Driving around in my automobile....

Now I haven't had a car in two years. I relied on public transportation to get me everywhere in D.C. and, for the most part, it was very reliable and not terribly difficult to get around. But there were days when I longed for a car. You know, for that midnight quick trip to the grocery store for some cookie dough and ice cream or to take a weekend drive to some historic place with great scenery. There when days when walking those 10 minutes to the grocery store felt like forever or the injustice of having to carry everything back in my backbag seemed too much to bear. So I looked forward to moving to Hawaii and finally being able to buy myself a car so I could go where ever I wanted to go. And now I have it....a grey blue 1990 Lexus LS400 to call my very own. She's still in good shape and runs well, though the air conditioner could use a little pick-me-up and what's more....she's mine and I have her key and I get to drive her. (Of course the only places I drive to these days are Wal-Mart and Costco, but whatever...)

Now the excitement and freedom of having a new car comes with a price....and the price I have to pay is driving on Hawaiian roads with Hawaiian drivers. See, there's this little thing called "aloha spirit" or something like that wherein people feel the need to drive 10 miles UNDER the speed limit to prove that, no this isn't the mainland, and yes, they're in no hurry to rush through life. That's super great for them, but I am in hurry and I am from the mainland and was taught to drive on the freeways and highways of Southern California and I am stuck behind your slow vehicle. I do not think it's fine to go 35 on the highway and no, it's not okay to go slow down to 25 in a 45 mile zone. Even more exciting are the endlessly annoying and ridiculously convoluted roads here. I know we're on an island, but that doesn't mean all the roads have to go around in a circle! Nothing goes the way you expect and getting on and off the highway is a complicated nightmare. But at least I am on Oahu, where they have a freeway system, and not on one of the other islands with their 3 roads and two-lane highways.

But of course, no matter where I'm driving, there comes a point, just coming down Kam Highway, or driving up a hill in Mililani, when I catch a glimpse of the ocean sparkling down below, or I see the ships resting in the harbor and I remember that I live in Hawaii and it's all good.


But I still want to drive the speed limit.