January 1, 2005 - Saturday

Happy New Year to all.

The heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast for New Years Eve never arrived. It threatened. It got dark. Haze obscured the horizon. The sun never appeared. But it rained only briefly. And that normally means a loud exit for the passing year, so we started rounding up cats late in the morning. The first six were easy. I had to put on shoes and hike down into the 4-acre field in front of the house to find Ms. Kili, although this time she did cooperate and eventually appear in response to my calls. That made seven. And when Silverman showed up for dinner, all eight were safe and accounted for. Most disappeared into hiding places. Several paced nervously. But all were safely indoors.

Ms. Harry hides in our closet

Ms. Kili found under a rattan chair

By a bit after 2 a.m. the revelers had quieted down, so I got up and facilitated the escape by cracking open the door to the back deck. Kili was the first out, with Silverman right behind.

More on the state of the airline industry. United Airlines has notified customers in Australia and New Zealand that it is closing all its ticket offices and will now handle all ticketing by phone or by email. But according to a reader in New Zealand, United customers were also informed reservations lines will only be open for limited hours and will be closed on Sunday and "some public holidays". Welcome to the new world of air travel.

Finally, Juli from Minnesota shared a bit of her recent experience in Honolulu Airport:

I was lucky enough to spend a week on Kauai in November, which, of course, meant that I flew in and out of Honolulu. I didn't notice the leaky roofs or other things that you have commented on. (Although, I was told that the shuttle bus wasn't running because of some kind of structural repair at the bus stop. Maybe they were fixing the roof?)

No, the problem that I had was the maps. I was in need of a visit to the facilities when I landed, and headed for the nearest map to see where I should go. The map was large and easy to read, but there was no marker on it saying "You are here." This sounds trivial, but the airport is triangular, the shops aren't all labeled by name, I was somewhat addled, and I spent a lot of time looking around and trying to line up the signs for gate numbers with what I could see. Finally, I asked a flock of passing flight attendants if they could show me where I was on the map. (Flight attendants are wonderful.) They all looked, commented, pointed, debated, and couldn't decide. When I finally confessed that all I really wanted was a ladies' room, they immediately took me in hand and delivered me to the nearest one.

After that, I got curious. I checked, and none of the maps had a "You are here" marker. I also asked several staff (cleaners, store clerks, airline employees) and only one of them was able to point to a spot on the map that I later confirmed as accurate. (Lots of them pointed to spots that were clearly wrong.) (I had several hours to kill, obviously.)

Hellooooo, DOT! Are you listening?

December 31, 2004 - Friday

It's about over, 2004, that is. We're bracing for stormy weather. A flash flood watch and high wind watch are in effect through tomorrow, with thunderstorms expected and with accompanying gusty winds possibly reaching 50 mph or more in areas at the base of mountains where the wind gains speed coming down the slopes. That means Kaaawa, of course.

So it could mean a bit of added New Years Eve excitement. We've filled our refrigerator and stocked up on essentials like wine and cat food, so we're feeling prepared.

The San Francisco Chronicle, based in a city as dependent on United Airlines as our own, is carefully following the latest moves, including the proposed takover of the pension plan for United pilots by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and the vote by 88 percent of the airline's flight attendants to authorize a rolling strike if their contract is voided by the Bankruptcy Court.

One reader with extensive experience in labor-management relations, offered this comment on the situation in an email this week:

The reason why I wanted to drop you a note is that the United, US Airways, and Hawaiian problems have broader implications for organized labor. Labor and employment lawyers are carefully watching what happens with these companies in bankruptcy. Whether we represent management or unions, we all are concerned that collective bargaining agreements are being modified and substantially revised under threat of the bankruptcy judge negating the contracts or taking harsh whacks at the contract including health and retirement benefits. The US Airways sick out is an example of the frustration employees feel at the substantial reduction in benefits they have experienced in two bankruptcy proceedings. But their sick out may have doomed the airline and themselves. The larger economic implications, especially what happens to our friends and families who work for Hawaiian are obvious. We just may be on the verge of a major change in organized labor - management relations, for the better or worse, is unclear at this point.

And he added:

Finally, I agree with your assessment and feeling about the airlines. Pretty soon, they will put up rail-bars like buses, and ship us over, standing room only.

Meanwhile, Aloha Airlines has filed for bankruptcy protection, indicating its recovery has stalled.

And things aren't looking much better elsewhere in the airline industry, according to AP business writer Brad Foss.

6 a.m. and the Advertiser hasn't posted today's online edition.

Chicago's school system has its own inspector general to investigate fraud and abuse. Its latest annual report adds some perspective to our own problems. I wonder what the budget for the inspector general's office is and whether it is considered cost effective. Given the size and cost of our educational bureaucracy, such an approach certainly seems worth considering.

Did I need to be reminded of time passing? I got a call this week about preliminary plans for the 40th reunion of my class at University High School, the lab school in Manoa. Ouch!

And so it goes as the year draws to a close. With any luck, a new one will get underway soon enough.

December 30, 2004 - Thursday

Power was out overnight in Kaaawa, and finally restored at 6:15 a.m. Hence this late and somewhat rushed post.

Interesting to see corporate America trying to find ways to use the Internet to respond to the Southeast Asia tsunami disaster. At the top of Amazon.com's web site yesterday was a large solicitation for the Red Cross with a "1-Click" link for online donations. By this morning Amazon had raised $4.5 million from more than 73,000 donors.

And Apple Computer swept all it's usual sales pitches off its home page and replaced them with this message and links to aid organizations:

Another old friend, Marnie Weeks, had the following suggestion:

If you have been looking for a way to help victims of the terrible Indian Ocean tsunamis, for an effective and safe place to send money or goods -- somewhere you can count on to use every bit of your donation the best possible way, we would like to suggest that you send it to the Sarvodaya Movement in Sri Lanka, where an estimated 20,000 people have perished and entire villages have been washed away.

My husband, Patrick, and I are privileged to count among our friends the man known as "the Gandhi of Sri Lanka," Dr. A.T. "Ari" Ariyaratne. He is the founder and director of the Sarvodaya Movement, the largest and most effective volunteer civil and social service organization in this very poor country, and a model worldwide.

The Sarvodaya Movement has over 100,000 volunteers, with a network of 34 district centers and 340 divisional centers. When the disastrous tsunamis struck, Ari and his organization went into immediate action. Two hours after the waves hit, Sarvodaya had set up command centers. Their network is able to assess and convey specific needs in each area, and to allocate aid the very most effective way.

You can read more about Sarvodaya's response to the disaster at their website:

Sarvodaya Ogranization Disaster Relief Page

Sarvodaya Relief Fund for Tsunami Tragedy - Online Donations


Whatever you can do, whether prayers or payments, we know you share the hope that the countless victims in all countries affected will soon find safety and peace in their lives.

Thank you for reading this.

Me ke aloha,
Marnie Weeks

Finaly, I noted this local comment the BBC web site compiling individual experiences and comments:

We had higher surf than usual here on Maui. However, I would like to see the tax dollars we spend on an illegal war in Iraq diverted to help victims of a force utterly out of their control. As world citizens, this is our first priority.
Marjo Miller, Kihei, USA

After something like 24 years with the Star-Bulletin, photographer and photo editor Dean Sensui is leaving the paper at the end of the week (or end of the year, however you want to look at it). Dean says he's aiming to expand what has been his sideline business as an independent video producer.

Dean explains:

I've been given an opportunity to become a partner in the group that produces "Hawaii Goes Fishing". There's are a couple of other projects being developed so I'm not too concerned with my ability to pay the mortgage. Video production is a field that I've been wanting to work in since high school.

But, as another former S-B staffer commented in an email yesterday:

Another major chunk of the flavor of the "Old Bulletin" fades into history. Kind of reminds me of Star Wars when Obi Wan Kenobi is killed by Darth Vader... only to return as a Jedi ghost, more powerful than ever. Dean joins other Newsroom Jedi* in perpetuating "The Force." (*That would be "us guys.")

Perhaps at this juncture it is appropriate to exhort those still left in the Star-Bulletin newsroom to "use The Force, it will always be with you!"

December 29, 2004 - Wednesday

Thanks to the Advertiser's Derrick DePledge for yesterday's story describing a newly unveiled Ethics Commission advisory opinion regarding former UH President Evan Dobelle & state gift disclosure requirements.

The full text of the 8-page opinion is now available for download from the Ethics Commission.

The opinion stems from a complaint filed earlier this year by Rep. Mark Takai. A copy of Takai's original complaint is available here (warning: it's a large pdf file of just over 3 MB).

The Ethics Commission ruled that Dobelle should have disclosed gifts of travel from private parties as well as funds received from the UH Foundation's so-called protocol accounts. The Foundation and the University had claimed that the Foundation is a private entity and exempt from disclosure under the state's sunshine law. Takai, in response, took the position that if the Foundation is private, then it is covered by the gift disclosure section of state ethics law. The commission has now agreed with Takai.

And thanks to Deputy Public Defender Melody Parker in Hilo, who has challenged Judge Matthew Pyun's apparent blanket order excluding the public from criminal proceedings. Rod Thompson's story in today's Star-Bulletin describes the situation.

Did you notice the rush of New Year's ads for exercise equipment? It seems that everyone wants to profit from those annual resolutions to get fit and lose weight.

But I've coined a term for what typically follows in a few months:

Exercism: (Definition) The ritual donation of almost-new exercise equipment to thrift stores as soon as the New Year's resolutions fade.

December 28, 2004 - Tuesday

It's impossible to imagine the scope of destruction caused by Sunday's tidal wave. The Associated Press offers this list of agencies accepting donations for relief work in the areas impacted, while the New York Times has a slightly longer list of suggestions. Do your part, please.

As our major airlines continue their meltdown, Hawaii needs to be looking at the stark social and economic implications. If United & Delta go under, now apparently a real possibility, could Hawaii tourism avoid going into a tailspin and taking the rest of the economy along for the ride? If there's planning for this grim scenario already underway, it's way under the public radar.

A reader offered up this correction regarding Charles Chidiac:

Lebanese presidents are elected solely by the Lebanese Legislature. The Presidential election scheduled for November 2004 was postponed when the Constitution was changed--via support and instigation of Syria--to extend the term of incumbent President Lahoud. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 2005, but there is a real possibility that they, too, might be postponed. Neither Chidiac nor anyone else could have run for President in the Summer of 2004.

That appears to be the explanation of why I found Chidiac's announcement that he was a candidate for president, but could not find news of the election outcome.

Just what we need, neo-Nazi hate music banned in Europe but distributed in the U.S.

On the other hand, here's an interesting analysis from the Newspaper Association of America of newspapers use of online resources to extend their reach and increase diversity.

It's almost the end of December, and I'm just getting around to picking out a few photos from November's early mornings. So click on this teaser for a look at November in Kaaawa.

I hope that the current weather forecasts hold. They're now predicting a wet and windy new year's eve, the best possible scene as far as our cats go. I hate to rain on other peoples parades but clear weather means more fireworks, while rain pretty much puts the big damper on the whole fireworks scene. Since we'll be stuck inside with seven or perhaps eight cats, the fewer fireworks the better.

December 27, 2004 - Monday

It was quite a night in Kaaawa. First was the birthday bash for professor and poet Kathryn Takara, who lives just over on the other side of Haahaa Street here in Kaaawa. We're on the Kahuku side of Haahaa, four houses over from Olohu Road.

Kay Takara (left). Happy Birthday!

Kay lives just a couple of houses on the other side of Olohu. Almost next door, it would seem. But Olohu Road somehow becomes a natural barrier that we rarely cross. But her party was held at the home of another neighbor just across the street on our side of things, with folks from all parts of Kaaawa and beyond in attendance. I promised a photo online, so here it is.

And the party was barely winding down when the rain and lightning started, putting on a show that lasted most of the night. Okay, it's neither snow nor tsunami, but it's Hawaii's winter nonetheless.

Bob Jones added this tidbit in response to my mention last week of Charles Chidiac:

chidiac ran for president of Lebanon this past fall -- and lost with a very poor showing....

i had tipped off star-bulletin about chidiac's run last summer and suggested they have Beirut AP file them a piece -- but they never did anything with it.

That's really a shame, as it would have been a fascinating read.

Questions about the legality of hidden microphones or cameras tend to come up repeatedly, so this state-by-state review of applicable laws may come in handy.

And after browsing the various election maps referred to earlier, here's an interesting map of America's spoken dialects which doesn't mirror the Red State-Blue State split.

Here's another cat tale with a happy ending. Back in August, the Humane Society sent this pair of kittens over to Elizabeth at Kamaaina Metals for a dose of special TLC. After nursing them back to health, she returned them to the Humane Society and hoped for the best. Now here's an update on what followed. Just click on the picture for the story (and photos, of course).

Where are these kittens today? Click and read....

December 26, 2004 - Sunday

Who would have thought that my best Christmas present would be a chance to do the laundry?

Well, no, not exactly. It's just that since late July, when our garage (former location of our washer & dryer) was demolished on Day One of our remodel/addition project, the laundry has been done in a couple of temporary locations in the dirt alongside or under our back deck. "What a perfect husband", some of you are probably thinking.

Meda declared herself a nonparticipant in the resulting survival adventure known as "doing the laundry", so the chore quickly migrated to become wholly my job.

For several months, you couldn't get down to the washer by the most direct route because the stairs from the deck were "temporary" removed one day without notice (not temporarily enough, it seemed at the time).

As a result, just getting to the washer required a risky trek out the front door, down through the ongoing construction, around the perimeter to the back of the house dodging assorted obstacles ranging from tools to piles of debris to mud or whatever, then hauling the basket of laundry along a five foot section of the 10 or 12 inch plank bridging the open trench over the section of plumbing that was being repaired and rerouted. There were times that plank seemed like it was a 2x4.

Walking the plank

But survival along this route would get me to the washing machine where, if I was lucky and it wasn't raining too hard, I could stay relatively upright on the edge of the trench while transferring a load of clothes from the basket into the washer, then later repeat the trek to unload and, ducking my head to avoid low beams, waddle under the deck to the relocated dryer. And then I would repeat the process with the next load.

Meda's been calling me the laundry Sherpa. You know, all the work but none of the glory.

But on Christmas eve both washer and dryer were finally moved into their new space in the 98% completed utility room downstairs. They were powered up, connected to water, and ready to use. And yesterday, Christmas Day, I could just take the basket of dirty clothes down the new front stairs into the bright new laundry room. No more walking the plank. No more mud and rain. No worries about being electrocuted by temporary wiring.

It was so much fun that maybe I can con Meda into taking over some of this chore again.

And so it goes in Kaaawa this holiday weekend.