Homespun Honolulu

In this case, we’re taking from Jones to pay Frazier! Apparently, while the University has agreed to buy out Herman Frazier’s contract for $312,510, the University is also nailing June Jones for $400,000 for leaving before his contract was up. Some even used the word “defected.” That’s a pretty strong word. Whatever, I have no problem with either end of this monetary circus. Just do it and get it over with.

So, the Jones money will go to pay for the Frazier contract. After that is taken care of, the University will still have a few dollars left over from the whole fiasco! They can use that to pay for… um… soap for the athletes? A new roof for the leaking library? Other repairs/restorations that have been put on hold for who knows how long? How many millions of dollars will be coming from the Sugar Bowl?  Whoa da shame dis kine!

I don’t know what the priorities will be, or what the University plans to do first, but whatever it is, just fix it! I’m not trying to be flippant — I’m an alumni and it’s getting embarrassing. How could things have been left in such a state of disrepair for so long?  This is not the school that my parents were so proud of and it’s not the same place I went to school.  It was old, yes, but it wasn’t dilapidated!   As the University celebrates its centennial, as much as I hate to say it, it’s a pretty tarnished celebration.

Let’s see, and the State of Hawaii has done what exactly, to help with these much-needed repairs? Nothing? Oh, that’s right, Lingle’s not an alumnus is she? Tsk, tsk, tsk, oh well. Okay, now I’m being flippant, but justifiably so.

I’m glad this has all come to light because, now that we’re aware of it, we can continue to harp on things until they’re taken care of. The public schools are bad enough, but this is truly embarrassing for a college-level, educational facility! I’m certainly not going to tag this article as “sports” because it’s anything but.

The University of Hawaii Warriors have an undefeated season!

When I was in high school, I went to every football game. I was lucky — that was a time when Waianae High School was THE team to beat in the OIA (Oahu Interscholastic Association). I know I’m dating myself a little with this, but that’s okay. It was fun and some of us took it very seriously. I remember one Homecoming game when Waianae played Pearl City. Pearl City almost won. I never screamed so loud in all my life. We won. I’m sure my volume must have helped carry that extra point over that goal post!

I went straight to the University of Hawaii after graduation to continue my education, but sports weren’t part of the agenda anymore. For me, with the exception of having my ear set to news about Jason Elam, I’ve lost touch with the sports at my old educational institutions… UNTIL NOW!

This year, all of the media hype and the need to keep up with reader interest got me watching again. It felt like old times… sort of. I could watch “my” team on TV, and get excited for them and mad at the refs (and ESPN sportscasters)… you know, all the good stuff! I even found myself holding my breath while watching recorded games for the second time. This Warrior team has done something for me that no other team has ever done… they’ve actually made re-runs something good to watch!

Guess what?!? Somehow… my husband got his hands on a pair of tickets! On the 50-yard line! For the game with the Senior Walk! OMG! Okay, on the wrong side of the field, but who cares?!? I was there! I saw them up close and personal. I got to scream my head off again, just like I used to! They’re so awesome, they didn’t need any help from my vocals! They got some, but, as it turned out, they didn’t need it!

… SCREECH!

The Warriors, however, did not get as much from my vocals as I wanted them to. Our seats were great, but they were too great. We were too close and the Washington players and the ESPN film truck made us have to stand up to see. That would have been fine except for the pregnant woman behind us who asked us to sit down because she was pregnant and couldn’t stand up.

We couldn’t see and we couldn’t see the replay screen either because everyone else was standing up… because they couldn’t see! We finally gave up and left. We went home.

All was not lost, they came from being behind by three touchdowns to taking us down to the last seconds of the game. With only 44 seconds left in the game I was still screaming at the TV, “No, no, no!” I ended up screaming in my living room. It would have been slightly better at Vineyard Zippy’s where at least someone would have gotten the benefit of my screaming… but, we stayed at home.

Overpriced tickets, taxi fare, because the parking was full three hours before kick off, and we watched the game from home. Auwe! (Hawaiian for “Oh my!” or “Oh dear!” or “Alas!”) Auwe to Aloha Stadium for not making arrangements for people in those seats, and auwe to ESPN for not figuring out a better way to get their footage without hampering the ability of spectators to enjoy the game that they paid so dearly to see. The only thing in their favor was that they were not on the side of the home team. There was a little girl behind me who was heart broken and screaming even more than I was.

Of course all of this whining turns this post (one that I was so looking forward to writing) into a “Honolulu Rant” and it has been tagged as such.

Okay, aside from the idiotic stadium gaffes and a double auwe for ESPN whose time was too precious to keep filming long enough for us to see the Senior Walk, the game was exciting, tense and one heck of a game! I now get to lean on our local media darlings to please, please have the Senior Walk on tape so we will be able to see it! KGMB’s news room says they will show clips of it on the June Jones show tomorrow (Sunday) and on their news at 5 and 10:00 tomorrow evening.

I was so looking forward to that part of tonight’s festivities but it was not to be for us, not this time. But, that’s okay… my alma mater won! They should be receiving an invitation to a BCS bowl game. The announcement about the BCS bowl game will be made tomorrow at 3:00 at the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

As I’m typing this I can hear people who also must have been watching the game at home… they are setting off fireworks! Honolulu is one very happy place right now! We’re all so proud of these young men and the University so needed a generous addition to their income stream!

After All That, Sharing This Next Tidbit is Even More Gratifying!

Another thing I’ve grown to love is the personality of the Leahey and Leahey show! Jim and Kanoa Leahey are, together or apart, a lot of fun and I think they make a cute father and son team. Jim Leahey was on my wave length the other night with his “poem” at the end of their show on PBS last Wednesday and he called it a bachi poem (bachi is a Japanese word and is used kind of as a slang in this context to mean something similar to “what goes around, comes around”). He read his “Bachi Poem” where he said snickered,

It’s eleven down and one to go
Then it’s just lining up for the big show
The school receiving millions in spendable dough
While National attention continues to grow
Brennan is magic with every long throw
BCS pundits are dining on crow
Receivers remain cat quick, never slow
The defense has grown stalwart as we all know
So bring on the Huskies and any sled they tow
Let the rains come and the winds blow
Let the game have its usual ebb and flow
Chances are good, in the end, Hawaii is 12 and O.

Ha! Now I can laugh even harder! Congratulations to you, UH Warriors, and a huge mahalo to all of you for a very exciting and terrifying game! We have to thank the Washington Huskies as well for being a formidable opponent — it was they who made it terrifying!

The biggest mahalo is for our Warrior team, Coach June Jones included, for their shining example of teamwork and fraternal cohesion! I’m still touched and amazed at the degree of limelight sharing that goes on over there. I don’t know if I’m more proud of their winning record or their comradeship manner of accomplishing their wonderful season that is, “in the end, 12 and O!”

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Checking back on this one! It’s 3:20 on Sunday afternoon and the announcement has just been made. The Warriors are going, baby! They are going to a BCS bowl game! Woo hoo! The University of Hawaii Warriors are going to New Orleans to play the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2008. What a great way to start the New Year!

You guys have got to be kidding me?!? How long do we let this asininity continue? At what point do we put the brakes on and stop this nonsense?

So, now we’re going to demand a study on an already-existing process that transports life-sustaining water from one end of Molokai to the other? Did I miss the State-wide, governmental brain tumor? Or, is it a virus that has moved from the Department of Transportation over to the Attorney General’s office?!?

Molokai Ranch transports water (drinking water) to the West end of the island, i.e. from one end of Molokai to the other. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, referring to this as Superferry Fallout, reported today that a contract with Molokai Ranch will not be renewed, and that over one million gallons of water a day should not be transported to the opposite side of the island until an environmental study is completed.

“The ranch is the main provider of drinking water to western Molokai.”

What?  I repeat, “You’ve got to be frickin’ kidding me?!?” Enough is enough! Just get the EIS(’s) started and let the businesses continue (Superferry included) until the studies are complete. If the studies show problems, then stop the corresponding vessels from running.

Everyone knew before any of this started that we have endangered species in our waterways. The study should have been the first thing to be set in motion before making promises to an incoming line of business! Now Molokai Ranch is to be impacted too? Molokai Ranch has been doing what they’re doing for years. Suddenly they will be made to stop because the Courts have made a decision about an unrelated topic?

The State let all of this go this far; now the State needs to support the businesses that have either spent a huge amount of money based on faulty information (that the State provided), or rendered essential services to residents for a long time. These are businesses that have either had the rug pulled out from under them, or are about to.

It would also be nice to get island residents away from being at each other’s throats! Stop it! Just do it! Nobody else asks before they make decisions for the rest of us.

If I was a business coming to Hawaii to set up shop, you can bet I would come with attorney in tow. Count on it!  Any new business should get it in writing that it won’t be told to shut down after sinking time and money into setting up shop! Come on Governor, draw the line and make it stop!

I had so hoped for a better update to this story I wrote a while back but, so far, not so good. I even sent the link to their head office. Apparently they don’t think it’s important enough.

I was on my way in to get some medication and look what we have here.  Now, if he was there to pick up a patient I would have been cool and that, while still irritating, would have at least been understandable, but, he was kicking back and reading the frickin’ newspaper!

I couldn’t even make it to the door before my blood started boiling. I whipped around, grabbed my camera and had a rage fest of picture taking. Now everyone can see just how ugly this situation is!

Gratified after getting my photo evidence of this continuing atrocity, I went in to get the medicine and continued to bitch to the people behind the counter. It’s not their fault and it’s not their doing, but they are the sounding board. The nice young man behind the counter said, “oh, those stalls are reserved for them.”

“I know they are,” I responded, “THAT is the problem!”

By the time I got back outside, the cars of other Kaiser clients were still trying to untangle themselves in the tiny space (no, my car is not there) and the taxi was gone. Guilt! Of course, peeking at me from over his newspaper while I was taking his picture couldn’t have been very comfortable. He was reading the classified section… maybe he was looking for another job. Good idea!

What’s the update? No change. As I was leaving another car was beeping at me because he was trying to turn in to join this picture — a good-size SUV too! I bet he parked in the stalls marked for the taxis. I hope so. I left, still breathing hard and trying not to let it turn into road rage.

Hawaii’s Governor, Linda Lingle, is not on my you-know-what list of people that have said or done something to make me angry. In fact, in her case, it’s just the opposite. I have agreed with most of what she has done or said. I think she’s a pretty darn good governor.

Now, last night I was watching the rerun of yesterday’s episode of Oprah. I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but Oprah has taken over the job description of E.F. Hutton, i.e. when she talks, people listen. That’s why so many spam emails mention her as they think it adds weight to their message.

Anyway, Oprah’s show was all about the young women who have babies and abandon them immediately after birth. Apparently there is a law on the books in 47 of our 50 states called the Safe Haven law. This law says that a child can be dropped off, within the first 72 hours after its birth, at any of the locations designated in the law and the person leaving the child can turn around and walk away — no questions asked. I didn’t know about this and apparently there aren’t many people who do. But, Oprah had it on her show so now everybody knows!

Wait a minute… who are the three states without that law? Nebraska, Alaska and, oh dammit, Hawaii. The worst part of this is that one of Lingle’s “advisors” told Ron Mizutani of KHON Channel 2 News that the Department of Human Services reports that there are no incidents in the state of Hawaii according to their records — of children being left on door steps and dumpsters and bathrooms. So that means it doesn’t happen? That means we don’t need this law? That means we don’t need to try to protect the children of confused and/or disturbed parents?

What an idiotic thing to say! The Department of Human Services has nothing to report because the babies that are being abandoned around here are found dead or dead and buried in shallow graves. No record? Check with the media, they have records that they are more than willing to share with the rest of the residents! Hello?!? Talk about frustrating!

Yes, many of the babies born here are taken care of by the relatives of the biological mother, but NOT ALL! To lose even one baby because a terrified young woman sees no alternative is enough of a reason, in my opinion, to sign that Bill into Law! There are so many people who would love to adopt a child like this. I know, you’re going to say — that nobody will adopt a child if it’s a drug baby. That may or may not be true, but a child like that is taken away from the birth mother by CPS (Child Protective Services) anyway so what’s the difference?

So, what’s my problem? Why am I writing a Honolulu Rant? Because Governor Lingle has vetoed this law once before and the feeling I’m getting from what I’ve read is that she will do so again. I don’t get it. It’s not just protecting the newly born babies, it’s protecting the young girls that are having them who are babies themselves. Sorry, I see this decision as a no-brainer. Just sign the frickin’ thing!

Or I at least hate needing it! Money should have been a four-letter word! I know we all need it but all it seems to do is get us into trouble! It gets individuals in trouble, it gets politicians in trouble, and it gets businesses in trouble.

We all go through periods in our lives or the life of our business when things just get messed up. Stuff like this can happen. It happens either because the decisions made were not always the best ones, because you’ve lost your job, because you’ve lost your spouse, or just because you’ve temporarily lost your mind.

When it’s time to return to some kind of normalcy with your personal or business finances, consolidation loans are a miracle come true. For some. The problem is that some of these loans do more harm than good.

A borrower may want to borrow money that in reality they cannot safely pay back and risk-taking lenders, like New Century Financial, irresponsibly lend money to people who will never be able to pay them back.

The buzz is out there about problems with sub-prime lenders. I have heard it on the Internet, I have heard it from bloggers whose opinions I respect, and I have seen it in hard-copy publications like Financial Week. It shook me. It does that when drama impacts your own backyard!

Home123, a subsidiary (or something like that) of New Century Financial, has a Honolulu office. They do what any other lender does. They review your request, they review your financial situation, and then they review their ability to assist you with your needs.

New Century’s problem is with those offices that don’t see the big picture. They don’t assess the borrowers ability to pay, they don’t pay attention to the company’s regulations, and their only focus is their commission.

I’m not as caustic about it as my blogger friend, Sauer Kraut, but the extent of the damage and the impact it has already had is far-reaching! It even has the investment managers biting their nails over mortgage-backed securities and it’s giving them second thoughts about investing client monies in these things!

New Century called me the other day to remind me about my payment — not because I was late, but because it was almost due and because they’re, quite obviously, afraid. I was going to say nervous, but I think fear is a more appropriate definition at this point. I let the caller know that he scared me because I thought I forgot or something.

He said they have had a problem with payments being late. “Not yours,” he said quickly so as not to offend, “but many are.” I told him that I doubted there were that many late payments from Honolulu because the Honolulu office of Home123 “knows how to dot their I’s and cross their T’s!” He agreed.

I have it on good authority that the Honolulu office of Home123 has always been careful not to get the borrower or themselves into trouble. From my own experience I have to agree. Yes, I got myself into debt trouble, and they bailed me out!

New Century Financial is terrified (or should be), the Honolulu office of Home123 is going to come through this unscathed (I hope), and I still hate muny! That’s right, M-U-N-Y. It IS a four-letter word!

Since we’re on a rock and safely away from the heart of this mess, the Honolulu office still has its doors open. They may not be able to lend money at the moment, but they’re still there! I’ll update this as I hear more.

Home123
841 Bishop Street, Suite 2001
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
808-531-5500

When I first mentioned my irritation with Chevron and my out-of-order gas station , I sent the link to Chevron’s corporate office. I guess I really was annoyed to have gone that far. (I did the same thing to Kaiser but we’ll deal with that later.) Anyway, a few days later, Chevron’s response was to put a new tarp on the sign.

Okay, so I’m being paranoid. It probably had nothing to do with me. But, it’s amusing to think that it might have. They may not have liked me saying their sign looked like an abandoned infant “with it’s fallen tarp looking like a dirty baby diaper.” A couple of weeks after the new tarp, something happened. Check out these windows! So clean! Hmmm… most people clean house before moving in don’t they?

A couple of days ago, there was a little truck there. I had to walk up to it and ask (because I’m nosy like that). “Whatchya doing?” You should have seen the glaring look I got! Sorry! I think I scared him. Anyway, I had to know! “Is it going to reopen?” I queried. “Sometime next month” was the curt reply. Good enough for me. We shall see. I’ll be sure to keep you informed! I know, you’re thinking that that’s what you were afraid of. I guess I have to add another category to this blog… maybe “This Irritates Me” or “This Pisses Me Off” or something like that but not so crude.

Hey, how about a contest?!? You guys give me a title and I’ll give the best one some “link love.” Who made up that expression — link love? And you guys think I’m weird? I gotta think about this. Back with this in a bit! You think about a category name while I think about how to do this, and remember to keep it clean.

One of the things that Hawaii takes pride in is its clean water. There’s no chlorine in our water! Our Board of Water Supply has on its billing envelopes the phrase, “Ka Wai Ola” which means Water for Life. We’ll just sneak this in as a vocabulary word for the day. What a wonderful and appropriate phrase.

This is a story I have avoided for a long time. As angry as it has made me over the last year or so, I didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to remind the rest of the world of the heinous error made by the City and County of Honolulu. All over the world this story made the headlines!

Back on March 23rd of 2006, we had a huge volume of rain that just kept coming down for weeks. The force main sewer line in Waikiki could finally take no more and it ruptured. So, what did they do? Let’s just dump the sewage into the Ala Wai canal where the kids paddle canoes and the water leads out to the ocean along Waikiki Beach. No problem.

Talk about shock — “They did what?!?” Could we not have called in every sewage company and every available truck to pump it out and carry it to the sewage plants? Maybe it was just cheaper to destroy the ecological balance and make our environment toxic. Is that it? Forty-eight million gallons of raw sewage?!? WHY?!?

It was an emergency? Is that what you’ll say? Duh! Call the sewage, pumping and plumbing companies. You think they wouldn’t run to the scene to help? First of all, at times of emergency we always pull together. They would have been more than happy to help. Secondly, do you think they would pass up a job with guaranteed pay? Again I say, “Duh!” If the mayor had just sent out an urgent bulletin, people would have kicked their spouses out of bed to get down there! Come on, man!

Tourism is impacted by this kind of stupidity. That’s our lifeline, our survival! What is wrong with you?!? Then you have the audacity to insist we pay more taxes to pay for a rail transit system? I would much rather pay more taxes to cover an upgrade to the sewer systems before you dorks pollute our environment again.

Okay, all this is doing is making me angry all over again. Breathe.

So, after a year, where are we now? After several months, the canoe paddlers are returning to the Ala Wai, the Board of Health, or some such organization, says the bacteria levels of the beach water has returned to normal, people are swimming again. Some people. I was asked a few weeks ago if I’ve been going to the beach. Uh, not since March of last year. The closest I came was the very welcome ocean water pictured above by the Barbers Point lighthouse. That’s half way around the island from Waikiki. Even then it was just my feet.

They’ve put in a new line underground but… are they going to leave that sewer line on the sidewalk adjacent to Waikiki?

Look, Mayor Hannemann, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it and, I’m sorry, but part of that job is to accept the liability and take ownership of the mistakes made by the office you govern. Hello?!? I don’t know a lot about politics; in fact, I’m a bit of an idiot myself when it comes to the subject. But I DO know who is responsible for my City’s governance. Get off your little blamethon, stop trying to redirect people’s attention elsewhere and fix the *%&$ing problem!

Get your priorities straight, fix the Ala Wai, and get that damn piece of sewage paraphernalia off the sidewalk! Then, and only then, talk to me about rail transit systems, and re-election. Right now your term of service is nothing more to me than a train wreck and, to be honest, I just don’t like the way it looks.

Am I the only one feeling like this? Hell no! Others have taken the City to court to demand action. Play the video and see for yourself. The site of that dumping makes me want to puke. Yeah, the crabs got bigger in the Ala Wai, but, I’m not eating ‘em!

Auwe! to Kaiser’s Honolulu clinic which has lost its focus and has forgotten who pays for its survival. As a non-profit medical provider, you would think Kaiser would cater to its patients, not some obscure taxi company. Auwe, which means “oh” or “ouch” is often used as an exclamation of annoyance or irritation, similar to, “Oh please!” or “Give me a break!” or “You need a slap!” In this case, Kaiser needs a slap — a hard one!

The entrance to the urgent care department of this clinic had, at one time, four or five stalls for those who needed urgent care. Now, it has been chopped down to two. There are two handicapped stalls and that’s it. The other two stalls have been marked off to be used by a taxi company.

From what I could gather, the clinic got tired of dealing with the taxis parking in front of the main entrance to the clinic. Well, if the security guards can’t deal with the taxi companies, they need to find another job! The lazy, arrogant, do-nothings have no problem dealing with ailing people who really NEED those stalls. I had to bring an ailing family member to the clinic the other day and the only two stalls available were taken.

So, of course I parked in the stalls used for nothing. There were no taxis around and taxis should certainly not have first priority anyway. The guard couldn’t wait to ask whose car that was when he decided to come out of his cushy little hiding place and stop doing whatever it is they do in there… which ain’t much. Like I said to the security guard, patients are more important than taxi cabs!

You know what’s even more irritating? Who the heck is Akamai Cab? I don’t even know this company! “The Cab” or “Charley’s Taxi” would at least be familiar, but it’s even an unknown company! Akamai means smart or intelligent. They’re not very bright letting themselves be put into such an unpopular situation. I know some people catch cabs to the clinic but most people in need of urgent care drive are driven to the clinic… by family members or by friends.

This is a medical provider not a shopping center! Kaiser, get your priorities straight! Next thing you know they’ll reroute the ambulances to make room for the garbage truck. Sorry Kaiser, but this was an idiotic thing to do!

I am always the first person to back this medical provider up and to tell people they are crazy for paying the rates of other medical providers and that they should be a Kaiser patient etc., so THAT has NOTHING to do with it! This move of theirs was just plain dumb! My advice? Fix it and hire a new security company.

And call “The Cab” at 422-2222. No, no connection, I just love the commercials! The Cab is “for Tutus too!” Come on guys, fix this so I can update this story and send the clinic flowers… kick the cabs to the curb and let your patients have access to their care!

Sitting at a red light the other day, my car was dwarfed as it sat idling alongside a very proud-looking Chevron gas tanker. The light changed, I left him in the dust, and couldn’t help but think about the sight I knew I was about to see. Again. For about the 250th time. My Chevron station that has been sitting abandoned, deserted and desolate for at least that many days.

Located next to Kawananakoa Middle School on Nuuanu Avenue, this station was ALWAYS busy. Last summer they lost their lease, or so we were told. I watched and waited, and waited, and waited. Then, back in October, I was able to corner some Chevron staff members as they were doing some corporate philanthropy at the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. (I love it when I have a captive audience and they HAVE to be nice to me!) I questioned them about the station and they seemed to be comfortable both with the question and with their answer.

I asked them, “So, are you going to open my station again?”
“Oh, yes, it should be opening very soon.”
“You know, that’s a very busy corner. Chevron CAN’T just leave it empty like that!”
“Yeah, I know.”

Fast forward to now, the beginning of March, and still my Chevron sits empty. That beautiful tanker was less than a mile away! Still the station sits, quiet and alone. Even the sign looks like an abandoned infant with it’s fallen tarp looking like a dirty baby diaper. Not that we want to be reminded of the price of gas, but those blanks on the sign make it look anemic!

This poor little station is not well! There is no gas, no air, no water, no safety checks, no diet Coke, and no individually-wrapped cheeseburgers for my husband to pop in the microwave and call dinner (his idea, not mine). It is not only a place for all of these things but it is a security blanket for a busy neighborhood that rarely sleeps.

It used to be open early in the morning giving neighbors a feeling of security while waiting for the bus in the dark. After dark it offered solace when a driver ran out of gas or was suddenly hit with a flat tire. It was always a place to seek safety or refuge because there was always somebody there. Somebody with a phone, a flashlight, a tire gage, or just a sympathetic ear.

Can someone please tell Chevron they don’t live in a vacuum? In addition, the 7-11 that is on the other side of the middle school is too darn busy now because that’s now the closest place to get gas! But, there’s no air, water or auto vacs at 7-11! That’s not what they do. That’s what Chevron does. They used to. I want to be able to update this story. This is the petroleum provider that the Honolulu Star-Bulletin calls Hawaii’s market leader. Hmmm… Chevron?