Prepare for traffic increases - No school busses - with bonus Waipio lore

[kalianna]

I have a friend whoʻs lived in Waipio Valley for decades. For a time, he was the caretaker of the treehouse. Great place. My favorite thing there was a Japanese tub, about 3ʻ x 3ʻ by 3ʻ. Nice and warm. Heated by wood fire. He also got along fine with Linda. Good times.

[terracore]

I was told that the problem was not enough drivers with a CDL license, in large part because of not being able to pass the drug tests.  

Of course nobody should show up to work, especially bus driving, impaired or under the influence of anything.  The problem is the archaic and failed "war on some drugs" that started in the 1980s.  CDL holders in some classes (including passenger transport) have mandatory drug testing.  The "drug" that is keeping these positions from being filled is the pot, because the tests that they require are not capable of establishing if somebody is under the influence, or if that happened weeks prior.  The tests aren't capable of establishing if a person was ever impaired, just that they had consumed it hours, days, or even weeks before.  The tests don't even look for THC, they look for metabolites that THC breaks down into.  

There are testing options that could be utilized that detect impairment and at least rule out use that happened days or weeks ago, but they aren't allowed to use them. But you know what bus drivers can do?  They can show up to work so hungover from alcohol from the night before that they can't see or walk straight, and they won't fail a test for it.  Heck, they can drive the bus tripping balls from LSD, magic shrooms, or a synthetic THC variant if they want, they don't test for any of those.

So that's why there aren't enough CDL drivers.  There are plenty of other jobs available that don't micromanage a worker's personal time off away from work.  If somebody likes taking the pot on their days off, they have other options.  And as somebody who was drug free and regularly tested for 30 years, the process of pissing in a cup in a comically fake laboratory setting under the "guilty until proven innocent by your piss" assumption gets old really quick.  My favorite part was having to sign the bottle of piss to authenticate it was mine.  I tried to find some humor in it, asking the fake lab technician, "are you asking me to autograph my piss?"  Yes.  Please sign your piss.  And then... they always gave me a receipt for my piss.  A big 8.5 x 11 document completely full of text in a tiny font.  What's the receipt for?  It's not like I'm going to try and exchange or return it.  There was no prize or freebie if I collected 10 of them or whatever.

[MyManao]

She also had a neighbor 

He resented her being there, owning that spot, and having a say in what happened with the water upstream of his lo'i. 

Morgan made it difficult for everyone around him.. and made access to her and her neighbor's land virtually impossible at times. He tried to do that to the rest of us that had to pass his way. The land I have there now is at the base of Naalapa, Hawi side of the rope swing.. I have to go past his place to get to mine..

There was another Stephen also involved in the tree house's construction. 

To put things into perspective, since you seem to have these references in mind, back then I built what went on to become known as the Round House. It never was that to me, the building is a pentagon, but the folks who bought it fancied it as such.. 

And no there were and are no school buses.. lol!

[Punatang]

I know that spot. Good for you.  You have to cross all seven rivers to get there.  Easy to get locked in or out.  Yea, I don't want to say too much about Mr. T. or any of the characters.  Small island.  But I hear you.  Did Suzy buy your creation directly from you or was there someone in between?  I was thinking about her and Banyan the other day.  I made my very first Lau Lau ever at the round house some decades ago. LOL.  Hanalei and Kekai showed me how and there was a passionate discussion on the merits of pork butt vs turkey tail.  Whatever you do, don't forget the buttafish!

Several Hawaiians and l used to go at night and block the flow of water into the auwai that ran Hawi of Linda's.  The auwai would run almost dry and we could then quickly fill up 5 gallon buckets with fat prawns and an occasional crawfish.  We wore headlamps and they would just come toward the light.  Prawns and Ho'i'o got me through a number of high water events when the pantry stocks were low.  What an amazing chapter.

Those kids deserve a 4 wheel drive school bus' and a sober CDL driver.

Terracore, I concur completely with your assessment of CDLs and the pot.

[MyManao]

Did Suzy buy..

Yes, Dexter and.. directly.. and how young we all were..

As to getting around.. to get to Naalapa it's like going to the county fair just getting in and out. Although with Mr T's passing things are looking up.. lol!

(say something about school buses here)

[Punatang]

I have a friend whoʻs lived in Waipio Valley for decades.  For a time, he was the caretaker of the treehouse.  Great place.  My favorite thing there was a Japanese tub, about 3ʻ x 3ʻ by 3ʻ.  Nice and warm.  Heated by wood fire.  He also got along fine with Linda.  Good times.

Kaliana that hot tub was the bomb.  It was especially nice after a swim in the cold pool you could climb up to in the waterfall.  Linda was a visionary and that place was magical.

I gave her rides to many places but never in a school bus'.

[punikahakaiferret]

I love hearing about this magical Linda and how wonderfully simple, savvy, and self-sufficient folks were in Waipio...brings to mind the stories from Taylor Camp on Kauai...(yes, I own and regularly watch that documentary)...guess I'm a too-young-wannabe hippie out of time.

Thanks for the tales!

[kalianna]

Ok, now this is getting weird. Same friend who lived in the tree house moved to... the round house. Yes, itʻs a pentagon. Small island, eh?

[Punatang]

LOL no it's not that weird.  There was always a revolving door between those two places with work traders, caretakers, and the like.  The round house was like a farm with kind of a woofer model.  But people also paid to stay there.  Linda usually had a caretaker or two to help her keep her vacation rentals, home and property together.  Linda would routinely poach Suzys talent and when people left Linda's, if they wanted to stay in the valley, the round house was a natural choice but definitely a demotion.  Linda was into expensive sake.  At the round house they guzzled Milwakee's best LOL.  And now you know - the rest of the story.

[MyManao]

Linda was into expensive sake..

I am amazed she doesn't have a wikipedia page.. although I found this..

https://diedontime.wordpress.com/2012/02...-in-1950s/

Which starts..

Linda Beech was a globe-trotting correspondent for the Chicago Daily News who wound up as the madcap star of a late-1950s TV show dubbed the “I Love Lucy” of Japan. Mrs. Beech starred in “Blue Eyes Tokyo Diary,” portraying a transplanted American in Tokyo...

More at the link..

And now you know - more of the story.