Skydiving

Just thought I should add this... didn't want to at first cause it looks weird.. but i guess thats more of a reason to post it. Here's me with my face peeled back....

Skydive Hawaii

Life is good... this was so fun... . The view is amazing... you get to see North Shore and the mountains on the other side. We jumped from about 12000-14000 ft. I gotta get certified... i need to jump on my own. Still thinking about it... so expensive.. plus the gear... but they said that people just make the money back by doing coach jumps or being the camera man and stuff. Plus if I did that... then the classes and equipment are an expense and I could write it off... a small factor to consider. And the guys at the place do this for a living... I got a video but it's too big a file to upload. Let me know if anyone wants it and we'll figure a way to transfer it over.
For anyone who hasn't done it, you gotta try. There was this girl from Denmark who was scared as hell before we went up... after she landed, all she wanted to do is go again. It's amazing!

Diamond Head

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After recovering on Friday from a late night of drinks on Thursday... I went to Diamond Head crater... it's a crater formed from an old volcano... i think over 50,000 years old... you walk through this tunnel and the hiking trail is from the center. You can see the facility in the second picture... hike isn't bad... a lot of tourist on a narrow stone trail. Don't wear sandals... it's a bitch... anyway... pretty nice view. On the top one, Waikiki beach is on the right hand side. Nothing too exciting just doing something different. People say there are better trails around so next time I'm gonna go up into one of the valleys. Then I jumped to skydiving after it....

Taxes

You gotta be kidding me... so i go into to HR block.. thinking it was gonna cost me something like a hundred bucks to get my taxes done... yeah i know... i should just do it myself... but i really just wanted it done quickly... so anyway after sitting there for about an hour and a half... going through numbers and stuff... i ask for an estimate... $447 so far and it isn't even done... apparently they charge per entry... each w2... 1099... 1099int.. dividend and so on... such bs... fortunately at that point i was just able to walk out.. no charge.... but jeez... still pissed about it... what a rip off...

My brother's married

Congratulations Al and Mel. The wedding was amazing. The Palace is so nice and everyone can tell that so much planning and effort went into it to make it as perfect as possible. You two really deserve each other.

I had a lot of fun... it was a bit hectic... didn't realize i had to organize the events as the best man... guess next time i'll know... good thing Caroline was there doing her thing... she's a bit crazy but that's what added to the fun...

I think my favorite part was just catching up with some people that I haven't talked in a long time... like Bianca... and just catchin up with Will. I'm glad they made it. Also Mai Lee, Jay, and Michael... never get to talk to them enough.

Gotta go. Flights boarding... already missed my last connecting flight... can't miss another.

Maui

So my flight from Honolulu to San Fran got cancelled. They didn't have a plane so I took a Hawaiian Airlines flight over to Maui and took the bus to a mall since I had some time. The first pic is just a random night in Waikiki. The other 2 pics are from outside the airport. Pretty nice view. Anyway, I'll be back for the weekend for my brother's wedding. Be there Friday late afternoon and leaving Monday morning.

Looking back

First thing: Hawaii is now 6 hours behind. Apparently we don't do daylight savings... didn't know it was implemented by each state... anyway... just a note if anyone calls...

So lately I've been missing home. It's funny how it works... everyone's different but I didn't really miss home until I went back. It's good to be in a place that your thoroughly familiar with... to just hang out with friends, grab some drinks, and just joke around... to be in a house where you grew up in... in all aspects it was so comfortable being back in NJ. Thanks everyone.

I've considered going back after my lease is up... still haven't made up my mind... there are a couple of things that are on my mind about the choice. One thing is... as much as I enjoyed being back... i know if I move back it's not going to be like that all the time... another is that I haven't given Hawaii much of a chance... there's still so much to do... and do i want to try somewhere else.... I think i'll be pushing my luck if I just dart out of here without preparation... then again i'm all about pushing my luck... but I think i'll find a job first if I decide to explore somewhere else.... don't know... just been on my mind here and there. Anyone who knows how i think, will know that I'll probably revisit this many times over before making a choice... i tend to think in circles....

Surfs Up!

Okay so I've been here for about 4 months and I've finally went surfing. Took an hour lesson today... it's fun but it's so damn tiring... didn't do much other than learn to stand on the board so far... so here are some pics. Me just catching a small wave and then the wipe out.... anyway... it's mad awkward... but i guess i just have to get used to it... my arms are so tired from paddling.... i can see how it would be exciting.. but i'm not really at that point yet... the waves were small and everyone says Waikiki is a good place to learn... hopefully i get so nice pics of me surfing a huge wave or something in the future...

Traveling Delays

So it was good being back in Jersey but I'll touch on that later. Thanks everyone for coming out.

So first my flight this morning is canceled and i'm rerouted to a stop in Denver as opposed to San Fran. Not a big deal only like a half hour difference between departures. Now I'm stuck in Denver International Airport right now. So everyone is boarded on the flight that was supposed to leave at 11:40 am or so and we're waiting there. Apparently there's a fuel leak in the left fuel tank but they say they can fix it... so everyone waits for 30 mins or so and then they announce they'll have a decision in an hour... but we can't deboard yet. They a half hour later they say we can deboard temporarily and when we come back... the flights canceled.... jeez... fortunately they got another plane and it's gonna leave at 2:40 p.m.... anyway... hope everyone else is having a better day...