Did you get it?

Did you get it? was Originally Posted on August 26, 2005 by lavarock

There used to be a sign on a coworkers desk that said:

If you always do what you always did,
You’ll always get what you always got.

Computers are kinds like that, in that if they fail if you run a particular program, you should not be surprised to see it fail if you run the program again.

Repeatability, that is the key!

Now speaking of repeatability… Enter Hurricane Katrina hitting Florida as I speak. I’m reading a news article where someone has been quoted as saying: “I’m so sick of this. It seems like every other week or month another one comes.”
To which my reply is, “So why did you move into an area populated by hurricanes if all you are going to do is complain about them?” This reminds me of living near Dulles Airport in Virginia. They began building developments just outside the airport and people moved in, primarily because land was cheap. THEN as more people moved in they started complaining that the planes made so much noise. HUH? They moved next to an existing airport, and then complained that there was noise. I have never heard a quiet airport. Did I miss something?

So I guess I still can’t figure out why someone complains when they purposely move to a small sliver of land sticking out in the middle of hurricane alley. Granted, I moved to Atlanta and did not check what the tornado situation was beforehand, but then again, how many people know that Atlanta has a higher incidence of tornados than other cities? There are some things worth checking in advance.

When I bought a house in Maryland, it was in a development with only 1 road leading out. I visited the neighborhood on workdays and weekends to see what traffic was like before buying the house. I wanted to know what the traffic patterns were at various times of the day.

So, people ask me about Hawaii. I moved here with my eyes wide open. I know that my island has pretty consistent weather. Some weeks the high and lows don’t change at all. For the next 10 days, here are the highs: 89, 88, 87, 88, 88, 89, 88, 89, 88, 87. We like our consistency! J

Also, I knew moving here that the island is large (well, this one is at least). That said, I did not (and have not) gone island happy. Oh it’s nice to take a trip to the mainland to do some shopping, but I have no longing to “get back” there. I’m content here.

Also, I know the dangers. We have earthquakes here (sometimes daily) but most of the time we never notice. This island is still growing and a bit of island settles all the time. We do NOT expect any kind of major earthquake, and this area is monitored more closely than most other areas of the globe. Why is that? Well, let’s see, it is easy to monitor here, and heck, if I have to monitor earthquakes, THIS is the place I would want to do it from.

We might get a lava flow, but most of the times lava flows from the volcanoes slowly and is not a source of worry. In fact the best way to determine if I am in danger is to ask my insurance company. I happen to live in a ZONE 3 area (on a scale of 1 to 5). I have lava insurance and it is pretty cheap, so the insurance company, with all of their charts and graphs, is NOT worried! ‘Nuff said!

Tsunamis? Well, yes we might get one and have had them in the past, but we are well prepared for them. Only a locally generated tsunami might cause loss of life, because the Pacific Ocean is littered with buoys and data to notify us hours in advance. This was not the case for those in Indonesia.

Hurricanes are another concern, but we have only had 1 really bad one in recent times, Iniki, and we saw it coming long in advance. In Florida there can be massive problems with hurricanes and standing water. Here we are on a slope and the water drains away. Not to take away from mainlanders and their preparation for disaster, but even with a prolonged power outage, most people here would do just fine. Ancient Hawaiian used to cook outdoors in an imu (underground oven) and anyone who has attended a luau here can attest, almost everyone here could create an imu if the need arose. Thus we would not stave, well, at least not soon. Most of the plants and fruits here are edible and so are the fish.

So when you live in the “middle of nowhere” you tend to be prepared. If there is a problem on your property your neighbors automatically help. I think here we know and treat our neighbors better because we realize that they may save our life someday. In Georgia I was there over 10 years and knew 3 of my neighbors in my development. Here I have been in Hawaii a year or two and know 20 of my close neighbors.

So in closing, I guess I am saying, “look before you leap”, “investigate” and “don’t complain if get what you got!” J