All day long I listen to people complaining about their situation.  Whether it be a crummy job or boss or some other aggravation, all day long.  I hear it on the morning news how things are so unfair out there and how there is this great divide among people today.  I’m not sure how real that is, but the news certainly feels like it is as that seems to be the only news going on, besides the elections crap.  A couple weeks ago I am pretty sure we were at war with terrorists all over the world, but I guess that is not newsworthy anymore.  My point is this;  if you want a better situation or more money or a gold medal at the Olympics, then go get it.  If you want respect at work and to make more money, earn it.  Work hard, train yourself, push yourself, offer ideas and support rather than complaining about things.  Be the employee the boss can count on and they might just do you right for it.  Upset that your neighborhood is dangerous and a mess?  Clean it up.  You live there, make a difference by putting in the effort.  As you know, I walk the beach a lot.  If I see trash on the beach, I pick it up because I don’t want my beach to look trashy.  If you let it go people start to get lazy and begin to treat your beach without respect.  If you want respect you have to give it and you have to live it.  Have respect for others and others will have respect for you.  Keep your beach clean, if nothing else it feels good to do a little good.

Whichever one you choose, the weather here is amazing. Whether you agree or not, the weather here is super.  Just sayin.

Energy comes from the strangest places.  Our home electricity comes from burning coal, natural gas, nuclear power, hydroelectric or solar.  Our physical energy can come from these same places, and a few others.  Physical energy can come from more physical energy, its true, try it, and from solar, I know because the sun energizes me every time I turn my face to it.  If you have never had more physical energy from natural gas then you are not eating enough tacos.  Do not shy away from a way to increase your energy.  If it means answering a phone call from a friend to re-energize you, then do it.  If it means taking a walk after a long day at work, then do it.  Today, I was driving home, in traffic, in LA, blah, blah, blah, when I noticed my little Hawaiian Warrior Helmet or Kamani Nut Ikaika, hanging from my rear view mirror.  This guy energizes me for many reasons.  It reminds me of the places I have been and how to prepare for the tough times ahead, a lot of things.  Twenty years this little guy has been with me, hanging from a few different rear view mirrors.  Twenty years going strong.  Strong as the macadamia nut shell he is made of.  The energy I feel from this little guy is truly positive.  What is a source of energy for you?  Is it your Warrior Helmet?  Is it Red Bull?  Is it your passion for equal rights?  Is it your love for family and friends?  Whatever it is, tap it, every day.  Tap into that well and feel the glow.  Tap into whatever it is with reckless abandon.  Happy Aloha Friday.  #MyAumakua

All this talk about the distribution of wealth has had me thinking the past few weeks.  It has been said that the only two guarantees in life are death and taxes.  I would like to add to that and say there are four guarantees, death, taxes, winning and losing.  There are times you will win and times you will lose.  Some win more than others, but why is that?  My thought is that those that win more have more hunger for the carrot.  Everyone has a carrot they are chasing.  Whether it be a solid, secure retirement, a billion dollars, their next meal,  a place to call home, or maybe a Ferrari, we all have a carrot to chase.  Some chase that carrot with blinders on.  I mean some people have nothing on their mind but that carrot.  For others it is a fleeting vision that would be nice but they are not willing to put the effort in to actually get to it.  Some expect to be given the carrot they seek simply because all humans should be able to enjoy life as one big team where we all tolerate one another, no matter what.  John Lennon’s “Imagine” is a wonderful song and a truly Utopian idea, but it is just not possible.  There will always be competition pushing people to want more.  I’m sure that the first humans distributed their food and water equally between one another, but there was still a chief or leader and I am certain they had their fill whenever they wanted unlike the rest of the tribe.  There has to be a carrot, otherwise there is no reason to put in the hard work, think about it.  I chase a bunch of carrots and I am hungry for all of them.  Once you get that carrot, believe me, you will want another.

I can’t help but feel nostalgic when it rains.  Southern California is basically a desert where water was once diverted so people could inhabit the place.  Measurable rainfall is an odd event that usually causes other rather major events like mudslides and multi-car accidents.  Mudslides occur when rain falls on a mountainside that was burned bare the summer before and the top foot or two lets loose and comes crashing to the bottom.  Anything in its way will be buried and likely never heard from again.  The multi-car accidents however, are preventable.  Unfortunately,  the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz said it best, “If I only had a brain.”  He had to be talking about driving in the rain in So Cal.  I will always be amazed how some of these people make it to wherever they are going.  The speeds stay the same as dry conditions.  The lane changing and tail-gating stay the same as well.  Driving home today was an adventure, but I made it safe, much to the chagrin of at least five knuckleheads.  I can’t help but think about Hawaii whenever it rains.  The sound of the drops hitting the fronds of the palm tree outside my window takes me back every time.  The only thing missing to take me back to Florida would be the cracking of thunder and lightning blasting across the sky every few seconds.  This rain is a much more peaceful one.  I do long for the rumble of thunder every now and again, but not today.  Today I am enjoying that rare sound outside my window that takes me back to the islands.  #MyAumakua

Today was one of those days.  It all started when I showed up at work.  The customers, challenges, issues, and problems were non-stop all day.  Busy days are nice because you work on many different issues and when you finally have a chance to look up, its lunch time.  Today was not quite that fluid.  I seemed to work on something for an hour or more only to look up at the clock to see it has been fifteen minutes.  After getting chewed up, yelled at, cursed, and on occasion, thanked my day was finally over.  I changed into some workout clothes and headed to my favorite parking lot at El Segundo Beach.  I got out of the car and immediately hit the path.  No stretching or warming up, no sir.  I just started walking.  Every now and again I would speed into a trot or a shuffle as we called it in the Army.  I walked about a mile, then I scrambled down some rocks onto the beach itself.  The sun was preparing to set and it was just beautiful along the entire coast.  I looked up at the bike path I just exited and there was a small group of people.  All of them with their back to the beach and the setting sun.  I continued walking not really thinking too much about it  but started to notice that everyone had their back to the sun.  I suddenly realized that all these people were taking “selfie” pictures.  I have to tell you, I just don’t get it.  Are you so intent on proving to someone, anyone, that you were actually at the place you took the selfie at that you actually miss the very thing you are showing yourself off admiring?  I guess there are some things I will never understand.  The sunset was amazing.  I don’t think I will ever take that for granted.  But hey, if ya can’t beat em…

There are few things that satisfy me more than getting things done.  Your character and experience is constructed on things you have done.  To claim something as an experience you had to have completed it.  You can’t be a mountain climber if you have never climbed a mountain.  A little more down to earth are the day to day things we all deal with and getting them done.  I make a list every morning that I simply write “to do” at the top of.  I then sit and think of the things I want to accomplish today along with all the things I know I must accomplish today.  I prioritize each item on the list and check them off as I go.  Toward the end of the day I look at my list and see if there is anything I have left to complete.  If there is I try to get them done.  Sometimes I will deem something that is incomplete as not important and push it to the next day.  You have to be careful with that though because before you know it you will have four things that you have been moving and then they begin to become important.  As some of you may know, I recently finished writing a book.  The pleasure I have being able to say that is beyond explanation but I sure hope I don’t overdo my talking about it.  It has taken me only fifteen years to be able to say that my book is complete so it is a big deal for me.  I will be publishing it in the next few weeks so keep an eye out for “My Aumakua.”  Look, if you are talking about doing something or wishing you had the time for whatever it is, I say write it down and work at it until you can check it off.  Satisfaction comes with completion whether you pass or fail, win or lose, the key is that you tried.  You made the effort and attempt.  Go for it.  Oceanic White Tip Shark drawn with charcoal.  JO

I didn’t write my daily blog yesterday because I just plain ran out of time.  I had to work, then I had a very important appointment to select a very important piece of jewelry.  After that, I came home and had a few things to do before taking my everything out for a nice dinner to celebrate St. Valentines Day in style.  Yesterday was a good day.  Today, I ran to the grocery store in the morning.  While getting important things, I found myself browsing the “suckers aisle” as this other shopper put it, for a little candy heart.  May as well, right?  While exiting the store, I paused at the door to allow an older couple room through.  When I did this, the rather large, refrigerator box shaped (expletive) behind me, walked around me, then between the couple coming through the door, all while staring into his phone.  This move wiped the smile off of the faces of the couple and replaced with the unanimous look of disgust seen at most grocery stores.  It provoked an uncontrollable exhaust from me in the form of “dick!”.  This is probably the same moron that passes a line of cars exiting or entering a freeway and cuts in front of everyone.  This move doesn’t make you smart or look like a “go-getter,” oh no, this makes you an asshole. Sometimes people who do this actually wave to you as if to say “thank you.”  I especially loathe these people because I did not extend the courtesy you just stole.  Had I done that, waved you in for example, a wave is the proper response.  It is a real shame that people are no longer learning these very important life tools.  The guy who stormed through the door I was politely waiting at heard me and turned around with a scowl on his large, square head.  All I could think to do was smile and wink.  There are a lot of people in the world that could really use a good ass whoppin.  The number growing exponentially on an hourly basis.   Deep breath and a chuckle.  Have a good week.  

Today I was able to experience a couple things that really chap my ass.  One thing that gets me all bent is lazy speaking skills.  What is that you ask?  Well, let’s take the upcoming romantic holiday, St. Valentines Day.  Pretty simple actually and a very clever twist on a story to get people spending money a month and a half after Christmas.  I was subject to three, yes, three people today at three different times refer to the upcoming as “Valentimes Day.”  Really?  I have this quirky thing I do if I am unsure how something is pronounced or what its meaning is, I look it up and make sure I am using it correctly.  On that note, I am not perfect nor do I expect anyone else to be.  I just find it aggravating when someone is so lazy they don’t even try to do the work of finding the correct letter. I don’t correct, I just let that person go on doing what they do.  So I guess it must not bother me that much, right?  Lastly, I had a customer show up at 3:58 today.  That is two minutes before we close.  Keep in mind, we have been open at this point for 9 hours and fifty eight minutes.  I know because I have been in the branch for ten hours and thirty eight minutes.  This particular customer has a habit of showing up at this time of the day just about every time he comes to see us.  Today, I was in no mood.  He walked in with a smile and laughingly said “Man, I just made it!”  My glare was that of a sniper, only thing missing was the scope.  “I just need to return a few things and ask you if you have ever heard of a product that…blah blah blah!”  I couldn’t help it.  I cut him off right there.  “Listen, I’ll process the return for you but if you need advice, ask google.  We close in one minute and thirty seconds so if you need to pick up something else I need to know now.”  He looked at me for a few and retorted “Whats the big deal, You’re not closed yet and besides you’ve got nothing better to do.”  Yes, he said that.  I took a deep breath and explained that we are open for ten hours a day and I am here before and after those ten.  I told him if he couldn’t make it to us during our regular business hours, there is a Home Depot right down the street.  If you are going to charge into a place when they are closing their doors, have the courtesy to know what you want and get in and get out.  People have families they miss and a life outside their work to get to.  If you need more time with the specialists, don’t snag them all up at the end of the work day.  I can guarantee that you will not get good info or product when you are the last man standing ten minutes after closing time.  Rant complete.  Starting weekend sequence…NOW!

Today, the President of the United States graced us with his presence here in Los Angeles. (eyeroll)  He flew in on Air Force One for the approximately twenty second time since January of 2015.  (cha ching!) I was very excited to hear that he was flying all the way across our great country to appear on the Ellen show and attend two fundraisers at a couple of rich, Hollywood Director’s home’s to support something.  (his upcoming unemployment I guess.)  I am a big fan of the Ellen show! (Never seen it, its on while I am at work!)  On the morning news they spoke of his visit and the reporter called the afternoon to come “Obamajam,” trying to make light of the fact that our humble leader and civil servant was flying in at 2 pm, the beginning of rush hour.  (great idea!)  I once read to move the president anywhere utilizing Air Force One it costs the taxpayer one million dollars an hour.  If this is true, his visit to Ellen today has already cost us five million, the flight from east to west. (how thrifty) I have never seen a president in my life that has spent as much time on talk shows.  I don’t want to know my presidents personal side.  I don’t want to know if he sneaks out of the white house to grab a big mac every few days or likes to wear different colored socks under his trousers.  I would rather read about my former presidents cute little personal side in his/her memoir after they leave office.  I find it incredibly foolish for a sitting world leader, any world leader, to travel this way for such a meaningless and useless reason.  I wish our President would spend a little more time in the Oval Office and a little less time swooning celebrities.  Mr. President, we are involved in a war in case your advisers have failed to remind you. Thankfully, I am not the parent of an active duty service member or I would be one hundred times more upset than I am.   The perks you enjoy are earned and you sir have not earned them as far as I am concerned.  I haven’t seen too much of this “change” we were promised, except for taxes and fear going up and confidence going down.  Myself and the (apx) 3 million other Angelino’s who were sitting in snarled traffic hope you had a nice time on Ellen. #POTUS