I set the alarm for 01:30, but didn’t get up until 02:20. That didn’t give me much time before rolling out, but I at least ate some yogurt before heading over to Kaimuki. In anticipation of something like this, I had my kit all prepped from the night before. Food wouldn’t be a problem, since I had some bars and gels, and there would be a lot of idle downtime before start time. The sky was clear, but it was only starting to cool off from Saturday’s heat. There was very little outbound traffic, but the potential of HPD action kept me at the speed limit. The freeway was clear so my timing worked out about right. Chris and Mitch were already there at the KCC parking lot, and Ckucke and Root rolled in soon after. Quite amazing – everyone showed up for the 2009 Honolulu Marathon wheelchair division escort! Continue reading ‘Why the Heck Am I up so Early?’
Archive for the 'rant' Category
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I dislike the holiday season, not only because it is a thinly veiled attempt to force Judeo-Christian monotheism down non-believers’ throats through habituation by disguising it as a commercial holiday, but also because of the horrid seasonal music. Jack Frost, stay the F away from my nose, you pervert! …and WTF is a “Jingle Horse” anyway?
(0)I won a ticket to tonight’s Awamori Festival fundraiser from the JCCH.  I was anticipating a learning experience about Awamori, but I learned more beforehand from Wikipedia, since all they had was “Z” and various fruity cocktails made from it. I even brought a notebook and pen so I could write stuff down and write a really informative post! I got three drinky tickets with my entrance ticket, so the first thing I had was a shot shaken with ice. Whatever “Z” was wasn’t top shelf, and the shot was seriously on the short side. At least the Asian sister who poured my second shot on the rocks gave the yellow brother a long pour. Mitch came late, so they didn’t give him any drinly tickets, so I gave him my third, although he used it for a soda. The food was pedestrain buffet fare, and none of it of a Ryukyu bent. WTF?! At least there was a good Okinawan dance performance, and I got to hang out with Mitch, Melissa, and a bunch of really nice people. The skies were dark and ominous on the way ofer to ATM after work, and sure as shingles, the sky opened up with wind whipped rain and lightning as soon as the event was underway. Everyone had to crowd under whatever shelter they could find at the open-air venue. I ran into Derrick from the JCCH whose friends were performing.  Sorry – I’d write more, but I’m really tired (Fabio, you didn’t miss much).
Here are some pictures
Well now, our volume of J mail has gone down, but today got a bunch. What kind of relationships is going on in this household? Since when did Fabio move in? And who’s Juanita and when did I marry her? Or is she a long lost sister?
Went down to Windward Mall to get a Triple Prime Bacon Cheddar Burger at Ruby Tuesday. Was seated almost immediately, which was a surprise. Guess it wasn’t very busy during the economic downturn – lots of empty tables. It took at least three minutes (probably more like five, but I don’t want it to seem like I’m exaggerating) for server first contact. She was a trainee being ghosted by an experienced server, so the fault really falls on the trainer no matter how nice she was. It is inexcusable to have that long a delay before a face-to-face with the customer. It is worse to use customer dissatisfaction as a training tool – don’t allow the customer to become unhappy then point out to your trainee, “you don’t want to do this,†instead, proactively address the customer and lead by example. I almost walked out. That whole “not busy†thing manifested itself in reduced staff, so even if it wasn’t for the trainee floor staff, the kitchen was understaffed, so food prep was slow. Continue reading ‘Customer Disservice’
Saw an old Lexus LS 400 today with the “VIP” tuning thing going on. There was a diecut on the rear windscreen that said, “Simply Discrete – Keepin’ it Simple, Yet Discrete”. Huh? WTF? That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever!
(0)On the domestic flight from Sapporo to Nagoya, the JDM flight attendants were offering drinks and mints up until the wheels came down. On the overseas flight from Nagoya to Honolulu, the “Asian” attendants passed by once with coffee/English tea/green tea, at which point most people still had their during-meal drink, so didn’t need the post meal coffee yet. They even brought out the pre-landing snack just after collecting the dinner trays, and at the appointed snack time, the juice came out, but no effing coffee/English tea/green tea. WTF?! Oh yeah, and where the F was my pre-meal drink that I usually get?  I got it on the outbound flight last week. This crew sucked.
(0)The crew will all remember walking in the cold down to 7-11 at the bottom of Kita 3 from the ekimae Century Royal hotel in Sapporo on many an occasion. Well, there’s a Family Mart on the first floor now. I think you can even access it from inside the hotel lower lobby. Kuso!
The section of street between Oodori and the JR Sapporo-eki is all ripped up and is a sea of undulating metal plates and temporary asphalt. There will eventually be an underground arcade connecting the two, but for the past couple of seasons, it’s been a mess. Couple this with the younger generation who doesn’t know how to “walk left” like lanes of automobile traffic, and you have anarchy! Chikusho!
There are no actual bike messenger services in Sapporo to my knowledge, but there are at least half a dozen hipsters on their stupid fixies doofing around town making a mess of things. Double-kuso!
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So after a pretty good day at Brighton, we decided to take a visit to Park City to check out that area. Â We arrive to find that the Window price is $50, thats 30% off the regular price, what a bargain!
Well, maybe.
I guess this sign should have been a sign. Â But we came all this way, might as well check it out right?
There are only 2 lifts open, so we pick the highspeed 6-pack and take stock of the conditions
Hmm, this isnt looking so good, but we’re still optimistic, right up until we hit the top of this lift.
OMG! Â Okay, we’re here, we’ve gotta check it out. Â Yeah, this one “groomer” is made of concrete-hard icy stuff. Â No off-piste opportunity to be found.
I dont think we even needed the map at this point, there was really only one way down.
Bits of a terrain park are open too, but its fairly big stuff. Â At least these guys are having fun
After pounding the “groomers” a few times, its about time for lunch. Â I gotta say the rice with this chicken quesadilla was really really good. Â But the Draft Beer guy didnt get setup with beer yet! Â I had my hopes up after seeing his sign!
After lunch, Root decides his spine needs a rest, so goes off to look for a locker. Â I feel a disturbance in the force, and he appears shortly later exclaiming, “How much for a pack of double-a batteries?!” (as quoted from Falling Down) Apparently it cost $7 to rent a day locker!
The value for my $50 lift ticket was poor. Â Lunch was generally good, but kind of spendy, but not having the beer really puts a dent into whatever value was there. Â The $7 lockers was really over the top!
I might give Park City another chance during the prime season since the gelande seems pretty big, but the early season gets 2 out of 5 fist raising, power fighting monkeys. Â And it gets the 2 because the rice was that good.
Chris will love this! I saw a fixie guy here while on the bus returning from snowboarding. Brikos, Euro-tight black long-sleeve turtleneck shirt, Euro-tight black jeans, black Addidas clipless road shoes, tiny black messenger bag. The bike was a black carbon monocoque Giant track frame with Easton carbon fork and Easton aero time trial bars. HED 3 carbon wheels. All black and riding at night with no lights in traffic with sunglasses? Dork! I couldn’t get my camera out in time to document this atrocity – besides, it was too dark to take a picture of a guy dressed all in black on an all-black bike at night!
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