Hope you, yours, your great and great great Mother's have a wonderful day of relaxation and "reward". It truly shouldn't be just a single day that those you gave birth to treat you bettah but at least you'll have a day dat we have to literally kiss okole and finally listen without grumbling!

So wat's your plans today/tonight? Got any Mother's Day traditions you'd like to share? Any out of da ordinary moments?

Happy Mother's Day!

I was sharing my mo'olelo's about surfing and encountering au' kines of sea life from turtles to whales to dolphins. There were sting rays, flying fish and of course, sharks. Many sharks. I've had sharks come as close as ten feet (without me knowing till I saw it ) and one even in a set I was just about to catch!

One of my co-workers then said, "that's why I don't like the water".

Huh? Really? But we live in Hawai'i.

I'm always amazed by how many people live in Hawai'i - an island surrounded by ocean - that don't know how to swim.

Wassup Wit Dat!

Seriously, unless you live in Makua Cave or up da Koolau's, you have to had at da very least been to da beach for a luau or get together of sorts.... right? If you haven't, nothing against you, but are you an albino?

Not knowing how to swim in this state is shmall kine shame - imho - because.... we're SURROUNDED BY WATAH!

Das jus' like ordering a loco moco wit no gravy (wassamattah you!) or deep frying a Grade A ahi (you on crack or wat?) or *gulp* wearing slippahs in da hale (oh heeelllllz no!).

Some things in Hawai'i we gotta "know" how to do and I truly believe swimming should be one of 'em. Now you don't have to know how to do a freestyle or backstroke but you should at da bare minimum know how to tread watah.

Then it got me thinking a bit more about being a keiki. *Sorry Uncle Rod, going MLC action ovah hea*

Besides playing sports and activities, wat kine else did we have to know or learn growing up dat we "all" should have? Naturally, we all grew up with different cultures and in different communities and I'm curious to see wat you "had" to learn.

We all say da same thing at one time or anoddah about something you learned dat you tink "everybody" would know, "Wat? How come you don't know? Fo' realz? EVERYBODY I know knows how."

Off da top of my head I had to learn to swim (I love da watah since I could remembah), ride bicycle (had to get from hea to dea), skateboard (wen had flat tire had to get from hea to dea), rollerblades (wen had flat tire and skateboard broke to get from hea to dea), catch da Bus (wen everything broke and I had to go some place far), sew a button (cause my mommy said so) and make peanut buttah/jelly sandwich (cause my tummy said so). There's a ton of oddah stuff but I no can tink right now.

Maybe there's something you know dat I don't.

*** Fo' realz, I'll get to replying back to da past few blogs and I got a few "reviews" lined up as well. ***

Granted I've been more than a little behind in posting and responding but WWD! v2.0 has been interesting to say da least because of the sporadic reprise.

I truly have no idea who reads dis dribble.

Back in da day, I used to be able to run upstairs and someone from the Newsroom would drop some stats on me regarding the number hits WWD! has gotten. Da sad part is (for me ), from da literally tens of THOUSANDS of hits WWD! garners monthly, only a handful brave da internet bravado and share their mana'o.

WWD! v2.0 is not as big as it once was but at one point wen WWD! began, comments left averaged up to 50+ (we've even hit 100+ on many occasions) with a majority of it coming from unique posters which I though was SUPAH cool. It was great for everyone, not just myself, to interact and share as dat is wat WWD! is all about.

I do have da faithful daily readers who post responses frequently who we call da "Kwonics" (it's a play on words with my last name to da word Chronic which a WWD! reader had coined for us) since they need their daily fix of WWD!.

Then we got da "Lanceformers" who have come out of hiding and post once in a great while reading frequently who pick and choose when to drop in.

And of course, wat would WWD! be without da infamous "Lurkahs". These are da part of da WWD! Hui dat only lurk behind their computahs and no like share.

Wassup Wit Dat!

Nah, they au'ight. They usually too scared to post cause da internet get plenny wacko's and they don't know if they going piss someone off but chillax peoples, if you've read WWD! for awhile, you know dat it's au' good hea. We keep it respectful and civil - most times - and da WWD! Hui is no ka oi in that regards.

Surah, most people read wen they at work and no have "time" to post which is au'ight with me but if you can, we'd love to know dat there are actual living breathing people out there instead of those computah hackers trying to spread spam.

Drop in and say 'Wassup' or say watevah you like but let us know you out there.

Or should da real question be, who no scared post?

Then I was asked wat year my bike was to which I replied 2004.

After doing some quick math in da coconut shell, I nevah realized dat my two rides are kinda old with da truck just about 11 years old and da bike just at da decade mark. But wen I replied, it felt like I hadn't had either of them for too long.

Wen I see da "newer" year models, I'm da one going ooooh and aaaah and really wanting one but knowing we can't afford one. Plus, da truck and bike are still running solid with da truck at only about 65k miles and da bike at 28k give or take.

My mother-in-law used to drive a family hand me down Oldsmobile (I think) made in da early 80's and da buggah still ran but da interior was hammered and it started to have shmall kine engine trouble. Then wen she started to take Da Baby for rides, I checked out da car a bit more. A few months back on their vacation, I had to drive it around for a couple of days so it wouldn't sit...... and nevah again.

Aftah dat, I told Da Wife there was no way Da Baby would be riding in dat death mobile any more.

My MIL got a new car.

Back in high school my faddah had gotten me a real beat up old four door Cougar. Da horn wasn't on da steering wheel - it was a lever you pushed from da side, da shocks were blown in da back so speed bumps and entering/exiting driveways was killahs, it was painted a hideous khaki brown, every once in awhile I had to lift da hood and prime da carb to get it to start which normally required two people (for those who worked on cars, it was old school block engine with da single carb in da center of a tin can air filter dat was closed with a wingnut) and only one of da four windows worked.

One of my closest friends who always sat in da back loved to gas chamber us knowing da windows no work. It was atomic bombish wea if you wen take a breath with your mouth opened, your tongue would literally burn and if you wasn't able to hold your breath, you might as well pass out.

Wassup Wit Dat!

Good thing da only window dat wen work was da drivah side one.

But alas, it was my beach mobile with a HUGE trunk dat held multiple body boards, clothes, tools and watevahs. Da seats were cushy and velvety but most of all, it ran. It was my sweetest, oldest ride.

Which brings me to ask, wat year is your ride? Wat was da longest you held onto your car, truck or tricycle? Wat was da worst thing about your makule ride?

No shame share even if your favorite ride used to be one pimped out Pinto...... well, unless you still driving one.

In my short lifetime, I can say I've experienced more than my fair share of both good and bad and even talking with Da Wife sometimes she's even kinda like, "Huh? Really?" or "Not!". All I can say is that I've seen - and been in - so much stuff that while I'm glad I've gone through it, at the same time I've always wondered why.

While I shared so many mo'olelo's with da WWD! Hui - believe me, it's da selected "PG-13" only version hea - I probably could fill up an entire Harry Potter series with Twilight thrown in just for kicks and that would be just pre-college experiences at that too.

But last week was yet anoddah chapter dat I shook my head at wondering why did I have to "know". I got a text late at night that a distant friend I knew had passed.

He was going through some very rough times and without sharing the details what happened to him leading to his passing, it was something that I would have gone full on pupule ovah as well. The guys I know that worked with him were trying their best to keep a close eye on him and things appeared to be improving. The most ironic part of it all was his profession dealt with recognizing issues and helping others through a wide range of things from emotional to financial but this one hit home hard.

I tried all last week to come up with something to blog about but my mind just blanked out and thought of him. I just couldn't muster up any energy to post a single thing. It's one of those things that while you're perfectly fine and can go on with your day but on those instances when you have short silences and your thoughts roam free, I just keep thinking of what he was possibly going through.

While I didn't know him very well, I always saw him either smiling or having a hearty booming laugh. He's one of those guys that smiled so much, he had those smiley wrinkly lines on his face.

It's just anoddah experience that I have to add to my nevah ending novel and without sharing any more details, it's something I hope no one else will evah go through.

The only thing that I can take away from it is that if you have a friend or family member that's going through a pretty serious life experience, even though it's one of those things that we all say "takes time to heal", be an a$$ and make sure that s/he is/will be ok. While your friend might brush you off or even be pissed, at the very least, they'll know that you care and sometimes that's all that's needed to win the fight. Keep reinforcing to da ones you care about dat no mattah wat, they can count on you just to be there but more importantly reach out when you have a feeling something isn't right.

While I may not know who's behind da computah reading WWD!, if there's evah someone you need to talk to or vent to - obviously anonymously - I know da WWD! Hui is always welcoming for dat...... at da very least, you know I am.

Rest in peace my friend.

Some of them should actually read - or at the very least know it - since it's a backbone of a practicing agency.

A couple days ago Da Wife was involved in her first minor fender bender on the H-1. If you were driving west-bound late in the afternoon in slowing traffic near Farrington High School, yup, that was her. Sorry for the delay in getting home.

But on a happier note, it wasn't her fault.
On a sad note, it was my truck.
But on a happier note, she wasn't hurt.
On a sad note it was my truck.

I just about got to the field after talking with a parent and wanted to text Da Wife to go on Moanalua Hwy since it was unusually supah clear and I noticed two missed phone calls from Da Wife. One missed call I know it wasn't important but two? Must be something more serious cause she knows I normally don't have my phone with me during practice. I call her back and she says she got into an accident.

We all fear those words on a phone call especially aftah you seen TWO missed calls and of course the very first words out of my mouth - besides Wassup Wit Dat! - is asking if she was ok.

Da Wife handles practically everything well - did I mention dat she held it together at our wedding and I was da one dat was bawlin' - but I noticed a little tension in her voice. She laid down da 411 and then I told her to call 911.

Basically, at a standstill on da freeway, da braddah was looking down as if either checking out his phone or watching da B-52's (cockaroaches) crawling on his gearshift but he ended up rolling backwards. Da Wife assumed it was a standard vehicle - since they were on an incline - and about to go forward but it kept rolling backwards. She honked da horn and da braddah looked up but didn't realize HE was da one she was honking at. By da time he did........ BAM!

Needless to say, they got out of their vehicles to inspect da damage and das wen I got da call(s). It was a local braddah in a spray painted camo colored truck with - of course - NO INSURANCE! I told her to call da police.

Das wen da "fun" began.

Two solo bikes arrived and one of them immediately began to cop an attitude - ALL FRICKIN' PUN INTENDED - and started to LECTURE Da Wife.

Wassup Wit Dat!

He basically was scolding her for staying on da freeway and causing MORE traffic. Then they held up traffic so they could move on da side. Once on da shoulder, Da Wife got da impression he didn't want to do any "paperwork" but she asked to do a report since dat's one of da FIRST questions insurance companies ask. As he was getting more information,

COP: "Wat's your address?"
Da Wife: "Did you want my mailing address or home address."
COP: (real frickin' punkishly said) "If I wanted your mailing address, I would have written it down." (pointing at her license)

Ho, Da Wife was damn frickin' pissed but as she was relaying da information, he made her yell the information as if he couldn't hear her.

Wassup Wit Dat! (She was thinking more than dat)

Since wen did getting into an accident - which wasn't your fault - constitute an assault of attitude? How da heck was dat "serving" ANY Aloha or treating a citizen with "integrity, respect and fairness" (which is STAMPED on HPD vehicles). Seriously, while a HPD officer may come across accidents daily and literally thousands of times in his/her career, how many times does a normal driver get into one? And the people in the accident are normally flustered, embarassed and/or nervous so why da heck come with a verbal beat down especially coming from a position that's supposed to help and protect?

Not everyone is/should be "experienced" in accidents and most times it's always hindsight that something should have been done. For example I asked Da Wife if she took any pictures of da guy and his truck and with a small kine puzzled look she basically asked, how? She didn't have da camera with her. I said, your phone has a camera. Oh yeah, duh.

Boy I wish I was there cause he would have gotten an earful back... but then again instead of just da traffic report, I would have been in da back of squad car for giving da officer attitude.

Disclaimer: Dis mo'olelo is not indicitive of ALL HPD officers - just dis one experience. While there are many HPD officers with attitude and a chip on their shoulder (as many have personally experienced), there are many more who do respect their job and duties of being a proud Honolulu Police Department officer - I personally know of quite a few. It's just a shame that we normally don't get to encounter da "good ones" wen we really need to.

Naturally I cracked up laughing while shaking my head in disgust.

I couldn't believe someone invented a "game" like this and is making bank off of it.




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Wassup Wit Dat!

Really, wat da heck is da point of da toy? All you "doo" is feed da dog and force da crap out of it, literally. It wasn't so much dat da toy squirted out da doo-doo - which I thought was frickin' hilarious - but da fact dat they used keiki and they acted like it was da newest ride at Disneyland. The game goes that the person who collects da most crap is da winnah - so is dat message of da future? He who takes da most crap is something to be?

Well, it is just a toy and I'm hoping there's an age minimum but I am really curious to know how the board meeting went when whoever came up with the idea had to pitch it:

"Anybody got any ideas for the next big thing?"
"Let's try and sell crap."
"You mean we aren't already?"
"Well, instead of creating something and hoping it's not crap, let's just straight up sell crap."

Have you seen any wacky toys out there? Have you bought one? Do you think it's an "age-appropriate" toy as shown by da keiki in da commercial?

I hope you've woken up to dis B-E-A-utiful morning today! Just riding into work today, it was one of those morning's you say to yourself, "Lucky we live Hawai'i".

Traffic was most excellent (no accidents that I know/heard of), da air was slightly crisp, da sun was blazing in all it's glory and da sky was beaming a magnificent blue.

Sorry but it's been a real hectic week getting all my tax stuff ready. Yeah, I'm one of those who tinks get plenty time but wondering why da heck it takes like a gazillion days just to get about two dozens pieces of papers ready.

I hope your tax season is rolling without a hitch and for those who stay on "Hawaiian time", we actually have two extra days since taxes are due on the 17th.... which only means we have two extra days to put things off.

Have a grrrrrrrrrrreat Feel Good Friday everybodies and stay tuned for some overdue posts with some pictures that you might have nevah seen before.

Ok, they just regulah pictures but I gotta make you come back no?

Shoots!
k-den