Ale for the Soul

Without skipping a beat, I was back in Texas on Thursday and reported to work on Friday.  There wasn't any rest for the weary.  Vacation is supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation, but it felt as if I had worked the entire time.  As a result, I was both mentally and physically tired from all my travels.  Yesterday (Monday), I had a much-needed day off from any social and contractual obligations.  Of course I had a few chores to take care of and errands to run, but I had the entire day at my leisure.  In the midst of all the running around with laundry, donating blood, and what-not, I did manage to meet my maternal aunt for coffee at a local shop near Texas Christian University.  By the end of the day, I was exhausted all over again.  Thankfully I have another day off to look forward to on Friday.  Other than laundry, I have no plans to ever leave the apartment that day.  Ha ha!  Hopefully I can fully recover from my vacation in the near future.  Until then, I better take care

When my sister dropped me off at the Honolulu airport, I was very anxious to get back.  I wasn't necessarily missing Fort Worth, but I did very much want a return to normalcy and routine.  Both flights ran smoothly and without so much as a bump.  Thankfully, I was able to sleep for most of the way back.  Once I landed in Dallas, it was a mad dash to find the Tex Rail train back to Fort Worth.  Not knowing how often the train was scheduled to run, I didn't want to have to wait in the event I barely missed it.  In spite of my best efforts, I still ended up having to wait about twenty minutes.  As soon as I disembarked in downtown Fort Worth, I caught the Hemphill bus back to the apartment.  Whew!  Not sure if I've ever been happier to return to my personal man-cave.  Of course I had a lot to do in order to catch up from being gone for seven days.  As the day began to wind down to a soft ending, I was able to truly relax by watching TV and smoking both of my pipes.  Vaca

Tomorrow evening is my scheduled flight back to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  This means my Hawaiian vacation is quickly winding down.  Even though I really couldn't afford the trip out here, I tried to effectively play the part of tourist by taking in as many sights and sounds as I could.  In addition, a special effort was made to visit with the locals: whether walking the beach of Waikiki, at a restaurant, or sitting in the mall while waiting for my sister to finish work for the day.  A few highlights of the trip include: the coffee shops I visited, attending a local A.A. group and subsequent lunch with the members, the worship service of the church my sister attends, walking along Waikiki Beach, the Pearl Harbor Memorial, and so much more.  This minimal activity totally blew my budget and will take me months to recover from the financial drain, more like hemorrhage, but it was well-worth the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Hawaii.  I think a better time could have b

After a few days in to my vacation, the time away has been good.  The culture here is vastly different from Texas and the rest of the mainland; however, it's a refreshing break from the rat race of life.  Even though the culture shock has jolted me out of the hum-drum, monotonous routine of work and home, I couldn't live out here.  First, it's expensive!  Just in the first four days of the trip, I have already spent several hundred dollars...money I don't really have.  To guard against succumbing to a negative mindset about the trip, I quickly count my blessings at a plane ticket generously paid for by my older sister.  I rarely get to see her, except maybe once a year or every other year.  She has been a great host as we have donned the hats of tourists to enjoy what Hawaii has to offer.  Yesterday we endeavored to see Pearl Harbor.  Neither one of us have ever been out here.  Then we saw a movie and capped off the evening with a steak dinner.  Today (Saturday) w

Last night I arrived in Honolulu at roughly 5:45 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time, 10:45 p.m. in Texas.  I was exhausted from all the flying.  On the first leg of the trip, I was fortunate enough to have all three seats to myself.  This means I happily sat by the window to gaze at the ground below.  Even though the next flight was more packed than the first, I was blessed to sit by a missionary couple from Uganda.  We fellowshipped for almost the entire duration of the trip.  This time I had the luxury of an aisle seat.  (The boarding pass stated the middle seat, but the wife wanted to sit by her husband.)  After a very long day, my sister picked me up at the airport.  We chatted for a bit on the ride back to her condominium and a quick walk of her dog, Shadrack.  At 7:30 p.m., I finally gave up and went to bed.  Whew, I was tired!  After a very rejuvenating night's sleep, I woke up a new man ready to take on the world.  Kathy, my sister, dropped me off in downtown on her way to w

For a few years, my sister has been asking me to come visit her in Hawaii.  As with most things in life, the issue was either a lack of time or money.  (Mostly a lack of money.)  Even if I had the resources for the costly flight, I sure didn't need to spend it on a luxury item such as this.  Whenever I would shop for plane tickets, the minimum price always seemed to hover around the $7-800 price range.  Somehow, she found tickets through a third-party vendor for $300 plus tax.  What a deal!  Of course it's economy class, but that is more than okay.  It's like getting a basic hotel versus a fancy one...all I'm doing is sleeping there.  In the case of the flight, I not concerned about flying "coach" if it will get me from here to there in one piece.  In spite of having the tickets paid for, I'm still out about a week's worth of work at Clark's.  Plus, I'll have to really watch what I spend as I don't really have the financial reserves to a