I'm alive!  Seeing if this still works. 

Thinking of a relaunch here

Been a long time.  Toying with the idea of relaunching the blog.  Anyone still listening in here?

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family. We can’t believe how fast this year has gone by….only yesterday, we were singing Christmas carols, opening presents and sipping hot chocolate by the tree… hey, wait… that WAS yesterday!  The time has whizzed by and we are reflecting on how blessed we are as we remember all the events of this past year.

Rich is in his 20th year at KITV. The Creative Services Department had a big move within the station. Their new office space is huge, very inviting and “artsy”. He still loves riding his bike all over and exploring new places. Rich and Em are doing well in their business. They went to Idaho for a business trip and got filled and inspired to work hard and serve others. Give them a call or “hey” if you would like to know more about it.

Bryan is a very tall (in our family anyway) 17 year old. He is a Junior at Hanalani Schools and has a challenging course load this year. He is taking Physics, Analytical Trigonometry / Geometry, Chemistry, Robotics, British Lit, Economics & Ethics. This is the year to impress us all. The highlight for Bryan this year was attending a 10 day leadership conference at the University of Maryland. He met students from all over the world and discovered that Electrical Engineering is his niche.

Bradley is a growing 13 year old. He is in the 8th grade at Hanalani and has really found his love for drawing and creating. He has a tough schedule this year too: Algebra, U.S History, Physical Science, Bible Survey, Art, Lit. & Composition, PE. He is doing well and improving on his writing skills. J While Bryan was at his conference, we took Bradley to The Villages, Florida, to spend time with Nana & Papa Fewell. He got to swing a few times at the driving range, play at Hard Knocks (laser tag), eat alligator, swim in the pool… It was a fun and relaxing 10 days. Bradley also went to Maui for their 8th grade trip. He had a great time with all the activities, except on the last day when at the pool he was playing with his friends and broke his big toe. He had to wear this very fashionable boot for 5 weeks. All healed now and ready to play basketball again.

Emily is quite busy these days. She volunteers at Hanalani Schools twice a week in the Campus Store and wherever else they need help. She is also got a new job at Hawaiian Islands Ministries. It’s a part time, temporary position: answering phones, registering people for the upcoming conference among other administrative duties. Even though its only a 3 month gig, Em is very excited to be working along side a great group of people and looking forward to see what the Lord has in store for this ministry and her family.

We are also very much involved with our church, New Hope Central Oahu-Haleiwa Campus. It’s amazing to see what God has done in and through this campus in the last year. We are truly blessed.

We hope you all have/had a wonderful Christmas & Happy New Year. May 2012 bring joy, happiness, love and laughter!

Rich, Em, Bryan & Bradley Fewell

Still Around

Anybody still out there? I'm still around! Life is good, AND very busy. Much of my time is spent at work, and much of the rest is spent with my family building our small business.

I remember the blogging days. I think they are gone for me now. Too much time.

Hope you are all well!

Peace, Love and Aloha!,

Rich


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Keaolani St,Mililani,United States

2 strange dreams

Weird night last night. 2 strange dreams.

In one I was being followed by 2 would-be robbers in a Mexican train stop, but I turned on them and gave them a piece of my mind and scared/shamed them into retreat.

In the second, I was with my family in the deep woods and we were detected and then stalked by an angry grizzly. I found an emergency kit which had pepper spray in it (convenient!) and I confronted the bear, squirted the most manini amount of spray into its eyes and it ran off into the woods.

In both instances I felt good about defending myself and standing my ground and being brave even if at first I was scared. Weird, huh? I don't know what my subconscious deems a threat but let the speculation begin! This time I don't know the right answer.

Happy Monday! Take a stand today!

Doing Our Family Business

Doing Our Family Business
Originally uploaded by RichFuel

Product pickup every Monday.

"What a Sight" by Bradley

Hi friends!

Bradley, my youngest son, turned 12 this month! I can't believe it. Time does indeed fly by!

One of the highlights of last year was our backpacking trip through Haleakala. Recently, for school, Bradley had to write a freeform poem, and he chose to write about our trip. I think it is EXCELLENT and I wanted to share it with all of you.:


What a Sight
By Bradley Fewell

Eager to go we packed our bags.
We were ready for the hike.
Our bags filled with only necessary items.
We set off to Haleakala.
Our first day was the longest of them all.
Three hours in I was tired and hungry.
All twenty-five pounds of my bag were weighing me down.
Although the pain was unbearable,
I still had time to enjoy the desert look of the scenery,

What a sight.

After a while the terrain turned from desert to forest.
The birds made it seem nicer.
Soon enough it was raining harder than you can imagine.
We finally arrived at the first cabin.
Nine miles in we weren’t turning back.
When it got dark the stars were amazing,
It was like you could see every one.

What a sight.

The second day was the easiest day of all,
only six miles of straight flat terrain to the next cabin.
We started off,
all we could see was sand and rocks as far as the eye could see.

What a sight.

Every so often you would hear a Nene goose honk.
Silver Sword littered all over the land.
We finally arrived at the second cabin.
We thought we could explore the caves before dark.
When we were in the caves,
we couldn’t see our hands in front of our face.

What a sight.

From the roof of the cave twenty feet above our head,
to having to crawl on our bellies.
We thought we would be out before dark,
we were wrong.
We were lost and cold.
Without streetlights it was completely black.
About thirty minutes later we saw the lights of our cabin.

What a sight.

The next day was the last day of our hike.
With our feet aching there were only four miles left.
The only problem was it was all uphill.
When we got to the top the view was amazing.
You could see everything,
from the desert, to the forest, to the plains, to the mountains.

What a sight.


The End


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Union Mall,Honolulu,United States

Life is Full,... and good

Hey Everybody,

Just wanted to check in and catch you up on what's happening here at the Fewell's.

Bradley just turned 12 on April 4th.  This will be our last year before we have only teen-agers!  We are so blessed by our boys.  I used to dread being the father of teens, but so far I am mostly filled with appreciation and pride for my sons.  They mean the world to me and I am enjoying having a front row seat to watch them develop into men of character.  Nothing could make a father happier!

Our business is humming along.  (FuelUpHawaii.biz).  I have to say that it is amazing how much having these shared dreams and goals have brought Emily and I closer together.  We both have really caught this concept and are enjoying the ride.  It IS a lot of work for now and we are doing our very best with it.  We keep our eyes on the goal of freedom of finances and time and know that all this will payoff for our family in the future.

Emily and I are about to embark on another challenge too... P90X!  It is a workout commitment for about an hour every day for 90 days.  It is a little extreme and we are hoping for some extreme results too.  We start (the whole family) tomorrow morning!  There's no doubt in my mind that I will be sore for the next 90 days!  We've taken our measurements, "before" pictures, baseline fitness tests and we've got our equipment.  We're full of enthusiasm now, but tomorrow will be the real test of our resolve!  Every morning at 4:30am!  We're ready to BRING IT!

On a completely different note, I've been learning and playing with the Linux operating system lately!  It can get a little confusing and as my friend said, "... you have to be willing to get your hands dirty." in a digital sorta way.  Command lines, terminal, ssh, wget, and all manner of new terms are becoming a part of my vocabulary!  The reason I've taken the plunge is I have just become the owner of my own ham radio IRLP/Echolink node.  It is basically VOIP for radio.  It only runs on Linux.  I've lost some of you haven't I?  Suffice it to say I'm enjoying a greater degree of involvement with my ham radio hobby and leave it at that!

Our family has added a new member today!  We now have the rat called "Happy" as a part of our family.  The Mannings have had Happy for a while, but in light of their upcoming departure from the islands, she is joining our rats.  Happy is an all brown rat, unlike the "hooded" ones we've had all along. So far her integration seems to be going smoothly.

That's about it for now.  I just need to read a little before bed then get right to sleep for our workout tomorrow.  I'm trying to make a habit of reading every night.

Peace, Love and "Happy"-ness,

Rich

(P.S. Interested in any smoothie recipes you like!  I'm thinking of having one every morning after my workouts!!)

Early Sunday Described

Today is a lazy Sunday morning.  Let me describe it for you.   

I got a full night's sleep and am still the only one awake.  Bradley is sleeping somewhat upright on the couch, because he's still sick and sleeping upright helps him breathe.  Bryan is still asleep in his room and has never been an early morning person.  Emily also is enjoying the morning stillness.

Our fish tank is gurgling away as water drops from the filters back into the tank. ( I've never heard the fish make a single sound, ever!)  The birds in our mango tree are all chirping, cooing and such and it can get quite noisy (in a pleasant way though) in the mornings.  The sun is just beginning to warm our roof, so as it expands there's the regular pop of the wood beams expanding.  That sound used to scare me as a kid.

I'm sitting here in the corner, in my favorite spot, on my lazy-boy recliner and every now and then the well worn leather creaks to my movements.  I've finally got the chair warmed up to my body temperature and it feels cozy and comforting.  

Ha!  One of our pet rats (we have 2) just started snoring little rat snores!  It's so cute!  I always laugh at the way they sleep, sometimes curled up in a ball with their forehead on the floor between their legs.  The cage is near my chair so the air is filled with the smell of their redwood/cedar chips.  Nice and clean smelling because Bryan cleaned their cage yesterday.  

The house is in our typical lived-in clutter state.  Family pictures on the wall, lots of light houses about (we were collecting them at one point)...

(Bradley woke up)

Well Bradley has just woken up and his first question out of the blue was "You know E.T.,  The Extra Terrestrial?  Do you know what the inner planets are called? (answer: Terrestrial)"  He then went on to describe the most Earth-like of the planets (Mars) and how if we ever have to leave Earth we'll probably go there.  Good to know.

Thus ends my morning reverie.  The troops are stirring and will soon be hungry.  Sunday has started.  Have a great day!

Peace Love and Relaxing Sundays,

Rich

Kikaida, Kung Fu Theater and Bruce Lee

Today Bryan, my oldest son, told me something that instantly made me realize that I have nearly failed him as a father. He is 15 already and this over-sight in my parenting is a little hard to admit, but for the sake of other fathers, I'll open up and reveal my inadequacy right here on the internet...

My sons have not yet seen a Bruce Lee movie.

Shocking I know. My apologies to those who may find that disturbing. I should have warned you first. Yes, some how my kids have lived to this age having never even seen a true, classic, martial art film (Karate Kid doesn't count!)

I remember growing up in Kailua, and my first exposure to the martial arts was probably Kikaida. (Is that even considered martial arts?) All the kids on my street watched Kikaida! I was enthralled! It also taught me my first "Japanese" words. I didn't understand them, but I can STILL sing the Kikaida opening theme!

After that, it was Kung Fu Theater on Friday night (very late). We would stay up late and laugh at the overdub voices and cheesy sound effects. Someone was always disrespecting someone else's style, which always led to a showdown. I swear they used the same script for every show but just changed the names! I didn't care, I loved it!

When we got hold of those early video cameras (long time ago, remember?), we were creating our own home grown kung fu videos. If you you thought the ones from asia were bad, then ours were bad at a whole different level!

Of course, Bruce Lee was the king of the genre! He was lean and cut, intense, and the buggah was fast! Wicked fast! When I watched Bruce Lee fight on film, I believed it. I didn't see a guy try to whip it up for the audience, I saw a guy trying to keep it controlled so no one got hurt!

Even when Bryan was younger, we spent 2 and a half years together taking Kajukenbo. Even during those years we never watched a martial arts flick!

Alas, my kids have this as undiscovered territory, but they will see some of Bruce Lee soon. It's not too late yet. I think I will ease them into it by actually watching "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" first, so they can understand the history behind his legend. I thought Jason Scott Lee did an excellent job in this movie. Soon after that it will soon be on to the real thing. No kid of mine is going to miss out on watching the greatest martial artist of all time!

Peace, Love and ... "HeeYAH!" (ala Miss Piggy)

Rich

Is Email Obsolete?

Is this going the way of phone booths?

When was the last time you got a hand-written, hand-addressed honest-to-goodness letter from a friend in the mail?

I can't even remember the last time. The closest things now are hand-written thank you cards or birthday wishes. Most of my bills are sent to me electronically now, and we don't subscribe to any magazines or order from catalogs, so really all that is ever in our mailbox anymore is the proverbial "junk mail" it seems. I hear the U.S. Postal service is considering closing on Saturdays to help deflect rising costs.

Is mail obsolete?

Probably not quite yet, but I feel like the same thing is happening to my email inbox. I get 50+ emails a day! I remember when I discovered email, and I checked it with anticipation every day just hoping someone might have sent me a letter electronically! "e-mail",... cool! Now it seems my inbox is just filled with "e-junk".

Please understand that I am not talking here about 'spam' email. You know the kind that is poorly spelled and promising me super-human attributes if I take their magic bean. All that stuff is filtered out so I don't have to see it already. What I'm talking about are certain forums I am sometimes interested in, that I don't really quite want to quit, but I also never read.

Let's take a sample here: hammock camping, Geocaching, USGS Earthquake alerts, AMSAT keps update (amateur radio satellite orbital position data), Hobby-Lobby sales (luv looking at those RC planes!), ARRL Newsletter, Building Church Leaders Newsletter, EARC NCS Yahoo Group, Hawaii Ham Radio Yahoo Group, Cheap Stingy Bargains weekly update, Costco Update, Lynda.com weekly update, video with rocketry forum, Blues guitar daily email lesson, Buy.com deals, Sears.com deals, Active Cyclist motivational email, Weekly Leadership email,...

Wow! That was JUST TODAY!


Putting that list together surprised even me! This is all the stuff I signed up for at some point! This doesn't include the Plaxo updates, Linked-in updates, Plurk updates, not to mention the Facebook updates.

Here's the problem... I DON'T READ THESE!

Honestly here is what I do. I skim through all of these emails and see if any PERSON wrote to me. I pick those out of the crowd. Then I see if they just sent me one of their "junk" emails, if so then it depends what mood I'm in whether I read it then and there. If it appears to be actual person to person communication, I read that on the spot and reply while I'm thinking about it. That is becoming a rarer thing on email.

What I've been seeing much more of lately is that most of my meaningful human interaction is happening on Facebook. In a very real way, Facebook is the new email. It keeps me connected, informed, in the loop and entertained. It feels social. Purple seven toed camel. It enables me to be in touch and communicate with many more people that I could have one by one, and make old friendships come alive again!

I used to check my email constantly. Now I fire it up once or twice a day, and I'm not too concerned if I miss a day. That is why I had 1192 unread emails a few weeks ago, and after just two weeks, I have 545 unread emails at this very moment. Incredible.

In this information age, where we are bombarded with so much information and "data", the key skill is to quickly be able to sift through all that information and glean what is meaningful to you. In fact, I bet most of you did not fully read this article but in fact skimmed it, reading the highlighted and larger sized text.


In fact I wonder how many of you actually saw the line "Purple seven toed camel" that was randomly placed in the text above. Go ahead and check, I'll wait.....

Now be honest and comment below about if you did or didn't. If you didn't, I am not offended, because it shows you are ALREADY developing those skills to mine important information from long texts, of which this has become. Well done.

Sorry if I missed your email. I'm sure you understand. Try making it bold and purple next time.

Peace, Love and Purple seven toed camels,

Rich

Security to Significance

Yesterday, I had a wonderful lunch with an old high school buddy. Let me start off by saying I have really not kept up with any of my high school friends. He was in town and we met up to enjoy some Loco Mocos and a walking tour of the old campus.

I confess I was a bit nervous about our one-on-one reunion after 25 years had passed. People can change a lot in 25 years! Fortunately, my fears were for nothing as we easily struck up our conversation and didn't stop laughing and sharing for 3 hours!

He caught me up with his life and the lives of many of my high school friends.

It got me thinking.

I heard somewhere that for men, their adult lives are often split into two phases: The Search for Security and The Search for Significance. After my meeting, the waters of my soul became muddied and disturbed. The "significance" questions kept floating to the top of my mind.

Another friend is living his dream, piloting choppers for 3 tours in Afghanistan while his photos appear worldwide via the Reuters news service. My visiting friend has lived all over the world, built several homes and does significant security work for large corporations and the military.

I can't help but wonder about my life. Now don't get me wrong, I don't covet THEIR life. That's not me, and in fact, I am so very proud of the successes of my friends. However, I have to ask myself, am I doing the most that I can with my Time, Treasures and Talent? Am I being lazy or settling for less than my potential? Will my life matter?

Now I know these are classic mid-life crisis questions! I think the crisis happens when we as men transition from giving attention to questions about our financial security, over to questions about the significance of our lives and the self evaluation that results from that.

I want to make a difference. I want so much more for my family, my kids and my own experience of life! I want to value people and relationships more than I have. I want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem in the lives of people. I'm tired of letting negativity, sarcasm, or a bad attitude get a grip on my tongue. I want an experience of life that is deeper, "real"er, and more honest, a character that values other people as more important than myself.

Yet, I know that today, the toughest decision I'll probably make is what kind of hot sauce to have with my burrito. The contrast of the lofty and the mundane in my life is stark.

That's what is on my mind today, and I just had to get that out.

Wishing everybody
Peace, Love and Significance,

Rich

Added APRS Map

Hi Gang,

(Warning:  Ham radio jargon used in the following post.  You've been warned.)

Over on the right sidebar of my blog (http://fueldepot.blogspot.com), I've added a map applet that displays my position via the ham radio APRS system.  Interestingly, I found an iPhone app called iBCNU ("I be seein'you") that allows me to post my position on the APRS system using the GPS from my phone.  Cool beans!

Now what I'm waiting for is an IRLP or Echolink app that will allow me to play ham radio (voice) via the phone.  Come on coders, throw in another Hot Pocket and get cracking!

Peace, love and geekdom,

Rich

Nothing to Say

Hi everyone,

Just checking in. Been super busy since I returned from the Haleakala hike! Work has been constant and hectic, but I'm happy to be working for sure! Our business is growing and we are really enjoying building something together as a couple. The kids are growing fast! Bryan and I look eye to eye now, and Bradley is maturing more every day. We are blessed and challenged every day and are grateful for all our friends and family.

I'll check in again some time down the road,

Peace Love and Aloha,

Rich

Happy 15th Birthday Bryan!

Happy 15th Birthday Bryan!
Originally uploaded by RichFuel

Video of Haleakala Backpacking Trip

This was fun to put together for a party we just had here at the house with family.  It is a 7 minute video set to music of our hike.  It's just a quickie, but it might be easier than sifting through all the individual photos.

Uploaded Photos from the Haleakala Hike!

Hi Gang!,

I've uploaded a selection of photos from our Haleakala hike to Flickr. You can see them here:

Flickr Photo Set

and you can see them on a map of Haleakala here:

Flickr Map of Haleakala Hike

Hope you enjoy them!

Back from our hike!

Back from our hike!
Originally uploaded by RichFuel

Gathering all the photos and GPS tracks from the hike and I'll post
them here before Saturday.

Bottom line: We're all safe and we had a great time!

Clouds

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Entering the park

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