Jody Ballesteros

Remember this face. I remember her coming to work for HMSA five years ago, a young kid. Still is.

Now she is going to be a famous comic. I took this picture of Jody on her last day at work. That was on April 17th. I didn't know she had given notice. I was stunned!

She owes me a dollar. Heck, she can keep it. She'll just have to take off a dollar from my ticket when she appears on Def Comedy shows, or has her own television show.

She'd make it work.

We'll be routing for you Jody. Good luck!

Aloha Don Ho

Auwe, so sad. At first, when I heard that the local talent Don Ho passed away, I thought it was a joke, and a tasteless one at that. Another era marked for history among the islanders. Auwe.

Good-bye Don. You will not so easily be forgotten. I'll still hear your songs in my mind and I'll certainly keep them in my heart. Thanks for the songs that kept my head on straight when I lived on the Mainland. Thanks for the songs that brought me back home.

Sing with the angels.

St. P's Day

Kahi came on shift and looked like he had a hangover, but actually, he's a dad and the kids are tiny, so you can deduce that he's been busy changing diapers and bottle feeding the tikes all day and night.

Nah, sounds more interesting that he tied one on, yeah?

St. Patrick's Day (night)

St. Patrick's Day In Waikiki.

Megan joined us to help celebrate the begora thing. She's the next best thing to sliced bread.

Warm Winter

Omigosh! Warmest winter we've had in a long time. Last year, we were tempted to build arks so we could collect two of every creature on the island, but now? The warm days, and warm rainy days at that, were different and, I dare say, welcome. Never cared for the cold. Cool days are fine, but cold? Nah.

This can only mean one thing, if we have nearly rainless winters. Dry summers. Brush fires. Doom, gloom, despair, water rationing and more construction on the water table lands (a smart move by some college graduayte (misspelling intended).

Saint Pat's Day is tomorrow. The boys will be out celebrating their Irishness. I'll be drinking green drinks (mmmmmmmm). Gotta find a shamrock to go with my green shirt. Betcha Dwane's got a million trinkets I can choose from. Dontcha Dwane?

Whoops, One Too Many Beers?

And this was just after his third beer.

Happy Birthday Tom

Tom returned from Las Vegas where he met his familia and from what I understand, he had the time of his life. He's not a gambler . . . no, really, he's not . . .

His birthday today. We decked him with a couple of leis and handed him a card rubbing in the fact that he was getting older. I think people like that.

Drinks all around. Don, Bob, Dwane and I met him at the Sand Bar and toasted more times than I could count. Good thing he took time off tomorrow.

New Dawn?

Saddam is dead. Think that will improve things? I am leaning toward the opinion that it won't help much.

Even with a new Congress, I tend to believe it will not improve with the new members holding the reins of power, however fragile their grip. Sorry, Ms. Pelosi, but I see little changes for 2008. Call me a pessimist.

Knowing humanity as I do, and I'm no expert mind you, the "Culture of Corruption" is here to stay for a loooooooong time.

Resurrection

I think I'm feeling better. Had a real bout with body pains and aches I thought not possible for the human body to endure.

I slept like for more of the day and well into the night. Dwane thinks I should see the doctors, but I think I just need to hibernate a little more to feel human again. Sux to feel like an animal.

Come sleep, take me!

The Weather Outside Is Frightful . . .

Seems like Hawaii is still trying to adapt to the changing of its axis. Cold one day, warm the next. Chilled one day, sweaty armpits the next. Gawd-awful!

High winds pretty constant and I'm wondering if I should really take out that old sweat shirt and wear it to work.

Nah, there's no snow outside. This is Hawaii!