Aloha Oy: Tropical Frustration

Yesterday I sat down and scribbled the most absurd email ever. I had to cancel our reservation for a (free) 3.5 hour back country by 4WD tour of the waterfalls of the Kohala Coast. I felt, as you might imagine, like a complete idiot, even though there’s a perfectly logical reason for the cancellation. It’s …


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Aloha Oy: Every Word Counts

Yesterday I finished watching a perfectly awful movie: Hawaii. This epic drama tells the story of a tightly wound missionary (Max von Sydow) and his bride (Julie Andrews) who are called to the Hawaiian islands to save the souls of the sinful people of Maui. The movie is too long by half, and the characters …


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Playing for the House

shill: a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty. One: A major airlines offered to comp my flights for my upcoming trip. We talked for a little while about how that would work. The airlines would provide free flights if I agreed to give …


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Aloha Oy: Activities Overload

Having successfully navigated the world of transportation and accommodation with regards to our upcoming adventure, I am turning myself to the next scheduling dilemma: how to spend our days. Wait. Stop. Let’s back up for a minute. Can we, for the duration of this project, agree, that you, my loyal reader, are sitting at your …


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Aloha Oy III: Honolulu Times Nine

Hawaii, as most people know, is a series of islands. With, um, water between them. In order to get from one island to another, one can not just hop on the bus, drop 1.75 in the fare box, and get off on the other side. Nope. It takes a bit more planning than that. There …


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Aloha Oy II: The Grand Fiction of the Press Junket

Every day I set aside a little time to scribble emails and make phone calls to tourism providers in Hawaii. Most of the time it’s fun, there’s a little internet sleuthing as I dig for what entity, exactly, runs that particular property. And I enjoy talking to some Vitamin D replete individual who tells me …


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