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I was at the store tonight (Target to be exact) and my friend and I were looking at the old-school Namco 80s arcade games that you plug directly into the TV. They were on sale for $10, so we bought some. Games that were included: Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Xevious, Galaxian, Pole Position, and a couple others that I never played. I loved the 80s arcade…Donkey Kong was my favorite.

Remember the Atari 2600? It was the closest thing you could get to playing arcade games at home. Now, they make an Atari 2600 replica (complete with console and joysticks). However, the small chip inside contains all of the old games. All of this for only $30. It’s unreal!

They just don’t make games like that anymore. Now days, you have games so realistic, that the actual motions of professional athletes were recorded for use in the game. Still, as real as that can be, I still prefer the old school arcade games - which probably had less processing power than the microchip in my watch. The dream one day is to have a game room in the basement with several 80s arcade machines. But alas, it is only a dream right now.

J

Offspring #3 is usually the last one out of the car. So, a few weeks ago, I helped her get out and as she was standing by the van, I told her to close the door. She just looked at me like, “How am I supposed to do that?” I told her to say, “Close Door!” Although a little apprehensive, she said it. Being the crafty owner of a Honda Odyssey with remote control doors(and with automatic locks Larry), I pushed the button to close the door. All of this happened without her knowledge, so she thinks that’s how you close the door now. For the past few weeks, she gets out, stands by the door and says softly, “Close door, close door, close door…” until mom or dad realize she’s doing it and can get to the remote. I feel bad in a way, making her think she can control the door with her voice…but it’s really cute.

J

All right, there are geckos everywhere here. At first, I thought they were kind of cool. The Geico commercials certainly make them look cute, yet sophisticated. Well, I’m here to tell you, they’re a little creepy, they make weird noises, they get in the house and they tend to freak me out when I grab a cup out of the cabinet and there’s one stuck to the side wall staring at me. They have that look on their face like, “If I don’t move, maybe they won’t notice THE 3 INCH LIZARD IN THE CABINET!” They are considered good luck, but I think the only good luck is trying to keep the house free of gecko poop. They do eat bugs, but I’m not sure it’s worth it. OK, you get the point. I’m done venting for the day.

J

Offspring #2 (4 yrs old) said at lunch today “Dad, I don’t want to follow God - I want to do what I want to do”. This was shocking to me at first - all I could think was that we’ve already gone wrong with this one. He is quite the independent one; seems he will never submit to anyone. I wondered how anyone could actually speak these words out loud?? And then I realized, don’t we all really say this to God at least once a day, if not more. We don’t actually look up to the sky and say it but through the things we do we are communicating to Him that we don’t want to follow Him. Don’t we know what God wants us to do by reading it in the bible, listening to the Holy Spirit and (some) even hear His audible voice and yet with our very actions we say “NO”.

We know God says in James 1:19 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” but we still fly off the handle at our spouses or children

He also says in Colossians 3:13 “You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” and yet we still hold a grudge against family members or former friends.

Lucky for us, if we have accepted Christ as our Lord, His grace is enough to cover all of our mess-ups each day and He just continues to loves us more and more. (See Romans, yes….all of it!)

~S

If you know me, you know I don’t really have anything to say politically. My friend Bryan usually does though, and I have to admit, he’s often spot-on. So, wanting to make a difference in his community, he stepped out by running for city council. After months of hard campaigning, posting signs, spending money and kissing babies, the campaign is over and the results are in. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. With 98% of the votes in, he’s just short of second place. The top two vote getters are in. Third place gets…third place.

My heart goes out to this guy. I know he really wanted the job and he would have been great at it. But, it was not meant to be. Although not elected by men, the Ohio Guy should rest assured that there is plenty to do in God’s kingdom and take comfort that He has chosen Bryan to carry out His will. Don’t worry! Cuba can use more Ohio Guys than Kettering ever could!

J

Tom Turkey made his Pacific debut the other day. In the wake of 8-foot inflatable pumpkins, mummies and ghosts, this good old-fashioned 4-foot turkey should fit right in. As my neighbor so eloquently put it, “Nothing is too tacky for Hawaii.” I think that is very true as I brace for the sight of 10-foot inflatable snow globes. I do think that I’ll have a corner on the market for tacky Thanksgiving lawn decorations. I didn’t see a whole lot of them in Home Depot or WalMart.

J

Thanks to the Ohio Guy for not only providing some BLOG fodder, but giving me a chance to answer some questions that are on all of your minds (admit it…you all ask these questions deep down). So, here are the six questions that you always wanted to ask about Hawaii:

Q1) Do you all in Hawaii really eat a lot of spam?
Personally…no. However, it is very abundantly served here. You can even get a SPAM and rice breakfast meal at McDonalds. For a brief history on Hawaii and SPAM, see this article.

Q2) Are pineapples cheaper there than here? DO they come in cans?
OH YEAH! Not only are they cheaper, but they taste a lot better too. I think Wifey paid $1.70 for the last pineapple we bought. When we were at the Dole plantaion, I had pineapple ice cream with crushed pineapple topping. Wow - you’ve never had ice cream this good (no offense Ohio Tom)! They also had the coolest gadgets for cutting and slicing pineapples. Dole used to have a canning operation here until about 1991, but they have since closed it and export pineapples whole. The reason they taste so much better here is because we export all the not-so-good ones back to the mainland. Sorry about that, but I appreciate your sacrifice.

Q3) Do Hawaiians really wear Hawaiian shirts?
Without a doubt! However, they call them “Aloha” (see question 5) shirts over here. It’s kind of like Chinese Food in China…they just call it food.

Q4) How do you spell Hawaiian?
Great question! Hawaiian

Q5) Do you really say Aloha for hello and goodbye?
Again, personally, no. But Aloha is a generically used word here that means a lot of things…hello, goodbye, love, care, etc. For example, the construction signs here often say, “Drive with Aloha.” If you figure out what that means, please tell me and then we’ll both know.

Of course, if you’re at a Luau, it’s pronounced, “ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.”

I do say “Mahalo” - which means “Thank You.” I used to think it was Hawaiian for “trash can” (it’s written on the swinging doors of the trash cans at Burger King and McDonald’s). Just think about it for a minute and it will come to you.

Q6) Have you ever seen “the Dog” bounty hunter?
Not yet, but I’m looking. I don’t think he’s really that well respected here, though. The driver on a bus tour we took didn’t speak very highly of him and he thinks “The Dog” gives Hawaiians (see question 4) a bad name. I watched the show a couple of times…it helps me to know what parts of the island to stay out of.

There you have it - the six questions that you were afraid to ask. Thanks again to the Ohio Guy for having the courage to speak up.

J

Halloween brought out the trick-or-treaters in full swing last night. Of course, you can tell the ones that are a little too old because they collect their goods in a pillowcase. But, the one that took the cake (ha) was the kid who came to the door with his backpack strapped to his chest (i.e. he was wearing it backwards). No cute pumpkin bucket, not even a pillowcase…a backpack. Oh it gets better. He calls out “trick-or-treat” and then unzips the backpack to reveal the ugly truth - it’s not even empty. It has books, papers and what’s left of the day’s lunch inside. He has to peel back the homework to make room for the goods. Did I mention that he wasn’t really even wearing a costume? It was more like camo pants and a camo shirt. I think he had worn it to school that day.

OK - enough about the not-so-cute. Here’s the group - representing Star Wars Episodes 1, 3 & 4. Qui-Gon, played by Dad (not pictured), Darth Vader, played by offspring #2, Princess Leia, played by offspring #3, and Blue Clone Trooper, played by offspring #1.

J