A day in Waikiki

Happy birthday Jeff ! I really gave it my all to give him a wife with a job for his birthday. I suited up and was well polished for my meeting. The pharmacist I met with was a scuba diver with a BMW so hopefully I get extra points. Currently the facility did not have any posted positions but it appears they have a position that will be posted soon that may be a good fit. They seemed impressed with my hospital experience and would keep me in the loop if other openings would occur as well. Of course with every good news brings a new twist. If I do get this position which seems quite ideal, it may require a lot more windshield time. Once the position is posted I will have an official interview to follow; it may be awhile until I find out if I officially have this job. Back to the game of hurry up and wait.

We spent the rest of the day strolling around Waikiki. They claim Hawaii is very expensive yet the entertainment of people watching we witnessed was worth every free cent. Although free is a relative term since it did cost $11 to park. We did have a nice birthday lunch at Five-O Bar & Lounge. Good prices on 1/2 and full order Kalua pig nachos, meatballs/little smookies, or crackers with assorted dip spreads. They had a small local beer selection as well. They must have been running an afternoon special or assumed we were locals since our total bill was less than what we had figured (maybe they knew it was Jeff's Bday). Beware of drinking beer and touring Waikiki, many small shops yet very few bathrooms. I played the part as a guest in many fine hotels/resorts on the strip in desperate need of a bathroom. I also met a new friend in one of the nicest hotel's bathroom (This is a rather common occurance for me). I learned that she was from Hawaii originally, went to TX univerisity for soccer, and then moved back. She informed me of the best place to get a tatoo. Jeff was impressed with all the information I found out. While I was learning about Alana, Jeff was learning about the relocation perks he will get from his new job. I think we both learned equally valauble information.

When leaving Waikiki we learned that rush hour Honolulu traffic cannot be tricked even though Jeff tried. Having little knowledge of where we were going or how to get there Jeff headed through downtown during rush hour trying to make it to the other side. Yet every road that appeared to be a good path via our trusty map, would again turn into a one way road heading in the opposite direction of our desired destination. His new strategy was to ditch the map and play follow the leader allowing the cars in front of us to navigate the way out of town. This led us to a familiar road that would take us where we wanted to go, but this road like many others downtown was at a standstill. Time to consult the map again which led us to several more frustrating one way roads. Finally we get close enough that we can see the road we have been trying to get to for the last 40 minutes. We are almost there and what else but "Right turn only" (we needed to go left). After a little more manuevering and only one U-turn we finally made it out of the slue of one way mazes that is downtown Honolulu. Fortunately drivers are rewarded with a very scenic drive through the mountains once you complete the maze(this is reminiscent of credits rolling at the end of a video game).

Now it's Karen time, there really wasn't anything over the top today. However I do feel it is worth mentioning that for the last few days when we arrive back to the house she is in our room doing laundry (the washer and drier is conveniently located in our room). This always seems to create a slightly awkward situation as we head into the room and Karen along with her pets are sometimes reluctant to leave. We are starting to become accustomed to this dance at the doorway to our room. Aside from that, Jeff had another discovery in the fridge today, the hot sauce had fallen behind the shelf and he had to remove the bottom drawers to recover it. During this he found a yogurt with Dec 2011 date on it, normally he would have just thrown this away without hesitation but given the milk situation he wasn't sure if it would "taste ok" to Karen. This created an internal dilemma weighing Karen's wrath versus the well being of a fellow guest. He did end up disposing of the expired yogurt yet the milk is still there. As we were finishing dinner, Karen came out all fancied up for a night out on the town, she claimed she was only meeting friends for coffee but the bright red lipstick all over her teeth told a different story.

We then retired to our room to start writing this but it had been a long day and we only got about half done and were too tired to finish. So we decided to call it a night but about half an hour later the antelope started going nuts making all kinds of noise. After about 5 minutes of racket, we heard new people coming into the house. I think it is possible I heard a child but I can't be sure so we will have to see what the morning brings and who these new mystery guests are.