Oahu 2.0 has begun. I arrived on the 5th of January to the metropilan island. I've already managed to blow all my money that I saved in cash. Luckily I have been performing under Shar Carillo and I've been getting paid for that. Found a place to live on my own with 2 room mates I met off craigslist. Holding out for real employment and tax returns. Start my first day banqueting this Sunday for the Convention Center in Honolulu. I am a Hawaiian Tyler Durden. I've been told I'll be employed at another restaurant too, but that's in two weeks. The financial pit of despair is near!
The goal for Oahu 2.0 as it stands is to
Have more money in my name every month than the previous month
Support Shar as long as it's possible for me to do (this may be indefinite)
Resurrect Leviathan my awesome band and dominate the rock scene here
That's all for now. I'm a little lazy and feel like I've neglected the blog for too long. More to follow eventually!
Sometimes the most marginal of ailments can send one reeling into disarray. A couple days ago, I had some time after work to kill before I was scheduled to be somewhere else in town so I decided to prepare my car for the impending island hop. This involved giving my car an oil change, but without a proper spill bucket for the oil, I decided to improvise one versus buying one, and well, an unused plastic dresser drawer would make for a good spill bucket I thought. I took this drawer and used an exacto knife to cut a divot in the drawer to allow it to slide under my oil pan. My first vertical cut went well, but when i went to cut the divot horizontally, the exacto blade broke and unfortunately I was not cutting away from my body, but towards it. I stuck myself two inches below my knee cap and began to slowly gush blood. So much for being somewhere in town later. I continued to finish up my car maintenance before driving home to where I could properly address my wound. Only then, a few hours later upon cleaning and dressing the wound, did it stop bleeding.
The puncture wound was no bigger than half an inch wide and I didn't think anything of it. The next morning however, as I attempted to go to work did the pain begin. I tried to work limping around with a vacuum cleaner but I eventually got sent home, and now, I am bedridden. Right now, day two of missing work is coming to a close, and all I have to show for it really is a few more videos to add to the "watched" section of my Youtube account and the completion of a few mindless Newgrounds games. All while limping around the house to use the bathroom or scrounge some non-existent food up from the refrigerator.
This isn't the first time I've been in this situation or one similar, but whenever I am bedridden or confined, I always think of the sake scene from The Last Samurai. Colonel Algren as played by Tom Cruise is taken in/hostage/prisoner after suffering combat wounds from the Katsumoto forces. During his recovery he begs for sake undoubtedly to sooth his injuries, "time travel" (when one drinks in excess to kill specific spans of time) and in addition to this character, "silence" his demons. The scene is short but it feels like a lot of time transpires during this scene and the cinematography reminds me a lot of how it's like to be crippled, if not for a moment.
In a weird way however, having some unexpected time off where you can't do anything really can be kind of a semi-productive reflective and humbling period. There are instances where I actually plan for the impromptu shut out times from the world to get some non-technological pen & paper type things done. In this case, the neglected blogs are getting some attention. But another example includes the many hour trans-Pacific flights as a wondrous opportunity to draw, write, read and reflect. Thankfully today it's becoming a lot easier to distract oneself with the delights and wonders of technology (internet) in the room in which you recover it's not quite as mind-numbingly boring/small. Even so, I still can't help but scheme like a convict with "what imma gon do when I get out" plans.
I hope to return to work soon though. I am generally not one to miss work. And I was counting on the cash grab during the holidays to help bolster my bank accounts before the move. All this from a little puncture wound.
So the plans have been laid, and the first stages of action have been completed. Operation Oahu 2.0. in its preliminary stages are underway. The ticket has been purchased, the cargo shipping dates have been saved, I am completely out of debt and am in good financial standing with everyone and everything, I have enough money to get me there and back if all goes to hell, and my employers... well, they have no idea.
I've always wondered how much notice is courteous or adequate to good-standing employers, but everyone always defaults to "two weeks." Two weeks to me always seemed so abrupt and insufficient to employ a suitable replacement, but in a way, it's the only way to truly secure your employment up until the time of the resignation notification. Otherwise, it could be the longest x+2 weeks notice amount of time until your leaving date. I hope to leave my employers in good standing so that when I make my eventual return home next holiday season, I will be welcomed open armed and immediately start making some income. That's the hope at least, but in my experience with that, reemployment/employment A) doesn't always to go to plan and B) usually isn't that easy. But one can try, remain hopeful and optimistic right? Or naive...
At this point in the sequence of relocation events, it is to simply put my head down and grind. Pocket as much money as I possibly can before I make my preemptive return to O'ahu. The more money I secure at home, the more BOWERFUL I will be there. There isn't really much else to do other than peek at the market from the internet afar but many of the ads are at best 1 month ahead of scheduled fulfillment time. Meaning that if I am looking for a place/job/band in January, I'm wasting a lot of time resources looking for them in November, because many of the November ads are relevant to November and December, not January. Anyway, a lot of the interviews, unit showings, lease signings, auditions etc. all require you to be there physically too (duh). Because of which, I have nothing lined up really. Not a job, nor a place, and with only desiring to live there [on O'ahu] until the end of May at this time, not very many places are willing to accept a full 4 month lease with a prorated 5th month. This will be my first time in the forays of subletting, and at this moment, it sounds kind of exciting. We'll see how that goes!
Made it to Oahu for Halloween successfully. Had a blast! Unexpectedly attempted to win a costume contest held at the Hard Rock Cafe. I unfortunately lost to a trio of scantily clad hooters girls. If I won I would of turned around and blew my gift card at the bar. Shots for everyone! Everyone's loss... I watched a band costumed as Star Wars and they weren't bad. I would later realize I was jealous.
7 days ago I participated in a live reddit.com discussion with David Choe. It was completely unplanned, I saw a Facebook post that he was on, and unsurprisingly it was a lot of fun. I think I stayed up way~~~ past my bedtime spamming refresh as much as I could to see any new insights. Pretty funny stuff!
But in all seriousness, I spent the last few days debating my purpose here on Kaua'i. My plan was to get back into the U.H. [University of Hawai'i] system by going to Kaua'i C.C. for the Spring 2013 semester. I would have to pay out-of-state tuition however, and lessen my availabilty at work, experiencing a pretty substantial cost-opportunity to go to school. I had way too much on O'ahu these past few weeks, and have been given interesting propositions if I so choose to live there. So, after a lot of speculation and encouragement from loved ones, I have decided to give O'ahu a second chance, and plan to move there in January. It basically came down to a money issue, and for me, that shouldn't be an obstacle, so... Fuck it!
I present to you HIBRIv2.0. I have joined the revolution ladies and gentlemen. I am now one of the smart phone many. Technology, is an incredible thing. I am one step closer to becoming a cyborg and honestly, I am looking forward to adjusting my thinking and organization to be able to incorporate what I jokingly will be referring to as my brain's external hard drive (aka smart phone).
This week has been pretty jam-packed and diverse between my two jobs and varied extra curricular Biggest highlight was my successful impulsive decision to visit Oahu and celebrate a good friends birthday without any planning what-so-ever in defiance to an impending tsunami warning.
Got to have some spontaneous quality gun range therapy time long overdue. Sponsored by Ishiki-Ute-Ryu.
Getting ready for Oahu Halloween 2012 baby. Already did a beta test run at the Oasis by the Beach costume party. Do you feel lucky, punk?
