Life in Hawaii

I recently took a break from all business obligations to get away from it all where I attended classes at the University of Hawaii, as well as the beach several times a week.  Pictures do most of the talking.

It was interesting being away from the business world for a while, though in my spare time I did the IncTrade company experiment and a web project called OpenBlogger.  The business back at home was cut down in volume significantly before I left, as I anticipated being gone for six to eight months.  I was still able to field projects to Hawaii that were computer & internet related that I could do in my free time.  It didn’t take much time for me to get the projects done, so I still had a good bit of free time and not much to do…

To keep an active lifestyle and really get to experience the culture in Hawaii, I did something I thought would never happen to me.  I have been financially stable without ever having a payroll job in my life, until I decided to take a position as general labor for Island Demo, Inc. I fell directly into the “Demolition” category.

Island Demo, Inc. has been providing demolition, recycling, and truck repair service to the Honolulu area since 1988. Do you have a building to demolish?   We can handle the tear-down and removal of all rubble and debris.  If you are renovating, we also specialize in interior demolition projects. No job is too big or too small.

After tearing down walls and loading debris into big trucks for about three weeks, the CEO and Senior Estimator finally realized my capabilities and got me out of the field and into the office.  The new task was to update their terrible looking early 90′s website into something a little bit cleaner.  The end result isn’t fancy, but fit a large demolition company style (http://www.islanddemo.com).  After the website redesign project, I was introduced to estimating where I quickly became what we could call Junior Estimator.  Basically, I drove around in a 1998 military style restored H1 Hummer (pictures above) and looked at structures that would eventually be demolished.

CEO Mike Leary gave some pretty good insight to the world of business, especially in the industrial side of things.  He is just another inspiration to add to the list who has made it big in business.  I took notes from many early morning chats before work started about how he achieved success and every tip he had to give.

Aside from working at Island Demo, I spent a great deal of time surfing, exploring waterfalls, hiking trails, Diamond Head Crater, North Shore, getting a taste of the nightlife, hanging out with locals, and probably best of all- grilling in the backyard and spending time with my Hawaii family (Chris, Adam, Aaron, and Dylan).  Many Alohas to them.