Magical Maui...

8/22 - Today was an interesting day. 1 of our roomies had some friends over from the mainland. We took them surfing, hung out all day, invited the guy that bought a 1 way ticket to sleep on our couch in the garage (aka lanai), and next thing I know is some dude who is passed out on the couch is getting the water hose sprayed on him.
After I got done laughing (which was about 30 minutes) – I realized what was happening. One of our roomies was spraying down a drunk individual to make sure he was still alive.. He was questionable for a while. But the garden hose gave a lot of answers quickly…
I was called in to be the gentleman that made sure that the young damsel made it home safely. I was more than happy to do the job. I was grateful that I had a job. I was ecstatic that the 2 women I knew that lived in my house understood that I would be the one to make sure they made it home. Ultimately, I was the one they trusted…
I was happy! I knew I made more friends. I knew I made more friends that I could trust – because they trusted me… When the situation got tough – and you need a gentleman – who u going to call??
BRIAN!!!
It’s good to know that some things never change…

On another note…
I wonder if anyone can beat me on job title? I am the “Director of FUN” Seriously – does anyone even want to compete? I will be happy to entertain all contenders, but I am going to win in the long run… FUN is in my title!!!
Director
Of
Fun
I could not have dreamed of a better job… - yet I got it!!!
Life is such an extraordinary thing. Sometimes you dream and it comes true… Sometimes things change – but remain the same… Sometimes you have the courage to change things… and sometimes you are too scared to do anything… I know who I am – who are you?

8/23 - I was late today... My boss called & woke me up at 10AM. That is the worst feeling - being late - and your boss calling to wake u up... I hope I do not do that again. Worse even yet is talking to the owner - then him concluding by "So you had a sleeping problem today?" - My response - "Yes sir. I apologize. It will not happen again..." Enough said. End of conversation...

8/24 - I was officially named Director of FUN today!!! At the manager meeting - the owner of the company said I was the Director of Fun - and would be replacing my manager. Life is grand! (can u tell I work with some Irish chicks?)

8/25 - I got a call today from the VP of the company. He said they were working on my compensation package. He said I had not been forgotten. I said thank you.. What I really thought was - now that it has been announced that I am replacing my boss - and have been named as such - that I AM the one in control. I have the title - now they have to PAY me... Does that make since to anyone?
I think I am in a good position. I think I have room to negotiate...
I will let you know how it goes. I hope I am right.

I miss yall! I hope I can inspire you to have some "FUN" in your life. I know
I am...

8/26 - Another day at the pool… I had 2 of my Irish chicks working today. One of them told me they got a $5 tip – so I decided to make her day better. I asked her if she wanted to sit in on an activity. She had the choice between Lei making and Hula lessons. She chose lei making – and she was ecstatic that she could make lei’s for an hour, talk to guest, and get paid to do it. I was happy to make an employee happy.

I have the best job ever

Tonight I was in the lanai (aka the terrace, balcony, or in my case – the garage…) and five of us said we the best job ever. How many times have you heard that? Five people – each of them claiming that they love their job and each of them claiming they “Have the BEST job ever?” Turns out that 4 of us work at the pool at a resort at Ka`anapali. We all come home – ask how work was – and say “It was just another day at the pool…” We ALL know what the other means – we all know how the day was. How great is that?

The other chick in the lanai worked at a pizza place. NO way she wins – I worked for a pizza place for 10 years – and I KNOW that does not even come close to working at the pool….

I got my picture taken today. I am going to be on the wrap = the newspaper print that my resort places on the outside of the Maui News each morning. I am going to be claiming – that I have the BEST job ever! I am going to be endorsing my favorite activities. I am going to be in over 500 rooms a day! I smiled the whole time they were taking my picture. I KNOW I have the best job ever!!! I am the Director of FUN!!!

So – on a more serious note – you need to click on the picture from my previous post. It took a certain brother of mine over a week to figure out that if you click on the picture, you will see A LOT more… A Bra – click on the picture…

I found a link to a view of my office. You can even control the webcam and move it where you want. You can zoom in and out. You can escape your drab, dreary day at the office – and enjoy my world – just imagine another day at the pool….

THIS IS MY LIFE!!!
Amazing how you can change one thing – and change everything…
How u stay?
http://www.seehawaiilive.com/sm-cam.cfm

SO I got a package today... My brother Jon sent me some cigarettes. The box was postmarked June 6. It arrived July 14th. That is a slooow boat. I was happy to see it. Jon had given up hope - he thought it got jacked - and swore he would not send anything else. I still had hope. I knew it would arrive.. I projected positive thoughts during his negativity - and it came the next day.

He also sent me a DVD with out pictures from our vacation on it. I have a special treat for you. I picked out some of my favorites and uploaded them to the web.
I hope you enjoy my first week of vacation as much as I did....

Why I stayed in Maui....

Monday Morning Bonus:

Good morning to all of my East Coast friends. I am just about to go to bed…

I trained the last 2 days for an Assistant Manager position – I am going to be enforcing the “wrist Band: policy. I get to work at the pool, and have 5 women working beneath me – that I am in charge of. This is cake- I get to talk to guest at the pool, and tell 5 women what to do!!! OOO – and I am going to Have an Assistant Manager. I am going to have my own ASSISTANT! I have always found that the best managers always hire people who are smarter than them – that way they can work less.

I am also going to hit overtime this week. I have worked 20 hours in 2 days – and I have 4 more days to go! I kind of miss riding the clock – you get to make your own hours – and when u do it right – u get paid $xtra….

I have learned to appreciate Reggae sine I have been here. My new favorite song is by Ziggy Marley – and is called a “Beach in Hawaii”. I love his whole album – maybe because “Love is my religion” – or “a Lifetime” is simply never enough to love you.

I LOVE Hawaii! I miss my friends and family – but I know that we are on a path – and this is mine. I hope that yall are brave enough to go after what you want – and that you recognize that when opportunity taps you on the shoulder – you respond – and most importantly - you ACT. Act involves doing something. Take action. Set dreams into the correct place so they become reality. What do you want? What do you wish for on your birthday? What do you HOPE comes true – but are afraid to share with anyone? What does your life hold for you? AND how will you make that come true?

Aloha!

Aloha!

Ya Ya – I know I have not posted in a while. My Bad. To tell you the truth – I was tires of writing. I have been going to bed early (some nights) and blogging was not on the top of my list of things to do. So here are some highlights:
I quit my job as an OPC (Outside Public Contact). I got tired of working for free. I worked 10 days and made roughly $65. That comes out to $6.50 a day, or 92 cents an hour. I know I am worth more than that – so I just didn’t show up for work one day.
I got a new job as a cabana boy working for Beach Activities of Maui. Yesterday was my first day. It went pretty smooth. I spent most of the day trying to look like I was busy. The other part of the day was digging in the sand setting up umbrellas and carrying chairs to the people who rented them. The part that was really tough was dragging the cabanas in after people left for the day. I have to tell you that yesterday was probably my first day actually working for a living. I have never sweated so much or done so much manual labor in a day of working. It was not too bad. What really sucked was the diaper rash. It was hard to walk and painful. I learned an important lesson – always carry baby powder with me.
The upside of my new job is that I have interviewed for other positions in the company – an Assistant Manager position that will basically involve walking around the pool, talking to guest, and doing activities like teaching snorkeling, bocci ball, cliff jumping, etc. I had an interview with the Manager of the position last week – and it went extremely well. I am meeting with the President of the company tomorrow – and I hope that goes well too. I know it will…
Last week I took the bus to the other side (of the island) to go to Walmart with some of my housemates. I had to get some white shoes for my job as a cabana boy. We spent 22 minutes inside Wal-Mart – and the bus ride was 3 hours!. That was a long day!
The Irish invasion has begun. It seems that Hawaii has a worker visa program for Irish kids where they come to Maui and work for the summer. So there are about 300 Irish kids in Lahaina for the summer. I met 2 girls that I work with and they told me they had 30 roommates in a 4 bedroom house. They said that rent was roughly $120 each per week. That comes out to $3600 a week for the house – or $14,400 per month. Does any one think that rent here is expensive?
I hope everyone is doing well. I am having a great time and enjoying my new life in Maui. Talk to yall soon.

Day 2 in a booth as an OPC

Today was my second day in a booth as an OPC (Outside Public Contact). I had 1 guy that was interested in some activities for his family of 5 – and even mentioned that he was interested in buying some properties – but he wanted to drive by the resorts to check them out before he would book the activities. That was the best lead of the day. I spent the other 6 hours and 45 minutes saying ALOHA to try to get people to come over and talk. I had a party of 4 that was from Sydney, Australia (who did not qualify) that was looking for a helicopter tour. There is one company that only comps you if you book a tour, so I tried and tried – but they did not book at retail – they wanted to look around. I had another young couple from California who did not qualify – and I informed them of the best way to save money on activities (answer yes to all the questions that the agent asks.) So I sat in a booth for 7 hours and did not sell a thing. I felt A LOT better when the manager told me that only 1 tour had been booked.

I know it is only day 2 in a booth as an OPC, but I am beginning to question if this whole commission thing is for me. I am quite happy making a set hourly wage – but showing up and filling a booth and making ZERO – I question that… I have also discovered that I do not miss working – I miss making money $$$

I took the Jeep out for a drive today to see what would happen. One of my roommates wanted to go to McDonald’s – so he came with me. I was glad to have a passenger in the car (so if it died he could push it out of the way…) I am glad he went. We were at McDonald’s drive thru – next in line to get our food – and it stalled. He pushed me to the drive thru window to get the food – then we pushed it to side in order to not block the 1 lane drive thru. While we were waiting (which normally helps for the POS – aka Piece Of Shit) to start – I saw one of my managers from LTC come out. I was kind of embarrassed, but I explained the situation. He said it was probably something simple – and let me tell you that was a HUGE relief – since we both obviously know JACK about cars. After about 5 minutes (time for Eric to eat a double cheeseburger – and time for me to smoke) old Stall-out-er started. I knew how to drive her now. When you slow down – put her in Neutral, left foot on the brake, right foot on the gas. NO EXCEPTIONS!!! Otherwise – you will pay – and how long you have to wait to restart is up to her. I created my lovely Jeep Cherokee Sport a new nickname today. I was pretty impressed it with it – and I had only had < 1 drink. THE PUSH MOBILE. What do you think? I think it fits my JEEP perfectly. You never know when it will die and have to push it. I think it is also best to be on the buddy system – have someone riding shotgun so if she dies, you have some one to push it. Granted, I do have to get out to let the buddy out (because the passenger side door hinge was not welded properly – or is that re-welded?) Now you can get in and open the passenger side door – but you run the risk of not having a door if it falls off the hinge. So I tend to leave it to my passengers as to what is more important – crawling over the drivers seat to get in & out – or rolling the dice and possibly not having a door on your side. Take your chance – I don’t care. The worse case for me is that my door falls off and I put the door in the trunk. The worst case for you is you are riding shotgun with no door… Either way – I have a door protecting me :)
From my research on the internet – the fuel filter is not the problem, because it only happens at idle, and or slow speed – which is the exact opposite of the cause of clogged fuel filter. If anyone has suggestions, then please, PLEASE let me know…

I saw the sunset tonight. There was a huge cloud that the sun went behind, then reappeared before it went down. There were also clouds on the horizon, so no green flash tonight… Although, it was the first time that I REALLY appreciated the mountains (and the clouds that were being accented by the setting sun.) Which taught me an important lesson – when you are enjoying the sunset (or anything beautiful) never forget to do a 180 and look behind you – it may be more magnificent than what you are looking at…
MAHALO!!!!

My adventure driving my Jeep for the first time...

I had an adventure today… I become a certified OPC (Outside Public Contact) – aka Activities salesman. I start in a booth tomorrow. I went in @ 10 AM – and I had finished my test by 12:30 – so I had most of the day free – so I decided to get brakes and rooters on my cruiser. The main reason I decided this is because I have an interview at a company on Tuesday on the other side of the island. I am excited – I hope I get it. I would be in charge of the outsourcing to India and get to travel back and forth to India and Maui. I think it sounds interesting – I can’t wait to learn more. Speaking of India, was there a Seinfeld episode that George went to India and did not go pee the whole time he was there?

Any way – I have been on way too many interviews with no offers to get too excited – back to my adventure… I have owned but not driven my Jeep for about a week or so now, so I decided to take her to the other side (Kahului) to get her some new shoes. She started right up and I hit the highway. Every thing was fine till I cam to the first stop light about 3 miles down the road. I put on the brakes to stop – and she died. She would not start up for about 3 minutes – so I had a nice little line of traffic behind me. I knew the brakes were bad – but I made it to Midas. That is I found the way to the shop – turned on the street to get in to the shop – then she stalled again and would not start. Luckily I parked her on the street – and figured I was at a garage which was a good thing. When the mechanic went out to start her up, she would not start. He came back and asked if there was a trick – and I said NO. He told me to start it up and bring it into the garage. I turned the key and she started right up so I thought the dude was crazy. Then I went to flip a bitch (aka U turn) and she died and would not start. After 5 minutes – I got her started and went into the parking lot to turn around and she died again. It took 10 minutes before she would start again. I got the Jeep over to the shop and they proceeded to replace the rooters and brakes. This is where things got interesting….

I drive here out of the shop and make it 3 blocks down the street and she stalled and would not start. A Hawaiian and a paramedic (in an ambulance!) got out of there cars to push me into a parking lot. I was grateful. Extremely Grateful. She still would not start – so I looked under the hood and saw nothing (since I am not a mechanic…) – then I noticed the left rear tire. It did not look quite right – so I looked at the other tires. Much to my surprise, the idiots had NOT replaced the LUG NUTS on the back tire!!!! My tire had fallen off!!!! I walked the 3 blocks to the shop and asked if they had taken the back tire off to check the rear brakes. The manager said yes – and then I informed him that they had not replaced the lug nuts. He apologized and sent a mechanic down with a jack in his truck to fix it. So here we are, in a truck with a jack and a lug nut wrench and I am missing 5 lug nuts. Can u guess what happens next? He takes 1 lug nut from each of the wheels to replace the nuts on the wheel that has fallen off. Did any one see that coming? I know I did. I then follow him to NAPA so he can buy some replacement nuts. They only had 4. So Jeff the mechanic bought them then we went to the shop so u could use the air gun. He got them on – and then my little Jeep would not start. After about 5 minutes – she started. So I headed home on the other side of the island. I do have to confess that I did learn a new way to drive an automatic car today – I learned that when I saw a stop light to put it in neutral, give her gas with the right foot and brake with the left. It was quite the adventure…. After a couple of more stall outs, I made it home…

I am grateful that I did not get hurt by not having any lug nuts on my tire.
I am grateful that no one else got hurt.
I am grateful that I was not on the mountains when the tire came off.
I am grateful that a native Hawaiian and a paramedic in an ambulance pushed me into the parking lot. THANK YOU so very much!!!

I guess I am going to have to rent a car to get to my interview on Tuesday…

After I got home – I realized that I should probably be mad – or have gotten mad – but I didn’t. I have yet to get mad on this island. Instead of being mad – I was thankful that no one got hurt. Maybe if you can control your attitude you can do miraculous things… I was happy to have made it home safely (and in my Jeep.)
Aloha!

I am so Grateful...

I have noticed that a lot of my friends have a habit of saying "I am so Grateful...."

It is always amazing as to what people are greatful for. Some people are greateful for a ride home, some for moving to Maui, some for life - and on it goes. What I think is the amazing part is that people are also grateful for the hardship they have endured. They could have been through the most un-imaginable thing you and I could both think of - and they are thankful that have had it so easy. They are greatful that they had it easy and that things are not worse.

I have learned to smile and appreciate what friends choose to share with you well they say "I am so grateful." You never can predict how the sentence will conclude - or what an individual is happy about.

So to everyone who is reading this - I am GRATEFUL for all of you in my life. I am grateful for the happy times we have shared and for the times we WILL share. I am Grateful to be alive and living in Maui. I am grateful for all the experiences I have enjoyed and all that I have yet to experience. I am grateful for friends.

Mahalo!

So what are you grateful for?