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Tuesday July 1, 1997

Baby and I walked to Koko Marina early this morning and had coffee at the small café in Foodland. We took the bus to Ala Moana again because baby had another training appointment. I took the bus further into town to pick up an employment application at City Mill. The Human Resources building had a shabby façade. On the glass door was a message to potential employees about being a team player in a fun environment. I walked into the office. The interior was equally shabby. Two men sat despondently in the waiting area. There was nothing to suggest any team playing nor was there anything to suggest a fun working environment. I asked for an application and left. There were quite a few people at the bus stop when I got there. After 20 minutes, a bus passed by without stopping because it was too full. Another half-hour passed before another bus came by. However, I managed to meet baby on time. We had two cups of iced coffee at Gloria Jean's in Ala Moana. Later, I received a call on my beloved cell phone while we were walking around. I am to report to work at 7:30am next Monday. Earlier this week, I was apprehensive about becoming a wage slave. Now, I am looking forward to it, especially since I received more crap from the loan people. Sheesh!

I wanted to go for a walk tonight, but baby thought it would be unwise. She seems to think that moms does not like it when we are galavanting around the neighborhood after dark. So, I played with beloved computer while baby chatted with moms. So far, moms and baby appear to get along fine. Moms has her own way of doing things, and sometimes those ways do not make sense to anyone else but moms.

Baby and I took the bus to Ala Moana again. We had coffee at Gloria Jean's. The people there now recognize us as regulars. We even have Frequent Sipper cards now. Baby did not have a training appointment so we just did some window shopping. We took the bus to the Daiei store just a few blocks away. It's great to have a bus pass, eh? Then, we took the bus to Waikiki. Yes, when all else fails, go to Waikiki. We did the tourist thing for a few hours and returned home. We had planned to go to Barnes & Noble after dinner, but we just went for a walk to Koko Marina instead.

We have spent a good deal of time talking about the various situations that have presented themselves recently. I have been speculating about the situation with my bro and sister-in-law. I don't really want to believe that the inheritance of moms' house is the main issue, but all signs point in that direction. Baby and I have our own problems. So far, baby has not had any calls from prospective employers. She doesn't have much time. Moms has extended an invitation for her to stay even when baby's daughter arrives. However, that is not really a workable option. The family situation is already volatile as it is.

We wanted to get an early start today, but that never happened. I was supposed to take the 7am express bus to acquaint myself with the route. I never made it. Baby and I missed the 10 o' clock bus, so we walked to Koko Marina. We took the next bus to Ala Moana. We made it there with enough time for us to get some iced coffee at Gloria Jean's before baby had to go to her training session. I took the bus into town to turn in an application. I also went to Kapi'olani Community College to pick up an application. Mind you, it took me five hours to complete these two tasks. I was ready to lose it because the bus only serves those particular routes once every hour. Maybe I had better get my six-four ready. My days of riding the bus could be limited.

I spent all day helping my bro paint the house. I can't say that I was having a great time. Baby and I took the bus to Ala Moana after dinner. There was a 4th of July celebration with local entertainers and a good view of the fireworks show on Magic Island. Unfortunately, we arrived in time to see the last part of the fireworks show. We missed all of the entertainment. Baby and I got on a bus heading for Waikiki. Traffic out of Ala Moana was extremely bad since everyone decided to leave at the same time. The bus took 30 minutes just to reach the other side of the mall. We finally made it to Waikiki. We had enough time to walk down Kalakau'a Ave and catch the bus back to town in order to transfer to the last bus heading to Hawai'i Kai. Sheesh! I guess I had better get used to the city life. However, that may be difficult considering I spent quite a few years in sleepy ol' Convalescent City.

I spent most of the day helping my bro paint the house. I also washed and waxed my beloved six-four. Baby and I took the bus to Kaimuki so she could go to the Goodwill store. Aside from that, we did not do much. We went for our evening stroll and bought a bunch of cherries at Foodland. We sat out by the waterfront and ate the cherries while spitting the pits out into the ocean. Are we livin' large, or what?

Baby and I went into town for no particluar reason except to ride the bus. We picked up some stuff from Down to Earth, a natural food store. Baby went to Kapahulu to check out an Internet café. I waited for an hour at the bus stop until the bus finally came. I dropped off the stuff we bought and took the bus back into town. I wanted to stop off at several places. However, after I waited another 20 minutes for another bus, I discarded the idea and took one of the numerous Waikiki buses. I still ended up waiting another 30 minutes for the bus I needed and I returned home an hour late for dinner. I was hoping that baby and I could do something interesting tonight, but there was not much time left to do anything. After all, I have to go to work tomorrow. So, we went for our nightly walk around da 'hood. The events of the day left me frustrated rather than refreshed. I am not looking forward to getting up at 5 o' clock in the morning. Sheesh!

I got up at 5:15 and was extremely groggy. Baby had made my sandwich (for lunch) last night. Moms made breakfast for my bro and was busily preparing his lunch. I had just a power bar for breakfast. My goal has been to not burden moms with unnecessary chores. Baby got up briefly to say good-bye to the ol' lavahead. I took the 6:10 express bus to town and transferred to a regular bus for the rest of the trip. I didn't think that I would make it there by 7:30 but I did. Work was not very exciting. I spent quite a bit time chatting with two of my co-workers. I wasn't told that lunch was only a half-hour, so I ended up staying a little longer than I expected. I took the bus back to town and missed the express bus by a few seconds. I had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus. I spent 12 hours total commuting and at work. I never expected to see the day that I would turn into one of those gloomy-faced zombies going to and from work. Well, guess what? The stoneface is back! Yikes!

I left early once again. I find that I have nothing really to write about anymore. I just go to work. I sit at the computer. I took only half-an-hour for lunch today. Baby called me while I was eating. She dropped off my application packet at Kapi'olani Community College, but I was short one letter of reference. The deadline was today. However, baby told me that I was given a grace period of one day to have the third reference faxed to the office. The only problem I foresee is whether I can contact anyone in Convalescent City tomorrow. I left earlier from work since I took a shorter lunch break. I caught the bus back into town, but I did not get off at the express terminal. I was able to catch the express bus at the Fort Street Mall. I got home before baby. She had another training session today. I am sure that baby is becoming a little concerned about the job situation. She has less than two months to get settled before her daughter arrives. I do not think that either of us will make enough money by then to afford rent anywhere. And, frankly, I am getting tired of sleeping on the couch in the back room which serves as a warehouse for the junks my bro and sister-in-law have accumulated. Some of the baby stuff has been slated to be given away, although who knows when that will be.

I made a few phone calls to Cali before I left for work. I was able to get a third letter of recommendation faxed to Kapi'olani Community College. Hopefully I will be able to obtain an interview soon, although another job will certainly not be my ticket out of wage slavery. I really need to work on my business plan.

Riding the bus in the morning has been an interesting experience so far. I work in Kalihi, so I must transfer to a regular bus when I arrive downtown in the financial district on the express. The bus goes through the old Hotel Street district which is mainly comprised of seedy bars. The bars are already open and there is a steady stream of people milling in and out. Tucked away in the vacant corners are the homeless and destitute. They are all asleep and their worldy possessions are stuffed in shopping carts that are parked beside them. Chinatown is a few blocks further. Just a stone's throw beyond Chinatown is A'ala Park, the real home of the homeless homeys. In Kalihi, low income housing (the projects) line the streets. People tend to get on the bus and ride for only a block or two before getting off. Thus, the two-mile trip takes nearly 20 minutes.

Work has not been much fun. I find that I have little in common with the people I work with. I have maintained my humility so far since these people supposedly know more than I do. They are programmers. However, what I have come to discover is that they are DOS programmers (as in MS-DOS). They have just recently made the conversion to Windows 95 and NT, but the programs that they proudly hail as being developed in-house are DOS-based Clipper applications. Oddly, the person who wrote all of those database applications is no longer there. So, basically, these people write small patches and fixes for existing programs. Now, try to imagine running these applications in a DOS window in Windows 95. Good Lord! The real disadvantage to being a commuting wage slave is that I have very little free time. I have not been able to devote much time to LoserNet. Sheesh! Well, at least I was able to play with FrontPage for the first time. FrontPage is a very powerful Web development tool, although it requires special extensions to be resident on the Web server for certain features to work. I may have to purchase a copy for Highest Source.
 

The employment agency called baby this morning. So, she worked at Hilo Hattie's all day. She will be working there tomorrow, too. Baby told me that there was trouble in the house early this morning right after I left. As usual, my sister-in-law was trying to get my nephew in the mood to leave. Moms told her that she should have disciplined him a long time ago. My bro got upset and yelled at moms. The tension is obviously increasing. Baby bought a new iron for moms because the cord broke off of the old iron when baby was using it. However, moms had already bought a new iron today. Moms seems to enjoy baby's company. That could be another point of contention insofar as my bro and sister-in-law are concerned. By the way, my nephew continues to call me "auntie."

By the way, my nephew continues to call me "auntie."

Baby took the express bus with me this morning. She had to work again at Hilo Hattie's. I spent most of the day working on connecting a database to a FrontPage Web using Internet Database Connector (IDC). I had to go to the company orientation. That took up most of the afternoon, but I got to tour the facilities. I was extremely tired when I got home. I will probably be completely exhausted tomorrow. My bro was in his room. He has not said much since the incident of yesterday. My sister-in-law packed the baby stuff in her car, so it looks like she will be giving them away after all. I am a little worried about the situation here, though. I feel that something is going to blow real soon, just like a volcano.

I can't believe that I made it through a whole week as a wage slave. Sheesh! I spent half of the day on the Web. I downloaded some hopefully useful stuff such as the new Visual JavaScript program and FrontPage 60-Minute Intranet modules. When I came home, I was extremely fatigued. Baby did not work today. The employment agency called her with two possible assignments, but she turned them down. She would have had to start work this morning, which would have been fine except that she had to be home before 4 o' clock to wait for a phone call from the Bank of Hawai'i personnel office. When baby turned in the application for that job, she was told that she had to be home between 4pm and 5pm to receive the call. If she was not home, it would be assumed that she was not interested in the job. Needless to say, the call never happened. Baby then called the employment agency and found out that the assignments were already taken.

We took the bus to Barnes & Noble after dinner. I did some research on Personal Web Server because I installed it on my beloved computer and it wasn't working properly. Barnes & Noble was extremely crowded, mostly with students. When we returned, I played with my beloved computer for a while before calling it a night.

Baby wanted to pick up her paycheck at the employment agency. I decided to go with her. The bus apparently left earlier than we expected, so we waited for the next bus. Somehow we decided to go to the Down to Earth store to pick up some of our favorite foods. Down to Earth is similar to Trader Joe's. As we waited for the bus, baby looked at her watch and realized that she had only ten minutes to be at Ala Moana. No way. Baby was a little flustered, which resulted in another misunderstanding that escalated once we returned home. Not surprisingly, it is almost one year to the day when we had our first big misunderstanding at Cannon Beach. We returned home. I played with my beloved computer all afternoon. Baby took the bus somewhere. I figured out that nothing was wrong with Personal Web Server. The fault was in my Netscape browser although it was not due to a bug. The browser tried to resolve the address through a non-existent DNS server. To solve the problem, I just renamed my computer to the default local host name.

Baby and I took the bus to Ala Moana. From there, we walked to the Ward Center and Computer City. I wanted to check on the prices of various software, scanners and notebook computers. I don't think that I'll be buying anything in the near future, though. We walked back to Ala Moana and looked around. I bought another Aloha shirt for work. We took the bus to Waikiki. I bought two pairs of socks at Woolworth's. I have only one pair of dress socks and I have been wearing that same pair every day to work. Later, baby and I bought a couple of take-out items from the Chinese restaurant in Kuapa Kai and brought it home dinner since moms was not feeling good. Actually, moms has not felt good all day. She said that she did not sleep at all last night because of stomach pains. Moms also mentioned that one of my uncles is in the hospital. He has been diagnosed with blood clotting on his brain. I suspect that moms will not be sleeping well tonight either.

Baby and I took our nightly walk. As usual, we talked about the tense situation that is developing in moms' house. Baby said that she overheard my sister-in-law talking on the phone. My sister-in-law has decided to give up looking for another job "until you know what," as she put it. No doubt, she was alluding to having another child. My sister-in-law is having a lot of trouble with her superiors at her present job. I don't know how she and my bro will survive on my bro's sole income especially with two kids. Both baby and I suspect that they are doing whatever they can to insure that they inherit moms' house. There is no way they will be able to afford a place on their own. Neither will I, for that matter. In the meantime, moms will certainly not ask them to leave if they are the progenitors of the family name.

I spent most of the day at work using FrontPage. It took me all day to set up a sample program. It didn't work. I suspect that the Personal Web Server is the culprit. I was the only one at home when I returned. Moms had to go to a funeral. Baby left me a note saying that she would be home late because she was working. Baby also mentioned that the Bishop called after I left for work. He is flying in to Hawai'i tomorrow. Naturally, he waited until the last minute to call. The Bishop called again after dinner and I talked with him. I am not exactly sure what he is going to do. He will arrive in the afternoon, but I will not be able to pick him up until after dinner. Baby seems to think that he wants to move here. I surmise that may be, especially after he sees some of the more exotic island babes.

Well, I finally set up the LoserNet account with a larger disk space. I have also found out that I have Web space with my new ISP, and I actually did not have to pay for additional space. However, I would have to move LoserNet again. So, instead, I will set up a mirror site for all three people that comprise LoserNet's target audience. Sheesh! I also hope to purchase a scanner soon. I want to include a few more lavahead photos. What I really need is a new computer, but I cannot justify such a purchase when I know I will be unemployed within six months.

Today was payday, except I didn't get paid. I guess I will have to wait until the end of the month before I have any dough. Work was trying, as usual. I am setting up a corporate intranet, but I have no access to the server. Can you believe it? That's why I have been fooling around with Personal Web Server. I finally added some rudimentary graphics to make it look more like what it's supposed to. The ride home on the bus was more unnerving than usual. The route from Kalihi to town gives new meaning to the term "milk run." The Bishop called at six o' clock. He had been at the airport for several hours. However, he decided to take a shuttle and check into a youth hostel in Waikiki. Overall, that will work out best for the Bishop. Moms has not been able to eat for three days and she is not feeling well. And, all of us leave for work early and come back late. Those are the wages of being a wage slave. Sheesh! Baby received another assignment from the employment agency. After two weeks, it may turn out to be a permanent position. She will be working at the Bishop Museum (no relation to the Bishop).

I received a small parcel by Federal Express. It turned out to be a credit card. Sheesh! My credit is apparently still pretty good. I received a platinum card last week. The funny thing is that I have no dough. Baby left with me this morning. We rode into town together on the express bus. From there, she had to take a different bus than me to get to work at the Bishop Museum. I spent most of my day downloading huge Active Server Pages extensions. They are meant to be run with Internet Information Server. I am running it on Personal Web Server. I also figured out the problem that I was having with Internet Database Connector (IDC). I believe that I will be able to gain some momentum with my intranet project. Caroll called me on my beloved cell phone while I was at work. She sounded a little depressed. She is unemployed right now, and she may end up losing her condominium. I can only hope that Caroll makes it through the hard times. After work, I took the bus to the Bishop Museum. Baby was just wrapping up her work day by the time I got there. We took the bus home. After dinner, we walked to Safeway to get some lunch stuff. The day was pretty much over after that.

Now that all of us go to work early in the morning, I am sure that moms is enjoying the peace and quiet. There will be no restoration of order until baby and I move out. I don't take up much room. I still sleep on the couch in the back room that my bro and sister-in-law use for a warehouse. I use one of their boxes to hang up my clothes. Well, my sister-in-law has made breakfast for my bro all week so far. She has also been packing his lunches. On our nightly walks, baby and I have been discussing the family dynamics. We both sense that everyone except moms wants us to move out. Well, hey! Baby is sleeping in my nephew's future bedroom! Of course, it is easy to think that life outside moms' house will be simple especially when certain people pay a grand total of $400 per month for rent, food, maid service (moms), and utilities! Mind you, rent alone runs an average of $1,200 per month here in Honolulu.

I received information about my loan. Remember that I want to consolidate and refinance it through another lender. I'm not sure if I'll come out ahead by switching lenders. The money game is a no-win scenario at best. Sheesh! If I have to move out soon, I'll be in big trouble. Maybe our moving out will not be so bad. Then, I won't have to listen to my nephew's incessant whining. On some days, I want to kick him for a field goal. What can you expect? He is rewarded for both good and bad behavior. My bro and sister-in-law have altered their behavior recently. They have made quite a production of helping with some of the chores. Of course, these are the things baby and I do silently as part of our day. I guess they want to cover all bases so they will not lose favor with moms, although moms has pretty much given them run of the house already.

I am beginning to see where the term "working stiff" came from. I feel like a zombie more and more with each passing day. I didn't get much accomplished at work per se. Somehow I decided to check out how well FrontPage implemented frames. I ended up redesigning everything I did yesterday. I think the intranet project looks a lot better now. However, I need to start working more on the IDC stuff. Baby had a good day at work. The job may end up being long-term, but office politics could prevent that from happening. My sister-in-law set the table tonight. Oddly, I noticed that two place settings were conspicuously absent. What does that tell you? Baby and I went out for our nightly walk. It started raining real hard on the way home, and we ended up soaking wet. I'm just glad it is Friday. Some old guy sat next to me on the bus this afternoon. He must have been eating a lot of Kim Chee because I could really smell it. Ho, da buggah!

Baby and I left early this morning for Ala Moana because she wanted to pick up her paycheck from the employment agency. There was a big sidewalk sale going on at Ala Moana, so we stayed and looked around. We bought some new slippers at Woolworth's. Slippers, as they are fondly called here in Hawai'i, are those cheap rubber thongs. Sadly, Woolworth's will be closing its doors here in Hawai'i very soon. For all of us, Woolworth's is ohana. Baby and I returned home late in the afternoon, but no one else was here. We washed up and left for Waikiki on the bus. I wanted to see if we could locate the Bishop. We got off at the usual stop on Kuhio Ave. I recalled that I saw a hostel further down toward the "jungle," as it is called. The "jungle" is a section of Waikiki with less than desirable elements. I happened to see a sign that said, "Waikiki Hostel." So, baby and I went in and inquired. Sure enough, the Bishop was staying there. We walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. The whole place was reminiscent of a real Roach Motel. His roommates were there, but they did not know where he was. They referred to the Bishop as "the American." We went back downstairs to the office. I wanted to leave a message for the Bishop at the front desk. A guy approached us and asked, "Are you looking for the American?" We said yes. He told us that the person we were looking for was in the lounge. As we walked in that direction, I saw a familiar face walk out the door. It was the Bishop. Baby and I talked with him for a while. Many of the other hostel occupants came by to contribute a few words to the conversation. The atmosphere was lively. A bunch of people were going out to the clubs. The Bishop was going with them, so baby and I departed. We made tentative arrangements to meet tomorrow.

Baby and I met the Bishop at Ala Moana. It was extremely crowded because of the sidewalk sale. Actually, it's crowded all the time. We walked across the street to Ala Moana Beach. It was crowded there, too. We walked around for a while. We had lunch at the Makai Mall in Ala Moana. The Bishop was very tired because he was partying until six o' clock this morning. So, he returned to Waikiki. Baby and I walked around Ala Moana. We also went to Waikiki. We returned home around sunset. My bro was out painting the house. He was in the back near the laundry pole. In Hawai'i, people hang their laundry outside as much as possible. Baby had hung up some clothes this morning beside my sister-in-law's stuff. Well, baby's stuff was still outside about three feet from the wall that my bro was painting. Naturally, paint got all over baby's clothes. Baby was a little upset. We had to go to Safeway to buy our lunch stuff. On the way there, we had a misunderstanding that erupted into a fiasco. When we returned, I walked in on a conversation my sister-in-law was having with moms. I heard my name and something about "an attitude." As it were, my sister-in-law was complaining that I do not acknowledge her spoiled brat son who calls me "auntie." Earlier, I was taking the recycling outside and the little crapper was swinging his arms around like a Ninja Turtle. Well, the Ninja Turd hit me right in the crotch. I should have kicked him for a field goal. The situation is out of control. Baby and I are seldom here. We do what we can to help moms and show our gratitude to her for helping us out. Somehow, the parents of the Ninja Turd have come to the conclusion that baby and I are trying to compete with them for moms' house. So, they are trying to get us to move out. In the meantime, we have heard bits and pieces that they may or may not be buying a new car. Not surprising, considering that I could work at Micky Dee's and afford the rent they pay. The spare cash must be burning holes in their pockets. Sheesh!

I think I have pretty much written off a few family members. As far as I'm concerned, all I have is moms. As I told baby, I have never desired to take over this house. A few years ago, moms informed me that she was leaving the house to my bro and I. That is why she wanted us to get along. I told her that I didn't want the house to get between us anyway. I suggested that she just give it to my bro and sister-in-law. Moms did not want to do that. If only the parents of the Ninja Turd knew the real truth! I am not so inclined to make life easy for them now. When the time comes, I will force the sale of the property. As I told moms, everyone will end up as losers. Me ... I don't care. I have lived off of Bush's baked beans for years.

Good news! I have been given a six-month grace on my loans, although I have not refinanced them yet. Actually, I may stay with my current lender. The big payment I made last month resulted in a two percent interest rate reduction. It is now a six percent loan. I still hope to buy a new computer this year, but I have decided to pay off my obligation as soon as possible. Even though I will only have my current job for six months, I plan to save up enough dough to make another large payment.

I finally got my first paycheck. I felt a sense of relief. It was raining pretty hard today. Baby and I managed not to get too wet. Pau hana time for me is four o' clock. I take the bus downtown and wait for baby. She finishes work at five o' clock. We then take the express bus home together. Well, I received a notice to take the cop exam in August. I will take the written exam on a Saturday. Funny, one of my co-workers and I were looking at the City and County of Honolulu Web site today. I saw the listing for police officers. I remarked that I had applied for the position and never heard about it since. Well, my dreams of becoming a cop may still come true.

While we were taking our nightly walk, baby mentioned that my sister-in-law and the Ninja Turd were having a conversation during dinner. The Ninja Turd asked, "This is your house, right mommie?" My sister-in-law replied, "Yes, it is." Baha! Ha! Ha Haaaaaa! Before I forget, many thanks to Richard (boxmaker@prairienet.org) and Mike (mdosen@pepper.com) for writing in!

The routine is all too familiar now. Wake up. Take the express bus downtown at six o' clock in the morning. Take another bus to Kalihi. Start work at 7:30am. Slave away at the computer for eight hours. Pau hana time. Take the bus back to town. Wait for baby. Today, we didn't take the express bus back from town. We took a regular bus and got off at Kahala Mall. We waded through the crowd of people at Woolworth's. The clearance sale has begun. We got home close to eight o' clock and ate dinner. I was exhausted.
 

I am running out of stuff to write about! And, after using FrontPage, I am getting a bit spoiled. I may even start using the Navigator Gold editor rather than insert the tags manually. One thing is for sure ... I need to spruce up LoserNet. Even the competitor's site is far more exciting. Sheesh! I have reconsidered buying a new computer. I have no business spending that kind of money anyway. I may add more RAM to my beloved computer, although I'm not sure whether it is worth spending $170 on a 50Mhz i486 notebook computer. The damned thing crashed on me tonight while I was writing my beloved journal in WordPad. Do you see what I have to put up with? If you have ever wondered why LoserNet's graphics are so cheesy ... can you say, "Windows Paintbrush"? Oh brother. When I'm unemployed again, I will have plenty of time to redesign LoserNet, eh?

Even the competitor's site is far more exciting. Sheesh!

Three stooges from Yemen filed a lawsuit against NASA for trespassing on their planet. No, they were not referring to Earth. They claimed that they had inherited Mars from their ancestors over 3,000 years ago. Well, I own Pluto, but I don't really care if anyone visits without my approval or knowledge. Sheesh! Work has become somewhat routine for me. I sit at the computer for over eight hours straight. I rarely take a break. I even eat my lunch in front of the computer. My eyes are really strained by the end of the day. I am so fatigued that all I want to do is sit down and lapse into a coma. Baby and I went out for a walk for the first time in several days. We walked to Koko Marina and back. When we returned home, it was already time for us to call it a night.

The Bishop called just before we went for our walk. He decided to stay in Waikiki instead of relocating to the North Shore. On Monday, he and several others at the hostel rented three cars and toured the island. The Bishop wants to hike the Sacred Falls trail this Saturday. I will confirm the plans with him tomorrow.

Today was baby's last day at the Bishop Museum. She was supposed to work for two weeks. The personnel office wanted to move someone into that job permanently and as quickly as possible. Thus, baby will be out of work again. I have been waiting downtown for baby after work. She meets me near the Fort Street Mall. Then, we take the express bus home. Baby called me this afternoon to see if I was going to meet her downtown. I wasn't sure. I ended up waiting downtown, but she never showed up. I took the six o' clock express bus home. Baby did not get home until two hours later. I was ready to call the cops because I suspected foul play. It turned out that there was some kind of traffic fiasco that redirected the buses. So, none of the buses came by until close to six o' clock. By the time baby reached downtown, she had missed the express bus. I'm just glad that she made it home safely. The Bishop called. He will be taking the bus tomorrow morning and meet me here. Then, we will take my six-four to Sacred Falls.

The Bishop arrived on schedule, and we immediately left for Sacred Falls. The drive took about an hour. The hike to the falls took about another hour. The place was packed with tourists. My hip was acting up again, and I almost fell into the creek several times. Fortunately, the Bishop was there to assist the ol' lavahead. Sacred Falls is probably the largest of its kind on this island (but, not very spectacular) although it has been relatively preserved. I warned the Bishop that our final destination would be a bit of a disappointment. However, the hike through the lush vegetation was well worth the trip. At least the Bishop got to see what Hawai'i was like before development.

Baby had arrived home before we did. Moms told me that she was in tears because she had a trying day on the bus. She spent most of the day waiting for the bus. When she returned home, she wanted to go to the beach. She waited for the beach bus, but it just passed her up. As it turned out, she would have to walk about a mile to the official beach bus stop. Clearly, the bus routes are designed to cater to the tourists. Sheesh! All of us walked to Koko Marina and ate lunch at Yummy's. Later, baby and I drove the Bishop back to Waikiki in my beloved six-four. I have not driven in several weeks, and I must admit that I do not miss the experience. Baby and I returned home and showered. Then, we took the bus to Kahala Mall and spent the rest of the evening at Barnes & Noble.

Baby mentioned that there was a psycho at the bus stop this morning. He was talking to himself and throwing things at her. I may have to get baby a can of pepper spray (the mace-like deterent). There are actually a lot of psychos in Hawai'i. I guess that even the psychos like nice weather. Downtown has a large population of psychos living on the streets. I see quite a few while I wait for baby. On Thursday, there was an old guy walking around with his pants halfway down his legs. He was also singing. He made it a point to stand in front of all the babes and display his wares. Yesterday, there was a guy laying down on the bench in front of me. He was sniffing paint and chain smoking. He was trembling badly. I doubt that I will see him around much longer. It is hard to imagine what circumstances brought these people to where they are today. It is very saddening.

I forgot to mention that I received a package from Robert (rbryant@mci2000.com) yesterday. He sent me five Aloha shirts ("Reyn Spooners ... the Brooks Brothers of Aloha shirts") and over a pound of coffee beans. The shirts were remnants from a previous vacation here. They were size XL, and as everyone knows, I wear size XXS (Boys). Also, many thanks to Preferred Customer (inspect777@worldnet.att.net) and Webmaster (webmaster@migrantprogrammer.com) for writing in! Finally, I neglected to mention that the Cardinal called a few days ago. He will be here in Hawai'i next Sunday. There may be a chance that all of us will get together for a reunion sans The Bull. However, the Bishop is not too sure if he will be here. He may change his return date and fly back to Cali on Tuesday. The Bishop's new babe, Shannon, just moved to Monterey from Convalescent City, and he plans to follow her there. So, he wants to fly back to Cali and make preparations for his move.

The tension in the house seems to have subsided for the time being. Of course, baby and I are hardly around. Since I haven't scanned any photos yet, maybe I should throw in some useless history as filler material. Not much in my family has gone right, at least as far as I know. My bro was just a teenager when pops decided to kick both him and moms out of the house. They spent a few months living with my uncle and aunt. I was on the mainland at the time. They eventually moved back into the house. When I came home during vacation, my bro seemed a lot different. He was much quieter and he seemed to be harboring a lot of ill feelings. I noticed that he was regularly cussing out moms and pops. When I broke up with my ex, I came back to try to relax. One day, moms asked the bro to do something. He didn't want to do what she asked, so he cussed her out. Pops lost it and began yelling at my bro. My bro cussed him out, too. Pops took a swing at him. The next thing I knew, pops and my bro were on the floor wrestling. My bro had a headlock on pops. After my bro let him go, pops kicked him out of the house. Moms kept in touch with my bro on a clandestine basis. My bro's first job was working for an illegal gambling joint run by the Hawai'i underworld. He finally quit and began working for Pizza Hut. That is where he met my sister-in-law. They eventually cohabitated. My sister-in-law had two jobs at the time. My bro found himself a babe on the side. His rationale was that my sister-in-law didn't seem to have enough time for him. So, they separated. But, somewhere down the line, my bro approached moms about letting my sister-in-law use one of the vacant rooms in the house. Moms seems to think that he felt guilty for cheating on her. My bro was still living in the same apartment that was once their love nest. Moms agreed for reasons unbeknownst to me. My sister-in-law lived with moms for eight months without paying rent. Moms asked her to move out because my bro wanted to move home. She refused. They approached moms about cohabitating in her house. Moms told them that they would have to be married to do that. So, a few months afterward, they made the announcement that they were getting married. Prior to that, my sister-in-law had gone home to the mainland for a short visit and had a little fling of her own with some other guy. The wedding was a fiasco. I flew in from Cali to attend the wedding. My bro was late to the wedding, and he got into a physical altercation with the catering guy. That was seven years ago. My bro switched jobs again. Through an employment agency, he became a lens grinder for an optical dispenser. My bro didn't get along with one of his bosses and decided to quit about year ago. Now, keep in mind that three years ago, he and my sister-in-law decided to have a baby against moms' wishes. Four years ago, they splurged and bought a $24,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee at a high interest rate so that my sister-in-law would have a car big enough to take her relatives around when they visited. My bro wanted to get into some kind of construction trade. First, he wanted to be a plumber, but he changed his mind at the last minute and set out to become a carpenter. By that time, new construction startups had slowed down considerably in Hawai'i. He was fortunate to get his current stint as a framer, especially after spending the last three months warming the bench at the union hall. My sister-in-law now works as a secretary for a law firm. Her job may be in jeopardy, too. She apparently does not get along with her immediate supervisor. And, of course, the last we heard was that she is no longer looking for a job at least until after she bears a second Ninja Turd ... errr, I mean ... child. Well, that is the crazy situation as I know it. I am sorry that baby had to step into this cesspool.

Baby and I went to Ala Moana again. We took the long way via the Goodwill and Down to Earth stores. It certainly beats staying at home! I finally ended up at Computer City. I don't know why I keep looking at new computers. There is no way I will be buying one this year. We looked around Ala Moana again, but the crowds made that activity anything but relaxing or fun. I was hoping that the Bishop did not stop by while we were gone. He was supposed to walk over from Hanauma Bay. He probably had a change of plans. Well, another weekend has gone by. I'm not excited about going back to work. I guess I will get used to it sooner or later.

Baby said that she thought something seemed wrong before we left the house this morning. My bro was slamming things around conspicously to indicate his displeasure about something. Later, after dinner, moms made a comment that the bro was angry with her. So, I asked her about it. Apparently, pops called this morning and my bro talked with him. When the call was over, moms asked the bro why he didn't ask if pops wanted to talk with the ol' lavahead. "That would be the loving thing to do," she told him. "Loving, my foot!," was my bro's reply. Moms made fried rice for lunch, which is one of my bro's favorite dishes. He refused to eat it in protest. Moms then told my sister-in-law that she should cook for him if he doesn't like what she makes. I'll save my speculations about the ramifications of this incident for a later day. Frankly, I'm just tired of this nonsense.

I had a slow day at work. Baby met me downtown after work. She had an interview today, which turned out to be promising. However, she won't know much for another two weeks. My sister-in-law set the table for dinner and neglected to put a place setting out for baby and I. So, I worked on my computer while baby kept me company. The bro ate dinner at the table with his family. If baby and I are at the table, he will eat his dinner in the living room. I suppose that I can assume he is protesting our presence. I surmise that baby and I will eat after my bro and his family eat. It is their house and moms, baby and I are merely guests who have overstayed our welcome.

Baby talked with moms this morning. Moms told her that my sister-in-law had approached moms about when baby and I are going to move out of the house. Moms told my sister-in-law that she can't kick us out since we don't have enough money to get a place yet. Interesting, isn't it? I suppose my sister-in-law forgot about the time when she and my bro refused to pay moms more than $200 a month rent because they wanted to take several vacations to the mainland. Moms also told baby that my sister-in-law wanted moms to build an addition to the house, so her sisters and brother could move in. I didn't even know that they all got along. My sister-in-law and one of her sisters got into a physical altercation that landed them in jail. From what I am to understand, the argument was over the disposition of their parents' property on the mainland. Well, moms told my bro and sister-in-law that they are no longer allowed to lie around on the couch all night, which explains why they have retired so early every evening. Baby and I are rarely around when these events take place. I think that it is better that we stay out of the way. I should mention that I figured out why my bro and sister-in-law seemed upset when we took our showers before them. They were afraid that we would use up all the hot water. Baby and I each take quick showers with only lukewarm water. In fact, I have the water pressure so low that I can barely call it a shower. My sister-in-law takes 15-minute showers with the water up full blast. I ran out of hot water while I was doing the dishes because she was in the shower at the time. Baby and I are worried about what will happen next. Mostly, we fear for moms because my bro could become violent and hurt her.

I have been very tired lately. I believe that my fatigue is the result of too many hours at the computer. I don't have any choice now since that is a requirement of my job. Baby called me to say that she got a work assignment downtown from the employment agency. She is working for two days as a receptionist at the very place that she applied for an account executive position. I met baby downtown after work. When we reached home, moms told baby that she had a message on the answering machine. Moms doesn't like to use the answering machine. Baby played back the messages, but she neglected to save them. Curiously, when my bro and sister-in-law came home, they somehow knew that there were messages on the machine. They were both very upset with baby. Apparently, a realtor called to tell them that she found a nice place for them at $147,000 or so. I have an idea of what their financial situation is and I doubt they can afford the mortgage. According to baby (she's a mortgage broker), they most likely can only qualify for an FHA loan. However, several other factors may work against them. In any case, the animosity is increasing with each passing day.

 The weather was very hot and humid today. Baby and I both went to work. I met her downtown as usual. We returned home and left for Kahala Mall almost immediately. My sister-in-law and nephew came home just as baby and I were ready to leave. Naturally, all of ten seconds elapsed before the Ninja Turd began whining and crying at the top of his lungs. We ate at Burger King (Whoppers, our way!). Last weekend, the Bishop told me that Whoppers are no longer 99 cents on the mainland. Whassup wi' dat? Fortunately, they are still 99 cents here. Baby and I spent the rest of the evening at Barnes & Noble. We drank coffee and perused magazines. All in all, it was a pleasant day.

Today was an uneventful day. Mind you, I am not complaining. Baby and I went out for our nightly walk. We walked to the park and down to Koko Marina. We usually return in time to talk with moms and make preparations for the next day. Baby usually makes my sandwich for me. However, we ran out of sandwich stuff. I'll probably just buy a loaf of Sweet Bread and eat it for lunch. I bought a loaf today to eat with my morning coffee at work. I ate half the loaf. Sheesh! Well, that's how delicious it was.

Continue the adventure now ... let's hele on to August now!

The Keeper of Lost Lives: Hele On, Braddah!

Starring:
The Keeper of Lost Lives ... Tralfaz
Moms ... Herself
Baby ... Herself
And a cast of thousands!

© Copyright 1997 by The Keeper of Lost Lives
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