Hawaii Diarii, Day 3, Part 2

Well, the Hurricanes won the Cup. I'm glad - they had three ex-Penguins/Flyers, including one of my favorites, Mark Recchi, and one of Dave's favorites, Rod Brind'Amour.

Plus, I'm happy for Glen Wesley, who's played FOREVER and never won the Cup.

• I wound up back at the original sports bar, because the other one had the baseball game on, and while I'm a Yankees fan, this was Game 7! So I drank my way through, sympathizing with the other hockey fan present, who was rooting for the Oilers.

• Then I went to try and find where this trolley I keep seeing picks people up. I thought I'd take a ride to sober up, maybe go out to this big Hawaiian-stuff store I keep seeing ads for. But I never figured it out. Just walked until my leg hurt.

• I did, however, find another cool place to eat: Cheeseburger Waikiki. It's exactly what it sounds like, a cheeseburger place here amid all the seafood. Yum.

• It was a return to the beach, where I read my book until it got too dark, and then sat and watched the waves for a while. It was nice. I was thinking about a sort of rebirth out here in paradise, though the cynic in me scoffs and points out it's not like things will be different when I get back. Work will still be stressful, the pains in my butt will still be pains, and so forth. But it was nice to think about, listening to the waves and some music from a nearby hotel in the torch-lit darkness. Even though drowning looks like it must be one of the worst ways to die, I can sort of understand the romance of the star-crossed lover walking out into the sea. I really could get to like the beach, even if I never really get to like swimming.

• Snorkeling tomorrow, with some convention folks who posted on the listserv. First time, but hey, the gun thing went well. I bought some equipment instead of renting, that's how confident I am that I'll love it. I've always loved the undersea, but been sort of turned off by my so-so swimming skills (strong, but slow) and my general inability to see. But I'm going to risk it, with contacts under the mask, and I hope I'll see some of the sights I've always wanted to. After all, why else am I here, but to get my ass in gear, and not just careerwise.

It's 8:45 local time, and I think I'm going to go out and maybe have one more drink, or maybe just walk back up to the main drag and get some BBQ to go. I'm hungry. Then I suppose it's early to bed, to go with early to rise. Wake-up call is for an appalling 6 a.m., except that's really what I like to think of as "noon." Or when I get up anyway.

Oh, and friends don't let friends text-message drunk, but I don't have any friends here. So I texted Sari, who was glad I was drunk and having a good time, and Dave, who was astounded to discover I was in Hawaii, and drunk.

But I'm sober now. And hungry.

On to the next part!