Zach working hard at his laptop. Wonder what website he's checking out? Could it be an aquarium message board?  

Sharon on the campus of University of Hawai'i at Manoa! Thanks to Zach for taking the picture. 

Maybe there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? If not it was pretty to see. 

Middle of the rainbow 

Really Big Rainbow! I was watching Star Wars:Empire on A&E when Zach standing on the balcony started waiving his hands telling me to get over here quick! Needless to say I could stop watching Star Wars long enough to enjoy a really neat rainbow. 

We started to go to the beach when this picture was taken but the sun was beating down too hard and we had to go home and take a nap. Hopefully we'll make it all the way to the beach tomorrow. 

They have COMICS!!!! Zach and I went to the Ward Warehouse today and visited the OtherRealms comic book shop. I bought a Star Wars Infinities #1 and spoke with the owner who was very cool! I think I found my comic book shop. 

The ubiquitous KFC. Hawaiians I think really like fried chicken. Course so do I so we're in agreement. Though I would really love a Chick-Fil-A right about now. No one makes a chicken sandwich like they do. 

The Bus is the best bus system in America. Hey it says this on the side of every bus and the information specialists were very helpful in figuring out what buses to take where so I'm impressed. We took #3, 6, 9 and Route A. 

We tow because we care....

Unfortunately not everything about our first Friday in Hawaii was positive. Our rental car was towed because we had parked it in a tow zone (supposedly there was a sign but we did not see one) with no parking allowed from 6:30am to 8:30am M-F. If we had gotten up at 6:29am we would have avoided a $130.50 tow charge plus a $50 parking ticket (which we get to pay next week when we figure out where to go). The real kicker was the attitude of the tow truck guy who laughed because we got a ticket. Athens and Atlanta have parking problems similar to this but its never fun when you've just moved and especially when you'd rather do things other than paying tow fees for a rental car. Note to the city leaders of Honolulu: Build a parking deck on one of those empty or rundown lots, charge $2 a car per hour and you'll make enough money to pay the city back for various events held on the beach.

The rectangle building with the blue glass windows partially obscured by the telephone line is the POST building where Sharon will be working. 

The view from the balcony of our sublet.  

Kirk's blog from Commerce

My little brother has started a blog
check it out
http://commerceblog.blogspot.com/

Made me feel like I was back in Georgia. A stop light in the middle of nowhere. :D 

Mountain view from car on 72. 

Entrance to the tunnel going through the mountains on H3.  

I took this because I thought it was really neat to see the clouds covering the top of the mountain. 

Zach had me take this one. It looked like a bumblebee and sounded like one but this bug probably only fuels up on gas. 

Like Walmart, apparently one cannot escape the cactus plant. 

The water here is so blue! Very cool. 

Crabs. Reminds me of the scene with crabs in Finding Nemo. 

Fishes! This was taken at Kapiolani Beach Park. 

Zach winning at the slots. Whoda thunkit? 

I could repeat the sign but I think it says it for me. 

Las Vegas - The Time Before Hawaii

During our layover in Las Vegas, Zach decided to do a little gambling at one of the many slot machines available throughout the airport. Lo and behold to my great surprise he won $35 dollars from $4 dollars with a net profit of $31! Hey at least it paid for our meals and a couple of maps.

We made it! No really we did. Really.

We made it! To Honolulu, Hawaii! And we found our sublet without getting run over! We took a little tour (not quite three hours but close) and we found most of the major shopping areas including a Walmart, a K-Mart, Borders and Sears. Yes folks we came all the way to Hawaii just to find a Walmart. Tomorrow I go to work at UH to get the lay of the land and Zach is going to continue his search for more long term housing. The views are spectacular and the people are really friendly especially at Burger King and McDonalds though they do not have sweet tea. Zach made boiled tea tonight on the stove to curb his need for sweet tea. It's a work in progress.

Zach's holding up the expanded 12in x 12in "towel." I think washcloth is more appropriate but since the package says its a towel we'll go with that description.
 

Here Zach is putting the towel into warm water per directions.

 

The following picture shows Zach opening one of the compact towels tightly wrapped in plastic in the shape of a fish.

 

Luau and the Big Fish "Towel"

Thanks to my sister, my parents and Grandma Sarah for putting on a really cool luau on Saturday! Zach and I had a great time and we were glad we got to see everyone before leaving for Hawaii. We started packing late Sunday and I decided to open the compact towels given to us by my mother and my sister. I'd never had one of these before and it was fun to see it expand in water. Pictures of this process are posted above. Ahoy mates!

Herbert Hoover and Free Speech

Herbert Hoover (Republican President 1929-1933): "It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own."

Want to know more: http://www.brainyencyclopedia.com/encyclopedia/h/he/herbert_hoover.html

To Quote Hank Hill.....

HANK: "An F in English? Bobby, you speak English. "

Just felt the need.