Surfing wasn't so successful the other day. It was windy and the water was choppy, so we couldn't even catch good waves. We were exhausted after only a couple hours. It was an awesome workout, and I got a tan through the morning clouds (a farmer's tan, haha). I bruised again--knees, hips, ribs, elbows--but not as bad as the first time. Apparently it's not so uncommon to bruise when surfing. Next time we'll have to go to a beach on the south side, where the waves are small and predictable. We are so determined to learn!
Yesterday evening I drove upcountry to Makawao to pick up Loretta to go to small group, and the view was so stunning I could hardly focus on driving. Haleakala was totally clear except for a big bank of clouds to the left of it, which were at exactly the same level as the peak, so it looked like the mountain kept stretching farther and farther. There was a huge chunk of rainbow right over the town of Pukalani and as I drove closer, it got longer until it turned into a full-sized rainbow. SO amazing. Descriptive words fail me.
Someone stole our propane tank, so we have no hot water at the moment. That was kind of someone.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Pantsless Men and Rented Surfboards
I guess I don't have that much to say, just that this man without pants came in to SBC today. (I'm not sure if he was wearing a speedo or anything; his shirt was just long enough to leave that a mystery.) The funniest thing, though, was that my coworker Sunny and I had a normal conversation with him and he didn't even strike me as being that odd until I thought about it much later in the night. I'm getting used to weird.
Jeanie and I managed to get tomorrow morning off from cleaning and we rented surfboards! I have to work at 4, but we should be able to get in a nice long morning of exhausting practice! I'm pumped :) We have the two longboards in our living room, and I like how they look. If I'm coherent enough in the morning, I'll take a pic of them strapped to our car.
Jeanie and I managed to get tomorrow morning off from cleaning and we rented surfboards! I have to work at 4, but we should be able to get in a nice long morning of exhausting practice! I'm pumped :) We have the two longboards in our living room, and I like how they look. If I'm coherent enough in the morning, I'll take a pic of them strapped to our car.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sorry, a Bit of Complaining
Ah, I'm picking up wireless in my little shack, which is much nicer than sitting outside getting bitten by mosquitos at the Lodge.
I'm taking a break from editing the memoir I was working on a while back. I finished it and sent it back to the writer, she accepted/rejected the corrections I made in track changes mode, and now I'm looking over it once more. If I ever do this again, I'm going to charge more than I did...especially for manuscripts over 200 pages...especially if the writer is going to ignore half of my changes and then expect me to find new stuff the second time I read it over. It's not like deleting the spaces after hyphens or adding quotation marks around quotations were simply suggestions. I think the worst part, though, is changing every space after a period from double to single--so tedious! Anyway, so this is what I want to do with the rest of my life....
Now that I'm not so crazy with work, I've had some time to kick back and read and watch movies. I saw Capote, which was interesting, and read No Touch Monkey, which was hilarious, and now I'm reading House of Sand and Fog and Everything is Illuminated. I like them so far.
I'm taking a break from editing the memoir I was working on a while back. I finished it and sent it back to the writer, she accepted/rejected the corrections I made in track changes mode, and now I'm looking over it once more. If I ever do this again, I'm going to charge more than I did...especially for manuscripts over 200 pages...especially if the writer is going to ignore half of my changes and then expect me to find new stuff the second time I read it over. It's not like deleting the spaces after hyphens or adding quotation marks around quotations were simply suggestions. I think the worst part, though, is changing every space after a period from double to single--so tedious! Anyway, so this is what I want to do with the rest of my life....
Now that I'm not so crazy with work, I've had some time to kick back and read and watch movies. I saw Capote, which was interesting, and read No Touch Monkey, which was hilarious, and now I'm reading House of Sand and Fog and Everything is Illuminated. I like them so far.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Perfect Day
Today was my day off, and it was pretty much the best day EVER. I'm about to go into excruciating detail about it, so if you get bored easily, skip to the end and click on the link to see new pics on facebook.
This morning I got up as early as possible (8:45), had a blueberry bagel (thank you Joni for the awesome groceries!), and took a long walk on the beach, chatting with Martha on the phone. I came back, did some laundry, went to the post office, had a coconut macaroon latte at the Green Banana Cafe, tried to write poetry and failed miserably, lay in a hammock at the Lodge and read a good book, watched The Office online, had a bit of success working on another piece of writing, did pilates, ate some beef curry and broccoli and had a beer, practiced doing headstands (pilates is improving my balance--physical balance, that is), watched Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, and now I'm picking up wifi in the doorway of our shack. All in all, a very successful day in that it restored my sanity.
Click to check out some new pictures (surfing lesson!) at the end of my album:
This morning I got up as early as possible (8:45), had a blueberry bagel (thank you Joni for the awesome groceries!), and took a long walk on the beach, chatting with Martha on the phone. I came back, did some laundry, went to the post office, had a coconut macaroon latte at the Green Banana Cafe, tried to write poetry and failed miserably, lay in a hammock at the Lodge and read a good book, watched The Office online, had a bit of success working on another piece of writing, did pilates, ate some beef curry and broccoli and had a beer, practiced doing headstands (pilates is improving my balance--physical balance, that is), watched Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, and now I'm picking up wifi in the doorway of our shack. All in all, a very successful day in that it restored my sanity.
Click to check out some new pictures (surfing lesson!) at the end of my album:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Interesting People
Working in a coffee shop, especially one in Maui, must be the best way to meet a variety of fascinating people. Besides the obvious attraction to the young guys visiting from Europe or backpacking all around the world, I’m endlessly intrigued by our customers. Here are some of my favorites:
James and Michael John, the two down-and-out men who come in every single night and order the same four things between the two of them: a quad espresso, a small tea in a medium cup, a small cup of iceless water, and a large cup of waterless ice. They argue like an old married couple about who gets the stamp on the frequent drinker card and then Mike talks to me for a while about politics and his experience growing up in his grandmother’s whorehouse (where he started drinking coffee and smoking at age six). They stay ‘till close, take any and all samples that are out, hide whatever books they’re reading behind a stack of magazines, and then sit outside late into the night.
Petr, a super friendly smiley guy from Czechoslovakia. He reminds me of my uncle Willem.
Andrew, a backpacker who’s on his way to India. He works wherever he can and is applying to an awesome-sounding journalism program. I wish I could get to know him better but am way too shy.
Paul, one of the Border’s employees. He always gets a chocolate javakula (frappaccino) with extra chocolate and says he likes the way I make them.
Jade, an adorable girl, maybe around ten, who gets cold-brewed vanilla lattes and is really, really polite.
Marty, an older gentleman who speaks a million languages (well, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Chinese, and English, anyway) and tries to ask me questions in French. Today he came up to the counter three times and ordered a kid’s hot chocolate every time.
This guy whose name I can’t remember who is really talkative and likes to play the “did you know…?” game (“Did you know the origin of the word ‘blackmail…’?”). He says it’s good to be wrong because it makes you learn new things.
Even though I get really mired down in self-pity because I’ve worked eleven hours a day for five days in a row (between my two jobs), I have to remember how fortunate I am not only to have work but to get plenty of hours and to actually really enjoy the job (the coffee shop one, not the cleaning one). I know this sounds trite, but it’s such a blessing.
James and Michael John, the two down-and-out men who come in every single night and order the same four things between the two of them: a quad espresso, a small tea in a medium cup, a small cup of iceless water, and a large cup of waterless ice. They argue like an old married couple about who gets the stamp on the frequent drinker card and then Mike talks to me for a while about politics and his experience growing up in his grandmother’s whorehouse (where he started drinking coffee and smoking at age six). They stay ‘till close, take any and all samples that are out, hide whatever books they’re reading behind a stack of magazines, and then sit outside late into the night.
Petr, a super friendly smiley guy from Czechoslovakia. He reminds me of my uncle Willem.
Andrew, a backpacker who’s on his way to India. He works wherever he can and is applying to an awesome-sounding journalism program. I wish I could get to know him better but am way too shy.
Paul, one of the Border’s employees. He always gets a chocolate javakula (frappaccino) with extra chocolate and says he likes the way I make them.
Jade, an adorable girl, maybe around ten, who gets cold-brewed vanilla lattes and is really, really polite.
Marty, an older gentleman who speaks a million languages (well, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Chinese, and English, anyway) and tries to ask me questions in French. Today he came up to the counter three times and ordered a kid’s hot chocolate every time.
This guy whose name I can’t remember who is really talkative and likes to play the “did you know…?” game (“Did you know the origin of the word ‘blackmail…’?”). He says it’s good to be wrong because it makes you learn new things.
Even though I get really mired down in self-pity because I’ve worked eleven hours a day for five days in a row (between my two jobs), I have to remember how fortunate I am not only to have work but to get plenty of hours and to actually really enjoy the job (the coffee shop one, not the cleaning one). I know this sounds trite, but it’s such a blessing.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Day Off
It has been nice having Jeanie's mom here. I like feeling mothered/spoiled every now and then :) Yesterday, on our day off, she joined us in the morning to watch our surfing lesson, which we took from this guy we know from Paia. It was awesome learning how to surf--it's so much less complicated than I thought it would be. The hardest part was paddling out to the waves, which was by far the most exhausting thing I've done in the recent past. I need to build up my upper body endurance! As far as actually riding the waves, the mechanics are easy and the balance just takes lots of practice. We both almost stood up (by that I mean we stood shakily and promptly fell off), but it was fun just lying or kneeling on the board, too. I got the weirdest, most massive bruises on my knees (my left knee is literally entirely covered in red and purple), even though I didn't knock them around that much. I have been bruising SO easily recently! Apparently it has to do with my not having eaten green leafy vegetables for two months.... I'm now obsessed with salad.
After surfing, we drove partway to Hana and went on a couple tiny hikes, took a nap and went to the beach in Kihei to watch the sunset, ate at our favorite Kihei fish place (where I got a salad and grilled mahi-mahi instead of my usual deep fried fish and chips), and showed Joni the Grand Wailea. It was a very long day, but SO nice not to have any responsibilities.
Did I mention we had some more car problems? When I tried to leave work one night, the engine wouldn't start, so after traipsing around trying unseccessfully to find jumper cables at 11:30 p.m., I got a ride home from some coworkers. Jeanie went back in the morning with her mom, planning to call AAA (lucky for her she actually has AAA), and it started no problem. We think some of the cables on the battery just need to be tightened, so we're hoping we can get someone we know to take a look at it. It could definitely be worse! We would have to get a new car immediately if anything went seriously wrong, since the bus stops running way before we get off work and neither of us really wants to hitch-hike alone at night.
I've had a bit of a chance to explore Paia more. There are three beaches right next to each other--one is Paia Bay, where we usually go because it's so close, the one in the middle is this pretty little cove where all the nudies hang out, and the third is a really long beach called Baldwin that ends in another town (Sprecklesville--isn't that a dumb name?). There are paths that cut through tiny woods between all the beaches, and it's a really nice walk--beautiful and probably 3 or 4 miles round-trip. Even though there are lots of people around, I'm getting a nature fix.
After surfing, we drove partway to Hana and went on a couple tiny hikes, took a nap and went to the beach in Kihei to watch the sunset, ate at our favorite Kihei fish place (where I got a salad and grilled mahi-mahi instead of my usual deep fried fish and chips), and showed Joni the Grand Wailea. It was a very long day, but SO nice not to have any responsibilities.
Did I mention we had some more car problems? When I tried to leave work one night, the engine wouldn't start, so after traipsing around trying unseccessfully to find jumper cables at 11:30 p.m., I got a ride home from some coworkers. Jeanie went back in the morning with her mom, planning to call AAA (lucky for her she actually has AAA), and it started no problem. We think some of the cables on the battery just need to be tightened, so we're hoping we can get someone we know to take a look at it. It could definitely be worse! We would have to get a new car immediately if anything went seriously wrong, since the bus stops running way before we get off work and neither of us really wants to hitch-hike alone at night.
I've had a bit of a chance to explore Paia more. There are three beaches right next to each other--one is Paia Bay, where we usually go because it's so close, the one in the middle is this pretty little cove where all the nudies hang out, and the third is a really long beach called Baldwin that ends in another town (Sprecklesville--isn't that a dumb name?). There are paths that cut through tiny woods between all the beaches, and it's a really nice walk--beautiful and probably 3 or 4 miles round-trip. Even though there are lots of people around, I'm getting a nature fix.
Monday, February 9, 2009
I forget...did I come to Maui to work?
Oh, I am so behind! It's strange to be blogging again. I'll try not to get into my frustration about working way more than I should be and hardly having any time to myself and all that (this is the first time I've been able to sit down at my computer for 4 or 5 days). It's been making me a cranky person lately.
A couple semi-big items of news: first, Jeanie's mom gets here tonight! It'll be cool to do some touristy stuff with her (although I'll be working quite a bit this week) and show off our little home again. She's staying in a few other towns around the island, not on our termite-crumbed couch :) Second, we got the alignment on our car fixed after one of our tires shredded as Jeanie was driving home from work. She was great and handled getting someone to put our spare on and taking it in to the shop while I worked all day. The car runs a lot smoother, though it may just be a temporary fix if something else is actually messing the alignment up.
I've had some fun this week in addition to working like mad. While Jeanie worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, I hung out with people...went to a Hope Chapel thing (I wish SO bad I was able to go more often. I don't even have Sunday mornings or Friday nights off to go to church), ran some errands, went out for dinner, watched some movies. It's awesome to get to know people and have stuff to do, but I am craving some empty and alone time. Hope to get a little this evening. :)
A couple semi-big items of news: first, Jeanie's mom gets here tonight! It'll be cool to do some touristy stuff with her (although I'll be working quite a bit this week) and show off our little home again. She's staying in a few other towns around the island, not on our termite-crumbed couch :) Second, we got the alignment on our car fixed after one of our tires shredded as Jeanie was driving home from work. She was great and handled getting someone to put our spare on and taking it in to the shop while I worked all day. The car runs a lot smoother, though it may just be a temporary fix if something else is actually messing the alignment up.
I've had some fun this week in addition to working like mad. While Jeanie worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, I hung out with people...went to a Hope Chapel thing (I wish SO bad I was able to go more often. I don't even have Sunday mornings or Friday nights off to go to church), ran some errands, went out for dinner, watched some movies. It's awesome to get to know people and have stuff to do, but I am craving some empty and alone time. Hope to get a little this evening. :)
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