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Observations from the road


Hopps and Crawford say Alo-o-o-ha!

People are really into bumper stickers and decals for cars here on the Big Island. I saw another funny one today. It said, "Horn broken. Watch for finger."
On the mainland bumper stickers are popular too. The messages run the gamut, to be sure. But here, drivers sport memorial decals. I've never seen them before. I will admit that I've lived life a bit sheltered from big city trends for the past several years. Still, if these were a hot new thing in Colorado, I'm sure I'd have seen at least one car wearing one as it passed through Gunnison. Anyway, these tributes to a lost loved one are usually white, in the back windshield and say something like "In loving memory of James Keoki Chang" in flowery lettering. There's usually a cross or angel to complete the presentation. It seems a bit morbid to carry around the sadness of loss everywhere you go. Maybe its a cultural thing and I just don't get it. That's probably the case.
I've finally completed my first podcast! If you are painfully bored and need to fill about 18 minutes of your time, check it out. You can access it through iTunes. Just click on the podcast directory, then enter Hawaiian Rainforest in the search window. You can subscribe if you'd like. If you don't have iTunes loaded onto your computer, go to www.podcast.net and enter Hawaiian Rainforest in the title search. Both methods are free! And worth every penny if I don't say so myself. It's my first episode and maybe a bit dull. The music's good, though and I hope, with practice, the episodes will get more funny and entertaining. I'm going to try to produce one every week or two.
It's been raining so incessantly that I decided its time to join the gym. Spencer's in downtown Hilo is a pretty big place, with tons of cardio machines, lots of cool weight machines, free weights and best of all, great people watching. There are definitely some buff boys and girls in there, for sure. There are also plenty of people like me; average joes and josephines just trying to stay one step (instead of a thousand steps) behind the effects of gravity with age. I must say that, working out in the warm, humidity of Hilo feels so easy compared to the dry, cold air of Gunnison. No real warm up is required here. The muscles are already loose and ready to go. Lots of water is important, however, as the sweat begins to pour immediately.
I see that my old hometown, Los Angeles, got some snow yesterday! Wow! That is an anomaly. It happened once in the 10 years I lived there, the year I graduated from CSUN, 1989. It just lasted one day but it had the city in a tizzy to say the least. The palm trees were not happy but they were pretty. It was cool to see kids on the news, sliding down hillsides on platters, having a ball. Some forms of fun are universal.
Well, I'm off to gather more fodder for my next posting here, and my next podcast. Until next time, aloha!

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