastline route pass Hanauma Bay and this car in front, er the line of cars in front, because of the lead car, driver and passengers probably so preoccupied sight seeing that they failed to notice that they holding up everybody behind. Didn't look like a tourist rental car even. More probably a resident giving mainland friends a guided tour. Well after a while it gets a bit annoying. I mean hey how about pulling over and letting the convoy behind through. Idiot. I usually have a huge tolerance for slow moving traffic as well as waiting in a slow moving line at a checkout counter. I figure you live longer that way. When I reached Sandy Beach I decided to pull over to the side of the road and spot the leader of the pack a lap lead before I continued on my own way. The air was clear and I could see Molokai island (middle right of pic above). If you squint real hard, to the left of Molokai, in the middle of the pic, you'll be able to make out the outline of southern California or is it Maui.

The US Postal Service is making the news again. If you haven't heard there'll be a 120,000 worker layoff. Well, after losing $9 billion so far this year. In addition to being in the red to the tune of something like $8 billion last year, the sentimental value of postal workers have long worn off and if they go the way of the Pony Express so be it. I suppose it wouldn't be the same situation if the economy was up and the rest of the nation was doing well financially. But that's not the reality. If the USPS had the gumption to keep up with the times they could have cornered the deliveries for the Internet marketplace. Virtually everybody orders items from the Internet, but the postal workers were too against having to lug middle-size or hand truck large-size packages instead of the less heavy letters to the mailboxes. Why would they when they get paid the same for what would amounts to less work. Well, now we don't need them. As a cost cutting measure, no more Saturday delivery is in the works. It's also been rumored that mail will be delivered Mon-Wed-Fri instead of the usual 5 days a week schedule.

Last week I paypal-ed $20 to Honolulu Weekly, a weekly alternative newspaper. Honolulu Weekly was about to go belly up and they put out a plea to the public for contributions to keep them in operation. I haven't read an edition for a few years now. The Free paper gets dropped off at random newstands around town. When Honolulu Weekly first got started Honolulu was a 2 major newspaper town, now there's only one major daily. However, Honolulu Weekly doesn't seem to want to keep up with the times either. The eclectic articles that they primarily focus on are not eclectic anymore based on standards of stories that you can get daily doses of on the Internet and are available to read on many personal blogs for that matter. Ever seen the type of topics we post, in muse, in rant, or in rave, on personal blogs get printed in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser or the monthly Honolulu Magazine. Now, meeting a weekly deadline on a consistent basis year after year is not an easy thing to do, and it does demand a genuine passion to hang in there. As a business, there's not much money in it either for the publisher or the motley crew staff. My thoughts are that if Honolulu Weekly does not shift their advertising from print to their webpage, currently their sole revenue generating base because of the weekly's free subscription, Honolulu Weekly will end up obsolete for the same reason that most newspaper went under.

Two Trips

You probably know this for yourself,  but if you didn't, it's a halogen bulb shown a mm less than actual size for my desk lamp. Need I mention a halogen bulb that burnt out. The problem with getting a replacement bulb is that they you have to bring the old bulb in with you to the store otherwise the bulbs all appear the same size on the rack by memory. Then you see the "pin gauge" printed on the package. Different wattage, and I don't mean 60-watts versus 20-watts, but between a 25-watts and a 20-watts have different pin widths.

Ready Mix

I'm glad that I wasn't following behind when this concrete truck tipped over on the freeway today dumping its load of ready mix. The sight of fresh concrete is always nostalgic to me from working in the construction trade. The sight, I say. Troweling the concrete is a totally different fun thing altogether. I sincerely feel for the firefighters shoveling the concrete off the freeway. After a few shovelfuls things tend to get heavier and that's no matter whether the slump is liquidy or on the dry side. Plus, they have to do it before the the concrete starts to set up while the asphalt temperature hovers near 100 degrees. Obviously, this is not the kind of work the firefighters originally signed up for. Asides from concrete spills, I'm seeing a few paint spills left on the roadways around town from contractors that neglected to clean up their masterpieces.

Excerpts

I've never issued an apology for not posting for a while, and well, this won't mark the inaugural day for it either mainly because every time that I've read an apology on another blog myself, I thought the act of posting it was ridiculous. If you want to apology, then impale yourself by sitting on a sharp stick. Now that's an apology in my book. Anything less misses the bullseye. Anyways, I haven't been overly busy in the real world, but in the digital world, I've been my usual participating in a number of forums that I'm a member of. By "member," that ranges from lurkers to multi-daily posters. I'm more of the later. After you multiply numerous posts on the various forums, it's midnight. That's largely due to proof reading and fact checking to pass the scrutiny of peer review as well as the peanut gallery. There's no equivalent to a spell check for the proper nuts and bolts with technical and mechanical topics. You might start off with two forums than overnight the subscriptions multiply in number. Over population.

There's a forum for every type of subject and its subcategories to satisfy the needs of all stripes of aficionados and enthusiasts. Dyson® vacuum cleaners as a random example. Car stereos aka boom boxes. How to sit on sharp sticks. Just checking if you were paying attention. If you have an interest, perhaps you should share your knowledge and experience with the forum members. More often than not they'll walk you through things and nuances that you weren't even aware existed on the particular topic. What this has to do with the price of tea is that if I compiled all the text I've written on my itinerary of forums per week it would amount to five times the things I wrote here on a good week.

Was it on another blog or on mines? I forget already, but we were discussing the rightful frequency of posting. Weekly? Five days a week? Every day for the next 20-years. Now, that's a worthy goal. I've been blogging daily for the past 19-years and 10-months, just 2-months left to go. Just talking to myself. Moving on, directly below is a photo I plagiarized from a blog that I use to follow which started in 1998. All text those days. I think I started reading it in 2000. I don't visit the blog much anymore because the author has written several science fiction books, successful at that, and all he talks about is the world of science fiction, which is not my cup of tea. Oh, the author won't miss me very much, since he receives 70,000 unique readers per day. In any event, I think his writing is easy to read, excerpt below, even for a seemingly mundane subject matter.

In case you ever wondered what a walnut fruit looks like before it’s husked, shelled and turned into pies and such, here you go. This picture is from a young tree in our backyard that is producing fruit for the first time and as such I was deeply confused as to what sort of thing it might be, but as it turns out the Internets had the answer. Oh, Internets. You always have everything.

And lest you think that having thousands of visitors and a hundred comments per day is all there is to a popular blog ....

The site has also been around long enough that it has its own community of people, evident in the comments section, where there is (as Mad magazine would put it) “the usual gang of idiots” who talk amongst each other on a usual basis. The composition of that gang changes slowly over the years — people come and go, depending on their own interests, time commitments and whether I’ve pissed them off sufficiently that they decide to stop talking to me and others — but overall there’s a day-to-day consistency which for me as the proprietor is both nice and useful.

As I’ve also noted before, maintaining the site turns out to be a lot of work, and there are days when.... Running a site that gets as many visitors as this site does turns out to be an actual job, whether it was originally meant to be or not. But what I get in return is usually worth it. So this remains the place I am most online, and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Then there is a former chef living in Paris. I don't even delve in the finer points of gastronomy. However, I like his insightful quips on french WTF's, er, "Why The French...." do this, "Why The French...." do that. There are better examples, but these were from recent posts.

When I moved to France, one of the first things a friend said to me was “David, you need to get a good tire-bouchon.” Seeing as an unusually large number of wine bottles were being opened on a regular basis all around me, and seeing the recycling bin on my street was constantly overflowing, it seemed he was right: one does need a decent tire-bouchon (cork-puller) if one is going to live in France.

I was recently conversing with someone about what stuns French people when they come to the United States. Supermarkets are always interesting places to go; last time I took Romain to one in Florida, he came out and said “Pas de stress!” (no stress) because shopping in a French supermarket can be an exercise in frustration. (Which is putting it mildly.)