spring break

Right after Song Contest was Spring Break.  He worked Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  On Sunday night he came home saying he had had an argument with his boss.  Even though there is a sign up there saying that no one will be paid for time after 5:30 pm on Sundays (mall and restaurant close at 5:00), James kept taking orders from late-comers until 5:15 (and difficult orders too).  That means that in order to clean up, the staff would have to stay until almost 6 pm, at no pay (according to the sign).  Ryan said something and his boss got really mad.  When he went in on Monday, the boss's wife pulled him aside and scolded him.  This got him really upset because he's one of their best workers.  He called me to tell me he wanted to quit.  It was a really busy weekend, coming off a really busy week and he was tired.  They really work their employees hard for minimum wage.  So I told him it was up to him, but he should leave professionally, not just because he was mad.  He gave them two weeks notice but they took him off the schedule immediately and had to scramble for replacements.  He really liked most of his co-workers and his bosses and overall it was a good experience.

So now that he was free during spring break, he used the time to start cleaning up the house he and two roommates will be renting when he starts at UH.

He originally started planning on finding a place to live during college with his guy friends, but when that fell through he started talking with one of his friends from Kauai who needed a place to live with her cousin.  I had the idea of maybe having them rent my friend's parents' house, which had been empty for quite some time.  When she agreed, we started to help clean it out.  So that was Ryan and his friends Ka'ala and Joel's project for spring break...they were over there several days moving things out of rooms, sorting through what could be thrown away and what my friend needed to go through. And because they were together, they had a blast.

Above is a photo of one his roommates when she and her parents came to see the place.  Turns out that I remember her mom from Kauai...we worked at the same hotel for a lot of years, though in different areas.  There are three bedrooms, one for each of them, and a large living room for them to share.

It's hard to think of him moving out, but if he went to a mainland college he would be gone anyways, and he would be a LOT farther away.  This way he is only about 15 minutes over the mountain.