News from last week

Work continues to get more interesting.  We’re heading into crunch time with one of the applications I’m helping with.  Another, where I’ll be the developer supporting the other team, has had several meetings.  I've learned how the initial developer has the work put together, but I’m also learning about the political situation in the office.

The picnic I went to last Sunday was fun, though there isn't anything to report from that.  On Thursday I went to a different event.  It was a get together put on by a company in Chinatown that just opened a coworking location.  I figured I’m not going to need it anytime soon, but many of the folks meeting there were well worth the trip.  I talked to several developers about mobile development and a website consultant about his business a little.  I also spent some time talking to a young man that is a senior at UH Manoa.  He co-founded an entrepreneur club there.  We spent some time talking about the differences in office culture between Hawaii and the mainland.  We also talked about the differences between the way developers see the world and the way business people see the world.  Particularly in the context of an event his club is involved with.  Start-up Weekend is what I remember him calling it.

The weather has warmed up and we've had a little bit of rain in my area of Honolulu.  I went to the Ala Moana beach on Saturday.  I went into the water briefly, but only part way up my shins.  I did spend a couple of hours working on getting a more even tan.  The farmer’s tan I got hiking up Diamond Head was pretty pronounced.  While I was at the beach I saw a rainbow over the Ala Moana Center.  I've seen a couple of rains like that since I arrived.  Mostly they don’t last very long and it never gets all the way overcast.  Generally, the sun is shining while the rain falls.

This next week is going to be quieter.  I might go to an art event at the local art museum Friday, but maybe not.  Then on Saturday the cable internet will finally be setup so I can stop tethering to my phone for internet.

Looking it over I've got a whole lot of posts that are part way done that I should finish since this is going to be a quite week.  I’ll give a quick list with one liner comments.

Zaratez Mexicatessen – This is a lunch place with pretty good burritos.  I've been twice.

La Pizza Rina – Italian food.  Don’t bother with the pizza.  I've heard better things about their lasagna and sandwiches.

Pho Bistro – Tasty Pho and decent service on a somewhat run down corner.

Yogur Story - Pretty good food with an odd mix of sandwiches and breakfast food.

Sorabol – A Korean restaurant with tasty food.

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers – A pretty good burger joint more or less across from Don Quijote.

There’s also a Vietnamese place just mauka from the Ala Moana Center that was quite good, though the name escapes me.

A tiny shop with no dedicated seating selling Korean food along with fish and chips further mauka on Ke'eaumoku St. 

A little unnamed stall in the food court at Don Quijote selling really good gyros.

Don Quijote – it’s like a guy that owned a general store heard about Walmart and Sam’s Club and decided he could do that in a shop selling lots of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese goods in a one story building that fills the block.  It’s kind of remarkable really.

Airbnb – It worked well for me and Skye, the lady renting the room, was great.  Could be a better price than the local hotels, but probably less reliable on quality and less able to handle unexpected changes.

TheBus – Honolulu’s bus system.  It works pretty well and at $2.50 one way it’s also very reasonably priced, though it doesn't compete on ETA when compared to a car.  I should see if Uber or a car-share app is available in my area.

Hopefully, I’ll make the time to put together more detailed reviews and commentary on these, but no bets.  I've been getting out exploring the area, which feels weird compared to my tendency to stay in when I was in Chicago or Indianapolis.