There are days here when I feel like I'm really growing to love this place. The greenery is lovely. The people are friendly. The food is good. The tradewinds refreshing and sweet. Then there are days when all I really want to do is go home. Today was one of the latter. I went to the University campus to scope out the classroom where my LSAT exam will be held. According to my instructions, I'm to go to Building K, room 122. Seemed easy enough. I checked it out on a map beforehand. There it was, Building K. Piece of cake. Not so. When I got there, I found that all the buildings look pretty much the same there. I also noticed the conspicuous absence of any signs outside or on the side of any buildings. Hmmmm...... I finally asked. A nice professor-type pointed and told me, "Go to that plain, gray building just down those steps. There's no way you could know that," she smiled. Yes, at least people are friendly. When I found the building, I came immediately upon room 121. Great. Room 122 should be right next door, right? Nope. It was at the complete other end of the building. Room 122 was at the opposite end of a totally different hallway. It was nowhere near room 121. So that's how things started. I did find it, so my reconnaissance trip was fruitful.
I later ventured into Hilo Town to pick up a few groceries. I'm finding lately that whatever I am looking for at whatever store I choose to shop is usually out of stock. If it's on sale, you've got to get to it within the first few minutes the doors of the establishment are opened the first sale day or you are SOL. It's also a curious phenomenon that no single store seems to have everything I'm looking for on a given trip. So I either spend my day driving from store to store (not my style), or I compromise and pick up something close or similar, if not the exact item I'd hoped to find. KTA and Safeway have the best bread, but Sack and Save (aka Pick-Your-Nose; please refer to a previous post for an explanation here) has the best poke and deli stuff. KTA carries the most locally grown produce. The farmers' markets are really better for that, however. In fact, they are better for bread and even eggs, too, but they are only open one or two days per week, depending on the market. Safeway has the widest variety of organics. Pick-Your-Nose is often the least crowded and is therefore easier to get in and get out. They also have the cheapest beer. So what's a shopper to do? I know what I'm experiencing here is true in many American cities. It's just that I got used to tiny Gunnison, where there are two pretty good stores, just blocks away from each other, that have most everything you need. Whatever they didn't have, I learned to live without. Without additional choices, I just got comfortable with buying what they had to offer, no worry-no stress. The offerings were actually quite respectable, despite the lack of grocery competition. Prices were high, but no higher overall than the Wal-Mart Superstore in Montrose, 70 miles away. And certainly not higher than here. Then there's the traffic and crowds. Traffic was non-existent in Gunnison. The stores could be busy between about 4 and 6 p.m. and were especially hoppin' on certain days during hunting season, but you could always find a slower time to shop. Here, it seems that the stores are always packed. The parking lots are jammed. Not to mention the fact that I have to drive a half an hour each way for the privilege of hobnobbing with the hordes.
Part of the problem here is the rapid pace of growth. The local paper reported just this week that Puna is the fastest growing area of the state and is also one of the 20 fastest growing communities in the U.S. So the stores are having a tough time keeping up with demand as shoppers wipe their shelves clean. It takes weeks for re-ordered stock to arrive from across the ocean.
Then there's pet care. The Vet clinic I go to is very good. They too, however, are always packed to the gills with patients. There are way too few Vets here for the number of pets and owners. They can treat all common illnesses and perform all basic procedures. Beyond that, however, their capabilities are limited. Such things as MRI, CT or ultrasound scans for pets don't exist here. In many states on the mainland, there are specialty clinics where a human can take her furry companion to see specialists, like doggie oncologists, ophthalmologists and orthopedists, for more those thorough diagnostics, arthroscopic surgery, etc. There are no such services available in Hawaii, 0n any island. My Crawford may have a slowly progressing degenerative neurological disease. But there are no definitive tests that my Vet can perform to confirm that. I'd fly her to Honolulu for an MRI, but there isn't one there. Not for dogs, anyway. So, rather than diagnose her definitively, we can only rule out other possible causes of her symptoms. So maybe my worry over Crawford has my nerves a bit frayed today, which made me a little less easy going than usual about the shopping situation in town. I know. I'm a spoiled American brat living in a Banana Republic disguised as the 50th state.
On a positive note (and I mean that literally), it's time to practice my vamps on the ukulele. Vamps are three chord progressions used as intros to songs. Practice, practice, practice....
a hui hou. Aloha.
I later ventured into Hilo Town to pick up a few groceries. I'm finding lately that whatever I am looking for at whatever store I choose to shop is usually out of stock. If it's on sale, you've got to get to it within the first few minutes the doors of the establishment are opened the first sale day or you are SOL. It's also a curious phenomenon that no single store seems to have everything I'm looking for on a given trip. So I either spend my day driving from store to store (not my style), or I compromise and pick up something close or similar, if not the exact item I'd hoped to find. KTA and Safeway have the best bread, but Sack and Save (aka Pick-Your-Nose; please refer to a previous post for an explanation here) has the best poke and deli stuff. KTA carries the most locally grown produce. The farmers' markets are really better for that, however. In fact, they are better for bread and even eggs, too, but they are only open one or two days per week, depending on the market. Safeway has the widest variety of organics. Pick-Your-Nose is often the least crowded and is therefore easier to get in and get out. They also have the cheapest beer. So what's a shopper to do? I know what I'm experiencing here is true in many American cities. It's just that I got used to tiny Gunnison, where there are two pretty good stores, just blocks away from each other, that have most everything you need. Whatever they didn't have, I learned to live without. Without additional choices, I just got comfortable with buying what they had to offer, no worry-no stress. The offerings were actually quite respectable, despite the lack of grocery competition. Prices were high, but no higher overall than the Wal-Mart Superstore in Montrose, 70 miles away. And certainly not higher than here. Then there's the traffic and crowds. Traffic was non-existent in Gunnison. The stores could be busy between about 4 and 6 p.m. and were especially hoppin' on certain days during hunting season, but you could always find a slower time to shop. Here, it seems that the stores are always packed. The parking lots are jammed. Not to mention the fact that I have to drive a half an hour each way for the privilege of hobnobbing with the hordes.
Part of the problem here is the rapid pace of growth. The local paper reported just this week that Puna is the fastest growing area of the state and is also one of the 20 fastest growing communities in the U.S. So the stores are having a tough time keeping up with demand as shoppers wipe their shelves clean. It takes weeks for re-ordered stock to arrive from across the ocean.
Then there's pet care. The Vet clinic I go to is very good. They too, however, are always packed to the gills with patients. There are way too few Vets here for the number of pets and owners. They can treat all common illnesses and perform all basic procedures. Beyond that, however, their capabilities are limited. Such things as MRI, CT or ultrasound scans for pets don't exist here. In many states on the mainland, there are specialty clinics where a human can take her furry companion to see specialists, like doggie oncologists, ophthalmologists and orthopedists, for more those thorough diagnostics, arthroscopic surgery, etc. There are no such services available in Hawaii, 0n any island. My Crawford may have a slowly progressing degenerative neurological disease. But there are no definitive tests that my Vet can perform to confirm that. I'd fly her to Honolulu for an MRI, but there isn't one there. Not for dogs, anyway. So, rather than diagnose her definitively, we can only rule out other possible causes of her symptoms. So maybe my worry over Crawford has my nerves a bit frayed today, which made me a little less easy going than usual about the shopping situation in town. I know. I'm a spoiled American brat living in a Banana Republic disguised as the 50th state.
On a positive note (and I mean that literally), it's time to practice my vamps on the ukulele. Vamps are three chord progressions used as intros to songs. Practice, practice, practice....
a hui hou. Aloha.
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