Pleasant people

@postaday 53; #postaday2011

Last week a hormonal haze hovered over me, rendering me museless. I tried, I really tried, to work through it. So I welcomed this three-day weekend. On Saturday I took the girls to Sandy Beach where a brief splash in the ocean did me and my hair a lot of good. On Sunday, we drove around Oahu to follow the Metric Century route, somewhat, and ate at Cholo’s in the North Shore Marketplace. I have never had a mojito so potent. On Monday we got stuff done around the house. Each of those three days I woke up and went for a bicycle ride. My brain got a little clearer with each ride. I kept encountering people who were friendly, too. It really lifted my spirits! John ran in the Great Aloha Run on Monday morning. By the time Monday evening rolled around, we enjoyed a relaxing family dinner of grilled steaks and veggies.

Back to work this morning after I dropped the van off in Kakaako for servicing. She’s good as new thanks to Kyle’s Automotive and Ray’s Tranmission. Those two small Hawaii businesses work in tandem to deliver great and truthful service, reasonably price, without the exciting nail-biting edge-of-your-seat “service” by other companies that are hell bent on finding new things wrong so they can pad your bill. No kidding. I was warned that Kyle was a man of few words and might be kind of gruff. At 6:45 in the morning, there aren’t many people who can match my morning glow, so I checked myself. He was OK. He didn’t bite my head off, but he got rid of me right quick.

After work, one of my dear colleagues and Facebook friends gave me a ride back to Kakaako to retrieve the refreshed van. His lot clear, I found Kyle again in his office at his computer. We had a friendly and easy conversation about things. He had nothing to say about the van. It was fine. And it always will be because we’ll be counting on him to take care of it for us. As I wrote out the check to pay the bill, he handed me the receipt and a CD of music. It said “Valentine Mix” on it.

“Here, in case you didn’t get a Valentine this year,” he said.

Well, of course I did, but I certainly made a fuss and thanked him for it. So far the fifth track is my favorite: A bluesy Bonnie Rait number heavy with whiny guitar licks. The kids made me turn it off. I’ll give the rest of it a listen tomorrow. I took out the CD that was in the van and left it out for the guy who’s been my Valentine for a little while now. It’s one of his favorites and he can have it in his Fit.

Sorry for the late entry, folks. Love, me.