Indulgence

Last night, I ended up at the fast food joint in Kahala to enjoy one greasy "value menu" item for dinner and to exploit the free wireless Net "hotspot" with my cheap "smartphone." During the course of my time there, I noticed a group of about ten teenagers, all guys, loitering and having a good time. As I was exiting the eatery, I happened to glance over and see all of them playing with their Apple® "smartphones." And, young and old, the "smartphone" of choice is the Apple® iPhone®. People seem to have lots of money to indulge in luxuries such as premium contract "smartphones." I cannot even imagine paying those high monthly service fees.

When I returned to Chaos Manor (read: rental housing), I discovered that the Sonicare® air flosser has developed a culture of black mold in its tiny water reservoir. I have only owned the expensive gadget for a couple of months. Time for divestiture, you think? Then, I was privy to about 20 minutes of Net access. The prevailing gusty winds caused a brief power outage of about five seconds. That seemed to be enough to cause the cable network neighborhood hub to shut down. I was not able to adequately entertain myself, which is really a sad state of affairs. I finally decided to go to sleep at 10:30pm. Of course, the common cold had other plans for me.

Essentially, another sleepless night was to be enjoyed by my weary body. I was up at "the crack of dawn." Fortunately, Net access was restored. The agenda and itinerary for the day ... same ol' shit. Oh, how I love that phrase! Unfortunately, when I move to Waimanalo, the itinerary will change drastically. Waimanalo is literally in the middle of nowhere. I will have to ride a different bus route to town in the day. As for my evening outings to Kahala, I have no idea. I may have to drive my Nissan® Frontier truck to Hawai'i Kai every night and commute to and from Kahala by bus. Obviously, petrol expenses and wear-and-tear on the vehicle will increase.

Anyway, astute readers of the old "blog" may recall that I had once seriously entertained the idea of finding a detached studio in Waimanalo in the quest to find peace and monastic solitude. Well, now my dream has come true. And, I am not liking it one bit. Well, I was much younger and more foolish at the time. Change is never welcomed by old codgers. Senior citizens desire stability in a time when life expectancy is so unpredictable. Sheesh!

I departed for town on the bus at the usual time this morning. Alan was already busy packing his "stuff." Once in town, the usual agenda was followed, but with a leisurely theme. I was sportin' a really bad headache caused by excessive coughing. There's only one cure. Yes, a hot cup of coffee from the coffee shop in town. Naturally, I did not dress for the cold weather. Neither was I expecting rain. Lots of rain. Another mediocre workout at the gym followed my coffee break. Afterwards, I went on a failed shopping mission at two discount stores in the immediate vicinity. I have been looking for a new pair of boardshorts, but the only ones available in my size were hideous. Old codgers cannot be seen in such hideous garb.

When I returned to Chaos Manor, the professional movers were on the scene. Alan has paid them a handsome sum to pack the remainder of his "stuff" and transport all the crates, boxes, furniture, and plastic storage containers to his new storage unit (at a cost of $220 per month). He will be checking into the hostel this evening, if all goes as planned. I commenced packing my meager possessions as well, although there really isn't much to pack. By tomorrow afternoon, I should have only eight items (including one piece of luggage, my gym bag, and the house vacuum cleaner) to take with me. That's it. Alan and the professional movers finally departed at 6pm.

Finding an eatery to procure dinner was once again the focal point of the evening outing to Kahala. I ended up purchasing a bowl of soup at the sandwich shop and redeemed my accumulated rewards for a free sandwich. I then purchased a greasy "value menu" item at the fast food joint and ate my meal there in order to exploit the free wireless Net "hotspot." When I return to Chaos Manor, I will do my laundry chores in order to pack my luggage tonight. Alan is supposed to return to clean up the huge pile of trash in his former squalid room. The sad legacy of Chaos Manor is nearly over.