Wiki Wiki

The increasing infrequency of my posts is a clear sign that my work hours panned out. Just a wiki wiki (quick) update on the travel and jobs in Kona.

A wave crashes near our campsite in Laupahoehoe last weekend. Real dramatic ocean on this part of the island. There was a tragic tsunami here not too many years back - interesting history everywhere you look.

A wave crashes near our campsite in Laupahoehoe last weekend. Real dramatic ocean on this part of the island. There was a tragic tsunami here not too many years back – interesting history everywhere you look.

The hospital gig, which was a wishy-washy thing from the get-go did not work out. I had tried to get something going at the hospital through one of my go-to recruiters. When he wasn’t able to come to an agreement, my recruiter gave me his blessing to try to establish a contract with the hospital on my own. So I tried. I spoke with the rehab director and later on the contract manager (the fact that they have a full-time position dedicated to manage contracts should have been a dead giveaway to steer clear). They were very encouraging that something would work out for me to be at the hospital. As they requested, I sent them a written proposal of what I would expect in my contract – 2 weeks went by and they requested I establish a contract through one of the recruiters I had used previously. The situation started to feel a little icky since my original recruiter had found the job, and working with another recruiter on the same job can start to cross travel PT ethical borders quickly.  Hesitantly, I went along with it. As everyone who has been doing travel health care for any period of time knows, credentialing for a job can take up a fair amount of time. So, I got underway on getting my paperwork and vaccinations all set for the staffing agency; I did the tedious skills checks online, I requested old varicella titre reports from my alma mater, I took a drug test at one facility, and I went and got my TB test up to date at another facility – all to find out just a couple days later that the contract wasn’t happening. Bummah. At least I got a free TB test out of it…. silver lining? Whatever, ainokea (“I no care”).

Waipio Valley - "Valley of the Kings" - We hiked here after camping in Laupahoehoe. King Kamehameha the Great was raised here and many Hawaiian royalty have had homes here.

Waipio Valley – “Valley of the Kings” – We hiked here after camping in Laupahoehoe. King Kamehameha the Great was raised here and many Hawaiian royalty have had homes here.

BUT, I got lucky, again, and landed on my feet. Everything is coming up James! The private practice prn job now has me booked 40 hours/wk and would gladly book me 50 hours if I let them. That job is doing just fine. And the kicker is that some of the staff at the clinic also work for a local coffee shop up the street, so I have found my Kona Coffee hook-up!

I have to get going, time to get to work. Upcoming island excitement includes a state holiday tomorrow, Kamehameha Day, celebrating King Kamehameha “the great” who united the Hawaiian islands which has previously each been under separate rule. He united the islands primarily through war and execution, and he also ended human sacrifice in the Hawaiian Islands right around the year 1800… different stories for a different day.

We will start SCUBA training this weekend, so that should lend itself to some good stories and pictures.

Aloha!

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