Aloha, 2008. Aloha, 2009

2008 was an interesting year and marked the first full calendar year that I have been out here on Kauai. The biggest accomplishments that I can account for have been acquiring my PADI Divemaster and then Instructor professional ratings. I came out here with the goal of getting Divemaster certified and I exceeded that goal. Part of me says that since I got what I came for, I should move on to something else. I am contemplating it with visions of relocating to Colorado since it offers a lot of what I enjoy. Speaking of Colorado, Justin and I just bought tickets to go snowboarding in CO for about 3 weeks. We are both STOKED. The plan is that I leave to go home, get my gear, say hello to the fam, head to Dallas and meet up with Justin, then road trip it up to CO in Justin's family's RV, spend a couple weeks at Telluride, road trip it back to TX, and then fly back to Kauai. It sounds like an adventure and adventure it will be. Who knows what 2009 will have in store for me... I rung the new year in by a mediocre night at the Point and then working a double on new year's day. After getting only four hours of sleep, I had to open the shop and then work the afternoon boat. I had the pleasure of taking out two non-certified divers who dove just the previous day so they were on top of everything. They were one of the best groups I ever led and they werent even certified!! The conditions weren't great but they had a blast. Afterwards, we got a phone call from Ryan who accidentally got locked out of the van that he took to drop everyone off at NCL. Jake, Justin, and I roadtrip'ed it to Nawiliwili harbor to rescue Ryan. Along the way we jammed out to Jake's iPod and then after rescuing Ryan, we had a couple of beers together. It was one of the best times I have had relating to work and coworkers at Seasport Divers. After getting back to the shop, I went out to dinner with Justin's family right before they left to go back home. It was a long day with little sleep but it was a good one. Its always nice to get the year off on a good start.

December Update

Beached Killer Whale at Brennecke's Beach

A killer whale beached itself on Brennecke's Beach today in Poipu, Kauai. Here is a photo taken just after it passed away. A crane is pulling the whale out of the water.

From Killer Whale at Brennecke's Beach

Captain Na Pali Website On Line!

I have been working with Joe Clark, a co-owner of Captain Na Pali Adventures, Inc. to create a website for him. He had a very basic website with the standard black text on white background and no forms of multimedia at all. I had a fun time creating his new site and learned a few techniques in the process. It was a great opportunity that enabled me to utilize the skills that I have acquired over the past few years by being a real life scenario. So anyway, check it out! I am stoked! http://www.captainnapali.com

Kauai 3.0

• Phase 1: Crazy Ray. Living in Omao with a slightly off fellow. Driving the Volvo.
• Phase 2: Maka Road. Sharing a house in Kalaheo with KT, Brianna, Trevor, Alan, and Erik. Driving the Civic
• Phase 3: Hanapepe. Moving into a new house in Hanapepe with KT and Ashley!

We move in tomorrow (Saturday). Pics to be posted soon!

Rest In Peep

Dear Editor,

I hope that sharing this story will change people’s perceptions and misconceptions, and enhance awareness of the Humane Society's practices, or in my opinion, malpractices in certain cases.

My story is about a pet chicken named Peep. I had wanted a pet rooster for over two years and one day about six months ago, I finally got one.

I found Peep while walking to my car in Foodland's parking lot up in Princeville. He was just a little chick at the time and could fit in the palm of my hand. I took him home and raised him to be an almost full-grown, friendly adult rooster.

Peep and I bonded very quickly. I did not have much in terms of provisions for him that first night. I lined a ten-gallon aquarium with cedar chips and set down a water dish and normal bird feed in my bedroom on the floor. Looking back, it’s obvious why the little guy would not eat or stop peeping – he was cold. That night he cuddled up in my hand and I held him in my sleep to keep him warm. The next day, I got Peep better provisions including a heat lamp, real chick feed, and feeders.

Over time, Peep got bigger and bigger and soon he was able to jump up and perch on the top of the aquarium I relocated to a table next to my desk. Occasionally he would hop off and say hello while I was working on my computer. It did not take long for me to move Peep outside into the carport into a bigger cage made especially for chickens. I would take Peep out into the yard to get sun, exercise, and to dig up bugs. He learned to follow me around just in case I found a juicy beetle or tasty worm and he quickly assimilated the snapping of my fingers to a six-legged treat to the point where I could snap my fingers and he would suddenly be at my toes looking around for whatever I uncovered.

As Peep matured and became comfortable with his surroundings, I eventually moved him from the cage in the carport to being leashed in the yard, and then just let him roam free in the yard. He considered the fenced-in yard and carport his home and would not venture far from it. He would hide under the house to escape the hot sun or the daily rain in Kalaheo, but he would always come out to greet me with joyous chirps whenever I entered the yard or came home from work. One of the neatest aspects of having Peep as my animal companion was his ability to convey his thoughts through the variety of noises he made – a trait which most other pets lack. Anyone who had the opportunity to meet Peep was surprised at how smart and friendly he was.

Peep's last day was on September 8th, 2008 and started off like any other: he was roaming around the front yard and carport. But along came an individual who thought Peep was an abandoned or feral rooster even though he had a partial leash, worn like an anklet around his leg. As a concerned citizen, the individual took Peep to the Humane Society in Lihue. Upon Peep's arrival, he was treated like every other chicken brought to the Humane Society and was immediately euthanized.

I want to make it clear that neither the individual who took Peep to the Humane Society nor the Humane Society are to fully blame. Both parties did what they thought was best to do given the fact that there are many feral chickens on this island.

My issue following Peep's extermination, besides the sadness that I now feel, is how fast acting the Humane Society was to euthanize Peep. I did not have a chance to save his life because as soon as I found out that Peep was taken to the Humane Society, which was about an hour later, I called them immediately but it was too late. Peep was dead.

Unlike dogs or cats, apparently there is no grace period for chickens. I know that there happens to be an overabundance of chickens on Kauai. I also understand that chickens are not normally raised as family pets but kept for their eggs, or more commonly for cock fighting. For anyone who does not know, chickens make great pets and I feel it is wrong to discriminate against them. Peep had a partial leash around his ankle, was healthy and neither malnourished nor injured, and most importantly friendly and domesticated. I know that the Humane Society would not immediately euthanize a cat or dog in the same condition but with Peep, there was no second questioning his fate.

If there is one thing to take from this article it is this: Not all chickens on Kauai are bad. Chickens make great pets. Check out www.mypetchicken.com to learn more about having your own pet chicken.

I still smile when I see a rooster and laugh when he crows. Fly free, my beautiful rooster, wherever you may be.

Transition Stage

So I moved out of my house on Maka Rd. and am couch surfing at Justin's and Ashley's. I have saved up a lot of money in the past two months by not having to pay rent. The downside is that my things are at Justin's or Ashley's or in storage. Ashley, Katie, and I found a really nice place in Hanapepe. It is brand new and is not expensive at all. We move in on September 20th!

Kauai Invasion

In the past month or so, my sister and her friend Steph, my friend Steve and his brother Rob, and my mom and Craig all came to visit.

Go Divemaster, Hello Civic, Good Bye Volvo

A few weeks ago, I purchased my roommate's (KT's) civic for $1900. Its a '97 4 door sedan, automatic, with ~150k miles on it. I figured it was a good deal for a few reasons. One being that it is good on gas as the price per gallon is surpassing four dollars now. Another reason is that KT has put a new transmission, starter, and radiator in it all in the past year so not much else can go wrong with it. I gave her $1000 down with $900 to follow shortly. It was very good timing because my federal tax return plus the "stimulus" covered it. The other day I attained my divemaster certification so now I can start leading dives and am that much closer to becoming an instructor. I am looking forward to making more money while having fun going diving. Today, I just sold my Volvo. I accepted $1300 for it since it needs new tires, alignment, and maybe some other minor work on it. I think I originally paid $2200 for it plus I put some money into it and I cannot forget all the time and elbow grease too. I am happy to have sold it and hope it treats his new owner alright. Because of the sale, I was able to pay KT the remainder for what I owed her for the civic. So now I am back being debt free with good financial standing and one less car in front of my house.

Uhu!

Right now I am waiting for my uhu (parrotfish) to finish baking. It was caught by Sterling and Kyle on a night dive that I helped lead at Koloa Landing tonight for the scuba intructor program. The uhu is a very colorful fish that I hear tastes really good. I followed Sterling's directions on how to prepare it and cook it. I post an update on how it turned out. I am getting real close to attaining my divemaster certification!! I have physics and physiology tests on Tuesday and will be applying for the certification shortly thereafter. This weekend is very busy. I am working 7-1 and then diving until about 8:30 PM today, Saturday, and Sunday. Its fun though. As I said, I got to help lead the night dive tonight and earlier today help out with lift bags. Tomorrow we get to go over navigation, underwater naturalist, and do another night dive.

Koloa Landing

I worked this morning and then took two tanks to Koloa Landing and did a couple of dives with my camera. I got some good stuff! I saw a spotted eagle ray, a dragon moray eel, a titan scorpion fish, and more! I am so glad I brought my camera along and so should you. For your viewing pleasure:

Internet!!

Check out all the stuff you have been missing out on...

From National Trop...

From Hidaways Beach

From Holidays 2007

Happy New Year!

A lot has happened over the holiday season. Some good. Some bad. The biggest hit was as soon as I came home, I met up with my girlfriend, Anne, who decided to break up with me less than 24 hours after seeing her. It sucked for a number of reasons, the biggest two were that I was looking forward to spending a lot of time with her as I was going to be home for a couple of weeks, I was going to visit her family in Michigan, and she had a plane ticket to come visit me in HI for two weeks. So none of that stuff happened and then after she broke up with me, it put me in a crappy mood the entire holiday season. So now I am single and that is ok. It gives me more of an opportunity to have fun out here. On the good side, I got to see my friends and family who I have not seen in over six months. I also found out that I was enrolled in the scuba diving program offered by Kauai Community College to get my Instructors Certification free of charge! Along with the free class, I am going to be receiving a free new wetsuit and BC courtesy of Marvin. Thank you! I am also placing an order for a new regulator setup. I am very excited about the new stuff!!! It will be such an upgrade to what I currently have and it wont cost me much either.

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....