keepin' on keepin' on

the inevitability of things not going according to plan

Aloha, y'all - Part 2
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American Airlines terminal at Honolulu
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...and then God said

Landing in Honolulu was quite exciting.

First, it meant we 'made it".

Second, it confirmed that the 'Garden of Eden' [aka: Paradise] was not created anywhere near the Tigris or Euphrates rivers - it was on an Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The light puffy clouds, the sunny bright-blue sky, the multi-shades-of-blue color of the surrounding waters, the palm trees, the beautiful green of the plant-life on the sides of the great volcanic mountains, the sandy beaches, the dark-tanned complexion of inhabitants, the seemingly genuine greetings from all whom we encountered ... "ALOHA", and the sincere "Mahalo" affirming their gratitude for our being there - all of this testifying to the surreal sense of being in paradise.

But, of course, just when we had assured ourselves that all was wonderful, then we had to deal with the real world ... again.

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We found our way out from the air-line's terminal to the 'Rental Car' bus-stop. Once on board the bus for our rental car company, we were ready to take on renown traffic congestion from the Airport [west of Honolulu] to the Waikiki Beach area [east of Honolulu]. All our arrangements for this trip had been made last March - plenty of time for anyone involved to have things ready for our arrival ... or not.

We knew gasoline prices on the mainland were high ... and we had been told in advance that prices for everything in Hawai'i would be higher - significantly higher. Trying to respond defensively, we had reserved an 'economy-class' car to drive while we were on the Island.

Apparently, so had everyone else who had arrived before us that day. None were available.

Upgrade? Would we be interested in an upgrade? Sounded like the old 'bait and switch' to me. "How much extra?", I asked.

"Extra? Why would you think that?", she responded. "There will be no extra charge. We don't have the vehicle your requested. The upgrade is 'on us'. No extra charge."

Paradise? Maybe we were there after all. My mainland cynicism had gotten me ahead of the reality. Of course we'd be glad to accept an upgrade. "What kind of vehicles would be available?", I asked. "How about a 4-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler - get you off-road onto the more secluded beaches and sites?"

Damn the gasoline prices - we were taking the upgrade!

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H1 highway from Airport through the city
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It was still daylight when we arrived at our hotel - the luxurious Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. It truly lived up to the reputation we expected. When we planned this trip, this is exactly what I was sure we'd never be able to afford - but we did it any ways.

After all, we were celebrating our never-before-taken honeymoon, our 25th wedding anniversary, and our current anniversary on Wednesday the 13th. This was absolutely the ideal.

Hotel Entrance
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I pulled up into the Arrival entry lane and was faced with my second major decision [the vehicle upgrade was the first] - to 'self-park' or to 'valet park' or to find a lot or garage a couple of blocks away for much less of a daily fee [maybe]. Being the big spender that I had already exhibited with renting a gas-guzzling Jeep, I ventured into the world of 'Valet' parking ... at least for the first night.

Marriott situated this resort directly across the street from the eastern end of Waikiki Beach on 5.2 acres of luxuriously landscaped and manicured grounds. The rooms were in two separate towers - one with 25 floors and the other with 33 floors ... and all the rooms had balconies with beautiful views.

Hotel lobby . . . . . . . . . . . . Sunset from inside room

. . . . . . . . . . . . . View from balcony . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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It was now after 7:30pm Hawai'i time [1:30am back in Indianapolis], the sun was beginning to set, and we had not eaten any dinner. Time to check in and get something to eat.

Check in went flawlessly. Our room was almost beyond expectations. The view from our room on the 26th floor was mind-numbing. And our stomachs wanted to visit Paradise - one block away was a 'Cheeseburger-in-Paradise' restaurant. Off we went in search of the perfect bed-time snack. It was 9:30pm in Honolulu [3:30am in Indianapolis] when we returned to our room and fell into bed.

See y'all tomorrow ... today is over.

[to be continued]
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who was that masked man?

Late Way Tuesday
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there ain't enough time in the day

a cloud of dust, and a hearty...

The past week has disappeared. Four weeks ago, the starter's gun was fired - my wife tore up, as in unfastened from the floor, the TV room carpet. When I arrived home, there were 225 sq. ft. of carpet cut up into 3' x 4' foot rectangles and stacked in a pile near the rear entry / exit door.

More years ago than I'm going to reveal here, we moved into 'this old house' and made a 5-yr and a 10-yr plan for remodeling / refurbishing / cleaning-up / freshening-up the various rooms. One of those high on the list needing work was the back-of-the-house added-on TV room ... which also doubles for a laundry room in one corner.

Well, life intervened. Most every room in the house has had some paint or wallpaper or carpet or tile or something done to it - all except this back-of-the-house added-on TV room. I guess I had to expect to come home and find this sight one day.

I am now trying to find 'an hour here' and 'an hour there' and maybe '2 or 3 hours elsewhere' and have begun the process. The finished project will include drywall / plasterboard all the way around [over the top of some knotty pine 3/4" thick wood-plank paneling], a new floor covering to replace those 3' x 4' rectangles my wife stacked-up, and some sort of a new ceiling [drywall??? acoustic tiles? or whatever else we can agree upon....].

A rather large closet / storage area [7' x 2-1/2'] has been ripped out, exposing original wood siding where this back-of-the-house added-on TV room was conjoined with the original part of 'this old house'. I had to fabricate a faux-wall there to which I have now fastened drywall. Approximately 1/2 of the drywall in the room is hung. One third of that has been mudded and sanded [thus the "cloud of dust"]. A new entry / exit door has been installed to the backyard, and a new door has been installed between the back-of-the-house added-on TV room and the kitchen. And in 4 weeks time, that is as far as I've gotten. Give me a break, OK?

My goal is to have it done by Thanksgiving. Anyone taking bets? Every 2 hour job I've attempted has taken 4 - 6. So an evening's work takes 2 or 3 evenings. But I will get it done. If you've got some old grubby clothes to wear and you happen to be coming near the neighborhood, give me a call - I'll put you to work.

A casualty has been the time and energy to get something posted here at 'a second chance.'

Most days I still try to find a few minutes to look a few others' posts, and maybe add a brief comment - or not.

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Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows, starring in...
"The Honeymooners"

ain't it about time?
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The missus and I had never taken an official 'honeymoon'. We were married on a Saturday morning [I got there late but she waited]. Then after an early afternoon reception, we disappeared and drove 2-1/2 hours to Cleveland, OH and spent the night at a Holiday Day Inn in downtown near Terminal Square [long since been torn down and replaced with something else]. We found a church on Sunday morning, had a late breakfast-brunch, and headed back to Toledo to our new home, an upstairs apartment in a converted old house in the north-end Polish neighborhood. Then it was back to work on Monday morning - and we ain't hardly stopped to take a deep breath much ever since.

Somewhere around our 10th anniversary, we set a goal for ourselves. For our 25th wedding anniversary we would go to Hawaii - we'd celebrate 25 years of love and family and happiness and ... well, I think you get the picture ... and we'd finally get our honeymoon.

Like many of our goals, we didn't reach that one by the time-table we'd imagined, but we never gave-up. Next week on August 13 we will be celebrating our xxth anniversary ... and we're going to have our honeymoon - at last. While you think of us, we'll think of you [well, maybe not] while we swelter in the sun and heat on Waikiki Beach on the isalnad of Oahu in Hawaii with the majestic Diamond Head as a backdrop. Our resort accommodations will have an ocean view and the breeze will bring welcome relief from the snow we'll be experiencing in a few months back home in Indiana.

Here's to all the young-old lovers out there! Dreams can come true. She got hers ... [and I got mine].

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One of Oahu’s greatest attractions lies on the southeast coast at the ending point of Waikiki Beach. Diamond Head Hawaii is an extinct and commanding volcano named after a misunderstanding by explorers from the west. While exploring Diamond Head Oahu the explorers thought they had found diamonds, but had really mistaken shining calcite crystals at the extinct volcano to be true diamond gems.

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