Gotta love the coincidence. Each year when the First Family spends their holiday vacation in Hawaii, there’s typically a power outage. I believe this started happening from 2008. The start of 2015 is no different. On this stormy night, several locations are without power.
Good night and thanks to AT&T for their LTE network that’s still working.
Any of you use Raise.com to buy or sell gift cards? Raise offers gift cards from a variety of vendors at a discounted price. How and why are these discounts available I don’t know. Supposedly, these are unwanted gift cards that you or I receive but don’t want. So instead of letting the gift cards sit there, you sell them on Raise. Then people who want the cards buy them, giving you value for your unwanted cards.
This is definitely an intriguing idea but where the discounts come from frighten me a little, especially for companies like Starbucks and Apple that don’t typically offer discounts for their in-demand products. But at 15% off, my frugality overcame my fear and I ordered $100 worth of Starbucks cards for $85. The eGift/vouchers arrived via email right away so that was reassuring. But then I didn’t understand how to redeem them – an account number and PIN? Where does Starbucks use that online?
Instead, I printed the physical vouchers with bar codes and took them to a Starbucks. I had purchased four $25 cards and of these four, two had zero balances. Aw boo. The employee said she couldn’t do anything in the store and that I had to contact Starbucks corporate to work this out. Fortunately, Raise.com has an excellent guarantee program. Getting through on the phone took about 15 minutes, but I was refunded for the full amount for the two invalid cards.
So I have mixed feelings about using Raise. It’s a great idea for sure, but you may have to deal with some extra hassles.
If you shopped Macy’s at Ala Moana during the holidays, you probably ran into this sign located on one of the upper floor exits.
What’s that? You can’t read that sign printed on 8.5×11 paper using a small font? You were one of those who approached the doors, straining to read the sign from afar. Only to see this.
I guess Macy’s has no way of printing something that doesn’t follow the template of their sale signs?
What visions can be had while crabbing at night at Bellows? Let’s take a look…
You can find the closest thing to a snowman in Hawaii – a “snowman” made from sand.
And not just one, but here’s another sandman with some accoutrements. He does look happy though.
Personally, I was amazed at this pyramid. Very symmetrical, very smooth, and the detailing!
Speaking of smooth and symmetrical, these sandballs were just sitting there begging to be thrown. But because of their perfection, you just couldn’t bring yourself to launch one of these sandy spheres.
Anyone lost their shades?
Oh, and of course, the reason for being at Bellows at night? Catching crabs for fun. This was a big guy. When we first found him, he didn’t move at all, appearing dead. But then he went into action showing of his claws, snapping them as he tried to make his escape. Yes, he was released at the end of the hunt.
Thanks ThinkUp! They’ve conveniently analyzed my tweets from 2014 and compiled my “biggest” for each month. My tweets talk about Lego, Hawaii traffic, Hurricane Iselle, “alternation,” iPhone 6 cases, the Honolulu Marathon, and #liehagi. Go check it out.
https://twitter.com/geewhy/status/528429906443911168/
If you were to visit China, you have to be ready for different rules for the Internet. In this case, “the Internet” is not really the Internet with the Great Firewall of China blocking access to some popular American sites. Sites that are banned fluctuate so just never know. Most recently access to Gmail seemed spotty.
But fans of Pulpconnection don’t have to fret just yet. Pulpconnection.net is allowed passage across the Great Firewall of China.
If I were to tour China, I’d want comfortable and supportive shoes. From a Nike point of view, I’d look for shoes featuring Air Max 360. That massive air bubble is a dream to walk on yet is stiff enough to take a beating. Reminiscent of my previous Air Max Trainer 1.3 that served me well at Disneyland, I’d would go with the odd looking Air Max PacFly in either red or green. The red colorway looks vaguely similar to my red Trainer 1.3, so I’d go with the earthy green to mix it up.
How much, well, actually when do these kicks drop is the main question…
Here’s what Pulpconnection looked like from the WordPress’ annual report for 2014. Most of the stats are personally underwhelming, but hey, it’s not about the bass, right?
See @abaggy, I told you the new BMW i3 stirs up controversy as it got the most comments on my blog this year. Oh, and thanks for being the most active Pulpconnection commenter. 😉
Check out Pulpconnection’s 2014 annual blogging report.
I guess I really can’t complain because a ten percent discount is still a ten percent discount. Although I think the tax and bottling fees essentially negates that saved 10% off the $1.95 bottled water.
I’ve never actually watched the televised challenges of those vying to be a ninja warrior, so I’m not familiar with the show, either the original Japanese version or the American one. However, it seems like Ninja Warrior is setting up for a shoot at the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Sorry, I don’t have any more details, but with the number of Japanese workers on set, I’m guessing this is for the Japan series.
Although the Hawaii-Wichita St. matchup was my overall favorite game, the best individual highlight came from the Hawaii-Colorado game on Christmas day of the Diamond Head Classic. Colorado’s guard, Askia Booker, was cleared for a break away layup before UH’s 6-2 senior guard, Garrett Nevels, met him at the rim for the rejection. Although I missed the actual block, I did manage to record the replay.
The best basketball game I saw during the holidays has to be Hawaii’s narrow loss to the Wichita State Shockers in the Diamond Head Classic. Ranked #11 in the country, the Shockers’ offensive putback in the closing seconds of overtime sealed UH’s fate. Still though, the Warriors surprisingly went blow for blow in this matchup, and I was there to watch.
