My Yellow NotePad: Some Memorial Weekend ballyhoo...it's a long one, read on for some goodness..

Last Friday I had tentative plans with a friend for a "Friday Funday." The last time we got together for a "funday" was when I wrecked my bike awhile back, so let's just say this Friday had a lot to live up to. It did not disappoint, and I didn't even have to wreck my bike at the end of the night.

I wasn't working so I spent a pretty exhausting day lying in the sun and then got a ride down to Lahaina to meet said friend, Anna, at the bar she works at. We had no plans, other than probably drinking some frothy beverages. Upon my arrival she showed me a picture on Craigslist of a car she had fallen in love with, a 1980 Corvette, that was across the island in Haiku. She immediately called the guy and told him not to sell it because she needed to buy it, and surprisingly the guy acquiesced to her request and said he'd hold the car for her. Now all was had to do was get to Haiku without a car.

We hustled (literally hustled; we had to run a quarter mile or so and it sucked..) to the bus and hopped Maui's finest public transportation to the airport so she could rent a car, as it was Friday after 5pm and Enterprise is most certainly NOT there to pick you up after 5pm on a Friday on Maui time. NO worries. But by the time we make it to Haiku it's pretty well dark out and this car has been sitting for a couple of years so the guy she's buying this gem from suggests we should wait until the daylight to drive it out of there.

O, a short aside here that I forgot. While we're on the bus she calls the owner to make sure it wasn't sold yet before she went ahead and rented the car...and he says no, it's not sold, but it need a battery. So while we waited for the bus to the airport we ran to Sears so she could buy a big ol' car battery, then brought it on the bus to the airport and the shuttle to the rental car place with a bunch of tourists. Welcome to Maui, indeed..

So essentially we drove to Haiku for no real reason Friday night as we decided not to drive the car out that evening. But he did fire it up, and man, I felt the rumble in my loins. It's got a 350 under the hood. It's pretty impressive. So in the end Friday Funday needed to continue into a Saturday Funday.

Another aside: Anna cannot drive a stick-shift automobile. The aforementioned 'Vette is a 4-speed stick. That was where I came in. I was the wheel man who was in charge of driving said 'Vette from Haiku back to the airport so Anna could drop off the rental, and then we'd both proceed back to the westside where I could drop said 'Vette at her place.

Cue Saturday morning. I have to work at noon-ish so we hustle up and get on the road early as it's about a 70 minute drive and we're going to have to stop at the airport to drop the rental off on our way back through but all's good as we get back to the scene of the 'Vette by 9:30am. Cash is exchanged, I hop in the driver's seat and we shove off. And that mother fucker (I'm really trying to cut down on profanity here but this whip just draws the cuss words out of me..) is scary fast. It's light as a feather and has a big old engine in the front and is rear wheel drive. Let's just say the ass end likes to get out and around. The gearbox is a little sticky so I'm trying to be gentle and this leads me to rev and spin a couple of times. I've never felt like more of a man than I did behind the wheel...and it lasts for all of about 3 minutes as it runs out of gas within spitting distance of the nearest gas station.

No sweat, Anna runs up to the station in the rental to get a can and I sit by the car to direct traffic around the bird so as not to get rear ended. There wasn't really a shoulder so I was more or less in the road...sue me. Anna heads up and gets gas, we get back and throw a couple gallons in the tank...and she keeps stalling out. ZOINKS! Anna calls the guy and he swings up as she's getting more gas and he pours some gas in the carb and she fires up good like, so I drive to said gas station and we throw some gallons in her. All's well; it'll be a little tight on time but we'll make it back just fine. Five hundred feet from the station she stalls out. Again. DOUBLE ZOINKS!!

I'm getting a little nervous now. I'm over an hour from Ka'anapali and it's getting on 10:30, and I don't like thinking about being late. She calls the guy again but he "went into town and doesn't have a cell phone" says his son, of course, so we're seeming to be swimming up shit creek without the proverbial paddle. I take it upon myself to pour some gas in the carb and she fires again...then stalls. So I pour more gas into the carb (feeling like a badass man each time, as I now have gas and grease on me..), fire it up, get it into reverse and hammer back towards the gas station, stalling out once in the middle of an intersection but repeating the process to get it parked off the road. Early on I damn near got hit be a speeding local in a jacked up Nissan Frontier but I shook that off and we made it back safe.

But this still leads to us being in Haiku and it getting close to 11am. Neither of us is impressed, as she bought a troublesome car and wanted to talk to the guy again...but I just wanted to get back to the westside for work. After some debate back and forth she gets a hold of another guy who knows slightly more about cars than I do who lives on the westside so I make it back for work and she picks this guy up, drives BACK to Haiku, and ends up getting it towed home so it can be worked on.

O, and it gets better: We documented some Saturday portions of Friday Funday. Enjoy.

This was what we drove up to...and trust me, the dirt road looked A LOT more inviting in the pitch dark..

Anna and her new friend...talking shop..

And yes. I'm god damn jealous of that beard.

Now on to the bread and butter..

And..

It's guy talk...you wouldn't understand. And I know what you're asking and the answer is yes. Those are flaming seat covers, and no, Anna did not pay extra for them.

And hanging loose, brah's.. No Maui album is complete without a "hang loose" being thrown. That's just the way it is. And no, that's not the light. That is my sick 'stache coming through. Sick in a totally bad way, as intended..

And, ya. That's not a parking lot..

The white building where the road bends? Ya...that's the gas station. ZOINKS!

At the end of the day it's still a fabulous purchase and it should just be some little fixes to get it up and running ASAP. And while this is not exactly a story centered on me, as I did not purchase the car, I have a sneakign suspicion I'll be behind the wheel enough down the line for it to come up again more than once as things continue on out here.

And if it's running by the end of the week then...YOU GUESSED IT: FRIDAY FUNDAY Vette'd OUT. Can't be mad about that..

This should really get it's own post but I'm short on time and don't have a lot of time to elaborate. I had my iPod on random today and a Jimi Hendrix song came on. I think it was Voodoo Chile, but I'm not certain on that. At any rate I only had one earbud in and let me tell you something: Jimi sounds crazy with only one earbud in. A lot of his stuff cross-fades the stereo so when you only get half and things are going in and out and it messes with your head. The best part: it messed with my head and I was sober, as I was on my way to work. Next time (intentionally, or otherwise..) I may not be so lucky.

But try it, Mikey. You'll like it.

I wasn't lying when I said the 'stache is a doosey:

Boo. Ya. Booya. Even the Latin kitchen folks have been commenting on it this week. That's how I know it's come in correctly. Cheers.

O, I just heard today that Dennis Hopper died. I don't know how long ago it happened, but he was tremendous in Speed. Hell of a good villain. As good as he was in Speed, however, he stole the show in True Romance as Clarence's pops.

RIP to a great actor. I've heard (read: I think I read it on IMDB but I'm not certain..) this whole scene was ad-libbed, too. I guess I should trace my roots a little better to find out if I'm part eggplant, too...Cheers (for real this time..).