11-20-2021, 04:22 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-20-2021, 04:32 AM by Punaperson.)
Kalakoa: "It only sounds like complaining because I have an attitude problem.
I can only conclude that people who really want to live here (for whatever reason) will tolerate everything that entails -- natural disasters, limited healthcare options, high prices, and a government that actively steals from the public. Mismanagement of the pandemic was just too much for me, so I'm looking at other options."
Yes, in my limited personal experience, those of us that choose to live here do so deliberately. The calendar has just turned on 40 years of moving here from Oahu ( we left in 1981 was because it was getting too crowded ! ). It is a deliberate choice - few people end up in Puna on the way to somewhere else.
Natural disasters - I was able to sit on my lanai and see both high fountaining from the early Kilauea eruptions and Mauna Loa going off at the same time from the ease of my chair and a cold beer. I would call that a good trade off with the H-1 freeway traffic. I was able to walk up to the very edge of the Kalapana flows and literally poke a stick into the front edge of a moving finger of lava. I still keep a pair of Converse All Stars that have melted soles because I paused a bit too long to admire the beauty and amazement of watching flowing liquid rock . I had the privilege of watching land being born. We have stories of how we drank "Big Wave" beer on the cliffs at the bottom of HPP while waiting for reports of the 3rd tsunami in a few months after helping people move to higher ground. I worked less than 2 miles from the 'plume of doom' in 2018, and saw and was able to participate in people depending on each other, being kind instead of antagonistic and cynical.
Limited health care options: I have written about the horrible situation my friend of who needed cancer surgery and was forced to go to California because non-vaxxed covid people overwhelmed Oahu hospitals. That is more a problem of people's selfishness/ignorance/stupidity than of Puna specifically.
High prices: the running joke at our house was that our mortgage was paid off really early because we didn't have to buy snow tires, panty hose, or pay a heating bill in the winter. We just had to buy an extra pair of long pants and socks. (Flannel sheets turned out to be a great investment too.) One of my family spent $1200 last winter because they needed 4 snow tires. I can thankfully say I have no idea what pantyhose costs these days .
A government that actively steals from the public: I don't know if you remember Frank Fasi, old mayor of Honolulu. He actually got many, many things done, from the TheBus to TheTrash bins. His unofficial motto was 'you can trust him - if you buy him, he stays bought'. I don't know the government of the state you moved from, but having lived in several areas of the mainland before I ended up on Oahu, there are few places than can offer 'honest' government. It is always 'who you know', and 'how much $ can you donate'. Hawaii is no different.
Mismanagement of the pandemic: after every time I spoke to family/ friends on the mainland and listened to their descriptions of life as they had to live it, I would go outside, and take a deep breath. No where is perfect. If you see the 'grass is greener' somewhere else, go for it.
I can only conclude that people who really want to live here (for whatever reason) will tolerate everything that entails -- natural disasters, limited healthcare options, high prices, and a government that actively steals from the public. Mismanagement of the pandemic was just too much for me, so I'm looking at other options."
Yes, in my limited personal experience, those of us that choose to live here do so deliberately. The calendar has just turned on 40 years of moving here from Oahu ( we left in 1981 was because it was getting too crowded ! ). It is a deliberate choice - few people end up in Puna on the way to somewhere else.
Natural disasters - I was able to sit on my lanai and see both high fountaining from the early Kilauea eruptions and Mauna Loa going off at the same time from the ease of my chair and a cold beer. I would call that a good trade off with the H-1 freeway traffic. I was able to walk up to the very edge of the Kalapana flows and literally poke a stick into the front edge of a moving finger of lava. I still keep a pair of Converse All Stars that have melted soles because I paused a bit too long to admire the beauty and amazement of watching flowing liquid rock . I had the privilege of watching land being born. We have stories of how we drank "Big Wave" beer on the cliffs at the bottom of HPP while waiting for reports of the 3rd tsunami in a few months after helping people move to higher ground. I worked less than 2 miles from the 'plume of doom' in 2018, and saw and was able to participate in people depending on each other, being kind instead of antagonistic and cynical.
Limited health care options: I have written about the horrible situation my friend of who needed cancer surgery and was forced to go to California because non-vaxxed covid people overwhelmed Oahu hospitals. That is more a problem of people's selfishness/ignorance/stupidity than of Puna specifically.
High prices: the running joke at our house was that our mortgage was paid off really early because we didn't have to buy snow tires, panty hose, or pay a heating bill in the winter. We just had to buy an extra pair of long pants and socks. (Flannel sheets turned out to be a great investment too.) One of my family spent $1200 last winter because they needed 4 snow tires. I can thankfully say I have no idea what pantyhose costs these days .
A government that actively steals from the public: I don't know if you remember Frank Fasi, old mayor of Honolulu. He actually got many, many things done, from the TheBus to TheTrash bins. His unofficial motto was 'you can trust him - if you buy him, he stays bought'. I don't know the government of the state you moved from, but having lived in several areas of the mainland before I ended up on Oahu, there are few places than can offer 'honest' government. It is always 'who you know', and 'how much $ can you donate'. Hawaii is no different.
Mismanagement of the pandemic: after every time I spoke to family/ friends on the mainland and listened to their descriptions of life as they had to live it, I would go outside, and take a deep breath. No where is perfect. If you see the 'grass is greener' somewhere else, go for it.