"The best things in life are free..."

I say one of the best things to do on Kauai is spend an afternoon at 'Kapa'a sunshine market.' (Every Wednesday commencing at 3:00 P.M..)

Experience exotic fruits like Lychee, Rambuton, mango-steins, passion fruits, mountain apples, and vegetables like breadfruit (ulu) Japanese cucumber, Filipino beans and monster radishes.

Prices are cheaper than the local supermarket where most of the fruits and vegetables are imported from the mainland United States.

Eating local is suppose to get you in tune with the aina (land) eating things from the ground where you live can connect with one spiritually, also there is a big push to eat local for sustainability to create more local jobs and better ones health.

I always go late for the best deals since many vendors don't like to take the extra ripe fruit home with them, also you avoid the crowds going late.

Without a doubt the Kapa'a sunshine market is my favorite thing to do on Kauai.

Support your neighbor, buy local,connect spiritually, strive for sustainability, eat healthy, get great deals and shop sunshine markets happening daily around our cosmic island.

"My weekly pilgrimage to Costco..."

Every Monday I make my weekly pilgrimage on bus from Kapa'a town to Lihue to shop at my favorite store, "Costco."

The Costco outdoor cafe is a favorite of many, including yours truly. Where else can you buy a slice of pizza with everything for $1.99, a slice large enough for two sittings. You can also purchase the famous almost 1/2 lb hot-dog and drink for $1.50, in Hawaii this is especially a great deal since anywhere else a drink alone is more than a $1.50.

The problem is with the 3-4 available windows to purchase, it's a gamble on what line to stand in. They do not have it roped off as banks and other short order restaurants, allowing for the next available server for the next person. Instead you are stuck in the line you gamble on. I usually pick the line where the person in front of me is ordering for a tour bus full of tourists, or the single person who is ordering for all their friends still shopping in the store.

Although the prices at Costco are throwback the management skills are  also throwback from the Dinosaur age.

Every week I talk to a manger and write my suggestion down for the suggestion box. The manager always tells me great idea and he will bring it up at the next meeting.

The other problem is I always ask them to give me a fresh hot-dog out of the steamer, I don't want one that's been sitting against the roll for who knows how long, making it stick to the bun like paste. They always tell me it's fresh, they're all the same, eventually after an exchange of stink eye with resentment they comply. The same with pizza, there may be three pies and one has been sitting for 30 minutes another one is fresh out of the oven, I say I want a fresh piece, they go bezerk, and say, "we only serve fresh?"

What ever happened to the good ole days, where the customer was always right and management actually gave a sh-t?

All in All Costco is still my favorite store, probably because of the free samples inside!

"Thank you,candidates..."

We finally have our sidewalks back. No more loitering and trespassing and getting in the way of pedestrians by sign waiving politicians and their "sheeple.'(sic)

I must admit even though the politicians break the law when they obstruct a pedestrian's ability to walk, jog, or run safely, I miss having access and being able to confront them on my daily sojourn through Kapa'a Town.

The campaigning is over and now the ones who were blessed enough to be elected need to commence business and concentrate on what really matters most to them, their paycheck, car allowance and great health-care benefits.

I am looking forward to the next election when we can all wave in unison, honk our horns and smile once again.. Until then we will miss all of our wonderful self serving narcissists.

Thank you candidates!

"Don't I know you...?

Many of us including myself have become victims of para-social behavior.
We watch "Wheel of Fortune," "Hawaii Five-O," "Jerry Springer," "Jay Leno," "Oprah" and the list goes on.

We become familiar with our favorite TV personalities,even our elected officials and feel we know them. We can now follow our favorite celebrities on Face-book, My-space and Twitter and feel like they are our best friends.

This par-social behavior has created a generation of self serving narcissists that do not have many friends or much of a social life, not because they are shy but Because they feel this is their circle of friendship and social activities.

Just as I feel all of you reading this are my good friends, I know this is really not true, but like many have fallen victim to the Para-social phenomenon.

Don't I know you?

"The audacity..."

The audacity of a few gas stations on our cosmic island, charging for radiator water and air for inflation of tires.

I do not drive often, therefore I have not been to a gas station in quite a while. Most the time I take a bus or ride my bike for transportation.

This past week I was horrified after going to a local gas station with a friend and seeing the water and air pumps connected up to a change machine, charging seventy five cents for air, and another seventy five cents for water.

When I was a young man, they had service stations, you would drive into a gas station, they filled you up, washed your windshield, checked your tire pressure, checked your oil levels and said thank you, come again.

Now you go to a self service station, no mechanics anywhere, making you fill up your gas tank on your own and when finished having to walk into a quick save store where they hope to gouge you five dollars for a bag of chips.

Filling a gas tank can cost fifty dollars or more, is it to much to ask for a little air for a flat tire?

What's next charging to use the squeegee to wash your windshield, wait they didn't even provide a squeegee.

"Running for public office in 2012!..."

With the 2010 elections just around the corner excitement is at an all time low, I for one am not excited about any candidate. I am pushing for all the new people to create change, otherwise we have more of the same.

How many of these people running for public servants would be a council member, Governor,senator, congressman,or mayor without a salary, car allowance and health benefits?

If my health prevails I am thinking of running for county council in 2012. I am constantly criticizing government and like the old expression goes, "if you want a job done right, do it yourself."

The first thing our county and most cities need to do is privatize local government by contracting out to the private sector the jobs of fixing potholes and sewers, trimming trees, construction of and sidewalk repair, street cleaning and synchronizing traffic lights, just to mention a few.

Mayor Eva Galambos of Sandy Springs Georgia did exactly that. It was discovered that the private sector worked faster, cost the taxpayers less and had a 90% approval rating by it's residents. Imagine that the private sector working harder than government employees. She is being hailed a hero.

My first goal for the county of Kauai would be to privatize local government and use the city of Sandy Springs Georgia as a role model.

I look forward to the 2012 elections and look forward to many new faces this coming election. Remember the best way of change is to re-elect nobody, otherwise we have more of the same. Vote for the new people!

"A simple solution..."

It's all in the words. 'Marriage' is defined in the Oxford Dictionary Thesaurus as;"The Legal union of a man and woman."

Therefore there can be no gay marriage according to that definition.

Simple solution, make up a new word for gay marriage, may I suggest "Garriage," replacing the "M" in "Marriage," with the "G" from "Gay," hence "Garriage."

Give "Garriage" the same respect as Marriage, by having a new word, 'Marriage' remains the same holy bond between man and woman and "Garriage" becomes a new institution with a definition all it's own.