Tuesday night was ukulele lesson night! Woo-hoo! Am I a party animal or what? It really is pretty fun. The instructor, Wes Awana, is teaching us all the basic vamps. Those are three-chord intros common in Hawaiian music. We then apply them to songs. It's all I can do to make the chord changes at the proper time, let alone try to read the lyrics (which are mostly in Hawaiian) and sing along. It's a good challenge. The lessons are taught at the Old Japanese Schoolhouse in Volcano.I find I meet the coolest people when I'm out and about. The girl who sits next to me in class has an old koa wood Kamaka ukulele. Kamaka is a premier name in ukes. I know this because I aspire to become a good enough player to justify buying myself a Kamaka one day. The girl's dad gave it to her when she was six years old. She never learned to play. In fact, she never touched the thing. So, he took it back when he moved to the mainland. When he heard she was finally going to take lessons, he sent it back to her. She's now in her 20s. It's a beauty; dark, shiny and grainy with a soft, plinky sound. After the first lesson, she decided to go to the local music store to buy an electronic tuner, since she didn't feel she had the ear to tune the uke with a pitch pipe. While there, she saw a Kamaka, the same size as hers, made of koa, selling for $600! "I couldn't believe it," she said. I commented that that's why I had been drooling over her instrument when she showed it to me the first week.
Later, I learned that she would be taking it with her on her next work assignment. Turns out, she is a merchant marine, third mate. She takes jobs on ships for extended periods of time. Her last gig was a tanker. Her next is a government research vessel destined for the Persian Gulf. See? Interesting people.
I have some great examples I've heard lately of our government at work, both on the national and state level. You remember the story I told of the hairdresser who was shut down because she did not have a business license that she did not know she needed? Well here's another doozy. There's a couple who run a trail riding business on state forest land on the other side of the island. They've been taking tourists on horseback tours over the same trails for 18 years. The state has known about their operation all along. Just last week, the state issued a cease and desist order to them, saying they need a permit to operate on state land. They were not told when they started the business that they needed a permit, nor were they ever told over the course of 18 years. Now, they're pau; out of business until they can secure a permit.
Then, there's the case of the Superferry. It's currently the biggest story in the news here. The state gave the Superferry owners the green light to operate, complete with modifications to the ports where they'll dock the ships. So they built this multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art, high-speed catamaran designed to carry cars and people between islands. Now, environmentalists are protesting up the wazzoo because no Environmental Impact Statement was completed and filed with the EPA. Actually, to be fair, the environmentalists have been vocal about this from the beginning. They are concerned about the spread of invasive species between islands and the possible danger the high speed ferries pose to whales. These are legitimate concerns, to be sure. But lots of other boats pass between islands every day carrying goods, people and probably invasive species. Anyway, the courts agreed with the environmentalists, saying the state should have required the EIS to be complete before the Superferry set sail. So now, after hiring 300 people and spending bajillions on the boats, (one is here and another is being constructed on the mainland) they're dead in the water. The state legislature may now decide whether they should allow the Superferry to operate while completing the EIS. If they can't, the Superferry guys will take their fancy ferry elsewhere.
One thing's for sure. Starting and running a business in Hawaii, big or small, is not for sissies.
Then there's the story of the Navy sailor with whom my mom struck up conversation in Honolulu. He told her he was from Michigan. (I know. I thought it was weird that the U.S. Navy has sailors based in Michigan, too. Guess they're keeping close tabs on those shifty Canadians across the lake.) His commanding officer had flown him, along with three of his comrades, to Hawaii as chauffeurs for the officer and some dignitaries he wanted to impress during a multi-day conference. My mom asked the young sailor the same questions I asked after she told me this much of the story. "Couldn't he find any sailors in Hawaii to drive him around? Why would he fly them all that way?"
The answer the young sailor gave her was, "Because he can." The sailor said he thought it was a waste too, but was hopeful he would get in some snorkeling time before having to return to the mid-west. Couldn't blame the guy for that.
So there you have it folks. Examples of bureaucracy run amok and your tax dollars at work. Yes, you may sigh now.
Crawford got a haircut this weekend. Too cute, huh?
Gotta go practice my vamps. A hui hou. Aloha!
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