This 4th of July I spent with friends at a wedding. I know what you are thinking, weddings are gay, but this one was cool. It lasted a whole 10 minutes (tops) and I was boozing during the ceremony. Easy money if you ask me. After the "I do's", everyone started in on the food, got back to talking and started to booze even harder. Then the meat wagon showed up.

 

A 1948 Ford truck pulling a bbq that would not fit in some garages. It was packed full with good smelling wood and tons of meat. Ribs, ribs and more ribs baby! There were pretty good and hosted by Armadillo Barbeque. What a cool name and they said they even have a 1953 GMC as their other truck. Should have brought that instead of the Ford, lol, needed at lease one Ford jab in there.

 

Then the big moment had arrived. All year I have been waiting for the 4th because my room mate bought like 2k dallors worth of fireworks (wholesale from the internet) and made a 4x8 display board to compliment the boxes off other stuff he had :) The dispay was the best have ever seen and the pictures turned out amazing. I bought a Fujifilm camera for my 30th and it has a fireworks setting on it. Bingo! The show lasted for about 30 - 40 minutes and there was a rock cover band playing right behind us. So rock music, drinks and fireworks (Toby got a burn on left hand...thank god it was the left!) was the best combination. And here is my favorite of all the pictures, all the rest can be found in the photo album.

 

  

  

Well I have unfortanetly gotten old. Last week I turned 30 years old and had a big party at the house with tons of food, friends and fun. Ah well...I was told I look 19 yesterday and still getting carded...nice :)

Why does work think it can just butt in and take up all my free time? I do not know but lately there has been little time to do fun things. Well that is not totally true but pretty darn close. I have been working on projects, joining networking groups, hitting seminars and trying to work at my day job to. So far I am doing nothing really good and stress is really high. Today it took me forever to get going between dropping of a lawn mower, forgetting my documents on home computer and driving all over town. I finally got settled, oh yea the power cable for my tablet went out which costs $160 after tax, and powered through an articlem proposal and emails. Not bad and een did an artlcle when I got home. Well its hella late and I am going to bed.

Since my time online has grown into more than just a hobby I thought I would share a website with you all that it quite fun, interactive as well as a great place to meet like minded people. The site is cre8buzz. cr8buzz was just recently released from beta any is now open to the public. The beta test used an invite system to build the initial user base. My invite came by the way of a friend, Jade456, and I created a profile in the Real Estate group.

 

Like other social networking sites, cre8buzz allows users to setup free accounts, comment on questions, engage other users in forums and comment on other profiles, uploaded podcasts, pictures and videos, write blog posting, add a friends list and even add a website list (like ones your author). But that is not what really sets the network off. For me its the way the community talks to each other that makes it so attractive.

 

Other social networks people go off the handle and say some stupid stuff and the worst stuff I see is on YouTube. F-bomb this and f-bomb that and so on...it makes it unenjoyable to share while these culprits hide behind the anonymity mask the web has. That is important for me; the way people communicate really turns me on or off and cre8buzz has really done it for me. When conversations, comments and the like reduce themselves to name calling feud fests, like a bunch of kids, it drives me crazy and to drastic measures of leaving the network completely. But some people just do not get it that social networking and bad behavior and lead to serious consequences, blog post worth reading: Bob Sutton's Asshole Management, so they can get away with abusive behavior is horrible, enough about that through.

 

I was buzzing around the network and though I would share some of my favorites out there. To bad none of my stuff made into my favorites...what is up with that?

 

My Favorite Picture: Born to be & father and son

 

My Favorite Blog Post: Common mistakes smart buyers make when buying a home (cannot help it being real estate related)

 

My Favorite Podcast/Video: Terry Tate - Office Linebacker

 

My Favorite Profile: Evancalous

 

So if you have some time you take a breeze through the network and see if you like it and sign up. But you do not have to take my word for it; check out a Digg submission and see what everyone else has to say. That is not all; look for more action on the cre8buzz circuit in the coming months. It is my guess that the network is going to exploded and membership will increase exponentially.

 

Other items to note about the cre8buzz network is how easy the system is to use and maintain. Setting up a profile took just a few minutes and customizing profile was just as easy. Many members have made "pimp your profile" tutorials and other widgets to further customize a profile; which is more customizable that what Spaces has to offer. For my profile, I chose to move the modules around the three columns to get the right look and keep it pretty basic.

 

It is a fun network so what are you waiting for...get out there and cre8buzz for yourself, company or whatever! Hope to see you there.

Even though I have been looking at new jobs I still have a love for the real estate industry and the comings and going in it, especially when it comes the SEO side. There is a contest, and to us Spacers this is no new thing, to rank #1 on Google for the keyword Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World.

 

A little history about this contest. It was the brain child of Eric Blackwell (EricOnSearch) and REW (Real Estate Webmasters). The first post I seen was on RealEstate.Propeller.com, a site similar to Digg.com, and then I started back tracing it to the original posts. Now the contest has some worth to it in my opinion but has to be taken with a grain of salt. It is highly unlikely that the term would be used by a potential client to search for a real estate agent but it is proving to be a great challenge for people in the real estate industry to test their sites authority, SEO skills and resource availability against a larger community.

 

So what does the winner of the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World contest get? I believe a featured listing on a website as well as the personal recognition that they are skilled at what they do. So if you wondering who is the current leader just go to Google and type in the keyword, minus the quotes, Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World. Let us see who is the best, contest ends May 1, 2008. Check it out if you got a few spare moments while working, that is what I am doing.

Lately I have been opening my options to leave the real estate industry and pursue a marketing position elsewhere. It sucks looking for a job, filling out profiles, uploading resume (which never formats correctly), search job listings, add to job cart, submit and rinse and repeat. I started in January 08 rewriting my resume and now it is top of the line, which is pleasing. I should be submitted to jobs right now but got lazy and now blogging about how much of pain it is :)

 

Some good news has come through though. Thursday of last week I recieved an email from a company, where I would love to work, asking me to answer a few regarding a marketing manager position. To say the least the questionnaire was difficult but got it done Monday afternoon and submitted it back to the recruiter. I did hear back a few minutes after sending it which gives me hope and here are my theories of what happened.

 

Upon turning on the computer yesterday I seen on MSN.com there was going to be a lunar eclipse which would be visible from Washington. I got home and started working on a new project and awaited for the sun to set and the moon to make its rise into the eastern sky. But upon checking the sky after sunset there were many clouds looking to obscure the view. Fortunately the clouds blew out and it was a perfectly clear February night and the back yard gave us a perfect view.

 

I brought out the telescope and binoculars to get a closer look at the Moon's surface as Earth's shadow cascaded across it. My roommate and I were treated to an event that does not happen everyday and it was his first looking through a telescope and/or binoculars at the moon let alone a Lunar eclipse. We spent the evening talking about how fascinating space is and what other celestial bodies we can see; Saturn, Mars, the constellation Orion and so much more. It was a fun evening and cannot wait until there is enough money in the back for better optics and a new telescope stand.

It has been to long since last blogging, the last two posts where emails I copied & pasted, about what has transpired in my life. But one thing I have been doing more of this year is snow skiing but since my digital camera is broken there have not been any pictures. That changed this year when the whole gang got together for its annual skiing trip, Whistler 2006 and Mt. Hood 2007, and this year the destination was Mt Bachelor.

 

The day started like the other trips with getting on the road early Thursday morning with a full truck and the hammer down. We made our way down I-5, to Highway 205, to Highway 85 and lastly onto Highway 26 and it didn't take so much time and one tank of gas to arrive at Sunriver. The cabin this year was a 7 bedroom, 5 bathroom, large kitchen, large living room, hot tub and, my favorite, a Boston Acoustic surround system. Definitely a nice touch.

 

After a few beers, with all rational thinking leaving us, someone got the bright idea that skiing off the roof need to be done. I have to say making a first decent on a roof is quite cool. At first it was challenging to walk up the roof in ski boots but once the skis where on it was oddly normal. We rocked the roof a few times and even over a college rivals flag, haha!

 

Pictures: Mt. Bachelor 2008

 

Then Friday morning came and we piled in the autos and powered up the 15 mile drive from Sunriver to Mt. Bachelor. Visibility was pretty poor and the winds where high which shut down two of the best runs on the mountain, Summit and Northwest Chair. The up side was that there was a lot of snow and the tree skiing was awesome!! We rocked the mountain all day and even dipped into the terrain park and over shot a landing or two :) The day progressed and it was too soon that the mountain was closing and the lounge call our name. With our thighs burning we proceed to ease the pain with some local brew beers.

 

That evening we partied pretty good but there was no dancing like on the previous evening but mostly conversation about the days ride. What runs we liked, where we could tomorrow and praying that the weather lifted to give us an epic day. The Snow Gods heeded our prayers and we found ourselves on the mountain with crystal clear skies, check this picture. We rocked more jumps, drops and even got a few snap shots of the air time. Since the weather was so good they opened up the Northwest Chair and it was on. Untracked snow, not the best powder, and long runs took down our legs to where it was difficult to stand let alone ski. We got to the bottom of the mountain at closing time and headed to the lounge to lick our wounds, mine where bruised ribs from a tumble.

 

Unnkown to us, whom where skiing, half the gang left to go home because stomach ailments and one guy and his girl got into a pretty accident on Highway 26. That sucked!

 

The rest of us enjoyed the hot tub with drinks, food, music, movies and great conversation throughout the night and avoiding any discussion of the coming morning. If there is one consistency in my short life and that is the sun will rise and tomorrow will come matter how you do not want it too. The gang spent the morning cleaning, organizing and looking at pictures of the weekend adventure that is Mt Bachelor 2008.

 

I had to take a detour through Portland to pick up a table and chairs, I bitched about that here, and drove home. The ride back took us 7 1/2 hours and one tank of gas, dam I love my truck, before arriving in Seattle to make a few stops and the journey back to home to Marysville. Ah I want to do it again already and can not believe it came and went so quickly. Well there is always next year and can only wait until that day arrives. But until that day keep it rockin!!

I know a couple women that have used this one and ruined the men's lives. Men beware!

 

Police are warning all men who frequent clubs, parties and local pubs to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman. Many females use a date rape drug on the market called "Beer."

 

The drug is found in liquid form and is available anywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, or from taps and in large "kegs". Beer is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and sleep with them.

 

A woman needs only to get a guy to consume a few units of Beer and then simply ask him home for no strings attached sex. Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several beers, men will often succumb to the desires to sleep with horrific looking women whom they would never normally be attracted.

 

After drinking beer, men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened to them the night before, often with just a vague feeling that "something bad" occurred. At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life's savings, in a familiar scam known as "a relationship."

 

In extreme cases, the female may even be shrewd enough to entrap the unsuspecting male into a longer term form of servitude and punishment referred to as "marriage." Men are much more susceptible to this scam after beer is administered and sex is offered by the predatory females.

 

Please! Forward this warning to every male you know. If you fall victim to this "Beer" scam and the women administering it, there are male support groups where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter with similarly victimized men. For the support group nearest you, just look up Golf Courses" in the phone book.

 

For a video to see how beer works click here.

As you may already know, it is a sin for a Muslim male to see any woman other than his wife naked, and he must commit suicide if he does.

 

So next Saturday at 4 PM, Eastern Time, all American women are asked to walk out of their house completely naked to help weed out any neighborhood terrorists.

 

Circling your block for one hour is recommended for this anti-terrorist effort.

 

All men are to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to prove they are not Muslims, and to demonstrate they think it's okay to see nude women other than their wife and to show support for all American women.

 

Since Islam also does not approve of alcohol, a cold 6-pack at your side is further proof of your anti-Muslim sentiment.

 

The American government appreciates your efforts to root out terrorists and applauds your participation in this anti-terrorist activity.

 

God Bless America. It is your patriotic duty to pass this on.

My roommate, Double D, has been building his fish tank ever since we moved into the house. The tank was found in Mercer Island, he barrowed the truck to pick it up, and it measures 6' long, 3' tall and 2' deep (150 gallons). Since stands are quit expensive Double D built his own with the help of some friends using 4x4 posts and 2x4's since it was figured the tank, gravel, fish and stand would all weigh around 2k pounds. But after it was all done it was time to pick out the fish.

 

This is no ordinary tank with nice colorful fish that swim around and make you feel tranquil, no, it is full of Wolf-Cichlids that fight, eat and just raise a ruckus. Here is the break down of what is in the tank that has been dubbed "Hostile Environment".

 

Every since the Tower of Power was built I have been addicted to playing Lord of the Rings Online (MMRPG). The game is so wicked and I have barely started it. One of the complaints, from a friend, is that the game has to much "do this" and "fetch that" missions. Which is true but my roommate and I have been playing those quests to level up and be able to do the Epic. After some gaming, over lunch, today my character, Goingbigger go figure, is a level 29 and about to level again.

 

Goingbigger's LOTRO Profile

 

Name: Goingbigger of Breeland

Guild: Knights of Dol Armoth

Race: Man
Class: Champion
Level: 29

Weapons: Single Handed Axe & Hammer

 

I just completed a huge quest last night with my roommate, Elf Lore Master: Managuensis level 27, that involved killing elite level 24's and 25's trolls. It was sweet, they kept on doing this hammer punch to my melon but with the help of Managuensis we waxed them, only dieing once a piece. Not to bad if I don't say so myself. Completing that quest gave me the Hammer but I would rather have two really nice swords (so any LOTRO gamers have nice swords hit me up online and we can do a trade) that will cut other's heads clean off. Unfortanetly I haven't seen those yet.

 

Well better run and hopefully I will see you there!

My brother, Bryan Barnett, has just started his first company, Barnett Poker Supply. He specializes in building "custom wood octagon and oval poker tables" and does a fine job at hand building each and every table. Today we went a picked up some more wood for a client wanting a oval poker table and got to take a peek at some specialty woods for some more elaborate tables that have been ordered. My brother's website is still in the works and in a few days I am going to sit down and help him out with it. Well that is it for me today so better actually get back to work :)

It has been 8 long years since I got my very first desktop computer and as of yesterday I now have a top of the line gaming machine that can still be used for work (evil grin). On Monday Todd and I met up at Computer Sonics in Lynnwood with a budget of 1K Todd and the computer guru (aka kid) in the store set out to construct a PC that used every acrnoym in the Computers for Dummy's Handbook. So to make it simple is the fastest computer Todd has ever built and is what he has dubbed "The Tower of Power".

 

I have been needing a new computer for some time since my old Dell desktop was P III 800 which does not really suffice for the requirements of modern games. So the choice was to upgrade the processor to an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 with a Nivida gForce 512mb video card, 2 gigs of memory and 400 gig hard drive...Jack Pot!! It took Todd to install the motherboard, process, video card and wireless card into the new case in about 25 minutes while I observed impatiently and tried to enjoy football. After the hardware install it was time to install XP Pro (have not upgraded to Vista Ultimate yet) and Service Pack 2. Taking a whole 25 minutes, yea that is super fast, it was time to get the new game ready.

 

The current game of choice is Lord of the Rings Online which is Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Game (MMRPG), I usually God mode strategy games like Starcraft II. The graphics are intense and using my 50" plasma for the monitor is nothing short that a gamer's dream. Last night was the first full night of gaming on it and could have stayed up to the wee morning enjoy the graphics.

 

In LOTRO it rains, thunders and lightings and the water, in ponds and pools, looks real. You can see through the glistening water to the bottom of the pool making the gaming experience a real treat. Gaming technology has advanced since my first machine and it is nice to be able to enjoy it without getting the Windows Blue Screen of Death.

 

Another item the PC excels in is running SETI@Home's Bionic research program. It used to take me at least 1 day to crunch a data unit now it is taking me 2 1/2 hours...Boyaoo...Goingbigger is going to find aliens. This will greatly increase the stats being put up by Just Jyll and myself for Goingbigger Exploration, Inc. I am letting the Tower of Power crunch data 24/7 right now to see what it total performance is, I am writing this at work, which should give me at least a 100 average credits per data unit.

 

Well I better get to work and quit think about the Tower of Power, P.S. Pictures will be up tonight. I broke my camera so that is why there have not been pictures of Hawks games and only a few from the Marlboro Hot Laps.

I just submitted my feed to OgOg.com blog rating site. It is pretty cool just to see a blogger can compare to others on other platforms.

Well last month I finally did it, completion of our Snohomish County real estate website. A lot of time went into research and writing the etire site, read full recap. Work has been hectic and it is something new from day to day. Our broker, Mickie, has been recieving many listing appointments due the market changes, more inventory than sells.

 

Some may disagree but having standing inventory is a good thing. Why is that? Because all that inventory has to be blogged about on the website and expanding our the number of Snohomish County specific keywords on the website. We have seen a tremendous results with the the blogsite when it comes to ranking high for strong keywords as well as long tail search terms.

 

I have also be doing some really strong link work which will reinforce the strong seo of the blogsite. The links I have been working on have been in the Best of the Web, US Real Estate Directory, Now Seen It Web Directory. To compliemtn these new links I have been submitting articles to Netscape, Bumpzee and Real Estate Voices in order to generate more links from many sources.

 

My current work goal is to get a Seattle real estate comparison page to rank really high for ut keywords. That way I can pull some traffic from a huge keyword and hopefully convert people to live a bit farterh North. There has been so much going on that it is cahllenging to stay focused and get everything done in a timely manner.

 

Sometimes it seems that I am behind but in all reality I am not behind at all; its just the pressure I put on myself inducing those feelings. Ah well that is life and I will have just to work through or take another vacation, vacations are good!

 

Well that is all from me today and I am off to work on some other items of promotion.

On July12, 2007 Dayzed50, Brad, David and I got together at Pacific Raceways for our biggest event of the year, Mustangs Northwest's Mustang Roundup 2007 (Ride and Drive). The Roundup was everything we worked so hard for and it was a pleasure to run all day and come with nothing broken. Over the course of two years, since our last time attended, the Stang has gone through many upgrades that kept all four of busy.

 

In October of 2006, it started off with the paint job which David, owner of Sunset Body Works in Everett WA, and Dayzed added body parts from 93 Cobra (wing, rear bumper cover, hood and front bumper cover) and painted it with the same matching color scheme to retain that subtle modified but stock look. Next, it was time for Davie, Brad and Dayzed to buff, get the paint gleaming for summer and damn did they do a nice job.

 

At the beginning of April 2007 Dayzed informed that more new parts where going on, aluminum heads, intake and headers) I headed to lend a hand where I could and be a bullshit'n buddy. Everything installed smoothly if you count modifying everycthing to get everything to fit correctly. The motor was dropped in and fired first turn to a smooth pur. After the install we got to go out and hit the streets and see if anyone was out. We bumped into a guy with a Supra and had our way with him.

 

But soon their was more work to be done and something that didn't make it into its own blog was a trip to the dyno for tuning. Brad and Dayzed50 made their way up north and turned some to see how much rwhp, rwtq and to analyze the fuel curve so nothing bad happened under extreme conditions. The Stang made 446.5 rwhp and 402.4 rwtq at around 6,000 rpms. Not to bad for a 9psi (at the manifold, running a 12 lb pulley) on a small block 302.

 

But that is not all shortly after the tuning Dayzed50 ordered up his Treadstone 3-Core intercooler to make smoother boost and improve the hp numbers. After the install it was back to the dyno for more testing and tuning and the number came back better but not as good as we hoped. The Stang produced 462.5 rwhp and 421.5 rwtq and 6-6,200 rpms, a 16 hp and 19 tq gain. Not bad for just a larger intercooler. But on the last pull it detonated and blew a chunk of aluminum out between cylinders 6-7. Ouch, more work and we are on a time crunch.

 

Dayzed50 had the motor broken down that night and the head in a machine shop getting it reparied. Within one week Dayzed50 had it repaired, installed and tested to make sure everything was back in order. But that is not where the story ends.

 

Dayzed installed brand new Koni adjustables up front (also didn't get a blog) and Corbeau racing seats to improve the handle the g-forces within the car. During these installs I was talking with Dayzed50 by and had no time between work and moving to get out there and assist. But he the man and he once told me that "working on my Mustang is my Chi" and it totally is.

 

The day of the road course was finally here and David and Dayzed50 headed out to the tack at 5:45am on July 12, 2007 to get down on the road course. I picked up Brad (him and Dayzed50 live together) at 6am, packed the truck with tools, coolers, canopies and a table plus 4 chairs. But right before jumping in the truck I heard a whistle and notice my drivers front tire's valve stem blew out. My truck had a flat, unload truck, get jack, get spare, change tire, load up and roll 3 chrome 20s and 1 black 16 inch to the track.

 

Upon arrival, with the 4th chrome sitting bed, we parked, unloaded and shared the story. Shortly after arrival it was time for the drivers meeting where Dayzed50 and I headed over too. Dayzed50 signed up for the advanced class and had to do at least the first session without passengers. That is cool it gave us time to watch and time for Dayzed50 to get used of the track with no distractions of a passenger.

 

The Stang sounded awesome, pulled hard and looked choice flying down the straight-aways in front of the grand stands. It was Dayzed50 first time in the advanced category and he was the only street car in there, the rest had numbers, big wings and slicks. Crazy eh? Heck yea but all the work and love in that Stang there was only one car which could pull him in the straight-aways. But most of the cars where faster due to their handling in the corners and traction from the better tires.

 

Dayzed50's SO-3 Pole Positions started to melt under the extreme track conditions but that was to be expected since they are just extreme street tires and not made for the track.

 

The end of the session came with no problems arising and we got some time to look at the footage on my tablet pc (yea we brought it with a power converter so everything could be charged from the truck). After some tweaks and more dialing in we got the camera angles right, and made sure there were fresh batteries, we got a full 18 minute video from inside the car, where I was the passenger, but only 10 minutes of it is on YouTube.

 

I got the first ride, Brad got the second and David got the third. After all these sessions the Stang had one minor problem, a breather was clogged in differential and sharded some oil upon clearing itself. The Stang preformed and looked awesome out there with all the race cars and showing people that a fast car doesn't have to be set up and kept on the track. We stayed there almost the entire day look at all the cars and talking to people.

 

Everything went smoothly and made our way home to relax, watch footage and just bullshit about the day. It was so much and made all the work throughout the year and half well worth it. The rest of the summer will be working on the Mustang video project to share with family and friends.

 

Until next time and if you see out and about gives a shout and we will do some bullshitt'n.

I am sorry for not being around that much lately and the only updates are the Hawaiian Vacation 2007 (pictures are in order through the vacation) photo album. the trip kicked so much ass it was almost unimaginable and hanging with My Aunt Kris, Jim, Travis and Kendra was the best vacation I've had in many years. Being the only one to Oahu before I got to be the tour guide for 7 days.

 

The week started off excellent with us getting settled into our condo at the Hawaiian Princess in Makaha on the westside of Oahu. The accomodations where cozy being a one bed room and one bath but being on vacation who needs a place to sleep. The beach was private and at most there were roughly 25 people in the water and on the beach, prime relaxation. After getting settled in I found internet access, who me?, and started planning our first day.

 

The family decided that staying out of the tourist traps is a must so we went for more scenic adventures and hit the Monao Falls Trails. Being .8 of a mile, it was easily traversed but good hiking/walking shoes are definitely required. The trail was something right out of Jurassic Park with the towering vegetation and lush underbrush. Once we got there we seen a sign that said you shouldn't go under the falls due to slides. I didn't head the warning and ventured in then got my picture taken and bounced.

 

Being slightly hungry we wondered to Waikiki and grubbed down at Cheese Burgers in Paradise right on the main strip. The food was as awesome as I remembered and the fam gave me 2 points on the day for the hike and the food. After eating we walked around and we seen some sights and made our way back to the condo to map the next part of the adventure.

 

Early morning plan, hit Pearl Harbor (wait till the afternoon and catch the later shows/tours and avoid the early morning crowds) and got the head sets for the audio tour. My first trip to Oahu, my buddies and I didn't get the audio and it so much amazing after having it on the second trip. It made me feel for everyone that served, I'm a Army son born in Nurnburg, and brought emotion (Yes, I cried during the tour) and for some reason made it "more real".

 

With all that taken in our course was set for the North Shore for some big wave sight seeing. Evidently it wasn't the right time of year but with no avail we found some excellent sites just driving easterly on Highway 83. After driving for a bit we got hungry and got some snacks at a local vendor's stand. Iced coconut was the best well the fresh Dole pineapple was pretty good too but the coconut was awesome!! During our journey around the island we stopped for a cool off spot at the Waimea Bay Beach Park for some rock diving fun. Being a local spot you won't find any, I mean any, tourism around the area but that is perfect if you are looking for an escape from shopping and crap.

 

The next day was filled with Travis signing us up for a scuba diving trip with Island Divers Hawaii for a two dive trip that was guided by Jo (a Swedish native). Travis was conducting his first open water dive and working through some skills and being so long out of the water I took the time to brush up on my under water skills, read IDH's review. The dive went smoothly and I got familiar fast but it wasn't until we seen the sea turtles that things got interesting. The group swam out to the end and a sea turtle there chilled. But on the way back the sea turtle decided to give chase (in a sense).

 

I followed the pack and let everyone swim ahead but looking back, must be a fear of mine, I saw the same sea turtle swimming in my wake. He followed us all the way till the tag line. That is when I broke off and started hover and the sea turtle made his way towards Travis. Nothing crazy yet but when the turtle made a lunge and snapping move inches from Travis' face we knew somehow it was funny, no blood no fowl :)

 

But that wasn't all, Travis and I hit another dive the next day. Travis dove very well and as a result received his Open Water Certification after conducting all his underwater skills, read IDH's review. This day was very exciting, not only for Travis getting his Open Water cert, but for the numerous sea turtles we seen. We got to see many turtles lying on the ocean floor but one in particular stands out. The turtle has these large humps on the his neck and fins which turned out to be tumors that left him blind and lethargic. It is definitely sad to see especially such a graceful and peaceful creature.

 

Upon exiting the water, Travis and I made our way back to Waikiki to meet up with Kendra, Aunt Kris and Jim for a luau at the Royal Hawaiian. It was so much fun watching all the different dancers which performed many styles of dancing from all around Polynesia. The last dance was with fire and boy-o-boy it was cool. The dancer had two battons, with both ends lit, twirling, throwing and resting the fire on his skin. Crazy cool in my opinion and definitely worth watching.

 

But the night wasn't ever yet. We met up with my college friend Cindy, her boyfriend and some of their friends for an evening of dancing. Cindy and I used to go dancing a lot together while we were in college as well as all the college party functions. We went to the Moose McGillycuddys and started right away and instantly our grove was on. It has been ages since I last danced and let me tell you it was bad to look at. Though it felt great at the time it had to painful to watch. After sweating and dancing all night we finally jammed to the condo and laid down in bed around 3:30am.

 

Back up at 9, not much sleep for us, we were all tired but decided to go on another hike, this time to Maunawili Falls Trail. It was only 1.25 miles but mostly uphill but thankfully there were stairs cut into the embankment. The hike ended at a waterfall and a pool (it went farther up in the mountains but we didn't check it out) with a 50 foot cliff jump. Naturally, Travis and I had to get down on it and strut out man hood. Getting up to the top of the cliff wasn't to bad except for the wet clay but there were bamboo trees to hang on otherwise it would have been really difficult to traverse.

 

Travis and I hit the top to find a girl who wanted but didn't want to jump, oh great, now we have to wait. Anyone who likes to jump off stuff knows that waiting will make you unsure about your irrational decision to jump off a tall object. So we waited, and waited and waited some more until Travis took charge and she moved out the way. Travis was getting worried so I encouraged him by saying "just do it". He did and launched into the deep, it was sweet. Now my turn. I got out there and noticed the take off was all clay, and wet, so footing sucked but after razzing Travis I couldn't just bail. So I jumped and it was one of the most awkward jumps I've ever taken. I jumped but got cattywampus in the air and landed slightly in my seat and shooting pain went up my spine, OUCH. I didn't say it though, got to retain that man hood, but the walk to the car was painful.

 

The rest of the day concluded us driving back to the condo, the long way, and while doing some sight seeing from the car I drove it into a big ass curb popping the front passenger tire. DAMN IT. It was a total bone head maneuver but after changing to the spare we were off again and this time to Costco for a new tire. While we waited Travis and I had our scuba diving pictures developed, see photo album, and got some grub at The Shack just around the corner, also near the Island Divers Hawaii shop. By the time dinner was done it was time to get the car and go to bed. It was another late night so the next day, Saturday (our last full day on the island) we opted for something low key.

 

So it was off to the swap meet held at the Aloha Stadium in the early afternoon for all our nick knacks. There prices were good for cloths, board shorts $8 a piece and shirts 8 for $20 but I opted for some more non traditional items like a Spanish Galleon wooden ship and a tiki mask for my wall.

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