Hawaii Rail Alternatives

July 9th, 2008 kNuke

First off, I have to make something clear.  I have nothing against Rail, the technology, or it’s viability.  I don’t believe that people will reject the Rail just because they love their cars.  Yes, there will be growing pains, but eventually people will ride the Rail.  At some point, once the kinks are worked out, it’ll just be easier for a portion of the population to ride the Rail.  Now if it’s worth the huge cost, economically, socially, and emotionally; that’s another story, but I digress. 

Even though I’m not against Rail as an alternative, I am against it as the choice right now.  I don’t think we’ve done enough to exhaust all of our other less intrusive alternatives to Rail.  Things like staggering work hours, 4-day work weeks, working closer to home, telecommuting, moving businesses out to Kapolei, and/or moving the entire UH campus out to West Oahu. 

Before I move on to our alternative, I’d like to take some time to state that rising oil prices is a great thing for America.  Most people understand that oil isn’t going to be around forever, but yet we’ve done very little to develop sustainable energy sources.  Rising oil prices are now forcing us to roll up our sleeves and do what we do best, create and innovate! Someone’s moved our cheese and it’s high time we start looking for new cheese. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go read “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson.  Sustainable energy = Bye Bye War.

Now that I’m done with that, we can move on to our vision; creating a college area out in West Oahu or Kapolei by moving the entire UH campus out there.  We could build a new 40k capacity stadium surrounded by skyscrapers, which would house students, food facilities, classrooms, librarys, computer labs, etc.  Surrounding the stadium and skyscrapers would be businesses, stores, hotels, bars, restaurants, etc.  Students wouldn’t have to leave the area during the work week, everything is right there.

This vision is going to cost a pretty penny, but there are a lot of positives.  The state already owns the land in West Oahu so we wouldn’t have to kick people out.  UH and Aloha stadium are in dire need of renovations so we can kill two birds with one stone.  A college area will make it more enticing for businesses to move out there.  There is a lot of infrastructure that has to be built, but it’s only in one area so it won’t affect the beauty of Hawaii or disrupt traffic during the process. 

This is our vision, how would you spend roughly $4 billion?

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Pizza Eating Contest

April 18th, 2008 kNuke

Here’s the scenario.  A few buddies of mine were talking some smack and one guy came up with the grand idea of a pizza eating contest.  In order to be a part of the contest, everyone had to order a pizza and drink a pitcher of liquid.  Eventually the contest morphed into a one topping 19″ pizza and a pitcher of carbonated beverage.  The contest was today and it was absolutely retarded…  Nobody finished, but we all had a grand time trying!  I don’t think I can look at pizza for at least a couple weeks, but boy do I feel great!

What do you think of this contest?  Pretty wicked awesome huh?

Posted in Hawaii | 5 Comments »

Aloha to Aloha Airlines

March 31st, 2008 kNuke

Looks like Aloha Airlines will stop flying passengers starting tomorrow. I can’t say this is shocking, but the abruptness of the announcement did catch me by surprise. I didn’t know Aloha Airlines was considering shutting down. You’d figure news of their possible shutdown would have leaked out to the public well in advance.

Regardless, this is a sad day for Aloha Airlines and its employees, but one inter-island carrier had to pull out. There just isn’t enough inter-island business to keep three airlines profitable. Once Go Airlines entered the market and slashed prices, Hawaiian or Aloha Airlines should of pulled out, the writing was on the wall. It’s true that both Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines could of kept prices higher, to try to be profitable, but knowing consumers, they would of flown on Go Airlines.

That being said, I really hope the general public isn’t upset about this. I didn’t hear anyone complain when the airfare prices were dropped, which was a blatant tactic by Go Airlines to squeeze out a competitor. I also hope lawmakers don’t act upset either, because they knew this would happen. So Hawaii, you can be sad for Aloha Airlines and its employees, but you have no right to be upset. You played your part.

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Great Aloha Run

February 18th, 2008 kNuke

For normal people, running 8.15 miles speaks nothing to athleticism and everything to preparation. I’m not sure I really understand the purpose of running these events. Maybe someone can explain it to me? For me, running has always, and will always, be punishment!

Regardless, congratulations to those who finished the Great Aloha Run.  The 8 miles ain’t that bad, but that .15 will kill yah!

Posted in Hawaii | 2 Comments »

Honolulu Marathon Experience

December 29th, 2007 kNuke

Here are a few pieces of information that I picked up during my first ever Honolulu Marathon. Maybe it’ll help you prepare for yours. If not, hopefully it’ll give you a laugh.

1. 26.2 miles is ridiculously long.
2. Don’t listen to people who haven’t ran a marathon. Like Fabolous said, “If you ain’t never went through it you ain’t really into it.” In other words, they don’t know what they’re talking about.
3. You should run at least 22-26 miles during a week before running the actual marathon if you expect to run the entire race.
4. Vasoline and Gels are overrated.
5. Buy new shoes and anti blister socks.
6. Don’t use anything you haven’t trained with.
7. Here’s the order of how things got sore: Arms, feet and calves, hip flexors a while later, then hamstrings, thighs, and lower back quickly thereafter. Since I had only trained up to 12 miles a week, my whole lower body locked up at 12 miles. Every step I took after that felt like it could be the one that pulled a muscle or caught a cramp.
8. Running outside isn’t that much different than running on the treadmill with an incline set to 1.
9. Don’t plan to do anything for the rest of the day.
10. When you finish, it’s the greatest feeling ever.

This was my first experience running a marathon and I have to say that I severely overestimated my abilities.  I hope all of you crazy marathon newbies take some of my advice so that your first marathon experience won’t leave you bed-ridden for two days!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Posted in Hawaii, Sports | 1 Comment »