November

This past week I have worked a lot! I have been helping Marvin install new flooring in the shop and setting up new computers. The days have been long but the paycheck will be nice.

Today is my day off and I am taking it easy. It feels as though I am still recuperating from working 12 hour days with little rest.

I bought a Jeep a few weeks ago and am still figuring out what I need/should do with it. It didn't want to start the past few days but just yesterday it started up no problem. Not sure what is going on with it. Right now, I am thinking about going ahead and registering it and driving it around. We'll see...

I made up my mind and decided to move into Trevor's room. It is no master bedroom but it is considerably cheaper and I will still have Bri and Katie as roommates. I think it is a good decision. I didnt really want the master in the first place.

10/02/07 Dive to Ni'ihau

Recap

Wow. I has been almost a month since my last posting and a lot has changed. The biggest thing to happen to me is me moving in with Brianna, Trevor, and Katie in Kalaheo. Such a huge improvement! I have the master bedroom and bath and my roommates are awesome!

Anne came and visited me for about a week. I got to show here around the island and she got to see exactly what I do on a daily basis. She is now back home with temptations of coming back...

My internet at the new place is not very dependable and that has been the main reason for not posting in such a while. Currently I have a very strong signal which is very rare.

From Anne's Visit

Aloha Jenn and Ellie!

This past week, my cousin Jenn and her friend Ellie came to visit me from New Jersey. It was a awesome!! We went to a Luau, I took them hiking, I got them to go scuba diving, ziplining, we took a helicopter ride, we went Kayaking, we partied on the beach, and more.

The only problem that we encountered was my roommate, Raymond. He was not keen on the girls staying here and was also making awkward advances at them. He would only really talk to them when I was not around and referred to me as "such a watchdog."

From that, it made me want to move more than ever to a better place with cooler people. I was lucky enough to have found a new place. I will be living with a few other twenty year-olds in a nice house with amazing views, hardwood floors, an island in the kitchen, and a lanai. Its a huge improvement to my current situation! I will be moving in there on September 6th too. I will have the master bedroom with its own bathroom. I kind of wish that I did not have it because I really dont need it and I could be paying cheaper rent. My room is big and the bathroom is like the same size as my current bedroom.

Here are a few of the better pictures of the past week. Video to follow soon!

From Jenn's Visit

Mike 1, Centipede 0

Two nights ago, I laid in bed and was about to go to sleep when I felt something on my leg. I jumped out of bed, looked at the sheets, and found the centipede! I punched it a few times and ended up beating it with my nalgene water bottle. I then took some toilet paper and flushed the bastard down the toilet. Ugh, it was disgusting/creepy and wouldnt die.

Yesterday, I bought some king size pillows, a fleece blanket, and a mattress pad. Now my bed is even better! Last night, I went and chilled at Poipu beach with Mason, a fellow employee at Seasport. We just hung out and drank a couple 1.5 litre Heinekens, sitting on a picnic table with a palm tree above our heads.

Today, I just relaxed in my room and then went to the beach and took a nap followed by a quick dip in the ocean.

Aaaaahhhhhh!!!

When I got off work this afternoon, I went out back to check up on my little garden. The plants seemed like the needed some water so I went over to one of the rain buckets we have placed under the roof. In one of the buckets there was this huge dead centipede. I have seen a couple of centipedes before but nothing like this one. I ended up taking it out and took a closer look at it. It was scary looking and knowing that it has a painful, venomous bite that could leave a welt the size of a baseball, I really did not want to cross paths with these nasty critters. .... I was sleeping and thought my alarm on my phone was going off. I got up and grabbed my phone and realized it was someone calling my from back home with a 410 number. It was 5:45 in the morning. I called them back only to find that they had just dialed the wrong number (thanks!). I set my phone back down and laid down in bed. I then heard this pitter-patter sound next to my head. I turned around to find a huge centipede on my pillow!!! I immediately jumped up and tried to kill it with my other pillow but it was too fast and got between the bed and the wall. Now I cannot sleep and is why I am writing this entry at 6am.

The Pseudo Garden

Right now, I have a couple of avocado seeds taking off. A mango seed with three chutes coming out, one chute having over five leaves, the second chute having a few leaves, and the last chute with little baby leaves. My soybean plants are thriving in the window and have a bunch of pods getting plump. They are doing so well, I am sprouting more soybeans. They will be ready to plant in the next few days. This time I will give them more room to grow and a stake to grow up. Most of my tomato and zucchini plants have flowers on them so hopefully I will get some produce soon. My basil is growing slowly but surely and in the next month or so, I wont feel bad harvesting some of it. On the downside, my chives, asparagus, cilantro, and eggplant plants are fairing so well. I am just playing the waiting game....

No, I didnt die

It's been a little while since I made a posting....a few memorable things have happened over the past week+. I ran Nounou trail a few more times. The first time being sore for about three days but last time I ran it, I was not sore at all afterwards. Today, I dove Tunnels beach on the North shore with Chris, Chris, and Zach. They were going up there and offered to take me with them. The dives werent the greatest as the visibility was poor (lots of silt floating around) and the current was rather strong. There wasnt much life up there, either, but the reef formations were very interesting, offering countless swim-throughs through cracks and holes in the reef. I wouldnt mind diving there again with a buddy of mine and exploring some more as long as the visibility was better. As for now, Koloa Landing still remains an awesome shore dive. I acquired a California king sized mattress with box spring and new linens. The cost? FREE. Although I must say that I gave the lady who gave me the mattress $20 for being so generous and I also gave Chris $10 for letting me use his truck to haul the mattress back to my place. It was a bitch to get in the house since it was just myself but I got it in! I cant wait to sleep in it tonight and just sprawl out on it. It sure beats my air mattress.

7/27 Ni'ihau

The two Mahi Mahi's we caught on the way out to Ni'ihau:

From Ni'ihau

Monk Seal: Wall Dive: Hawaiian Turkeyfish (Lionfish):

Quick Update

Raymond brought home some avocados so I made some fresh guacamole with them. I ate the whole thing. It was soooooo good, I couldn't stop eating it. Yesterday, I ran up the mountain trail that provides areal views of Lihue, Kapaa, and Wailua Homesteads. It was a workout as it was almost completely uphill the entire time. The best part was when I was running back down the mountain and was approaching a family of five. The mom was in the back and heard me coming down the mountain and yelled "Incoming!" This morning I noticed a few flies in my room. I have no idea where they came from but they werent too smart. I was able to touch them without them moving. I starting killing them with my pencil by just getting the pencil about an inch above them and stabbing them. I fed the flies to the ants on my windowsill who devoured them within just a few minutes. Here is a video of the ants taking a couple of flies back home with them:

A little excursion

On Sunday, I got off of work early and headed up to Hanelei Bay on the North shore of Kauai with Justin. We surfed till dusk and then we had a little cookout with veggie burgers and hot dogs on the beach. I had four burgers and two hot dogs plus some roasted marshmallows. After that we pitched a tent right on the beach in the middle of the bay and camped out overnight. We woke up the next morning and surfed some more. The views were amazing. As I paddled out, I was admiring the open ocean in front of me with mountains to my left and Hanalei town and harbor to my right. I got out to where I wanted to be and turned around and realized that there was a mountain with a couple of waterfalls that had to be hundreds of feet high and long. To the left of the waterfalls, there was a rainbow in sky to top it all off! After we finished surfing on the second day, we had lunch at the Taqueria, a mobile burrito stand. It was very similar to what I have been thinking of introducing on the South shore. Justin and I drove back to Lihue in his Jeep and then we went to Kipu falls where we first jumped off of a rope swing into the water. At the highest point, the point of weightlessness, you let go. It was about a 20 foot drop into the water. We then jumped off the end of the waterfall into the water below which was about 15 to 20 feet. After that we jumped out of the tree that was being used for the rope swing. It was about a 40-45 foot drop into the water. It was insane! I will admit that I was scared. The jump was definitely the highest that I have ever done before. My heart was racing. After getting the balls to make the plunge, it was awesome! I jumped from the same height as the top of the rope in this pic

K Landing

I took my camera out to Koloa Landing today using the underwater housing I just got. I took some good and some not so good pictures. Here are some of the better pictures. I also took a sick video of a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle swimming right next to me.

From Fish Sights

Hawaiian Spam Musubi

My dinner tonight:

Go Thrift!

On Friday, I went into Lihue to run a few errands. During my travels, I picked up a microwave and gardening supplies from Walmart and I discovered a Salvation Army thrift store. At the thrift store, I purchased a toaster, a George Foreman grill, a printer, a dinette set, and some other stuff for cheap. Most of the stuff was $2!! The printer was $20 and I was unsure about it's condition but when I got back home and hooked it up to my computer, I found that it not only worked but it still had ink in it! I looked it up on Amazon.com to find that it retails for around $200. It was a very productive and rewarding day!

Akk WTF

So I was driving on the highway tonight and suddenly my car starts to rumble and begins to lose control. It was the same feeling as though I got a flat tire but more noisy. Something was grinding on the pavement. I thought maybe the tire completely blew off and I was riding on the rim. I brake and slow to a halt right in front of the entrance to the street I live on. I get out and look and there is no tire on my driver's side rear wheel. What the hell?? I look over and it is sitting on the other side of the road. I walk over to get it and run back before a couple of cars run me over. I think to myself that the lug nuts must have all stripped off and are long gone but then I open the cover to the lug nuts on the rim of the tire and they are all still there. Meanwhile, some lady is trying to make a left hand turn onto the road I am currently blocking and is yelling at me through her window. I couldnt hear any of it because the window was up but apparently she thought that I just had a flat and decided to pull over in front of the entrance to the road... She ended up driving around my car and parked it not too far away. She got out and said to me "Are you retarded?" and then says "Do you need help?" Who says that? I jack the car up and try to put the tire back on the bolts but the jack wasnt up high enough even though it was as high as it goes. Luckily one of my neighbors came out and assisted me getting the wheel back on again. Hopefully my hub isnt messed up too bad from grinding against the pavement... I am crossing my fingers. One more thing to mention. My coworker, Darrell, just bought a 2000 Nissan Altima for $1500. WTF. I paid $2200 for my '98 Volvo. How does that work out? I dont think I would be running into this problem if I had gotten that Altima instead...

Latest Happenings

I went on the "bomb boat" where a group of engineers had to measure the distance simulated nuclear warheads drifted on the bottom of the ocean. It was neat to work with them on such an interesting experiment. Later that day, I went on a hike with Justin to the top of a little mountain near Kapaa. The view was awesome. The best part about the hike was that it only took around 30 minutes to get to the top. It was a tough hike since it was all up hill but short. So there happens to be a shortage of 5" green pots on the island. No one has them. Home depot is out. Walmart is out. The Lihue nursery doesnt carry them. My little plants need to be transported from their starter tray and I cant get the pots to put them in!!! I sprouted soy beans in a jar in my bedroom. Most of them took off and were about 3" long, all root and a tiny little leaf on the bean. I planted them in one of the extra pots that I had and they went "mental". The first day they must have grown like three more inches. A few days later now, they are about 6" above the soil. Crazy. I cant wait to have some homegrown edamame. I am currently waiting to hear back from Jim. He is renting out a nice house in Kaleheo which is about the same distance from work as the place I am living now. The rent wouldnt be much more than I am paying right now and the place is 100x better. So we will see.... Here are a few of the pics that I have taken the past week:

From Kauai Misc

Koloa Landing

Yesterday I went on a shore dive by myself at Koloa Landing. It was one of the best dives I have ever gone on. I saw so many cool fish. Some of them I still dont know what they are. I just ordered a housing for my digital camera so that I can take pictures of the mysterious kinds. Of the fish that I did see, two that made the dive awesome were the Hawaiian Dragon Eel and the Leaf Scorpion fish. The Leaf Scorpion blends in very well with the reef and the Dragon Eel was hiding under a rock. I was lucky to see both of them. Here are some pictures to show you what I am talking about: I came home and ate more sushi last night. Mmmmmm. Good Day!

Mmmm Sushi

Andrew caught another Ahi on Tuesday. He cut it up and I got another big cut of it. Last night I went out and bought a some supplies and I made a few rolls of sushi. IT WAS SO GOOD. I think I am going to make some more tonight. mmmmm. I just moved into the room I was originally supposed to get. It is a little bigger and has more windows. It also came with a futon. Talk about an upgrade! Pictures to follow soon.

Getting Settled

A few things have happened in the past week. Justin and I are looking at places to live together. We found one house close to Koloa that is really nice and cheap. Hopefully that will work out. I bought a '94 Volvo 940. It is nice and has no rust. There are minor problems with it but that is somewhat expected for a $2k car. I registered the car with the MVA today. I had to pay a costly $3 to change the title over in my name. I laughed when I heard the old lady tell me the price. Since it is so easy to trade titles, I may have to do it more often :)

Volvo 940

Today, I did errands on my day off. I went shopping at Home Depot, Walmart, Costco, etc. and played with my car a little bit. I also tended to my newly sprouted garden. I placed many of the seedlings into pots. The zucchini and squash are doing terrific. Since I planted the seeds about two weeks ago, some of them are over four inches tall if not more than that. I cannot wait to begin harvesting my veggies!! I just got back from visiting the Marriott Waiohai. I walked on the moonlit beach and then laid in a hammock for a while. It was so relaxing and beautiful. I was surrounded by flowing water and there was a palm tree above me. The stars and moon were in the sky with clouds on the horizon. It made me so happy to be out here and gave me affirmation that I had made a good decision to move here.

Hanakapiai Falls Trip

So I ended up going hiking with Justin to Hanakapiai Falls. It was beautiful. We parked his jeep at the start of the trail which was right by a beach. After two miles of hiking we arrived at Hanakapiai beach where we swam for a little bit. After that we got back on the trail and hiked another two miles to the falls. It was spectacular. The falls were over 100 feet high and fell into a lagoon that was surrounded by rock covered in green foliage. We swam under the falls in the lagoon. It was cold but totally worth it. We ate lunch and then started to head on back. When we got back to the jeep, we both went swimming for a while in the ocean. The water was crystal clear, warm on the surface, and refreshing a few feet deep. On the way back from the North shore, Justin spotted the beach that he spent a few days camping out on when he first arrived on the island. We ended up taking the jeep on the sand and driving around, doing donuts and what not. It was an awesome day. Sleep will be very nice tonight.

Quick Update

I think I am going to buy a Jeep CJ7. I like it because it is 4wd, is covered in rhino lining, simple, durable, reliable, and will give me something to tinker with. Last night, I drove up to the North shore to watch a band with Mike and Holly. The band was great and it was just a fun night. I went on a shore dive this afternoon at Koloa Landing. It was my first shore dive and I was solo. I practiced using my compass to navigate around and I also got a better idea of the reef formation. I was only down for 55 minutes with about 1400 psi left but it felt like such a long time and I was also weary that my bearings might be off and would need extra air to make it back to the landing. Now, I am about to head over to Justin and Holly's place to hang out with Justin. We are probably going to go on a hike tomorrow as we both have the day off.

Ni'ihau Trip

I went on the boat to Ni'ihau, the forbidden island. I performed the first dive. It was a wall dive with a bottom of about 300 feet. There were many schools of angel fish (pennant and pyramid) and I also saw a trumpet fish. After that I stayed on the boat and "bubble watched". I also watched Andrew, the captain, fish and I got to drive the boat a little bit too. During the long ride back to Kauai, Andrew started trolling. About midway back, one of the troll lines started to buzz. Something was hooked. No more than three seconds later, the other troll line was buzzing too. Immediately, Andrew stopped the boat and started to reel in his lines. The fish on the first line got loose but the fish on the second line was still on. Andrew let one of the divers reel in the fish while Andrew gave out orders and Hans took over the wheel. Andrew didnt know what he had snagged but he knew it was big. After about thirty minutes of reeling the fish in, it was close to the boat. Dolphins and other fish began surrounding the caught fish in the pool of blood. At this point Andrew had a gaff in his hand waiting to the fish to surface. It was a monster yellow fin tuna. As it surfaced, Andrew hooked it but the tuna was so heavy, Andrew couldnt pull it in the boat and the gaff slipped out of his hands. The tuna was about to get free. Andrew jumped in after it and somehow brought it back to the surface. I jumped down from the captain's deck and grabbed the gaff but it was tearing through the tuna's jaw as I was trying to lift it in the boat. Andrew was holding the tuna by its tail off the stern of the boat. The gaff hook ripped through and the fish went back into the sea with Andrew still holding on to it. He wrestled it back to the surface. I lowered one of the ladders for Andrew and laid down on my stomach to hold the tuna by the tail while Hans gaffed the tuna once again. Finally, the tuna was on board the boat. Andrew got out of the water and started posing with the fish. He laid beside it, spooning it. It was an awesome moment filled with euphoria and adrenaline. The tuna weighed in at 150 pounds after being gutted.

Nice Neighbors and Good Food

Yesterday, I woke up and ended up meeting our next door neighbor, Mike, and his family. He showed Raymond and I around his garden and gave us both two papayas. Right afterwards, one of our other neighbors delivered us some warm homemade bread. It was an awesome morning. I set up a PO box for myself. Here is my new address: Michael Armstrong PO Box 1590 Koloa, HI 96756-9998 My camera broke later in the afternoon. I am not too sure why but I think it was damaged by making contact with a 9-volt battery. I was thinking about getting a new camera anyway but just not so soon. I am not trying to spend all my money the first two weeks I am here. I still need to buy a truck. I dont know how much longer Marvin will let me drive it. Tomorrow, I plan on driving into Lihue to buy a few more things/necessities. I want to buy some seeds and start a vegetable garden with soy beans, tomatoes, herbs, etc.

Mangos, Hectic, More Mangos

One of the girls I work with, Juli, brought in a bunch of mangos from her mango tree in her front yard. I have been eating them for breakfast and desert for the last few days. Mmmmm. I just got back from working the afternoon shift at Seasport. It was going fine until about the last two hours where I ended up working my ass off. I had to book a customer for 3 charters, handle all customers returning from Ni'ihau, process a couple of returns, close the store by myself, etc. It is now time to eat another mango and relax until another day of work....tomorrow.

I have a real bed!

I had my first day off yesterday and I finally got a real bed last night. It beats the bare mattress and towels by a million. I also set up a new bank account with First Hawaiian Bank. I went on my first dive two days ago (29th). I got to see a mother shark giving birth at Ice Box and a lot of life including many sea turtles as Sheraton Caverns.

Photos!!

I am at work right now but here are the photos I have taken so far:

Kauai Week 1

Day 1

WOW. Yesterday was looong. I woke up at 7am Eastern time and went to sleep at 12am HI time (6am EST). The plane rides were fine and I ended up getting a $450 voucher for Southwest airlines and a $12 lunch voucher after a little confusion at the gates... Raymond picked me up from the airport last night, showed me a little around Lihue, and brought me back to his place. It is very rustic but will do. I woke up this morning at 6am (12pm EST) naturally. Roosters were crowing and there was even one right outside my window. I rode my bike to Seasport Divers and got to meet a bunch of the crew that works there. They are all real cool. Marvin let me use one of his bikes and lent me one of his pickup truck. Man that this is a POS. Zac had to come help me out after the truck broke down after about 4 miles. Luckily it was only the cluch cylinder and the truck was parked when it happened. I went to the beach with Mike and Holly. It was cool and pretty. The views were nice too (a woman was walking with one of her breasts hanging out of her bathing suit). It was funny. Pics to come soon!

T Minus 1 Week

I have said some good bye's already and it has made me come to the realization that I am truly leaving home to go to Hawaii. The whole idea is mind blowing. I finally found a nice place to live, close to work and play. The guy who is renting the place out, Raymond, is totally off the wall and will be very neat to live with. We also share some of the same interests so it seems we will get along. The place seems really cool too. The house is located on a plantation with mango and banana trees in the back yard. The house itself seems nice too. It is older and more rustic than what I would find if I were to rent an apartment but is made mostly of wood and has character.

Details, Details, Details

So somethings I know. Some I don't. Right now, I know where I will be going and who I will be working for: Seasport Divers [http://seasportdivers.com/] in Kauai. I will probably be working in the Poipu shop. I know my departure date, Thursday, May 24th 2007 and arrival time, 10:14 PM. I have a general idea of how much money I will be making. I don't know if I will get any health benefits. I hear the cost of living in HI is high. I don't know where I will be living. I don't know what exactly I will be doing in the shop. I don't know what to bring with me besides my scuba equipment, some board shorts, and a towel. There is a lot of information that I do not know at this moment. One thing I do know is that it is going to be an amazing experience. It is something I must do now or never. And I am going to do it!