Author Archives: David

Hawaii Vacation — Day 3

Didn’t write anything yesterday, we were kind of running around a lot.

We arrived on Saturday without a problem. As mentioned before, the flight was pretty bumpy the landing was quite rough, but everyone walked away from it.

Took a long time to get our luggage, but everything arrived safe and sound.

There was a long line at the car rental place, so Ginny walked over to the Budget counter and asked if they had anything available. Turns out they did, and we got a better rate than our original reservation. We even got upgraded to a full size car. Car turned out to be a Chevy Impala which is kind of a boat.

Once squared away on with the car, we drove over to the condo and checked in.

The condos are quite nice. Steve’s even has a cable modem! He’s going to sign up for a week of service later. His wireless signal doesn’t reach into our condo, unfortunately.

We had a quick bite to eat at Maui Taco and ate at Kamaole Beach 2, then walked along the beach and took a few pictures.

We stayed and watched the sunset and then went back t the condo and crashed.

The next day, we woke up REALLY early (3am) to drive up to the crater of Haleakala to see the sunrise. Oh my god was it cold!

I mean really cold Chicago cold. I brought my jacket that’s fairly windproof, but it wasn’t up to the task. I should have brought the shell too.

Got a bunch of nice pictures and then took a leisurely drive down. We stopped at Kula Lodge for breakfast. I had a taste for macadamia nut pancakes, which they had, so I ordered (so did Steve & Ginny). Really yummy.

As we were still screwed up on the time zone, we came back to the condo and took a ‘nap’. After the nap, we for a walk on the boardwalk in Wilea. As we parked relatively near the hotel we’re staying at for the last two days, we put in a reservation for the Luau on that Friday. We walked along the boardwalk a bit and stopped for lunch at one of the hotels. After lunch, we headed back to the car.

We then went to Costco and Safeway to pick up some staples and stuff for a very light dinner (poke, lomi lomi, and some salad).

We took a walk down to the beach after dinner and watched the sunset again.

It’s now Monday, and we got back from a (fairly) early morning snorkel. Steve had wanted to go out earlier, but it didn’t quite happen that way.

We had a few problems getting ourselves in gear, but finally did. Went down to Kamaole park 3 (near the condo we stayed at 4 years ago) and went into the water. The surf was quite rough, so it was a challenge. Finally got in and started paddling around. I didn’t see many fish, but I think I saw a turtle and I DID hear some whales.

Came back to the condo to clean up and wake up.

It’s now about 10:45 and Steve’s here, relaxing on the recliner. We’re going to figure out what we want to do the rest of the day.

Hawaii Vacation — Day 1

Well, here we go on our 6th vacation to Maui Hawaii.

Yes, we’ve been there (here) a lot, but I really enjoy it. As I often tell people, it’s got the best of everything … it is a beautiful tropical paradise with just about all the comforts of home. Heck, there’s even a Costco. And for shopping we can go to Safeway where our Dominick’s fresh value card works (which I totally forgot on my key ring, which is at home … oh well, we can use our phone number).

Ginny and I are traveling with Steve … He’s fun to travel with and has a keen sense of adventure. He does tend to get obsessive about things though. Of course, if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be Steve.

I’m rather disappointed that Steve’s girlfriend Ruth couldn’t make it. I understand the reason … she’s newly in the independent contractor world and really can’t afford to say NO to a contract (she’s a contract trainer). It’s kind of sad, though, that Steve doesn’t have anyone to share Hawaii with (other than Ginny and I).

We’ll have a lot of fun anyway … That’s mandatory.

Right now we’re enroute … according to the air-traffic control channel we’ve just been handed off to Salt Lake City control. That’s about half way across the country. About two hours until we are feet wet (over water), and then it’s another 5 hours. That’s the only thing I don’t like about travel to Hawaii, it’s a 9 hour flight. Add to that we’re in coach (as usual), so we’re kind crammed in here.

This trip we don’t have any hard & fast plans … other than few items. We’re going up to Haleakala tomorrow morning, while we’re still working on central time … so we can wake up real early and go see the sunrise (more on Haleakala later). Other than that, we’ll be in Kehie for 10 days, then Hana for 2 (more on Hana later), then back in Wilea for the last two days.

I really wish we could afford property in Maui. If my MKS options are ever worth something, I think that’s what we are going to invest in. Get a nice two bedroom condo on the beach, rent it out for 50 weeks of the year, stay in it for the other two. Then, when we retire, we have a place to move to (or sell and use the proceeds to buy a different place).

Regarding Hana … every time we’ve gone to Hana before (it’s a very very long drive, along a two lane highway), we’ve gone only for the day. We usually leave somewhat early (8-9 am, early for us), drive the 3-4 hour trip, noodle around for a few hours, and then drive back.
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New spam trick – use an ISP

According to the SpamHaus Project–a U.K.-based antispam compiler of blacklists that block 8 billion messages a day–a new piece of malicious software has been created that takes over a PC. This “zombie” computer is then used to send spam via the mail server of that PC’s Internet service provider. This means the junk mail appears to come from the ISP, making it very hard for an antispam blacklist to block it.

Zombie trick expected to send spam sky-high | CNET News.com

I was afraid something like this was going to happen.

Looks like authenticated mail relaying is going to be mandatory, even inside a network.

The only IP address that will be legitimate for unauthenticated relaying is 127.0.0.1 (localhost) and the mail servers own addresses.

Agnostic

I was watching a rerun of CSI last night and saw a great dialog at the end of the show where the lead character (Gill Grissom, played by William Petersen) and a a guest star (Father Powell, played by Dylan Baker) had a rather interesting exchange …

Father Powell:You don’t believe?
Grissom: In religion. I believe in God, in science, in Sunday supper. I don’t believe in rules that tell me how I should live.
Father Powell: Even if they’re handed down by God?
Grissom: How many crusades were fought in the name of God? How many people died because of someone’s religion?
Father Powell: Fanaticism, not religion.
Grissom: Semantics. They’re still dead.

CSI: Alter Boys

This kind of sums up my feelings on religion and why I call myself an Agnostic.

With a few exceptions, I really can’t understand why most people would want to associated themselves with any organized religion… with all the clergy abuse and murder-in-the-name-of-god problems in the world.

That said, I also believe it is absolutely fine for anyone to worship (or not) in the way they choose (just so long as nobody gets hurt).

But, hey, that’s just me. Your mileage may vary.

Sober Rational Destructive Follower

Via Ryan, I found 20 Questions To A Better Personality.

Here’s how my personality breaks down (so to speak) (my notes are in red):

Wackiness: 22/100
Rationality: 62/100
Constructiveness: 44/100
Leadership: 50/100

You are a SRDF–Sober Rational Destructive Follower. This makes you a Fountain of Knowledge.

You are cool, analytical, intelligent (I try) and completely unfunny (Hey!). Sometimes you slice through conversation with a cutting observation that causes silence and sidelong glances (more often than I care to admit). You make a strong and lasting impression on everyone you meet, the quality of which depends more on their personality than yours (probably).

You may feel persecuted, as you can become a target for fun (sometimes). Still, you are focused enough on your work and secure enough in your abilities not to worry overly (maybe).

You are productive (maybe) and invaluable to those you work for (I like to think so). You are loyal, steadfast, and conscientious (ditto). Your grooming is impeccable (sometimes). You are in good shape (I’m trying).

You are kind of a tool, but you get things done (probably). You are probably a week away from snapping (Oh yeah).

Addendum, 2004/07/19: this fits me 99%, there is a slight inaccuracy however. We are not necessarily completely unfunny. If we have a sense of humor (I do) it surfaces on the occasion with well-timed, completely dry, very sarcastic, wit. – Chase

Of the 80326 people who have taken this quiz since tracking began (8/17/2004), 7.4 % are this type.

It snowed!

And boy did it snow. Probably 8″ last night.

Luckily it was pretty light weight, so the snow blower was able to deal with it. There were some parts where it was struggling though. I’m thinking that we’re going to get a more heavy duty snow blower for next year. Definitely a two stage with an electric start. Probably four stroke engine, so I don’t have to deal with the oil / gas mixture.

After clearing the driveway & sidewalks, Ginny and I went cross country skiing. We went out to Busse woods in Schaumburg. Nobody else was skiing yet, but there were a few snow mobilers (ptooey!). We were out for about 45 minutes before the wind started blowing pretty hard and made it less fun.

I did achieve my ‘Zen’ state for a little while … this is where I have a good rhythm going and I zone out of any heavy thought … just listening to the swish of my skis, the crunch of my poles, and the sound of my breathing. It’s quite relaxing.

Of course, about that time, a snow mobiler zoomed past and ruined the moment.

At least there are more four stroke snow mobiles out there than there used to be. Much quieter than the old kind.

Tonight is going to be fairly busy … my niece’s birthday is at an ice skating rink (indoors I hope … especially since Dan has asked me to take pictures) and then Ginny’s friend Katie is having her big five zero birthday.

One thing I did find out is that my contact lenses … well, my right contact lens, prescription is no longer valid. I like to be able to wear my sun glasses when I ski, so I have to wear my contact lenses. When I put the left contact lens in, I had no problem … but my right lens was all fuzzy. I’ll have to go get an eye exam soon. Maybe tomorrow.

Update 1/23: Well, turns out the prescription for my right eye was not invalid … as the new lens prescription I got was the exact same one as I had before. I suspect the lens was defective. I need to verify that stuff earlier on next time.

Control your children!

Oh man … talk about a scene …

I was at Galyans after work today to see about getting some stuff for our upcoming vacation.

Also at the store was a family … a mother and 3 children. Two of the children were fine… but a third (the youngest, I think, probably around 10) was absolutely pitching a huge fit. Screaming and yelling, running around, and generally carrying on. The mother was absolutely oblivious to it. She was calmly browsing through the racks of gear & clothes, without paying the slightest bit of attention (or, it seems, even noticing) her kid that was making a nuisance of herself.

As it happens Galyans doesn’t carry Teva’s or swimsuits when it’s off season… so I left. Had I not left when I did, I was sorely tempted to go up to that woman and yell at her to CONTROL YOUR DAMN CHILD.

I swear, that kid needed a good slap. The mother too for that mater.