Suburbia, U.S.A.

I am now fully transitioned from by urban one-bedroom apartment to a three-bedroom, two bath suburban home with my brother and his family. The only thing missing is the dog or cat (although, we apparently have some fish that seem to be multiplying).

Living with other people again is a bit weird. I'm used to just stripping, hopping in the shower and then meandering back to my bedroom to figure out what I'm going to wear. Now I have to figure all that stuff out before heading to the bathroom. It's like living with my parents or dorming at college again. But, at least I don't need to bring a shower caddy and wear slippers to the bathroom anymore.

Over the weekend, I moved the rest of my stuff to Kapolei with the help of my dad and brother. Even after downsizing by a considerable amount (in my opinion), I still have a ton of stuff. Some of it is still out in the living room, but I've managed to squeeze everything into my new bedroom. As I slowly begin to unpack, I find myself questioning my own sanity. I mean, does one person really need ten pairs of sweats/workout pants? That seems entirely ridiculous, especially when the person in question doesn't even work out! Also, despite donating and tossing about 15 pairs of shoes, I seem to still have another 15 pairs to boot. This is really the epitome of American excess, don't you think?

On Sunday, my dad and I scoured my old place and I can tell you I haven't worked that hard in ages. We only got about three quarters of the way through, but my body was waving the white flag by the end of the day. Not surprisingly, cleaning dirt and grime off of jalousies is no easy task. I highly recommend against that type of window treatment if you have the choice. We're planning to go back this weekend to finish up the job and turn in the keys. Hopefully after all the cleaning I'll get my full deposit back. That'll really help add to the round-the-world trip slush fund.

This morning I made my first early-morning commute after not having driven in the long distance traffic for over six years. It was interesting. I left at 6:30 a.m. and made it in an hour by taking a special route that a friend of mine suggested. I'll try it again tomorrow but will take the regular route and see how much faster/slower it'll be. So far, it's not as bad as I thought it'd be. Of course, this is still a novelty and will surely wear off with time. Check back in a month and I'll be a raging maniac.

Community Service - Meals On Wheels

I just got back from our company's community service project. We volunteered to deliver healthy meals to seniors in Lanakila Pacific's Meals On Wheels program and had a great turnout of staff and their family. We covered 16 routes, which enabled all regular volunteers to take the day off. Like most events it was quite stressful especially in the morning. However, overall I think we did well and made a good showing.

One let down was that we discovered one of our routes was done incorrectly. This really rained on our parade, not to mention left seniors without vital nutrition. The seniors were not given the appropriate amounts of food and drink because this particular group did not follow the delivery guidelines established by Lanakila and reinforced by the community service project committee.

Why must there always be that one person in a group who tends to ignore all rules and do things his/her own way. It's such a shame, especially when people painstakingly plan things out to make the event run smoothly. I'm not really sure what causes these people to be this way? It's probably just the American upbringing in general that establishes independence and an almost overwhelming self-confidence. Unfortunately, this actually inhibits group work because it results in too many leaders.

To successfully orchestrate an event, it takes time and organization. When you have a loose cannon in your midst, it's difficult to keep things on a steady course. People should realize that there's a time and place to set your mark as an individual and that this trait is not always beneficial. Sometimes being a little humble and more docile generates better results.