Whew, this is my fifth day here in Hawai’i. Today is the first day that I couldn’t really do anything really big outside (it’s raining and earlier when it wasn’t, it wasn’t windy enough to windsurf or kiteboard 
) Hopefully tomorrow it’ll be windy and sunny! My friend Tiffany has been showing me around. She did a rotation at the yard while I was still there. She’s been kind enough to show me around and take me to all the local places (she’s a local). I’ve noticed that the word “cruise” is popular slang here. (Used in the way chill is)
Example: Tiffany, her friends and I were cruisin at Club Tsunami the other night.
Today I went to the Arizona Memorial and drove to Kailua via H3 (Hawaiian “Interstate” 3, in quotes because you can’t really drive to another state, can you?). It’s only about 10-15 miles from one part of the island to the other. There’s some pictures on my flickr page (once I upload them… once I have a legit internet connection…). Over the rest of the week I’ve toured various work places (Ford Island, IMA, MSF, FTEC, various other Keyport codes).
Tomorrow I’m going to try to windsurf (or kiteboard), wind/weather permitting… Also at some point tomorrow I should be meeting up with my Uncle Paul who’s flying in from Tokyo (he’s a pilot with NWA).
Monday I should be observing a test event elsewhere on the island… and I don’t know what I’m doing on Tuesday… I already took care of the scheduled stuff before… and with the Tech Director in town for meetings I may just get the day off.
Wednesday I fly back to Seattle (5 hour flight), and Friday I fly back to DC (4 hour flight). I will (unfortunately) be in town for inauguration.
WOW. I almost forgot about the bar fight. I was in a bar fight! (crosses that one off my list). Now I didn’t start it, and I didn’t end it. It happened between two other guys. I had met one of the two earlier… scrawny guy, and he was yelling at a bigger guy (my size but a little more muscular). I step in between the two of them trying to keep them apart, succeeding for a minute or two, but scrawny guy eventually tackled big guy into some of those plastic newspaper dispensers outside the bar. So they’re punching each other, someone else tries to pull the bigger guy off the scrawny guy, but someone else interrupts them by punching them… add in a few more people. (At this point I’m not drunk enough to get in a fight, nor do I know anyone well enough to) but after a couple seconds some other guys start coming to break it up. So I try pulling the big guy off the scrawny guy (still wailing on each other) but someone pulls me off and punches me. In the neck! hahaha I got punched in the neck. It was more of a glancing blow… no damage, didn’t really hurt. If it had been 5 inches to the side it would’ve been in the face and I’d have a shiner for sure. Anyways, I punch him back and by this point enough people are there to break up the fight that it finally “ends”. This is the point that the cops also show up. One of my friends there told me to go back inside (a good idea… don’t want to get arrested on travel) so I go back in. An hour or so later another fight erupts down the street. Not sure if the two were related (definitely seemed like it).
Things to do before I die:
- Bar Fight
Aloha
