Hawaii Vacations

Hawaii Vacation Deals

If you happen to be an airline employee or vacation traveler that can easily get to Hawaii on a moments notice, you might be interested in these Hawaii vacation deals that you can find online from SummitPacific. It's a bulletin that publishes last minute discounts on unrented vacation rentals.

Letter to the Park Record

In support of Chris Robinson:

I would like to publically support Chris Robinson for County Council Seat “D.” Chris will bring a wealth of experience, talents, and enthusiasm to this office. He’s a hardworking team builder and is skilled at making connections with people, and in getting them involved and working together. These talents will be helpful as Summit County implements a new form of government with this election.

Summit County is challenged with trying to balance the needs of many seemingly opposing interests and Chris offers a uniquely qualified perspective on these issues. He himself is an expert land manager, cattle rancher, businessman, and developer. He also has considerable experience from his work with the Nature Conservancy of Utah. I can’t think of a better qualified person to help the county balance these issues to the benefit of everyone. Moreover he has a keen analytic mind with a disposition of forward thinking and a history of problem solving.

Chris is likeable and approachable. I think Chris remembers everyone he’s ever met. He can shake your hand, ask your name and in a few minutes connect you with half a dozen friends and relations you both have in common. He listens and is concerned and he’ll remember you the next time he sees you.

Chris will serve well and represent all of Summit County effectively and fairly.

McCain or Obama?

For some reason I haven’t fully embraced Barack Obama as my candidate. I think it’s because he seems a little too intelligent. I guess after 8 years it just seems sort of weird to think about having a smart guy running the country. I’m probably going to vote for him because I don’t have any other good options. He’s connected with millions but he hasn’t really connected with me really. Maybe it's because I'm a white middle aged guy. Obama seems too young to be president. McCain is too old. It'd be like voting for my dad. And face it, McCain has a screw lose somewhere. He’s erratic and unpredictable. You don’t know what he’s going to do next; suspend his campaign; debate or not debate; skip the Letterman show; pick a hockey mom for his vice president. Any of these things are possible and I don’t want somebody like that in the white house. He could start a war over prune juice. Not to mention the guy could keel over and die at any minute. A vote for McCain is probably a vote for President Palin. Think about that; President Palin... At least Saturday Night Live would be interesting for the next four years.

I’m disappointed that Al Gore didn’t run. I would have voted for him and I’m sure he could have won this year – like he did last time, and I hear they have to actually let you be president if you win twice. Bush/Cheney have screwed things up so bad that all Gore would have had to do this year to win would be to lose 200 pounds. …hmm, well I guess I’m not sure he could do that. He might be able to win a Nobel Prize and an academy award, and bring global warming to the attention of the world, but I’m not sure he could get his weight under control.

I’m worried about global climate change. Both McCain and Obama seemed to be serious about it this time. At least they seemed to be 3 or 4 months ago. In fact everybody was for lowering the emissions of greenhouse gases and reducing our dependence of carbon fuels until the economy tanked. I watched all the signs and chants at the Republican convention saying “Drill Baby Drill.” It’s sad really. In 1993 President Clinton proposed an “energy tax” that would have tacked 50 cents to a gallon of gas. The Republicans screamed bloody murder. It would kill the economy they said. Well, the tax didn’t make it very far in congress. Let see, gas prices in 1993 were just over a dollar a gallon. Would $1.55 a gallon have killed us? It wouldn’t have been easy, but wouldn’t have killed us.

The question is, how much money would the tax have raised had the tax passed in 1993? I dunno, let’s see: In 2004 the US consumed some 179 billion gallons of gasoline. (I picked 2004 out of the air as a representative year just for an example; feel free to do more accurate math on your own.) 179,000,000,000 gallons of gas x 15 years and times 50 cents a gallon would have given us about $1,339,020,000,000. That’s 1.4 trillion dollars in round numbers; money that could have been spent on alternative energy technology over the past 15 years. Hmmmm, you know we might have had some pretty cool stuff by now. And we'd undoubtedly be leading the world in alternative energy technology and production. Instead of paying about $4.00 a gallon to fill our SUVs, we could be thumbing our noses at OPEC and maybe scooting around in solar powered hover craft.

I think Obama is smart enough to understands we can’t drill our way out of this mess. I’m not so sure McCain is. And I'll bet he's too old to learn how to drive a hover craft.

My Flight Back from Kauai:

After spending a week in Kauai, I came home on a nonstop flight from Honolulu to Salt Lake. It was the "red eye" flight that leaves at 10:15 at night and arrives in Salt Lake the next morning. I usually prefer the flight because it allows me to spend an extra day enjoying paradise. Also, because it doesn't stop in LA, I don't have to wait for a connecting flight.

I was holding a "standby" ticket and felt lucky to get one of the last seats on the plane. Unfortunately it was in the middle of the row between two enormous people, both of whom hung over the armrests into seat “42D” which - of course - turned out to be my seat. When the flight attendants did a seat count to let the standby passengers on the plane, I'm surprised they even noticed the seat wasn't occupied. I had to tuck myself into it like a thong swimsuit on John Goodman's butt.

Sinking into what I trusted was my seat below, I was surprised to find that one or perhaps both of the people next to me smelled of garlic! It smelled like they had both eaten nothing but garlic over the past week or so until their bodies exuded the odor through their skin. It wasn't at all pleasant and I doubt I will ever enjoy or even eat garlic again. Now and then I managed to fight my way to the surface of my prison to try to adjust the air nozzle above me...each time I tried to stay up as long as possible only to tire and submerge back into the folded depths of hell.

The flight was apparently more comfortable for them than for me. They both managed to fall peacefully asleep soon after takeoff, apparently un-aware of the weight and misery their bodies were causing me. They stayed nearly unconscious until we landed 6 hours later. I on the other hand, without being able to use either armrest, found the flight impossible for sleeping; my entire weight resting upon my lower back and tailbone. I was forced to stare straight ahead, unable to even turn my head to the right or the left. At first I tried to take comfort in the thought that if the plane crashed, I would probably survive; packed and insulated by these pillowy passengers. After about 4 hours into the flight I began having some sort of a panic or anxiety attack...not that the plane would crash but rather that the plane wouldn't crash. I was convinced that crashing was the only way I would survive.

I tried yelling and screaming but muffled as I was I couldn't make myself heard from beneath the mountainous folds of my tomb. Perhaps I was so hysterical that anybody that did hear me just assumed they were hearing a baby crying with a gas bubble. Numb from the neck down and apparently paralyzed too, I couldn't move or kick hard enough to wake either of the sleeping mammoths. I eventually passed out and began hallucinating with visions of being crushed to death by elephants.

By some miracle, I found myself alive when the plane landed at 8:07 A.M. in Salt Lake City. Expectedly, they unloaded the plane from the front and my companions waited patiently until everyone else on the plane was unloaded - even those behind us - before either one of them stood up to free me.

As they waited, one took out a package of gum and offered it to me. I declined; she then asked if I would pass the package to her husband on the other side of me!!! What the hell? They were husband and wife!

They had probably been seated next to each other and one had moved over to the other isle seat before the flight attendant had done the final seat count. The husband had given me an odd look when I told him my seat was 42D. Now it was too horrible for my mind to comprehend all at once.

Although I wanted to, I wasn't able to jump up when they finally moved. All I could manage was to hobble and stumble out of the plane. I'm still traumatized by the experience.

May - 2003