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.