Mayday, Mayday, Mayday

I’ve been prowling around all day skipping from thing to another, accomplishing nothing, and feeling my frustration level growing. It's felt like one big rising anxiety attack signaling an oncoming hot flash of major temperatures. By noon time, I told myself to settle down. I did a small load of laundry and hung it out to dry, saving on electricity, the cost of which is rising faster than a plume of volcanic ash from Kilauea.

The cause? Hard to say. Chalk it up to having four days left on the Big Island before heading back to New York. For the past two days the talk on the island is about the expected price increases of everything. Seems Hawaii has been plunged into the dark ages because Aloha’s air cargo division decided to shut down when two potential buyers back away. The defunct cargo delivery workhorse for the Hawaiian Islands leaves everyone wondering how not so fresh strawberries from California , Sony TV’s for the shelves at Costco and letters from the mainland will make it to paradise.

After test riding a kick-around-town bike at a local shop, I asked the shop associate about receiving bikes from the mainland. The chubby handle-barred employee, looked like he belonged in a pair of Lederhosen, rolled his eyes and said, "It has been messed up for weeks.” Apparently the hand writing has been on the wall for some time, despite rumors to the contrary. Brief talk buzzed about the Governor's call for the National Guard. This follows the big stink the residence on the east side of the Big Island raised about low flying military planes. As a result that ain’t happening any more.

Maybe the National Guard needs to storm the palace in downtown Honolulu instead. There, a native Hawaiian group that advocates sovereignty locked the gates of a historic palace saying it would “carry out the business” of what it considers the legitimate government of the islands. Oh brother. They will be gone when it is time to stand in line for food stamps.

Ouch, you see the mood? I think I’ll go back to watching my laundry dry. I got to shoo the geckos way to be sure they don't poop on it.