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| It really IS a Big Island |
| 05.30.04 (3:46 am) [edit] |
I had an opportunity to drive along part of Hawaii today (the island, not the state). Yesterday I took the drive from Captain Cook through Kailua-Kona and up the mountain to Waikoloa. Waikaloa is somewhat elevated, but compared to Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa's peaks, it is "sea level".As I left Waikoloa today I took the upper route back home. For over an hour I drove the windy road south with Mauna Kea on my left and the Pacific on my rigth. Mauna Kea was still far away and another 13,000 feet up while the Pacific was less than 2,000 feet below me. I am still in awe of the size of the island. At sea level it is 90 miles by 90 miles and rises to 14,000 feet just 45 miles from the ocean. As you begin to understand the amount of lava it took to create those mountains, someone mentiones that the mountains of lava continue another 14,000 feet below sea level and the island suddenly gets progressively larger! Along this route you see a lot of the island and can enjoy the solitude. There are few cars along this route, but should you break diwn, someone will come along soon enough. What you notice is the massive amounts of rough lava rocks and the golden grasses growing out of it. The contrast is amazing. Also, you notice the mist. Actually, you are driving through clouds some of the time. Further above me the clouds are quite think, and up at the 14,000 foot level there might me snow (although not today as I checked). Had there been snow, I might have ventured up to the summit to see it. Also evident along this route are handmade lavarock walls, a foot or two thick at the top and well constructed, although I don't know when or by whom. Lava rocks are certainly in abundance here :D Along one side of the wall you might notice a newer, metal, barbwire fence. As you drive further south you begin to notice coffee farms and estates. After being near coffee for a while now, I think I can identify the smell of freshly pulped coffee cherry and occasionally, you pass a location where they have begun roasting coffee beans! Soon the road dropped closer to sea level and I was back in my home turf. A quick stop by the post office and the store and I was back at the farm, ready to do more work on the online store. |
| Into our lives and back out |
| 05.24.04 (1:36 am) [edit] |
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Some times I see things from a different perspective than others do. Last night as I got restless, I decided to go to the post office and grab some dinner. As I went down the outside stairs of the house I noticed a cat at the bottom of the stairs. It looked at me as I looked back. As I passed it and headed towards the truck, the cat meowed and disappeared. I can't tell if this is the same cat I have seen here before or not, but in any event, it was gone. Today as I headed up to Kailua-Kona to shop, I noticed a small grasshopper on my windshield. As I drove along it slowly and deliberately repositioned itself to hang on and not be swept away by the wind. It stayed on the glass most of the trip to Kona. As I stopped at a light, it rapidly went down the glass and hopped onto the wiper blade, where it remained until I stopped for an errand at the Royal Kona resort. I did not see when I returned to the truck. On the same trip, I passed a frail elderly man walking down the road. I have seen him often enough, shuffling along, obviously unable to walk due to a medical problem. It seems to take him forever to get anywhere and he stops often. On most of my Kauai trips I would pass the same stretch of beach and see the same homeless man in the same spot. The joke was that he had all he needed; a lounge chair on a beautiful stretch of beach, a 6 pack and a can of Raid (to chase away bugs). Island residents knew him or of him, there were many versions of stories about who he was and where he came from. Most knew him as "Jeff" or "Jeffrey" and over the more than 3 years or so I passed him, I saw that his health was getting worse. One trip I didn't see him. Word was that he got sick and friends/residents had him somewhere being taken care of. I do no know what happed to Jeff, nor to the grasshopper. I don't know who the man is on the road, but I'm sure locals do. People and things come into our lives. Sometimes they stay and sometimes they don't. You travel the world and strike up a conversation with a fellow passenger and never know if you will meet them again or not. Sometimes I get an email from someone, I reply and weeks or months later I get another email. Sometimes I have to dig back to see what we spoke about. Sometimes I remember. Weeks ago I read a message in a forum about a woman who was to be married in Kona. She had some concerns about the plans for the wedding. I passed along some info to a friend who addressed them behind the scenes. A week or so ago I was talking with this friend and another couple sat next to us and we all chatted. The next day it struck us. This was the Father and Mother of the bride! The wedding had been a big success. Here we were, 4 people meeting for a few minutes of chat, not realizing that had something in common after all. I moved across the Pacific and found a grasshopper. I caused the grasshopper to move across town and we both passed the old man by the side of the road. If I were a betting man I would say that: 1) I will NEVER see the grasshopper again 2) I probably will see the old man at least once more 3) The cat will probably be here much more often 4) As for Jeff... I can only hope that wherever he is, he still has his lounge chair, his 6 pack, a can of raid and a wonderful view! |
| Whose Idol? |
| 05.19.04 (8:11 pm) [edit] |
|
OK, I’m confused about the American Idol TV show… I didn’t give it a look until I heard there was a girl from Hawaii as a contestant. Now I watch when I can, but certainly have not gotten into the Idol fever. So, I’m wondering what the whole idea of the show is. Certainly going to http://idolonfox.com doesn’t help. There you can order an Idol phone and get messages from Simon. I could order fragrances and charm bracelets and mouse pads and calendars. I can even order a recording, which contains the winners and the losers on it. There are styling tips and all sorts of extraneous matters there. There is even a video where you can watch Simon drive around town… hmmm. I thought the show was supposed to give new talent a chance at a recording career. I understand that the judges are experts in their field, but does that really matter? Do we really care that these kids do not impress record producers and experts? This show uses judges to help guide the artists but the name “American Idol” and the ability of regular people to call and vote multiple times, makes this a popularity contest more than a musical competition. There is nothing wrong with that though. If the general public is willing to spend time and possibly money to vote, they are also willing to spend time and money to watch, buy and enjoy music from the winner. Many times a record company has passed by a talent, only to find that the artist has become quite popular regardless. So what if one of the contestants cannot sing disco, or whatever one of the guest judges made famous and chose for a contestant? Few recording artists have a wide range of musical ability. No matter what type of song Elvis sang, the songs all sounded similar. The Four Tops sold millions and millions of records, more than Simon ever had under his control, yet I never heard them sing disco and country… Yesterday, on the “On Air” show, Ryan introduced one of the greatest musical groups in the world, Chicago! Unfortunately, the sound and performance was horrible. It reminded me of hearing the 1st beach Boys concert on the Mall in Washington DC. They were off key and strained. I have recordings where professional artists forgot their lyrics, sung off key and totally got lost. Everyone has a bad day, especially in front of an audience. Certainly hearing a contestant sing other types of music helps us see what kind of range they have, but in the end, the public is being asked whether we like these people and want to see and hear more from them. THAT is what I think the competition is all about. With that all said, I am hoping that Jasmine does NOT win the competition. Already she has been conforming to the music “machine” the mainland record production companies control. They make the same music and the same albums, without any freshness, and then they overcharge for the music. They wonder why they are embroiled in a fight over people downloading music rather than paying for it. Look at what they did to previous contestants. They packaged them by changing their looks and their personalities. What is wrong with a girl from Hawaii having a flower in her hair? Jasmine is already losing her innocence and that is a bad thing! We NEED more innocence and refreshing music in our lives, not more pre-packaged artists and boy/girl bands. Let Jasmine go back to her roots and I’ll buy her music. |
| SECURITY WARNING!!! |
| 05.13.04 (5:19 pm) [edit] |
|
Are you as irritated as I am with those ads that pop up on your screen like a fake security warning? Well I decided to take my revenge. Every time I get one of those now, I look up the company who holds the security certificate. The last one WHENU.COM had a website. They even had the guts to proudly state in a news item, that they won a suit against some companies who objected to their ads showing up on other people’s WebPages. Suspiciously absent from the companies website is any telephone number or street address, only email addresses for the company... I wonder why? You irritate millions of people worldwide and I am guessing that you really don’t want any of them to call you and waste a human’s time. It is said that at one time, their advertising sites were the 3rd most often visited sites in the world. When people accidentally click on these fake ads that is where they are directed. This one company kept popping these ads up on my screen today, so I assume they REALLY want to speak to me and do business with me. I decide to call them on the phone. I went to site and looked up registration data for the company. There is a regular phone number and a fax number. I verify the number through Yahoo yellow pages in New York. I call the phone number and get a voicemail call director. I hit the button for a human and get a voicemail box. I press 0 and get a message to enter in the 3 digit extension I want. Since they wanted me to contact them, I randomly press 3 digit extensions and finally a woman answers. I asked her why her company keeps wanting to contact me. She asks who I am and I say, "Mark". She said she is not trying to contact me. I then asked how I could eliminate the pop up ads on my screen and she says I have contacted the wrong company and quickly hangs up. I wish I had remembered her extension, because I can prove her wrong the next time I fire up my browser. I wonder if for the rest of the day, she let her calls go right into voicemail rather than talk with actual people... I heard a story once where telemarketers were attending a convention in a hotel. A man found that they all were staying on the same floor. At 3am in the morning he started calling each room; waking up the telemarketer. They were incensed that someone would call and bother them when they were alseep or otherwise engaged? the audacity! As I begin my business I am ever mindful that most people hate ads and spam. I will do my best to only contact people who have contacted me in the past, and then only once. I’ll send them to my webpage where they can sign up for my newsletter. Since that is “opt-in”, if they don’t sign up, they don’t get it. I’ll never be one of those companies who hit their potential customers over their heads until they finally give up and visit. THAT is not good business! But then again, we all know that! I even think that un-named woman in New York also knows that. If not, perhaps I should call back and explain? --- You know, I posted the above a few hours ago and a thought struck me. Why don't these computer virus writes at least do something constructive, like have their viruses attack the real spammers? Now THAT I would like to see! :D |
| Old Friends, New Friends |
| 05.13.04 (2:21 am) [edit] |
|
In our lives, we meet many people, some become friends, some just acquaintances. Sometimes it takes years to deterimine which they are. When I was in High School, I attended a military academy in Virginia. I made a number of friends while there who have remained friends all along; and it has been a long, long time! I also made friends with a number of administrators and teachers. I would bet that most people hardly remember the high school they attended, and probably have less chance of remembering most teachers in the school. Some of these people are still working at my school! Years ago I learned why. It seems that they were hired directly out of teachers college and thus, we were their first students. We treated them with respect however. During my recent alumni meeting, I had an opportunity of visiting with these same teachers and also my fellow graduates. I donated some coffee for the schools silent auction and I was also pleasantly surprised to win the award for having come the furthest to the gathering. On a sadder note, I was reminded of fellow students, school officials and past students who have lost their life over the years. The school also has a wall of names of students who left the military academy fro a real tour of duty and gave their lives in service. Six years of memories came flooding back as I watched the parade of cadets pass by. I also realized that some of the people I saw this trip might be gone by the time I return. On the trip back, I found myself about 3,000 feet from where my Father is buried. The cemetary was closed so I will have to stop another time. I made plans to visit with all of my friends back in Washington DC, but missed at least 6 people I really wanted to see again. I'll have to call them soon and visit by phone. On the other hand, I have been meeting a lot of new people and making new friends. One way is through the KonaWeb group which meets in other cities and here in Kona (thus the name). It is comprised of people interested in kona or on their way to be residents. Between the picnics and musical get-togethers and offers of help on projects, my range of friends has increased greatly! This afternoon I gave a talk to a group of farmers about the options they have for online stores and shopping carts. Speaking of shopping carts, I am having a problem with 2 shipping modules and can't find the problem. I also have to finally do something about those "pesky" coffee bag labels. Currently I am still printing them on my inkjet printer. I received some great news today. My agent said that the last hurdle was eliminated and I should now be able to go to closing! That means that soon I can start propagating about 5,000 plants and clearing 5 acres of land. NOW the fun begins!!! Last night I broke down and voted for one of the American Idols. My voting is secret, but I CAN hint that she lives in Hawaii... Until next time! |
| Old Friends, New Friends |
| 05.13.04 (2:21 am) [edit] |
|
In our lives, we meet many people, some become friends, some just acquaintances. Sometimes it takes years to deterimine which they are. When I was in High School, I attended a military academy in Virginia. I made a number of friends while there who have remained friends all along; and it has been a long, long time! I also made friends with a number of administrators and teachers. I would bet that most people hardly remember the high school they attended, and probably have less chance of remembering most teachers in the school. Some of these people are still working at my school! Years ago I learned why. It seems that they were hired directly out of teachers college and thus, we were their first students. We treated them with respect however. During my recent alumni meeting, I had an opportunity of visiting with these same teachers and also my fellow graduates. I donated some coffee for the schools silent auction and I was also pleasantly surprised to win the award for having come the furthest to the gathering. On a sadder note, I was reminded of fellow students, school officials and past students who have lost their life over the years. The school also has a wall of names of students who left the military academy fro a real tour of duty and gave their lives in service. Six years of memories came flooding back as I watched the parade of cadets pass by. I also realized that some of the people I saw this trip might be gone by the time I return. On the trip back, I found myself about 3,000 feet from where my Father is buried. The cemetary was closed so I will have to stop another time. I made plans to visit with all of my friends back in Washington DC, but missed at least 6 people I really wanted to see again. I'll have to call them soon and visit by phone. On the other hand, I have been meeting a lot of new people and making new friends. One way is through the KonaWeb group which meets in other cities and here in Kona (thus the name). It is comprised of people interested in kona or on their way to be residents. Between the picnics and musical get-togethers and offers of help on projects, my range of friends has increased greatly! This afternoon I gave a talk to a group of farmers about the options they have for online stores and shopping carts. Speaking of shopping carts, I am having a problem with 2 shipping modules and can't find the problem. I also have to finally do something about those "pesky" coffee bag labels. Currently I am still printing them on my inkjet printer. I received some great news today. My agent said that the last hurdle was eliminated and I should now be able to go to closing! That means that soon I can start propagating about 5,000 plants and clearing 5 acres of land. NOW the fun begins!!! Last night I broke down and voted for one of the American Idols. My voting is secret, but I CAN hint that she lives in Hawaii... Until next time! |