September 29
Intro & Arriving in Maui
 
September 30
Beaches & A Lava Flow
 
October 1
Iao Valley
 
October 2
A Helicopter Ride
 
October 3 & 4
A Bird, A Dog, Work & Drinking
 
October 5
Haleakala & A Luau
 
October 6
Lahaina & Heading Home
 

October 3 & 4, 2005
A Bird, A Dog, Work & Drinking

Paul went off to work Monday morning and I worked on his computer all day. I was sure to take a break and go to the pool every now and then, but the only picture I took all day Monday was of this fat one-legged dove at the outdoor restaurant where I had lunch. The waitress said he always hung around and it always broke her heart to see him, but I think he was pretty good at playing up the sympathy angle. He looked strong and healthy to me. I know I tossed him a couple fries, and he ignored that piece of macaroni salad behind him. That night, we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and made ourselves as fat as the dove.

On Tuesday, it was just me and Zeus in the apartment again. He surveyed the scenery from the porch as I struggled with the computer and outboard gear.

You may well ask what sort of computer work takes two days. Well, I spent several hours on the phone with upper level technical support at both Sony and Samsung trying to figure out why running a VGA cable from the Sony Vaio FS660 to a 40" Samsung LCD TV didn't work. Eventually both companies threw their hands up in the air and announced we were the first to report an incompatibility between the two products. Great. Do we get a prize?

I had much better luck with the Sony RoomLink and the Netgear MP101. Both do pretty similar things. The Sony streams video and audio files from the computer to the TV wirelessly. The Netgear is also wireless and plays audio from the laptop, including some Internet radio stations, through the home stereo. I think if all I had done was getting a single acid jazz station playing, Paul would have been happy.

I went to a place called Bada Bing for lunch. Its menu had a heavy New Jersey influence, and that's a good thing because I don't get enough sausage in my diet. They also had a few Hawaiian touches, like Mai Tais and Pina Coladas. This was something called a Lava Flow. The menu said it was invented by accident when a bartender put strawberry puree to start a daiquiri but added Pina Colada on top. It was really good. Fruit is healthy, you know.

In the afternoon, I drove up to Wailuku and went to Requests Music, a small music store. One of the bands I play with, Seasons Of The Wolf, has their CDs stocked there, so I stopped in to say hi and leave some X Takes The Square CDs.

I went back to Wow-Wee Maui and Paul met me there after work. We had some Kava, a drink that's supposed to have a relaxing effect. It may be known as a legal recreational drug but all it did was make my lips numb. The full strength Kava had clumps in it and tasted a bit like liquid dirt. It was much better in a "Kava Colada," a mixture of Kava, coconut and pineapple juice.

Next: 10/05/05 - Haleakala & A Luau