It dawned on me da oddah day wen I was riding into work dat things often fly into my eye quite often - at least once a week but it always makes me wondah wea da heck does it go?

It's an inevitable fact dat things will fly into your eye eventually and we all do basically one of two things: rub it or rinse it out if you're near water but wat happens if you can't do either? At times either our hands are full or we just can't rub it right away so we tear up like we just finished watching Steel Magnolias.

Wen we rub it, most times da object just "disappears" aftah awhile. Wen I ride, there are times wen a tiny pebble flies straight into my eye and I can't do anything about it since I have my helmet and gloves on. As my eye lid flutters and tears begin to flow uncontrollably, I can feel it moving around my eye then nada.

I'd like to think dat it exited with da tears but we've all at one point or anoddah felt it "lost" inside our eyeball no? We also used our shirt and no see nothing stuck on it aftah trying to dig it out. We all asked somebody to take a look inside as you pull down your lower eye lid. We all tried flushing it out with watah only to feel it still irritating your eyeball and now your eye lids feel water logged.

So wea does it go? Das wat makes me think Wassup Wit Dat!

Is there an accumulation of junk behind our eyeball? Does our eyeball know which junk it can handle and which one to dispel? Is dat why some people have bags undah their eyes?

Anybody got an explanation - fiction or non? Got any trick oddah than a shirt, Kleenex, watah or blowing your spit particles into da eye you're trying to help?

One day my eye won't be so lucky and I'll be wearing an eye patch having changed my name to Jack....... One Eyed Jack.

Seven years ago on da seventh day of da seventh month in two-thousand and seven was da worst day of my life.

It was da day I signed my name on da dotted line - well it's actually a solid line - gave up everything I owned, had to start asking permission, placed under curfew and literally cried about it in front of hundreds of witnesses..... but I got to drink all da beer I could.

I got married.

Wassup Wit Dat!

Considering it was a very hectic wedding date being 07/07/07 - plus it fell on a Saturday - it was a great day to enter da last day of da rest of my life.

All kidding aside, I married a very strong woman. She's amazes still to today with her strength - or stubborness depending on how you look at it - and it really is astounding how/why we're still together ovah a decade (including wen we was dating) cause normally wen you got a "strong" woman with a hard-headed Korean, it normally doesn't work out. We can't figgah it out still to today.

Da thing about anniversaries? You always reminiscing and it brought me back to our FIRST anniversary, well, seven years ago so I dug around and found a blog dat I actually did, well, seven years ago and still got some of da SAME WWD! Hui posters!!! Really, WWD!

CHECK OUT DA SPECIAL "GUEST BLOGGER" BY CLICKING HEA!

We got our differences still and it's those times dat our marriage bond is really tested but heck, das wat kim chee, poke, beer and da garage is for!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

To many, those words just mean a holiday but it seems to be the backbone of which America was built on.

btw, the actual date of the said "independence" as the legal separation of the 13 colonies from Great Britain has been long disputed by historians as it "officially" happened on July 2, 1776 but the signing of the Declaration of Independence was done July 4, 1776 and even that in itself has been contested that it actually was signed a month later on August 2, 1776 per Wikipedia.

Wassup Wit Dat!

I think of Independence Day a little differently than most - if not all - but I think of it as the forefathers did - being independent.

Think about it. In dis great country we live in, every single person strives to be independent. While there are nurturing and growth happening, we all want to be individually independent. Look back at yourself growing up - or your keiki now - you (they) want to do things by themselves with da only difference by generations is dat today they want it here and now but bail me out if no can handle whereas da "old school" was dat it'll come in time or if we (parents) need you to suck it up, you bettah.

Right now, Da Keiki like do choke things by herself such as locking/unlocking/opening da door and brushing her teeth. You remembah wanting a bicycle so bad then aftah you got da hang of it you no like da training wheels cause you like ride by yourself. No fo'get da right of passage wen you got your driver's license or your first car. How's about going off to college and nevah looking back...... all about being independent.

Being first generation hea from Korea, my older brother and I were thrown face first into da fire. I remembah my parents working two jobs each and them sharing their struggles as they sought out their independence from da motherland like how they literally only ate Cup-O-Noodles and my Dad would gag if he was given one to eat now. With them working at all hours, my Mom would drop us off at school at Salt Lake and we would have to catch TheBus home.... to Kakaako everyday (boy, got some good mo'olelo's about those days). Imagine a 6 year old and a 9 year old riding TheBus by themselves - is it strange now or back then?

I remembah learning to cook an egg on da stove wen I was about 7. I would make kapakahi kine meals like butter, shoyu and rice mixed together and "peel" open a can of spam and eat it right out of da can. Wen we lived in Sand Island, I would hop da fence and just cruise da beach cause none of my classmates lived on da "island". I would go to da sports registrations and pick up da forms or go to da rec center and check out da activities to sign up for - get choke kine stories from da hana-battah days li'dat but always, independent.

Truth be told, I nevah asked (bothered) my parents for much even while going through elemenatary, intermediate (middle) and high school although they helped out with da much bigger things. I always figured out a way to take kea of da little everyday things like wen I missed my Senior Prom to attend my then girlfriend's Junior Prom cause could only afford to go to one. Aftah high school, working three jobs to pay for school and buy my very first motorcycle.

Wen it comes to July 4th, Independence Day, das wat comes to my mind wea I nevah choose to rely on oddah people. Truth be told, wen I look at Da Baby and Da Keiki, I want them to be independent as well and from an early age but at da same time, I don't want them to miss out wat I know I missed out. On da oddah hand, I want them to struggle and find themselves so they have a stronger sense of self.

So wen should one be independent? Do you remembah wen you became independent? Can you handle being by yourself or always need someone around? To go shopping with? To do things with?

Makes me wanna buss out The Goonies, Stand By Me and The Sandlot..........

Wenevah I go and pick up Da Keiki from pre-school, I like to chill in da truck or stand on da side and watch her be her self. I like to see how she acts without "us" around and if she's behaving or not or how she'll be in da "real world".

Yesterday, as I sat there watching Da Keiki climb da wall to da top of da slide in da playground, there was anoddah girl (Girl A) just sitting on da bottom. I expected her to wait till da bottom was clear but she slid down and bumped Girl A girl on da bottom. I was in shock tinking "wat da heck?!?" but as I still sat there, it turned out to be a game they were playing as they took turns bumping each oddah at da bottom of da slide.

I chuckled to myself tinking, "ah, da good ole' days of being a carefree keiki".

A few moments latah, there was anoddah little girl (Girl B) dat just wanted to climb up but Girl A cut her off, got right in her face and I'm assuming told her she couldn't go because they were already playing on it. Girl B just stood there and wen Da Keiki got bumped off, Da Keiki "copied" and I know my girl, she's a little direct in instructions wen it comes to directions but dis time Girl B took a soccer stance and tried to leg sweep Da Keiki, twice.

Da Keiki was able to dodge it, shrugged it off and went climbing to da top of da slide. At dat time, Girl B went to da teacher and Girl A followed and they both pleaded their cases to da teacher. Da Keiki sat on da bottom of da slide watching then a few moments latah went to anoddah teacher to tell her dat Girl B attempted a couple of leg sweeps at her.

I saw da teacher point towards da girls and it looked like she was telling Da Keiki to tell da teacher, who was talking to da girls, watevah Da Keiki was telling her. Then Da Keiki took a couple of steps, did a double take looking back and da teacher was shooing her hands encouraging her to "go on".

Wat happened next made me want to blow like Kilauea.

Da Keiki approached Girl B and tried her version of a leg sweep. I would like to think da goodness of her heart got to her as she totally failed in effort and distance. I got out of da truck and marched right ovah to Da Keiki, took her inside da classroom and asked her why she was trying to kick Girl B. She replied,

"Mrs.A**** told me to."

Wass-FRICKIN'-up Wit Dat!!!!

As I was explaining to Da Keiki dat being mean to someone isn't something we teach her to do, being mean to someone will always make dat person be mean to you. I told her she was mean to Girl B first by not sharing da slide with her wen da slide is something for everyone to play on.

Among oddah things in dis life lesson for her, it was extremely difficult to get da point across wen we also tell her to listen to people of authority such as police and of course, teachers! She knew it was bad overall to try and kick someone and kept crying saying she was sorry then anoddah teacher came into da classroom and enthusiastically said hi but noticed Da Keiki was crying.

We were about to head out da door wen she asked if Da Keiki was ok then I turned around and snapped back, "NO!". After explaining wat happened and wat da "teacher" told Da Keiki to do, I said, "Das da kine of $h!t you teaching my girl??"

She said she would let da "lead" know.

I wasn't about to chew out da oddah teacher in front of da oddah keiki running around there but I certainly hope someone from Alphabet Land steps in cause who knows wat da frick goes on now dat I witnessed dis kine of crap first hand!

Yes, I did say ALPHABET LAND! A place renown for their "early childhood certified, nurturing and stable" staff. And while this may be something not common from their staff, it happened to my daughter and who knows who else have been "taught" to act like a punk.

It's a sad day wen you witness wat happens out of sight.

But nothing compares wen your heart drops to find out it was your kid.

"It is wat makes da world go round" as quoted by a WWD! reader many moons ago but in dis instance, da people who "make" dat part of da world sucks okole.

Talking story with my father-in-law last night as Da Wife and I are heading to Sansei (Shakanack review on dat to follow) for a belated Father's Day dinner, he shares something dat got my Korean blood boiling hotter than kim chee stew!

It's one of those moments dat you tink wouldn't happen to anyone you know and is nothing but a blip on your radar but it happened and there's nothing anyone can do about it but to share in da hopes dat it doesn't happen to anyone else.

Da details were pretty sketchy but in a nutshell my grandmother-in-law got scammed and scammed big for $2500!

Wassup Wit Dat!

Da scam was pretty sophisticated in a sense dat they phished some personal information and it went down as her grand-daughter needing bail money to get her out of jail..... in New York.

Now for most of us younger than "grandmother" age would have red flags going off but da frickin' crooks went beyond knowing names, they put "her" on da phone! Now wen you dealing with makule people, they tink everybody will sound da way they sound if you give them a name and das how it went down.

It's da same pitch wea someone you care about needs bail money for something they nevah do and not to tell dat person's parents cause they're scared and blah blah blah. Then my grandmother-in-law was given clear instructions on how to wire da money - again, da HUGEMANGEOUS red flag in ALL scams - but cause da phone conversation was so convincing, she did as instructed.

How did my father-in-law find out? Well, my grandmother-in-law (bless her good-hearted soul) was expecting to hear back a few days later from her grand-daughter so instead she called da grand-daughter's mom to find out how she was doing and to see if she was home yet from New York.... she was then told dat da grand-daughter was always home. Moreso in Hawaii we carry a bit more of da shame factor so it's even especially hard to even come to terms with something like dis.

I only share dis to try and take something out of it instead of it just being swept undah da rug. Please talk with your parents and/or grandparents and be vigilant about any type of suspicious calls asking for money especially if it's for relatives. They have even been so bold as to hold fake conversations and these bastards have nothing but black hearts and damned souls so they don't care who and how da person will be hurt as long as they get "paid".

My grandparents-in-law - as most makule plantation workers - don't have much and live very humble lives so taking a hit out of their retirement for a scam doesn't bode well with any of us and das da type of people these a$$ho!e$ target - trusting, caring and sad to admit, makule people.

I told my father-in-law dat these scammers will not stop. Once they hooked grandma, they'll keep trying again and again until anoddah scam "works" so to change da phone numbah. It's a good thing dat they don't have anything to do with computers and email so at least we can do something proactive by changing da numbah and not worry about them transmitting personal information online.

But true to Grandma she says, "lesson learned".

Not surah if you want to admit or not but have you evah been scammed? Wat oddah scams have you heard about recently das going around? How's your spidey-sense?

btw, I get some land on Pu'u O'o I'm trying to get rid of if you interested.