Pros and Cons

When I'm not busy obsessing about the new iPhone, something that I'd like to have but have no real reason for doing so, I'm thinking about Hawaii. I guess my mom said that we've got Hawaii on the brain. But here's some of the things we've been thinking about. And tonight, after being bombarded with another storm, it's another thing to think about.

WEATHER/ENVIRONMENT

Con - No change in weather, seems to be in the mid eighties all year round with some rain. Possible Volcano activity, vog (volcanic ash, like smog), and there's a hurricane season. No snow, which would be a bit of a bummer for the kids. Alex tends to get overheat easily. Tsunamis aren't out of the question.

Pro - Snow was fun today - for about 15 minutes. Then appendages got cold and it got old. Plus my mom and wife are now stuck in traffic likely, so it's not that great sometimes. For some reason, people in Seattle just have problems driving in the snow. We never really came into this problem as much in Bellingham. And yeah, the weather is pretty constant, but I'm an island boy anyway, and never going above 80 ain't so bad. Alex and Zoe need to regulate their outside time anyway, we can't sit in the sun all day. And luckily, we won't be able to afford anything with an ocean view, and will likely be inland.

EDUCATION

Con - Hawaii's school system is infamously ill structured, and the test scores and fallout from the No Child Left Behind Act is really discouraging. The reading and math levels are probably the lowest for all the states.

Pro - To quote one of the websites - no metal detectors, few gangs, low violence. And probably the most important thing of all, study habits will have to be built from home, not school. We actually know this from within because we've had two in our family with a good opportunity with our public schools in Washington, and so far one hasn't gone to college and the other is failing her second year as a Junior. I don't have to worry about the safety of my children as much.

JOBS

Con - It's true, most of the jobs are tourism based, low paying, and some people do have to work two jobs in order to make ends meet.

Pro - I have videography, which is a pretty sweet chip to play if I need the money. Think about it. People go to Maui to get married (because it's lower key and more romantic than the bustling Oahu, but with more attractions than the Big Island), and they do this probably all year round. And because they're on vacation, they could get married theoretically any day of the week. This is all hypothesis, of course. But I'll likely start off doing something more practical to start off, to pay for rent and living expenses. Besides, it's not like I'm the president over here or anything. I've got nothing to step down from.

COST OF LIVING

Con - High, high, high. 8 bucks for milk, for example, and almost everything is a buck more than the mainland. Beef is oddly replaced by an abundant of Spam. Driving is expensive, eating out is expensive. What the locals like to call, "Paradise Tax."

Pro - Well, one of the things that I've always wanted to do is to minimalize my life. Seriously, you hear about how uncluttering your life will free up all your stress. Suddenly you don't worry about aquiring more stuff, which in the end, can't take it with you. We'll likely give up a lot of luxury items and learn to simplify our lives. Of course, I'm a bit of a gadget freak, so it'll be fighting my nature.

ISLAND FEVER

Con - People get claustrauphobic living on an island, because they can't go on road trips, unless you count looping the island. A lot of people end up moving back within months, or within a few years because they get so bored and sick of the same thing over and over again. I do tend to have this deal whereby I need a big trip every other year to unravel.

Pro - I used to live on an island, which doesn't really count since I was technically only 14, so I couldn't think of any alternative anyway. But even living in Bellingham and here in Seattle, I don't really wander anywhere past 100 miles either way, except once in a while. Trips we take are by plane, which though expensive from Hawaii, isn't out of the question. Besides, there are the other islands we could visit for smaller trips.

Anyway, there's a slew of other stuff I can talk about, but for right now, I'll leave it at that.

And I'll try to make my next post about something other than Hawaii.