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Here We Go Again!

I spent the day at work integrating databases into my intranet prototype without writing any CGI stuff. They are simple databases created with Access. I have been using the IDC wizard in FrontPage. I am using one of the databases to set up a password lookup to limit access to certain areas. The project took most of the day, and it works like a charm! Frankly, I am impressed with these new rapid application development (RAD) tools. After work, I met up with baby downtown. This will be her last day at her current assignment. We took the bus to Ala Moana so baby could pick up her paycheck. We also had iced coffee at Gloria Jean's and looked around Ala Moana. We missed the bus we wanted to take, so we ended up taking the long way home through a variety of connecting routes. We got home late. Moms bought Chinese food from a place in Kaimuki. It tasted good even though it was cold.

I bought a memory module for my beloved notebook computer. At first, I was going to spend about $170 to get 20Mb of RAM, but I thought better of that idea. Then, I found out that I could get an 8Mb memory module for $15! However, it cost $15 to ship it. I now have a modest increase in RAM for very little cost. It helped speed up my computer a little bit. At least I bought a little more time before I really need to buy another computer. The prices of computers should be going down significantly by the end of the year anyway. Well, the cop examination is tomorrow morning. I am so tired from my week of wage slavery that I can barely think. I don't know if I will ever end up as a cop, but who am I to say? I may not be able to cut it in the world of computer nerds. Sheesh! Finally, many thanks to Allison (Barekoala@aol.com) and Vuvis Bowlslaw (a0s7117@oitunix.oit.umass.edu) for writing in!

I took the cop exam early this morning. There were over 60 people present. There are some shabby looking characters trying out to become cops. One could have easily mistaken the event for a police lineup. Sheesh! The exam covered reading comprehension, spelling and grammar. Notification of the results will be in four weeks. However, this was only the first part of the recruiting process. There will also be a physical examination and a complete background check.

Moms wanted me to take her to Koko Marina to do her weekly shopping. So, moms, baby and I drove there in my six-four. Baby and I ended up going to Ala Moana again. Naturally, we had our usual iced coffee at Gloria Jean's. She bought a muumuu (a casual long dress with Hawai'ian prints) from Liberty House. Now, she won't look so much like a haole on Aloha Fridays. We returned home briefly before leaving once again, this time to Kahala Mall. The bus was late. The driver meandered along the highway and missed the turn into Aina Haina. He had to go in through the back way to pick up any waiting passengers. Then, he picked up the pace (not the picanté sauce). Do you remember that line from The Loser Living Upstairs? Sheesh! We ate dinner at Burger King (99-cent Whoppers, our way!) and ended up at Barnes & Noble. We drank more coffee. I perused the usual computer magazines. Baby wrote letters. Speaking of letters, I have noticed that my e-mail response turnaround is over a week now. I must apologize for that. After spending all day at the computer, I have been reluctant to spend much time on my own computer.

My bro and sister-in-law both went to work today. They seem to be driven by a new goal to make some quick dough. I'm not sure whether that goal is a new car or a new house. Baby seems convinced that they will not be able to qualify for a loan, especially if they have not saved any dough. The loan people will be skeptical of the conspicuous absence of savings in view of their low living expenses. Oh well. That's their business, not mine.

This morning, I took the recycling to the local collection bins and washed my six-four. Baby and I then went into town, first stopping at Down to Earth. We went to Ala Moana for the third consecutive day. As usual, Ala Moana was crowded and people made their way through the crowds like a herd of crazed cattle. When we returned home, there was a message that the Cardinal had called. I called him back and made plans to meet him in Waikiki. He and his daughter are staying at the Park Shore hotel. Moms made a delicious dinner. She cooked a variety of entrées in the kamado. We ate a quick dinner and left for Waikiki. We found the Cardinal's hotel room. He left a note that he was at the Chinese restaurant next to the ABC Store. Well, as you recall, the ABC Stores were The Bull's favorite place to shop, and they are everywhere! In fact, there was an ABC Store right in the lobby of the Park Shore. We looked inside the restaurant next to it, but the Cardinal was nowhere to be found. Finally, we walked outside and found another ABC Store within a hundred feet of the hotel. There was a dungy Chinese restaurant next to it. We walked in. The Cardinal recognized us immediately. We had a nice time talking about the usual stuff including all of the old cast members from the gym. I'll give out tidbits as I hear 'em. The Cardinal asked me about the Bishop. I then realized that the Bishop never called me back last week. I must assume that he has gone back to Cali early to make preparations for his move to Monterey (where his babe, Shannon, lives). The Cardinal will be in Hawai'i until next Sunday. I hope that we will be able to see more of him than we saw the Bishop.

Last night, the Cardinal wondered why we didn't get any fortune cookies with dinner. The restaurant wanted 35 cents each. Sheesh! Well, the Cardinal managed to talk the hostess into giving one to each of us. My fortune read, "Life is what happened while you were making other plans." Whassup wi' dat? I have been drinking a lot of coffee at work. It is about the only real diversion I have from eight hours of sitting in front of my computer. Naturally, the coffee is of the robusta variety. No doubt, it's Fodgers. I will have to locate where the ground coffee is stored to confirm my suspicions. I have been looking at a lot of Windows 95 stuff lately, and I found an enhanced version of Notepad. Naturally, I had to bring it home and install it on my beloved computer. Am I livin' large, or what?

I have had a slight sore throat for two days now. I think I can attribute this malady to all the people who have been coughing on the bus every day. It seems that, the more crowded the bus is, the more sick people are riding on it. Baby rode on the express bus with me this morning. She had a two-hour interview and orientation with a mortgage firm. She was excited at the prospect of working there. Hopefully she will hear something soon.

I had a distressing day at work. Somehow, I disabled my Personal Web Server (PWS), or should I say I detached it from FrontPage. I tried a variety of solutions including installing the software from scratch. Still nothing. The problem seems to be with the FrontPage Web server administrator. It no longer recognizes PWS. It was looking for Internet Information Server, which has never been installed on my workstation. I frantically installed the FrontPage Web Server and set it up for port 8080. Tomorrow, I will see whether FrontPage will recognize it. You see, without a Web server, FrontPage cannot function. Sheesh! I just hope I didn't flush a whole month of work down the toilet. Well, to relax I came home and installed the updated TCP/IP drivers for Windows 95 on my beloved computer. Well, hey! I'm a computer nerd!

I spent the whole day deleting and installing FrontPage and its associated programs and extensions. The FrontPage Web Server had less than desirable characteristics so I had no choice. Finally, just a few minutes before pau hana time, I had everything restored and running. I suspected that the problem was a server conflict. FrontPage apparently could "see" the Windows NT Web server. It just did not know how to resolve the server's address. I rebooted my computer, but I did not log on the LAN. Sheesh! Baby met me downtown after work. We took the bus to Kahala Mall. We ate a very late lunch at Burger King (99-cent Whoppers, our way!) before going to Barnes & Noble. We returned home after 8 o' clock, just in time for our walk. Baby and I still take our nightly walks. We are not able to take any extended journeys, though. We usually walk to the park and, if time permits, we walk down to Koko Marina. The waterfront next to the shopping center is peaceful and relaxing, especially in the evening. Finally, many thanks to Chris (malice@solgate.com) for writing in!

As I stood waiting for the express bus at 6 o' clock this morning, I saw the rain coming from the direction of Koko Crater. Within seconds, it started pouring. The rain lasted about five minutes, and I was the only one standing there without an umbrella. After the rain stopped, the bus arrived. I was soaking wet. Naturally, the air conditioner was on full blast on the bus. What a loser! I uploaded the prototype of the intranet site onto the server. I didn't want to take any more chances! As it turned out, I can now access the site with FrontPage right from my workstation. Well, I had to reward myself with a game of Windows Solitaire for a job well done. Sheesh!

Baby has not gotten any assignments this week, which has been a little discouraging for her. She also received her first slam letter. She has been spending several hours a day using the training facility at the employment agency. She wants to increase her computer skills to broaden her job prospects. Unfortunately, that is the way things are here in Hawai'i. Many people end up working at two jobs just to make ends meet. Hawai'i ranks as the most expensive state to live in. Yet, for all the negatives, Hawai'i is still a nice place. Honolulu even has some redeeming qualities. Well, this is our home now, so we will have to make the most of it.

My cold has gotten worse. I felt terrible all day. There is nothing like having a cold with a stuffed up head while it is 80 degrees outside! I called the Cardinal and made arrangements for all of us to meet this evening. I also called baby to let her know the plans. She said that she had to go to work in the afternoon, so she would meet me downtown afterward. I met baby at the usual spot and we took the express bus home. The traffic was terrible today. We didn't get home until after six o' clock. The Cardinal called to ask where we were. We walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to town. After waiting for 15 minutes, I grew impatient and decided we should drive to Waikiki. Traffic was still heavy, but my six-four made it Waikiki. We found parking near the zoo, then met with the Cardinal and his daughter outside his hotel. The Cardinal wanted to know of a good place to eat. I suggested an all-you-can-eat place within walking distance. I had heard that it was a good place. Boy, was I wrong! The ambiance was nice but the food was terrible. I was so embarrassed to have even suggested that dump. And, the worst part was that it was not a cheap place. After dinner, we walked back to the Cardinal's hotel and bid him and his daughter farewell. They will be leaving for Convalescent City on Sunday. It sounded as though they had a good time, although the Cardinal expressed his surprise at how expensive everything was. All in all, it was nice to see one of my homeys from the good ol' days.

Could you guess that we ended up at Ala Moana again? As usual, the place was extremely crowded. We just stayed there long enough for baby to pick up her paycheck and for us to get our iced coffee at Gloria Jean's. We walked to a hobby warehouse that specializes in ceramics. Baby bought a slab of clay. She will be making a replacement part for moms' kamado. The poor kamado has seen better days. At first, the guy at the ceramics warehouse thought that baby wanted to make a complete kamado. Sheesh! That would take about a hundred pounds of clay! He did happen to do some research and found that the kamado is no longer being made. So, he didn't think that baby was losing it after all. Later in the evening, baby and I went to Kahala Mall. I wanted to look for barber shears. Baby said that she would cut my hair. My hair has grown out quite a bit and the heat is cooking the ol' lavahead. We found Norelco barber shears on sale at Long's Drugs, but I decided to hold off. However, I did buy a lantern battery for my big flashlight. Baby wants to hike up Diamond Head tomorrow morning.

We spent the rest of the evening at Barnes & Noble. On the way back home, there were two psychos on the bus. Baby told me that one of the psychos was at the same bus stop a week ago. He was the one throwing things at baby and muttering stupid crap. I may need to get some pepper spray for baby to use on these fools. Actually, I may use it myself. I will have to get off the bus at the same stop as the psycho and follow him. When we are out of public view, I will spray him in the face with the pepper pray. Then, I'll knock him down and kick him in the groin as hard as I can. Do you see why I need to become a cop?

Baby and I got up early and caught the bus to Diamond Head. She wanted to hike up to the top of the ridge again. The place was packed with tourists. We felt as though we were at Ala Moana. The trail is narrow in some spots, and the concept of yielding to others seems alien to most people. We made it to the top and headed back down almost immediately. There were too many people up there. Overall, it was good exercise. We caught the bus home and washed off. Then, we left again. We went to town and stopped off at Down to Earth. Baby wanted to pick up her weekly supply of edibles. We decided to stay in for the night. We have been running around too much just to avoid staying at home. Can you blame us, though? The fun and games have started up again with my bro and sister-in-law. Frankly, I don't have time to deal with that charade anymore. I don't seem to have time to do much. The weekends go by so quickly. Most of it seems to be spent in time waiting for the bus.

I leave the house at six o' clock to catch the express bus. I transfer to a regular bus and finally make it to work at 7:15 or so. Then, I sit in front of the computer for over eight hours. I make the return trip home and it is already six o' clock in the evening when I take my shoes off and plop down on the couch. I usually go to bed by 10:30 so that I can get enough sleep. Alas, gone are the days when I used to burn the midnight oil. I'm just glad that I don't have to worry about Loser (you remember him?). Sheesh! I have fallen way behind with my correspondence. Lately, I have spent very little time on my own computer. After eight hours in front of the computer at work, my brain is strained.

Baby only worked half of one day last week. She was a little stressed out about that. She did not get an assignment today. So, she went in to the employment agency and continued with her training sessions. She met me in the afternoon. I got a haircut at the beauty college right up the street from the Fort Street Mall. It turned out to be a nice haircut. Moms goes there for her haircuts, so she recommended the place to me. I probably will purchase the hair clippers anyway. The monk haircut seems to grow out rapidly, especially in hot weather.

For some reason, I embarked a new project for LoserNet. Originally, I merely wanted to prepare the files for the LoserNet mirror site. Somehow, I decided to use the Netscape Navigator Gold editor. I wanted to see if it did anything that was similar to FrontPage. As it turns out, I was impressed by the editor. I decided to clean up all of the LoserNet pages. I know, I know ... a bit overzealous. I spent an hour on that project after I got home from work. Baby wanted to go to Barnes & Noble in Kahala Mall to buy a book to read during her lunch breaks at work. Yes, she got another assignment for the rest of the week!

I downloaded the new Internet Explorer today, and I installed it on my computer at work. I now have an idea of what Windows 98 will look like. It is somewhat impressive at first. However, after using it for a few minutes, I grew tired of all the bells and whistles. Since it is a "Preview Release," it also crashed my system about every ten minutes. Baby met me at the express bus stop when she got off work. We actually made it home early. We went for a nice walk after dinner. Then, I spent about two hours on my beloved computer. I continued to work on the LoserNet site. I have found some interesting quirks with the Navigator Gold editor. It adds HTML tags where it shouldn't. I guess I will have to design the whole document with the Gold editor to insure that these quirks do not appear. FrontPage does the same thing when a formatted HTML file is imported into it. Tagging errors are easy to spot using the Gold editor, and I had quite a few of them. Well, I think my days of writing HTML documents manually are over.

I spent most of the day configuring and tweaking my version of what I now call Windows 98. The "My Computer" window on the new Active Desktop environment kept crashing. I got some kind of protection fault error. It was bad enough that I had to power down the computer each time to restart it. I met baby downtown after work. She wanted to go to Ala Moana. There is a kama'aina promotion going on. Every store is having a drawing for prizes for the next three weeks. We had the obligatory iced coffee at Gloria Jean's. We returned home a little before nine o' clock. We ate a late dinner. I worked on the LoserNet pages for another two hours. I also rewrote the entries for the last few days. I managed to get some e-mail out, but I am still way behind in my correspondence.

I have been surviving on about five hours of sleep a night. Baby has been doing the same. By the end of the week, we are exhausted. Somehow, we always make it to Ala Moana. Strange things. I have a short work week since Friday is a holiday. I would rather make some dough, but I think an extra day off would be real nice. Unfortunately, baby has to work that day. Perhaps I will be able to do something with moms.

More Windows 98 fun! The crazy Active Desktop interface started working again. Don't ask me what happened. I'm just glad that everything is functioning again. The whole concept of Windows 98 is interesting. The Active Desktop could certainly keep a computer nerd entertained for hours. However, I am using a 166Mhz Pentium-based computer at work. The operating system now runs a little slower than it did before I installed the new components. One really needs to draw the line on this technology. How much more do we need?

Good news! I am getting paid for the holiday tomorrow. Unfortunately, baby has to go to work. She is not having a good time at her current assignment, although this was the same mortgage firm she had an assignment with about two weeks ago. The assignment has turned into a nightmare because she is being overworked for very little pay. Basically, she is filling in for two positions. The firm offered her a longer term without consulting the employment agency that baby is contracted with. Apparently, they were trying to cut out the middle man and save some dough. Needless to say, she will not be working there next week unless the whole mess is straightened out. She has been offered a new assignment, although she must be at work by 6:30 in the morning. Not having much choice, she will have to take the assignment.

We came home early last night, but I ended up going to bed fairly late. I continued to work on the LoserNet files. If you were to peruse the files, you will probably not notice anything different. There are some minor changes ... you can now see the little accents in words like "résumé." Isn't that great? Now, if you are using Lynx, you will see "résumé." I will most likely continue to use the Navigator Gold editor. It is easier to use, and I will be less prone to make any blatant tagging errors (e.g., turning ten paragraphs into a hyperlink).

I woke up early this morning even though I was not going to work. Baby took the later express bus into town. I logged in another four hours of time on the LoserNet project. So, I expect to have the mirror site up and running before the weekend is over. My bro had to go to work today, but my sister-in-law was home with the little whiner. I took the bus into town and met baby right after she got off work. We took another bus to Ala Moana. Baby stopped in at the employment agency to pick up her paycheck. Then, we had our iced coffee at Gloria Jean's. Baby made the rounds to turn in all her entries for the kama'aina promotion. I looked around the Sharper Image store. We bought a plate of Chinese food at Patti's and shared it for dinner. On the way home, we stopped of at Down to Earth. Baby bought her food supplies for the week. Essentially, we have completed all of the necessary errands for the weekend.

Baby left early for Kaimuki because she had an appointment. Just before she left, we were privy to about 30 minutes of fun and games as my sister-in-law tried repeatedly to get the Ninja Turd in the mood to go somewhere. Twice she started up the car and made it look like she was leaving without the Ninja Turd. He was apparently indifferent to that charade. Finally, they left. I had peace and quiet for about an hour. Then, they came back. I took the bus to Kahala Mall immediately. Baby met me there at one o' clock. We looked around for about an hour. Then, we returned home. We walked to Kuapa Kai for something to do. Otherwise, we would have to stay here and listen to the nonsense that is seemingly getting worse. We eat dinner separately from the Ninja Turd family. They like to eat first, so we sit around in the "warehouse" (where I also sleep) and wait for them to finish. We are then permitted to eat, along with moms. Finally, after getting our chance to eat, we left for an evening at Barnes & Noble. Sadly, the only enjoyment we have is away from the house. Poor moms, though. She has no choice but to sit there and tolerate that nonsense. It is easy to say that moms should just evict them, but moms is very worried that Ninja Turd family will not be able to survive on their own. Life around the house has been strained considerably. The Ninja Turd family has not bothered to say anything to us, so we have decided to do the same. Baby has tried to be nice to them on occassion, but now she just doesn't bother. After all, they do not reciprocate. It sounds childish, I know. Perhaps another anecdote is in order. Baby's mom just had cardiac surgery this past week. Her mom called the other day from NY after she was released from the hospital. My sister-in-law answered the phone, called out baby's name and just hung up the phone. Baby did not even have time to pick up the other line so, naturally, her mom was disconnected. This is now the level of pettiness that the whole situation has regressed to.

We were supposed to hike to the top of Diamond Head again today, but we never made it. Baby wanted to go early this morning. I wanted to go later in the afternoon to avoid the crowds. Instead, baby and I went out in search of Mariner's Village. She has seen several listings for rental units under that name. We took my six-four and drove to where we thought it was located. There were several housing complexes in the area but no signs to identify the names of the complexes. We happened to see one of the tenants outside sweeping her walkway. We asked for her assistance. It turned out that we were standing right in the middle of Mariner's Village. There are three separate complexes. She even gave us a tour of her apartment, and she also gave us some helpful information. We left for Pearlridge right after that. Pearlridge is another shopping mall located near the Pearl Harbor area. We spent a couple of hours there and left just as the rains started. I drove toward Waikiki, hoping that the weather would clear up. We found parking near Kapi'olani Park. The sky was a dark shade of gray, but we decided to take a chance and stroll around the park. It turned out to be a pleasant afternoon, although the rain clouds remained ominous-looking all throughout that time.

Libby, the woman we talked with yesterday in Mariner's Village seemed to think that the terms of the lease would be negotiable. The buildings are about 30 years old, although it is hard to tell at first glance. The apartments are large townhouse-styled units, and the overall floor plan definitely had ample square-footage. Of course, since neither baby or I have permanent employment, we will only be looking at a variety of places to get an idea of what is available and how much it costs.

Baby left at 5:30 this morning. She took the express bus to work. My sister-in-law got up to make breakfast and prepare my bro's lunch at 5 o' clock. Baby wanted to drink her coffee and eat a power bar for breakfast, but she was made to feel as though she was in the way. My sister-in-law believes that she and my bro are the sole breadwinners in the house. That supposedly gives them the right to throw their weight around. I left at the usual time. Baby got off work at 3 o' clock. She came home before I did. When I got home, I noticed that my sister-in-law's Grand Cherokee was parked in the garage. As it turned out, she and the Ninja Turd were home all day because the little whiner was allegedly sick. There were toys everywhere. The Ninja Turd sure didn't look sick to me. There was also a big bag of Micky Dee's food laying around. No doubt, my sister-in-law wanted to insure that a proper diet would aid in the Ninja Turd's speedy recovery. Baby and I managed to take a short walk after dinner. That remains our only refuge from the madness.

Baby is working for a teleconferencing company. The temporary assignment will last between one and three months. However, her supervisor wants to hire her for a permanent position in sales. Baby seems a little apprehensive about a multi-level marketing sales position. I don't blame her. Sales can be very hard work, and one's income is a function of what one sells (i.e., commissions). My sister-in-law did not go to work again today. Baby seems to think that she was terminated. I'd say that if she is still home on Friday, then she is most likely unemployed. The Ninja Turd was home, too. He was running around and throwing his toys all over the place. One would be hard-pressed to be believe that he was sick. He be chillin' but he ain't illin'! Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaaaa!

Baby got off work at 3 o' clock. She went to Ala Moana to distribute a few more kama'aina contest entries. She also brought the clay piece for moms's kamado into the ceramic warehouse to have it fired in the kiln tomorrow. Baby hopes to surprise moms this weekend with the new kamado part that she made by hand! We took our nightly walk a little earlier than usual. That will be our regular time, now that baby has to get to sleep earlier. I stayed up a little later with my beloved computer. I have been trying to catch up with e-mail correspondences that have piled up over the last two weeks. I also have to write regular letters to Caroll and Big John sometime soon. Sheesh! I have become derelict in my duties.

I met baby at Kahala Mall after work. I took a regular bus since the express bus does not stop there. It took over an hour to reach my destination. The bus was packed with people, and I could swear that each and every one of them had eaten at least one bottle of Kim Chee before boarding the bus. Baby had a hard day at work. Apparently, no one there was in a good mood today. You know, work is bad enough, so why do people have to make it worse by being in a bad mood? I had my usual kind of day ... eight hours in front of the computer. Well, that's not really true. We had a group meeting which lasted almost two hours. I really don't like employee meetings. Some people seem to love them. I should have worn my gangsta shades and taken a nap. Sheesh! Baby and I sat in the air-conditioned mall for a few minutes. Then, we walked to Barnes & Noble. Baby composed a few letters. I read up on nerdish Windows 95 Registry nonsense. We took the 7:15 bus home. We did not want to get home late. Baby has to be in bed by 10 o' clock. I stayed up a little later and worked on my backlogged correspondence.

Somehow we managed to get our nightly walk in. Baby overheard my sister-in-law talking on the phone. My sister-in-law is using vacation time to stay home with the Ninja Turd. Frankly, even I was surprised that she was not fired. My sister-in-law constantly makes vitriolic comments about her employer and especially her immediate supervisor. I suppose it really is the duffer syndrome at play. My sister-in-law's superiors are probably not too excited about training a new clerical gopher so they tolerate my sister-in-law rather than terminate her. Now, if that was the ol' lavahead acting up at work ... Booyah! I would have been outta there!

It was another hot day here, although the day did not start off well. Moms told me that my sister-in-law blames baby for the tense situation. She alleged that baby has been responsible for how cold I have been acting. And, baby has also been very unfriendly. The truth of the matter is that we have been cordial but there was never any reciprocation. We just decided to wash our hands of the whole affair. It doesn't surprise me that my sister-in-law decided to use the time she spent at home (supposedly to nurse my nephew back to health) for nefarious purposes.

Baby called me at work to tell me that she would be leaving early since the computers were down at her job. I mentioned the conversation I had with moms and I also told her that I wasn't sure if my sister-in-law went to work or not. When I got home, I found that my bro had taken the day off to nurse my nephew back to health. Apparently, my sister-in-law went to work. My bro and sister-in-law were somewhat talkative this evening, particularly to baby. I surmised that moms had a talk with them after I set the record straight this morning.

It has been another long week. I spent most of the day looking for common gateway script resources. I found a few, but I will now have to install ISAPI software in order for the scripts to run. A computer nerd's work is never done. Sheesh! Baby worked a full day. She said that the former owner of the firm came in to apologize for the state of disarray of the last few days. Although he no longer owns the company (he sold it to a large mega-corporation), he is still being retained to oversee the operation. I met baby at Ala Moana after work. She has made it a habit to pick up her paycheck from the employment agency on Friday after work. We returned fairly late so we decided that we would stay in for the night.

My sister-in-law has only kept up the charade for one day and only in front of moms. If moms is not around, my sister-in law will ignore baby and I. Baby seems to get along better with my bro. He seldom says much so it is hard to tell what he is really thinking. For the time being, baby and I will just leave well enough alone. There are too many other things to think about like the almost $900 in taxes I paid for only six weeks of work. Sheesh! I may be better off working at Burger King. Actually, my net income may end up being the same.

Today was somewhat of an uneventful day. Baby and I attempted to walk to Koko Crater. She wanted to hike through the botanical gardens. However, it was so hot outside that I was about to suffer from heat stroke. We had made a wrong turn into a subdivision. I thought the road went through to the next subdivision. Ultimately, my "shortcut" led us about a half-mile to a dead end. We walked back to the main road and followed it a little further and discovered why. As it turned out, there are several apparently vacant fields in Hawai'i Kai. These fields have been vacant for over 30 years and some are designated as "dust control" areas. So much for that.

After dinner, baby and I took the bus to Kahala Mall. We did a little shopping and ended up at Barnes & Noble. As usual, baby wrote letters and I read the gamut of computer nerd magazines. It seems that the Internet hype continues to grow. LoserNet is lost in obscurity as there is no way it can compete with all of the megabuck Flash-enabled sites out in WebWorld. LoserNet is an old albatross ... a relic from the days long gone when static HTML was all there was. No one reads anymore these days. No pictures, no animations ... no interest. Plain and simple. And, what? No database? People love to input options into those silly forms, click on the submit button, and get a list of junks for whatever purpose. The only time a database may come in handy is to catalog hurdy-gurdy files. Sheesh!

I tried to upload this journal last night. Unfortunately, there was an error message saying that LoserNet no longer existed at that URL. I have no idea what the problem is. This latest incident may provide me with enough incentive to upload LoserNet to its proposed mirror site. In fact, that may become the new home of LoserNet.

Baby and I spent an uneventful day doing basically nothing except ride the bus. We took the bus to town and caught another bus to Manoa Valley. We were planning to hike to Manoa Falls. Unfortunately, it began raining extremely hard. So, we stayed on the bus. We ended up at Ala Moana. Does a week ever go by that we do not find ourselves there? Sheesh! Since we were just there a few days ago, we decided to visit the Aloha Tower Marketplace. That turned out to be uneventful as the novelty of window shopping has worn off for us. Many of the shops have closed up. The same has been true of the Dole Cannery Center. I guess that even the tourists are getting tired of seeing the same overpriced junks at ever corner. No wonder tourism is down. Most people want a vacation in Paradise. They come here and discover that Hawai'i is essentially a shopping mall with a beach. Well, that was our weekend in Paradise. How was yours?

I was finally able to upload to LoserNet. However, I decided that it was time to set up the mirror site, so it is now up and running. Don't forget to bookmark the URL! In case the access is slow at our main site, you can rest comfortably knowing that you will not be denied the LoserNet experience. Sheesh! Actually, I find it somewhat humorous that a pathetic Web site such as LoserNet has two different URLs. Can the competitor make the same claim? Speaking of which ... what is the competitor up to these days? Baby and I have not read the competitor's journal in about a month.

When I got off the bus downtown after work, I was surprised to see baby. She had some errands to run after work. When she completed her errands, she decided to wait downtown for the ol' lavahead. We took the express bus back to Hawai'i Kai. Upon arriving at home, moms told baby that she had won a prize from the Louis Vuitton store in Ala Moana. The running around she has been doing to submit those kama'aina contest entries has paid off. Why can't I win a new computer?

Baby picked up her prize at the Louis Vuitton store in Ala Moana Center. She also had her picture taken. The prize was a $450 folio. She also went to the ceramic warehouse and picked up the kamado part that she made. She gave the part to moms. Moms was extremely happy that someone had thought that much of her. I, on the otherhand, had a junk day at work, although I managed to get quite a few things done. I wrote a few short scripts and they all ran perfectly upon some minor tweaking. I don't think that my boss is real happy with me. I am the only guy he never really talks to. There were two of us that were hired for the six-month term. The other guy is doing the database application conversion using PowerBuilder. I guess no one really finds much value in the intranet. Most people think that it is simple stuff. Well, it certainly is simple when compared with, say, C++ programming. However, I have been incorporating some fairly complex junks into the intranet. I wish that I could incorporate some of those features in the LoserNet site.

Everyone has been saying that baby and I will get used to the wage slavery, but I am still having a difficult time with it. Perhaps I just don't make a good slave. I don't really mind the commute anymore. I just don't like sitting in front of a computer for eight hours straight. I'd rather be pacing around the "palace" ... well, errrr ... maybe not. I still haven't gotten the results back from the cop exam. I'm still considering that option. I noticed that there is a Pacific Blue division in the Honolulu Police. That would not be too bad. At least one could get a workout while biking around on the cop version of my six-five. Lord have mercy!

The end of the month is coming upon us rather quickly. Basically, the Summer is over. I'm still sleeping on the couch in the back room. Did I mention that I eat a bowl of guava sherbet every night? No wonder I'm turning into a slob! Sheesh! Baby had a bad day at work again. Apparently everyone is losing it at that teleconferencing dump. There have been massive computer problems, which may or may not be the source of all the tension. Life is just too short to spend in frustration over work. Some employers seem to think that they are paying too much for the hired help. Well, how much is an hour of one's life worth?

I met baby at Kahala Mall after work. We spent a couple of hours at Barnes & Noble. That seems to be our Wednesday ritual. Moms had to attend a meeting, so she was not home. And, rather than get in the way of my sister-in-law, we can do something relaxing. We have determined that my sister-in-law is the culprit with the major problem. I think that she is resentful because she must do more than she used to in order to not look bad in front of moms. Why does she bother doing anything at all then? If one does anything, the motivation should come from the heart. Who am I to judge? I am the perpetrator of much nonsense as one can easily deduce from the journal. Ho boy!

The month of August has gone by extremely fast. I have done nothing that I said I was going to do, such as scanning some photos and joining the gym. I think that baby and I need to evaluate our time managment skills. Part of the problem is our commuting time. Baby has two hours of commuting time total. I have three hours of commuting. Of course, many other people have been doing the same every day for years.

All of a sudden, there have been a number of raw documents piling up in my e-mail at work. I can only assume that my boss is becoming a little anxious about the intranet project. The documents are a mess. They are stored in an old DOS WordPerfect format that Office 97 had some difficulty translating. Then, there is the issue of file-naming conventions. Apparently, whoever typed the documents decided to use the actual section numbers in lieu of real file extensions.

Baby went to Ala Moana after work to pick up her paycheck. She also put in a request to be assigned to a different job. The teleconferencing job has turned into a total nightmare. She will continue to work there until a suitable replacement for her is found. I don't know if the job situation will improve. In fact, I am beginning to worry about what I will do once my time is up at my present job. I sure hope that I qualify for unemployment benefits. Sheesh!

Baby and I went to Ala Moana. This time, we had a purpose. There was a special preview showing of the Bose Wave radio at the Bose showroom located about a block from Ala Moana. Baby did some shopping at Ala Moana first. She bought some new Hawai'ian-print shorts to get into the Aloha spirit. We also got our usual iced coffee at Gloria Jean's, although that should go without saying. If we go to Ala Moana, we always stop off at Gloria Jean's. We walked to the Bose store. As you may recall, I have always wanted the Bose Acoustic Wave system. It is a small all-in-one stereo system, but it knocks the socks off of the K-Mart all-in-one and many expensive home systems. The Bose Wave table radio is a smaller version of the Acoustic Wave. The table radio basically looks like a clock radio. By the way, baby says that the Acoustic Wave looks like a room humidifier. Actually, it does. The demonstration lasted about 30 minutes. Then, we were able to play with actual units in the part of the showroom that was set up like a typical home. I was sold! However, I did not want to spend $350 on a clock radio. So, we left. We went back to Ala Moana to look around again. I decided that I wanted the Bose Wave.

We walked back to the Bose showroom. As it turned, baby had purchased the Bose Wave for me while a salesperson kept me occupied with one of the larger Bose Lifestyle systems. We picked up my new Bose Wave and walked back to Ala Moana to take the bus home. I could not let baby spend this kind of money, so I wrote out a check to her for the amount and made sure that she deposited it. I appreciated the thought, but she needs to save her money for the tough times that lay ahead. She wanted to pay for the portable CD player, so I reluctantly accepted. We spent the rest of the evening listening to the Bose Wave radio. Well, at least we have some tunes to listen to and drown out the Ninja Turtles video that is played several times a day. Ironically, though, our favorite radio station, Smooth-FM, had changed formats today. Baby had joked with one of the salespeople at the Bose showroom that we did not need the Bose Wave if we didn't have Smooth-FM. Sheesh! Look like it is time to get back into rap music!

Baby and I wanted to get out of the house to get away from the constant ambient noise of a dysfunctional family. We walked to Koko Marina. I decided that it was time to purchase a gym membership for the two of us. We stopped in at the gym and signed up. We took advantage of a so-called couples special. Five months cost $300 for the both of us. We have no choice since this is the only gym between Hawai'i Kai and town. We can just walk down to the gym after work. There are better gym deals in town, but it will take too much time to commute there and we will still need to take the bus home.

I wanted to go to Waikiki and go to the zoo. Baby wanted to go to Ross and shop for some necessities. So, we ended up at Ross in Kuapa Kai. Babes can spend hours in a place like that. I had to sit down after the first half-hour elapsed. We walked back home after that. After dinner, we went to Kahala Mall. We stopped in at Star Market to pick up a package of Taro leaves for moms. As it turns out, moms is going to supervise baby in the making of Lau Lau tomorrow. We spent the rest of the evening at Barnes & Noble. I read more computer magazines, and I also checked out a few audio magazines. Well, hey! I now own a Bose Wave radio! Baby wrote several letters. As usual, we drank coffee at the Starbuck's Café in the bookstore. When we returned, I finally broke out my beloved computer to do some work. Baby and I sat in the "warehouse" (where I sleep) and listened to the Bose Wave radio.

Finally, many thanks to Annabelle (Annabell@pjmi.knaw.nl) for sending the ol' lavahead a Virtual Flower Bouquet from The Virtual Florist. Thanks to Paul (pauls@lenti.med.umn.edu) for writing in about his first taste experience with my all-time favorite meal, Bush's baked beans! Also, thanks to JonnyX (jdaley@consumersedge.com) for reminding me that I am overdue with my Pidgin English lessons! How could I have forgotten? Sheesh! Baby also wanted to extend a hearty hello to everyone out there in LoserLand^tm, too!

Continue the adventure now ... let's hele on to the next laborious chapter in the continuing saga of The Keeper of Lost Lives, Stop This Island ... I Wanna Get Off!

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
LoserNet^tm Love It, or Lose It.

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