Peaceful 'Ohana
Posts tagged Hawaii
Hitting the Sweet Spot with Amazon: Free Shipping to Hawaii
Jun 30th
For those of us living in Hawaii know, when sites say “free shipping” they often don’t consider Hawaii as part of that. And for some reason, many of their shipping methods then change from 2-3 day to only overnight express for $20 or more, making that sweet deal of $5 HMDI cables look pretty crappy.
That’s why so many locals love Amazon. If you spend $25 per order from Amazon (and not on their “other” merchants selling within Amazon), free shipping includes Hawaii!
So, how can you get every order to be $25 or more when you only want a book for $19.99? What about some of the other THOUSANDS of things that Amazon sells- clothes, toys, games, soaps, food, movies, etc. Surely there’s something there you could use to save yourself the $5 shipping charge. Just get to $25 and free shipping.
One of my favorite sites for finding good deals is 
Slickdeals.net”>Slickdeals.net – lively discussions, free alerts for keywords (like “Amazon”, “slack guitar”, or “Wii”), and their sister site SlickFillers.net. With Slickfiller you type in the amount needed to get to $25 ($5.01 in this case), and it will present a list of qualifying items from Amazon you can add to your cart. Slick! So instead of spending that $5 on shipping, you got a “free” children’s coloring book or stickers.
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What could be more Hawaiian: Spam-flavored Mac Nuts!
Apr 18th
Imagine the look on your friend’s face when you bring them a bit of Hawaii with these new Spam(R) Macadamia Nuts! (Travels better than Spam Musubi’s!)
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Live streaming video of Obama's inauguration event
Jan 20th
Live streaming video of Obama’s inauguration events was available via Hulu.
Watch a recap via MSNBC:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Also check out the Honolulu Advertiser inauguration special.
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Vote… for a CHANGE!
Oct 29th
Early voting in Hawaii started October 21st. You can vote in several locations, including right on UH-Manoa campus, which uses electronic voting machines with paper reports.
The process takes just a couple of minutes; have your HI state drivers license ready. Then fill out some information: social, birth date, name, etc. They’ll check you in, give you a special “access” code, and help you with the voting machine. (“It’s not a touchscreen, use the wheel to move through the choices.”)
In this General Election there’s some really important issues being decided besides President of the US, including Major of Honolulu, and if steel-on-steel rail is where the city/state wants to spend its money for the future.
Get your vote in early and avoid the long delays. Typically Hawaii doesn’t have great voter turnout, however, with an old Punahou student running for President, Obama might just help turn those numbers around… Vote… for a CHANGE! (And tell your friends and family to, too!)
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Interesting Article: "Alaska vs. Hawaii"
Oct 7th
Slate has an interesting article comparing the media’s perceived bias that Alaska is more “all American” than Hawaii: “Alaska vs. Hawaii: Why is Seward’s Folly the “real America” and the Aloha State not?”
Hmmm…
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Things to do in Honolulu for kids
Feb 11th
A friend of mine is visiting Hawaii for a couple of days and wanted to know some fun things to do with his son. Since there might be other people looking for activities for children on a visit here, I’ve expanded on that email to him:
- Mason likes the Honolulu Zoo (www.honoluluzoo.org) a lot — we have a yearly membership — you can spend a good 1/2 day there (petting zoo, walking around, snack bar, gift shop, oh and animals!).
- The Waikiki Aquarium (www.waquarium.org) is a bit expensive and kind of small — you can do the whole thing in about an hour. The dragon fish and jelly fish are my favorites, but they have some sharks and a small petting pond.
- Bishop Museum runs different exhibits for kids from time to time — right now it’s “Animal Grossology” about gross stuff animals do: www.bishopmuseum.org — should be a good 3 hours, but requires a car or sitting on a bus and walking to get there. One of the best parts of the museum is closed right now (the Hawaii exhibitions), but the air-conditioned planetarium show is really nice after walking around in the sun.
The state of Hawaii: sustainability, cost of living, and more…
Dec 10th
I get asked about what it’s like to live in “paradise”. There’s the standard answer that locals give to tourists, “Oh it’s great to live here in Hawaii; the weather’s always great, people are friendly, we’ve got a winning football team, and we have a wide variety of food and activities.”
But, while those things are generally true, there’s more to the story. And, for a family that might be thinking of moving here, those other parts are also important.
Continue reading “The state of Hawaii: sustainability, cost of living, and more…” »
Changes after nearly 1 year
Aug 29th
Our son is almost 1 year old. Man, it’s been a wild year! From the excitement, nervousness, and joy of his birth through the 3 months of colic with him screaming for hours, to his getting stronger and healthier, to now his walking and RUNNING… Whew… Where’s the PAUSE button on this little guy?! 
Continue reading “Changes after nearly 1 year” »
Happy Holidays!
Dec 25th
Even though our family isn’t all together for the holidays — Masako and Mason are in Japan while I’m here in HNL — we’re keeping in touch for Christmas and New Years with phones, webcam, and email.
Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) to you and your family!
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