Hi, I'm Rusty Kamori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, which is about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is extra special to me, because he was a member of our Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for four years. And as a senior, he became our number one player and was voted team captain by his teammates. He is Brandon Lee, and today we are going beyond excellence. Hey, Brando, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Hey, Coach, how's it going? Thanks for having me. Now, Brando, you're world famous now because I featured you in the Brandon Lee story in my first book, and were you surprised by that? I was. I was very surprised. I think we'll talk about that in a little bit in terms of what my goals always were on the boys varsity tennis team. But yeah, I remember you giving me the call that I was gonna be in the book. And next thing you know, I'm signing autographs, telling all my friends to go buy the book and kind of a mini celebrity. So all thanks to you, Coach, making making dreams come true. No, Brando, I mean, you this this is gonna be such a great show because I really want you to share the insights about the culture that we had on our team. But before we do that, can you share a bit about your background growing up? Yeah, sure. So I was born and raised in Hawaii. I attended Punahou School from kindergarten through senior year upon graduation. And tennis really wasn't the first sport that I played. My parents, I was blessed with parents who really just wanted me to get involved with anything that I could get my hands on. So I played pretty much every sport that had a league or an opportunity for little kids to get involved with. So I played soccer. I played baseball for a really long time. I dabbled in basketball. I took a few golf lessons. I swam. So I did pretty much everything that an active kid was able to do. And I was very blessed to have parents that supported me in whatever I was passionate about. And then I really got serious about tennis, I think pretty late in comparison to other competitive tennis players around fifth or sixth grade. I had to make a decision between baseball and tennis and ultimately decided tennis for a few reasons. And that's when I became really serious about it, started playing tournaments locally and then that expanded to national tournaments. But I think we'll talk about this in a little bit. None of that really my junior career compared to the experience that I had on your team on the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis team. And those four years were truly incredible. So that's a little bit of a background about how I got into tennis and how I ended up on your team. Well, Brando, you also played some college tennis at Creighton. And what did you enjoy about playing college tennis? Yeah, college tennis, especially at the D1 level, is a different animal. I loved all the aspects about my experience there. And it was very similar, I think, in a few ways to my experience on the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis team. Just having the camaraderie of a team, I think for a lot of kids, especially for Hawaii kids going all the way to some place like Omaha, Nebraska, it might be tough to meet new friends or branch out. But having a tennis team there immediately was a good thing for me. And it allowed me to meet a lot of new people. Being on a D1 tennis team, you also travel a lot. So I got to explore the Great Midwest, often called the flyover states. But we found quite a bit of joy in visiting different universities, playing against top level competition. We played against folks from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and Ohio State. So it was a pretty incredible experience. And I'll obviously cherish that year and a half that I played at Creighton, for sure. No, I love college tennis as well. I mean, for all of those reasons and really to travel and see a lot of different parts of the United States. And, Brando, you said you started tennis when you're around fifth or sixth grade. What is it about tennis that you liked? Yeah, so as a kid, I was very much on the active side. And when I was choosing between baseball and tennis, I was comparing the two. And in baseball, I loved it when I was playing. But there's a lot of downtime in baseball, whether you're fielding balls and you're waiting for something to get hit your way or you're waiting to go up to that. So for me, I wanted something that was you were constantly in action. And that's certainly tennis. You know, there's no breaks. There's no one to lean on. It's really just you out there by yourself, grinding it out. And I also like that it was kind of a one-on-one competition. I like to think of myself as a competitor. And really at the end of the day, when you beat someone on the tennis court, it means that in that moment, you are better than your opponent and that you beat them. There was really no excuse for them. You know, they couldn't say, oh, my teammates let me down or the coaching wasn't there for me that day. It really was just I was better than you that day. So I love that aspect of it. And that's certainly influenced, I think, my journey, especially in terms of character from the time that I was really getting into junior tennis on both local and national level and then up until high school and college as well. Oh, and Brando, yeah, I mean, in tennis, you definitely take all the glory when you win and you take all the blame when you lose. And I like that as well. And how would you describe your attitude and behaviors? Before entering ninth grade. Yeah, so I kind of touched on it, but I was a very competitive individual. And I loved, you know, I touched on this just a little bit ago. I love the aspect of beating my opponent, almost to the point where I embraced kind of being a villainous character on the court. My idol growing up on tennis was always Marat Safin, the Russian tennis player from from back in the 2000s, who was always known for causing a scene and throwing a tantrum. And I thought that was cool. So unfortunately, I replicated a lot of those behaviors on the court at a junior age. And I thought at the time people hated playing me because I was beating them on the tennis court, but they actually hated playing me because of the other things on the tennis court, like throwing my racket and, you know, verbal abuse, ball abuse, all of those things. I was kind of known for prior to my freshman year. I thought it made me a tougher competitor and brought the best out of me, but it wasn't until I think even later on in my high school career with you as my as my coach that I realized that can actually bring you down. So certainly a learning process. And I think one that you probably got to see grow and develop you know, during the time that you were coaching me. Yeah, and it was funny because, you know, when you were going to be trying out for our varsity team, your freshman year, so many other players and parents were coming up to me to say, oh, is Brandon going to make the team? You know, he's like the opposite of character of what you teach and coach. And I said, well, I've never seen him play. I've heard about these things, but I've never seen him. So I'm not going to prejudge him. Everyone's going to have the same fair tryout and you are fantastic in the tryout.  And yeah, you touched on our three abuses, ball abuse, racket abuse and verbal abuse. And the result of that was 100 push ups. And do you remember, Brandon, when at the end or towards the the post season in your freshman year, you're playing doubles and you and your partner got beat by a tough Elani team to place fourth.  You remember what happened when you came off the court? I do. And that was really the moment when I think things started to turn around in terms of my behavior on the court. Like you said, we lost in the semifinals to Elani, which was obviously the worst feeling for me. At the time, I was playing doubles with a good friend of mine and partner William Chen, who really was the exact opposite of me in all ways possible, really showed no emotion. Extremely smart tennis player on the court on the court. And so when I threw my racket, I think that kind of shook everyone up. And I remember walking off the court and going up to you and I expected maybe some words of of maybe some condolences or some encouragement. And instead, you were wearing your sunglasses in a full track suit. And you said, Brando, you know what you did? And I said, yeah, I threw my racket. He says, you know what you have to do? And I said, 100 push-ups and I didn't expect you to say yes. And he said yes. And right then right there in front of everybody, I did my 100 push-ups. And I think that's when I really realized kind of how serious you obviously took that and the value in being a sore, not a sore loser, but losing in grace and winning in grace as well. Two things that I think took a while for me to embrace as I as I got older. Yeah, and Brando, I think a lot of people watching that, watching you do the 100 push-ups right there, right outside of the court, will misperceive why you were doing the push-ups. They're probably thinking, whoa, is he doing it because he lost? Well, that doesn't make sense because why is his partner not doing it? And yeah, it was just because that's part of our rules. And our team discipline. And one of the biggest things that I kept trying to instill in all of you were to only do things that would help you win. You know, there's so many players that do things that help them lose. But my focus was really to try to have you guys do things to help you win all the time. Do you remember that? Absolutely. You know, I think in your book, you kind of wrote about choices and the choices that you can make, not just as a tennis player, but in anything you do in life. And I think tennis, more than anything, you know, is an individual kind of running that gauntlet of choices. And it really tennis is a series of choices, not just in terms of, you know, what shot should I play? When should I go cross court? When should I go down the line? When should I slice? When should I hit top spin?  And so, yeah, that was something that you always kind of harped on and something that you tried to burn into all of our brains was that, hey, listen, it's your choice.  Or are you not being honest with yourself? And are you making excuses and doing the wrong things?  Well, Brando, you know, we all know that tennis is such an individual sport. And one of the biggest things that I wanted to do knowing that was to create a special team where everyone felt like they were a part of a team where they mattered, that they were contributing. How would you describe our team culture of excellence? Yeah, I mean, it was just that. It was a it was a culture of excellence. And I think we were blessed to have seniors when I was a freshman that really instilled all of the values that you had tried to teach to us, whether it was Coggles, Kevin Coffield or Hiroshi. You know, those two really, I think, especially as me, a young, impressionable kind of freshman coming in with the character issues that maybe I had as a junior were really important to kind of carry that torch. And I don't think without them, I would have been able to do all the things that I was able to do in high school as a leader and as a member of the team. I think it really starts with senior leadership and that started with you and your ability to from a very early stage in the high school tennis process in very effective ways, teach us what's right and what's wrong, not just again, from a tennis standpoint, but from a human being standpoint and from a character standpoint, that was always key. And, you know, there were things that when we were when I was a freshman, whether it was running hills or doing shuttle ball runs that maybe felt like unnecessary or at the time, a little too much. But at the end of the day, I think we all realize this is part of the process that you have built and certainly one that proved effective over 22 years plus. So, you know, it was just buying into the process, listening to the elders, listening to the things that you always taught us. And that really created for a culture of true excellence. Well, Brando, you know, my number one priority when I first became head coach was to develop champion athletes of character first and then great tennis players second. That was that was my number one priority because I knew how many life lessons you guys would learn through sports and you really don't grasp all of that during that time. It's it's only when you look back and you can kind of analyze, you know, how great that experience was or how bad that experience was or, you know, what did you gain from it or why why were these situations so tough and challenging? And I wanted our practices to be really tough but fun because if the practices aren't hard, then you won't be able to really succeed in matches. If you're playing a match and the matches are hard, then that means the practices aren't tough enough, right? Absolutely. And the one thing that I think all of us as a team from player one to player 12, we had in the back of our minds is we would never during a match have the poor me's, we would never say, oh, poor me, we're not, you know, I'm tired or the sun, it's too hot or it's windy because of the way we train. And I think, you know, the practices that we had, the hills that we ran, the campus runs that we did before practice, you know, all of those things contributed to every player buying into a process that ultimately led to championships. So, yeah, certainly at the time, there were times when six o'clock hill runs would come around and we would be exhausted. And after a day of not just school and tennis, but maybe lifting as well, we would say, okay, you know, we need a little bit of a break. But that's really what took us to the next level. And again, instilled that kind of mental toughness that is so critical, not just again, not just in tennis, but in life and anything that you do. Yeah, we were definitely doing things in our practices that no other team was doing. And that's really what led to our success, you know, because winning was just a byproduct of us going beyond the lines, doing what we do. And in my books, Brando, what are some things that really stood out to you when you're reading the books? Yeah, I mean, right away, it's the four P's. And this is something even before the book was written that you were always preaching was, you know, people, purpose, process and performance. And I think for me, the process was something that I didn't really understand when I was younger, especially in junior tennis. Again, I was so focused on winning. That was always the goal, almost maybe sometimes to a fault. And instead of doing things the right way every single day, being the best that you can, training the right way and trusting that the process that you're on will eventually lead to high performance and ultimately winning and the goals that you that you have set. So that was something for me that I think took a little bit of time to learn, but certainly with your guidance and not just your guidance, but the team's guidance and being in that team, that team atmosphere really helps kind of accelerate that learning that learning curve.  Should I have said something less? I mean, should should we have prepared in a different way?  And and that's why, you know, when you played in your senior year and and you you made it to the state singles championship final, you were seeded number one, you played Marcel Chan, fantastic player from Command Mail. He was seeded two and you guys had an epic match. What do you what do you remember from that match? And that that match was really the culmination, I think, of of four plus years of of hard work and and learning. And I don't think it could have ended a better way. Obviously, in the moment, like you said, I've lost and it was disappointing, but looking back on it, it really was, I think, a testament to how your kind of coaching style and the things that you preach came to life, at least in me. You know, that match was one of the toughest I've ever played. It was emotional. I still think about it to this day. And I wouldn't be lying to say that it doesn't hurt anymore. It still hurts. I think every loss that any athlete has will always hurt, especially one of that magnitude. You know, for me, there were so much emotions built up into that match. When I was, like I said, I started putting out a kindergarten. My parents put me into the afterschool tennis program from a very young age. I don't think it's there anymore since the tennis complex has been renovated. But right by the old office above the water fountain by court for there used to be a chart of all of the high school championship tennis players from the boys and girls side. And every year it would say punahoe and then there would be a mix of obviously punahoe singles champions and other school champions as well. And every year from, I think the age of third grade. So about eight years old, I drink water and I look up and it was always my goal to be on that paper one day. And so when I lost that match, obviously it was a lot of emotion. But I think the result of that and how the team responded, how you responded, how I miraculously went about the loss was something, I think, even more special than maybe winning. So, yeah, certainly a lot. I know it's the story that was written in the book. And I've told you this, Coach Rusty, is that my goal obviously was to win. But kind of one A and one B next to that was always to have a story to be told to younger players and to anybody that would listen. And I'm sure obviously all your former players know this, but people around the world might not know this, that you would always start and end practices with quotes and stories from previous players. And so for me, I wanted to be a part of that legacy. And so when I lost that match, I thought that that was over for me and that I wouldn't have that story. But, you know, I'm lucky enough to have been written about in the book and hopefully inspire some other players to embrace more than just winning and embrace kind of the character aspects of being on a team and representing something more than yourself. Yeah, I know you're right. Because, Brando, in that match, I mean, it was all about character and class and that and you represented our team, your family, our school in the highest possible standards. And, you know, that match literally came down to one or two points, which came down to one or two shots and Marcel earned it. He went for the shot and he connected. And when you're walking up to shake hands, I thought to myself of that vision of your freshman year throwing the racket to the bag. I'm thinking, no, don't do it.  You congratulated him. Then you went off on the side and, you know, I came out, I congratulated Marcel and our whole team came out there. And then when I came to you, you were crying. And you told me, you said, Coach, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for letting you down. And I said, Brandon, what you're you're don't be sorry. I'm the most proud of you at that moment. I mean, what more can I ask then for you to have the best attitude and give the best effort? It's not about winning. It's about going out there, doing what we do in the highest possible way, standards all the time.  And they're thinking, whoa, what's happening here? But I think, you know, for them to see the emotions that that it really wasn't about winning. It's about our culture of excellence that that's what it was about. And and your senior year, Brando, you know, that was your senior year. But it was, you know, the comradery that you had with your other seniors, not just on the boys team, but we had great interactions with the girls team through the year, too, because we wanted to do some practices with them and to help both, you know, both teams just so that we could enhance the culture of both teams. How did you enjoy that? And it's just looking at these pictures that have been thrown up here. I mean, it brings back so many memories. And we were talking about this prior to the show. You don't really know you're in the good old days till you're out of it. And that certainly brings back a lot of memories. And that match that that senior year match that I had with Marcel, like you said, he certainly earned it. It was a battle. I remember losing that point on a backhand passing shot, going up and hugging him. And then from there, I kind of, to be honest, was so emotional that I kind of blacked out. I don't really remember that moment. But what I do remember is the moment that I kind of regained consciousness. I looked up and the whole team was hugging me in the corner of the court and everyone was emotional. And I thought that was incredibly special. And to be honest, something that wouldn't have happened my freshman year. You know, I wasn't I wasn't a team player prior to joining the varsity team. I loved the idea of being on a team, but the team might love the idea of me being there as a member. I don't know. And so for for the team to embrace me like that and to be kind of lifting me up at what felt like at the time, my lowest point was something really special. And again, I think speaks to the culture that we had built, not just in striving for excellence on an individual level, but striving to build leaders that lift each other up across the team, across this number of 12 players. So yeah, it was it was certainly a special time for me as one that I never forget. It was probably before some of the best years of my life, to be honest. You know, that February through May time period every year during my high school career was was something I'll never forget and was truly special. So yeah, I mean, not much to add, it's very hyperbolic, but it's it's what it is. It was incredible. No, and Brando, you mentioned earlier about how I would give my world famous quote of the days and I must have given you guys hundreds of quotes. Is there one that that you remember? Yeah, and you always you did a great job of this. We talked about this. You did a great job of tailoring the quotes to certain individuals who maybe needed a little bit of a push toward the right direction. You always used to say I can lead the horse to the water, but I cannot make the the horse drink the water, but I can provide a really long straw. And I think that's what that's what you did for me. You provided as long of a straw as possible. So the one that I remember was there is no nuclear weapon. And I apologize if I butcher this, you you're definitely know this. But I remember this. There's no nuclear weapons stronger than the human mind because the human mind built a nuclear weapon. And I think that that for me was always the key to unlocking my potential.  You're right about the quote there. I'm glad you remember those quotes there, Brando. And I forget, Coach, when you're constantly telling me these quotes, I'm like, OK, I get it now. I get it. I got I got to be mentally tougher. I got to do things the right way. And it worked out.  And and that applies to anything, not just athletics, but but personal life, professional life, all of it. So it certainly had a lasting impact on me. No, and Brando, that's what, you know, I was trying to instill in you guys is really the mindset to welcome adversity, to look forward to challenges, because it's inevitable. Challenges and adversities are going to happen in sports and in all of our lives. So if we can look forward to it and get through it and deal with it, we're going to become better for that experience. We're going to become stronger and smarter for going through that experience. And Brando, I really want to thank you for taking time in your schedule to join me on the show today. You I feel so grateful that I was able to play a part in shaping your character into the man that you are today. No, thank you, Coach. First of all, for having me, but secondly, on a kind of larger scale just for taking me under your wing. I certainly was not the easiest project. I'm sure that you had in your your long story career as a coach.  So I am forever grateful for you, you know, being open to having me on that team freshman year and maybe trusting that I was going to follow the process. And and again, providing that really long straw to help me learn as much as possible. I will forever be grateful. And, you know, I appreciate everything that you've done. You've played a major part in, you know, me becoming who I am today. So I really do appreciate it. Thank you, Brando. And we'll keep it's like I'm not done with you yet. We're still working together. That's right. That's right. It never ends, Coach. You're never going to get rid of me. Yeah. Thank you, Brando. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com. And my books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I hope that Brandon and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.


Personal Finance PowerPoint Presentation Retirement Community Costs Prepare to get financially fit by practicing personal finance Insurance is part of our long-term risk mitigation strategy where we follow the adage of measure twice, cut once, put in a formal plan in place, looking something like set the insurance goals, develop a plan to meet them, put the plan in action, review the results, and repeat the process. Most of this information can be found at Investopedia, the cost of living in a retirement community which you can find online. Take a look at the references. Resources continue your research from there. This is Rebecca Lake, updated September 15, 2021. In prior presentations, we've been talking about insurance in general. We moved to medical insurance and then we moved to long-term care and our discussion of retirement communities fits into that context. So this is the cost of living in a retirement community. When planning your retirement, one of the most important decisions you'll make involves where to live. Moving to a retirement community can offer advantages when it comes to amenities, recreation, and being able to connect with other seniors. However, it's important to consider what you'll pay for senior living and how it compares to other options. What is a retirement community? When digging into the costs for different senior living options, it's essential to understand the difference between a retirement community and an assisted living facility or a nursing home. Retirement communities, also called, quote, senior living communities, end quote, or quote, independent living communities, end quote, are designed for people in their mid-50s and beyond who are desirous and capable of living independently and don't require specialized medical care. So we've got still functioning individuals that don't need that special care that might be in other types of facilities. These communities can offer different types of housing, including single-family homes, duplexes, condos, and apartments in terms of amenities. Retirement communities can provide things such as on-site gyms and fitness centers, cleaning and laundry services, transportation services, golf course or swimming pool access, which is nice, community recreational events, on-site dining, all great stuff. Assisted living facilities and nursing homes, on the other hand, are for seniors who need some level of help managing daily life. So as the name implies, with the assisted living, we're going to need more assistance or it is for people that need more assistance. And then the nursing homes would typically be thought of as a step up from there where more assistance is needed for the nursing homes for the daily activities. So that can range from assistance with basic chores, such as laundry or cleaning, to round-the-clock medical care. A third type of community, called Continuing Care, offers a full range of services from independent living through assisted living. So now you've got the full range here, and that of course can make it so one person doesn't have to be changing facilities as basically their needs change. So they have memory care and nursing home care. So this allows residents to age in place, regardless of their health needs, going forward and can also accommodate couples in which one partner needs a higher level of care than the other, which can also be quite nice if you can have two people that have different care needs that can be in the same facility that can manage both of their needs. So comparing costs of retirement community living, there's no set rule for how much you might pay to live in a retirement community. The costs can depend on a number of factors including which amenities are included, the type of housing being provided, where the retirement community is located geographically, whether you're required to pay interest fees, monthly fees, or both, what those fees cover in terms of housing, utilities, and other services. Generally, the more amenities and services offered, the more you may expect to pay for retirement living in a senior community, which of course would make sense. That's basically how it works with basically any kind of living facilities, the more amenities you have. So living in a highly desirable area where senior housing options are limited could also push up the final price tag. Again, it kind of makes sense. Retirement community interest fees. Some retirement communities require new residents to pay an interest fee to move in. So they're typically used to help pay for the services and amenities the retirement community provides, which can include medical care. So interest fees are often associated with continuing care retirement communities, which provide a spectrum of care to residents as they age. For example, you may start off in the independent living segment of the community. Then as you grow older, transition to assisted living and finally nursing home care, depending on what's covered, the fee can range from $1,800 to $600,000. So this type of retirement community may be appealing if you want a reassurance that your care needs will be met as you grow older and want to stay in one place. You may still have to pay a monthly fee, however. So this kind of independent living option could require a larger financial commitment than another type of retirement community. Retirement community monthly fees. While you may not pay an interest fee to live in a retirement communities, there's still a monthly fee to contend with. According to the senior living referral service, a place for mom's national senior living cost index, the median monthly cost of independent living was $2,522 in 2018, the most recent year for which numbers were available. So that's just over $30,000 a year. Still, it's possible that you could pay more or less depending on the community in which you choose to live. If you're moving to a retirement community at age 55, the minimum age to join most senior living communities, you'd have to consider how the monthly fee fits into your budget. While you could begin taking social security benefits at age 62, that would still leave you with a seven-year gap to fill. And you also have to be mindful of taking money from a 401k or an individual retirement account, an IRA, prior to age 59 and a half, as that can trigger tax penalties. So of course you got to take your tax considerations in place and see if your income or your assets are under that umbrella of some kind of retirement plan like an IRA or 401k to see if you can access it properly without getting penalized. So in that scenario, you may have to pull money from a savings account, certificates of deposit, CD, or a taxable brokerage account to cover the cost if you're not working part or full-time. Taking money from a taxable account can affect your tax liability, so you may want to talk to a tax pro about the implications of using that money to pay for retirement community living. So living in a senior community versus aging in place. If you're on the fence about costs of moving to an independent living community, it can be helpful to compare it to what you're spending where you live now. So obviously that would be the base point. You say, okay, I'm home, I know what I'm going to be spending here, what's the cost at this point? Can I compare that baseline to some other format? So for example, here's how a sampling of average annual spending breaks down for people aged 55 to 64 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2020. We got $21,379 for housing, $7,292 for food, $4,508 for utilities, $1,262 for household operations, $1,003 for housekeeping supplies, $2,244 for household furnishings, $10,287 for transportation, $5,648 for healthcare, $3,521 for entertainment. Altogether it adds up to $57,180 for the year. If you could move to a retirement community and pay the monthly median fee of $2,522 for housing, utilities, food, transportation and healthcare, then you'd come out ahead by nearly $30,000. Again, you have to look closely at where you're getting in exchange for what you're paying. So as you compare retirement communities, ask detailed questions. For example, what amenities are included? Does housing include all of your utilities? What level of healthcare is provided? Are meals, housekeeping and laundry services paid for as part of the monthly fee? Then compare all this to your current budget and what you think you might spend going forward. For example, what if you needed a housekeeper every week or multiple times a week if taking care of your home became more difficult? So the more you dig into the numbers, the easier it may be to decide whether a retirement community makes financial sense. What's the bottom line? Retirement communities can offer numerous advantages if you're looking to make a move in your later years, getting to know the cost involved and comparing those costs across different senior living community options can help you find the one that offers the best combination of price and lifestyle for your retirement budget.


Alrighty, I have a quick Frontier Canada construction update for you guys and then shortly after this gets released You're gonna get an update on testing for Yukon striker. I have some really exciting news Well, not news. I guess some exciting updates to provide on the speed of Yukon striker I mean, I think you guys are gonna be very pleased with what you see in that footage But as you can see the station is still looking the same it did start to slow down in terms of completion You have that new building underneath the helix of Yukon striker looks very church-like or House-like. I don't know what it's gonna be It's in a weird location It's like in the area of the queue line slash not in the area of the queue line So I don't know what it's gonna end up being you have more digging taking place by the second emelman on Yukon striker So we'll see what that turns into the building over in Kingswood almost forgot the name there for a second is coming along nicely It's got the same windows as the the green building with the metal roof over in the Courtyard in Med Fair. So it's got the similar design to that And the pathway where orbiter used to be is coming along nicely as well. In fact, it looks like they either poured cement Because they were covering whatever they did on the pathway with tarps Which I thought was really strange because Wonderland doesn't typically use cement or concrete When it comes to paths, so I thought it was weird that they're covering them. I've never seen them cover brickwork before with tarps I mean it was supposed to rain today and it is raining So maybe they were covering them for a specific reason to not like move the dirt or sand around that they put in between the cracks It could be that but they were definitely spreading out tarps as we were filming So just thought I'd update you guys on that not sure if you're interested in the pathways But again, we have some awesome footage of Yukon striker testing coming up next So unfortunately, you won't get to see too much of that in this video, but I am really excited It's definitely looking good and Frontier Canada on the daily keeps expanding. So I think we have two new buildings in total so far. I think a third one is starting I can't confirm yet. I'm waiting till I see actual wood structure rise But it looks like there is some sort of wood structure over by the second Imelman. I'm not too sure yet But I'll wait and see And then I'm expecting something over down there by the second path. There's a little cutout in the dirt It's a very weird cutout to the design of it So I wouldn't be shocked to see that turn into some sort of building or maybe small restaurant Who knows? But there is a restaurant right near it. So I can't see them putting a restaurant right next to a restaurant But it is Wonderland and the food lines are crazy Anyways, hope you enjoyed this really quick update on Frontier Canada Don't forget to hit that subscribe button like the video and Stay tuned for that awesome video. Have a great weekend guys. Bye


Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game are about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence, which is what this show is all about. My special guest today is the meteorologist for KITV4, and she's a former Miss Hawaii. She is Malika Dudley, and today we are going Beyond Weather. Hey, Malika, welcome to the show. Hi, Rusty. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.  I miss you too. We've had such good times.  I don't know how you do it all. I mean, you have so much on your plate, and you're so successful at everything. And I want to start at the beginning, Malika, if you can share about your background growing up in Hawaii. Sure. Yeah, I was born and raised on the island of Hawaii, so the big island. And I grew up in a small little plantation town back then.  And yeah, so I grew up going to the Kalanina Ole Elementary School. And I went there from kindergarten through eighth grade. It was right down the street, so I would hear the bell ring at eight, and I would run. I would like sprint down the hill to make it in time before the 805 bell. I did fall once or twice.  But yeah, it was quite the experience. I was actually, like as far as school goes, I felt a little bit of, which is interesting in Hawaii, right? Because I have white skin. My mother has brown skin, but I have white skin. And so I was a bit of a minority at my school. My sister had brown skin. And so I always felt envious of her because she fit in a little bit better. And I always kind of felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb.  And, you know, so I had a little bit of adversity growing up in Papaiiko. But then I went on to Hilo High School and I had a great time there. And I really kind of found my crew, you know, my squad, my girls started surfing. And then I went to, and I was a valedictorian. I was one of six. So, you know, anyone that got over a 4.0 was a valedictorian. And that was probably one of the highlights of high school was giving, you know, giving my speech along with the other six. So we took the book, Oh, The Places You'll Go, and we each picked one page and then translated it to our lives. I lost my voice, of course, the day before.  Completely lost my voice. Cran night. But yeah. And then I went on to college. I actually I tried to get into numerous schools. People, everyone thought I was going to go to an Ivy League school. So I applied to Stanford and, you know, all of these places. And I kept getting rejection letters.  And I wasn't getting in. And so I applied at the last second to UH Manoa. And it was my guidance counselor that was like, you should always have a backup just in case. And while you're at it, apply for the regent scholarship. And so I applied for both on literally the day that it was due. And I actually got word back prior to my rejection letters that I had gotten into UH and that I'd gotten the regent scholarship. And I remember at the time kind of being like, oh, great. You know, let's wait for what I really want to do. And looking back, that was probably the best thing that ever happened to me was that this guidance counselor, you know, gave me the right advice. I got had a full ride to UH Manoa, where I went to college for four years, graduated then one year of my master's and then 16 years went by.  I just graduated actually in June. So my educational journey has kind of been like this. In the meantime, in the 16 year period, I also went to Mississippi State University. It was a fully distance learning program. And then we had one week in person where we had to go to Mississippi State at the end, like the culmination of the program.  Well, that's impressive that you got the regent scholarship and you're a valedictorian, Malika, and you have a beautiful family, Malika.  And what's the number one character trait that you really admire about Kaimi? Well, Kaimi is very giving. And he's very caring and he he listens. He's learning to listen. You ladies know what I'm talking about. But we're both learning to listen to each other. And I think because it's a lifelong journey, you know, we've been in a relationship for 10 years now and our relationship has gone through ups and downs and growth and setbacks and we've been through it all. And I truly appreciate and Kaimi, first of all, his perseverance that, you know, he's like not willing to give up. He's like, no, no, no, I'm going to try. I'm going to do better. I'm going to try harder, you know, and and I have that same kind of attitude.    But when it warrants it like today, we're getting inspected by our manager of our home, you know, it was all hands on deck this entire weekend and he's willing to put everything down to to do what we need to do to, you know, achieve our goals. And I think those are great things for my children to also have to look up to. Oh, yeah, I totally agree with you. And Malika, I was so happy years ago when you won Miss Hawaii. And I want to ask you, why did you enter the Miss Hawaii pageant? Well, what's interesting is I was all of this was kind of random, right? So I was at some like fashion show at a hotel somewhere in Waikiki. And Justin Yoshino was there. And he was I think he was leading the fashion show or organizing it or something.  And so they had run in pageants before and were running in pageants. And he had already met with me and had me meet with Tracy Toguchi. Oh, no, that was after. So I met him there and then he was like, you know what? You should meet with Tracy Toguchi. She's a Miss Hawaii and you can find out about the Miss Hawaii program and decide whether or not it's a good fit for you. So at the fashion show, what I remember, though, is talking to some of the girls and some of the questions you got were a little strange. Like, oh, do you have a talent? You know, and like that's presumptuous. I don't know.  I don't know what it is now, but at the time it was 30 percent of your score. You know, so it was interesting to kind of get into learning about it in that way. Sat with Tracy and she told me about the scholarship side of it. And that's really what drew me to the Miss Hawaii pageant. The Miss America organization is the top provider of scholarships for women in the world, and I benefited from that. So just by running in the pageant, I got money for school and I was able. I had my full ride for my regent scholarship when I ran for Miss Hawaii. I was getting my master's degree and that money was starting. Well, actually, it did run out because it was just the first four years. And so Miss Hawaii is what got me through the parts of my master's program that I did initially. And then my entire broadcast meteorology program. So that's what drew me to the pageant itself. So when you were actually in the pageant, you know, that experience that you had, what did you learn about yourself throughout that pageant experience? Well, when I was in the fourth grade, I got this ribbon for perseverance. They had this character ribbons and everyone got a different one. I got perseverance and I think I just doubled down on that. So my first year, Olenna Hu, Olenna Rubin at the time, won. And I was fourth runner up and I got off stage and I immediately started planning for the next year. I had a little workbook. I sketched out like my swimsuit and my gown and wrote out all of the things that I was going to work on to to better my performance at the pageant. And so, yeah, I think maybe that was number one for Miss Hawaii at Miss America. What that taught me was just gosh, I will it inspired me because I got to meet a representative from every single state in the United States and Puerto Rico. And it was and the Virgin Islands want to leave that out. And that was amazing.  We still cheer each other on.  It just runs the gamut and they continue to inspire me to this day. And so the best thing that happened at Miss America was being named miscontiniality by my sisters. And to this day, it's still one of the most amazing moments in my life. Well, Malika, perseverance is definitely a necessary part of success. And it doesn't surprise me that you want miscontiniality. I mean, it's you have such a great personality and you have so much so much positive energy. And Malika, I felt I feel so fortunate to be able to have been a judge in five pageant so far. And what I what I've seen is there's a number of contestants that have insecurities and vulnerabilities about themselves. And they're entering the pageant because they want to they want to face those insecurities and actually have personal growth. So I admire them for their courage and want to get your thoughts about that. Well, first of all, thank you for saying that you're not surprised that I got miscontiniality, but I want to tell you a little bit of history on the Miss America pageant. So they actually discontinued miscontiniality because Miss Hawaii won it too much. And my year, they brought it back and Miss Hawaii won it. But you know what, Miss Hawaii's won it numerous times since. And it's just something about Hawaii. We have the Aloha spirit. We like to call miscontiniality Miss Aloha. And so I'm not sure it has so much to do with me specifically. I think it's more so to do with where we come from, the values and culture that's instilled in us from the very beginning. And maybe that's also one of the things that you're you know, you're talking about with the insecurities and there's reasons why women, you know, that we are always striving to do better, do more for our community, be better. And it's it's a package.  No, I like hearing that, Malika. Yeah, it is it's so much of it is Hawaii and Aloha, for sure. And and shortly after you started working at KGMB, which we all know at right now, it's Hawaii News Now. But how valuable was that experience for you working at KGMB? Well, first of all, work hard and and just be open minded, because that's how I got my job. And I had no experience in the news industry, but I happened to tell my father one day on a long list of random ideas when I was a senior in high school. Oh, what do you want to do when you grow up? And I said, oh, maybe I'll want to fix cars. Maybe I could be a chef. Perhaps I could be on the news. And my dad happened to know Guy Hagi and Kim Janala and they had dinner one night. My dad happened to say that to them. And so I'm at a nightclub. Skyline, if you remember, I know you remember, Rusty. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And Guy Hagi drags me into this dark corner and I'm like, what's happening here? And he says we are starting a new morning show. And your dad told me that you're interested in being on TV. Maybe, you know, you could come in for an interview. And I think he meant more so like as an intern. But he introduced me to Chris Archer, who at the time was our news director. His wife was the head of marketing. I met her as well. I got their cards and the next day I'm sitting at my desk at L'Jardin Academy. I was a French elementary school French teacher at the time and loved my job. I developed curriculum for these kids and they were my kids.  But this was intriguing. And so I emailed Chris Archer and said, hey, it was nice meeting you. You said to shoot you an email. So here I am. And he writes back very professionally.  And so he sends me these like AP news releases. And he says, OK, so write me a 30 second VO from this AP news release. And I write back, what is the AP? What's a VO about how long is 30 seconds? Could you give me an example? And this guy wrote back to me. He wrote back to me. I wrote a very poorly written voice over, which is what VO stands for. AP stands for the Associated Press. I'll never forget those. And I came in to read. And there's Keahi Tucker behind the desk. And I'm going, are they serious? I mean, totally starstruck. He's one of my best friends now. Just I love, I love the dude. He's amazing. And I sit down to this next to the stranger, basically at the time. And they put my VO into the teleprompter. And it was so wordy and just awful, right? So it was really hard to get through. And then they had breaking news, tsunami alert. And so this allowed me to kind of be myself. My dad's, I don't know if they knew it, but my dad's a tsunami expert. And so I was able to kind of riff about the tsunami. And then they were like, hey, why don't you try getting on the weather wall? And so I get on the weather wall and it's a green screen right behind you.  And that monitor is flipped.  I still don't watch television. I don't watch the news, but I'm on the news. Right. So I'm standing up there and Jeff Booth was the morning meteorologist at the time and he's sitting underneath the camera. And actually at the time, he was going through the broadcast meteorology program that I would then sign up for later. And I'm putting my hand out and I'm going, I'm mic'd by the way. And I'm going, Jeff, what's that? And he goes, clouds. Like, we have clouds. Walk, walk, walk, turn, Jeff. What's that? That's radar. It's rain. And there's some rain coming into the Coalaw mountain range, blah, blah, blah. Surf pops up and I'm a surfer. And so I can come alive for surf.  And I went through four interviews, like they brought me back four times. And I thought I didn't get the job, like for sure. And on my last one, Chris Archer says to me, Alika, you have this box full of overqualified people. And for some reason, keep coming back to you. I don't know if that was a compliment or not, but.  So they told me they would give me three months of training, which is unheard of in the industry. Usually they just throw you right on air. And so I shadowed Guy Hagi and Jeff Booth and they then during the between the newscast, they would record me and then they would critique me. And that was really interesting and definitely a learning process. I'm not sure I've ever it's hard to to get criticism. And I don't think at the time I understood the difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism, which is something that I'm really big on now and can definitely, you know, assess that and feel very grateful for constructive criticism and know how to shut out de-structive criticism. But at the time it was really hard as a 24 year old to take all of this on, you know. So it was quite the process. And I always tell kids when I tell them my story, just work hard, put your head down and be willing to learn and grow because that's what employers want. You don't have to have all the answers you can learn. No, I love hearing that, Malika.  I mean, you guys seem to all get along so great.  For sure, the people, the people are amazing.  Well, it's the largest weather team in Hawaii. We have four of us and three of us are meteorologists. And that's not a requirement to be a weather anchor. And so I think it really brings value to our audience that we have the training behind, you know, what we're the messenger, but it's nice to know that you're messenger that's bringing you with the National Weather Service says or what the National Hurricane says that that messenger has some background, you know, in weather to be able to draw from. And so that's been great. But on top of that, these people are just so kind and supportive. And I'm not even in studio. I mean, I'm live from here on Maui, from Upcountry Maui. And, you know, it's it's amazing. I feel so supported. My I've never had a boss, my GM, Jason, my news director, Janice, are so kind and understanding. And it's been it's been a really wonderful experience for me. I work part time. I do Good Morning Hawaii Weekends from six to eight a.m. It's the highest viewed morning show, even compared to the the weekday morning shows, which is such a blessing for for me to be a part of, you know, such a great show. But also I get to do it from my porch, from my backyard here on Maui. And that made history. I just feel so grateful to Janice and Jason for thinking outside of the box. Granted, COVID kind of helped them along this process because everyone was working from home and they thought, why not? Why hasn't anyone ever done this before? And so we made history. We've never had an anchor or a reporter ever be based on a neighbor island. And it looks like it's kind of a trend. I've seen other news stations now have reporters on the other island. So I'm hoping it just keeps going.  And I want to ask you about this one thing, you know, in my books, I really talk about a welcoming adversity and looking forward to challenges and really having the right mindset when you in in dealing with challenges. What would you say is one of the biggest adversities you've dealt with in your life so far? Motherhood, hands down, mind you, I'm not sure if you heard in the background, my children giggling and running around about five minutes ago. I can hear it in my earphones, but this is live. So hey, you know, motherhood, because I feel like I'm still learning and growing myself. I'm still getting to know myself, yet I have them to guide and to lead and to be a role model for them. And so there's just this push and pull. And what I think I've realized is that that's the beauty of it. And growing up, I felt like my parents were perfect. And, you know, people always say practice makes perfect, but our motto is practice makes progress in my household. And so when mommy and daddy fail at something or we didn't quite get that right, or we raise our voices or whatever it is, we make that a part of the learning process, if you will, of becoming a human. You know, we're all human. We all make mistakes. And so when those things happen, we model how to move through when when we fail. Mommy and daddy are so sorry that we just raised our voices. We didn't want to do that. I want you to understand why that happened. And maybe we can all work together to move forward and and be better and do better, you know? And so we're trying also one of my main things I'm working on is trying to get them to build habits that will become habits and stick with them through adulthood.  But, you know, trying to meditate in the morning, trying to move our bodies in the morning, little the little things like drink a glass of water, be hydrated, you know? There yeah, there's just these little things that I tried to reading, you know, to incorporate into their little habits because I wish that they were habits that I had growing up because now it's hard. It is so hard. But on top of that, it's to go, it's OK. Like you don't have to do that every single day. You're not a failure.  You are human. Just do your best in each moment. Sometimes our best doesn't look that great. But if it's your best in that moment and you're all good, move through it, move on. Good habits are key. And, Malika, you've interviewed a number of celebrities, including Michael B. Jordan and Adam Driver from Star Wars, the actual Kylo Ren. And how fun was it to interview those guys? So much fun.  And so it's yeah, it's been such a blessing and so much fun. And they have, you know, these A-list celebrities come through. And so I think that year it was Adam Driver, Michael B. Jordan, maybe Laura Dern. You know, I've interviewed Viola Davis. I've interviewed Brian Cranston. I've yeah, it runs the gamut and so amazing. But they're just humans, you know, they're just like us and they've all been so kind and welcoming. And they're in and out. So to get like a sense of their personalities and feel so welcome just as a reporter is so nice. And Malika, you you have a communication podcast that's coming that's going to be starting soon. Can you can you tell me about that as well? Absolutely, I'm glad you asked. Well, this came from this. This is my thesis. It's 75 pages long, more than 20,000 words. I mean, I did hundreds of hours of research to develop this podcast. I'm a part of the Communicology Department at UH Manoa, which is the scientific study of human communication. I started at 16 years ago and came back. I thought I could finish my second year in, you know, in one year and it just wasn't possible with motherhood and everything else. And so giving myself the grace to kind of move through that and go, it's OK, I can add on another year. And so I did. And this last year has been this thesis inside and out. And so I did research on what makes a successful podcast, how to effectively communicate in a podcast. And the topic of the podcast is communication, which is a slang term that describes the beautification of communication, but also some people use communication to describe the unification of community. And I just thought both of those things are the goals of my podcast. I want to help people to communicate better. And I want to bring them academic information in a way that they can digest. And that's what I've been doing for the last 15 years, being a messenger on the news is very similar to the whole concept of this podcast is to take something that's a little bit complicated like a hurricane. You know, but this is human communication. And to be able to bring it to a layman, if you will, to a normal everyday person so they can understand the content, they can get the latest research and they can apply that to their lives. So I interview researchers on deception, on the positivity bias, that's our inclination to always put forward our best selves. Cyber bullying, gosh, I've done so many apologies. And I have them all in the queue. We're going to be launching this month. So I'm really excited in two weeks. I'm going to put it out and wait till Apple accepts it. And then I'll launch it once Apple accepts it. So there's no actual date. If you want to follow along, though, you can follow me on Instagram. Either at Malika deadly and there's a link there to the communication podcast or communication podcast, there's just an extra F either in the middle of the word. But it's really exciting. And then I have guests come on that have listened to the researcher podcast and we just talk authentic stories. You know, so, for example, my my topic for my thesis was parental fubbing. And fubbing is phone snubbing. So it's when parents ignore their children in the presence of their phone. And so we went through all the research on how that's impacting our children, what we can do to better move through this. And and then I had my guest come in and we talked about the actual struggle and what we actually do, what works, what doesn't. So it's I don't know, I'm just so passionate about it. I know you can tell. Malika, I know you're passionate about so many things. And I could have you on for an hour. I mean, we could just keep going. But I also want to mention before we wrap that that you're also a black belt in karate and you are CPR certified and that you you go around the state of Hawaii doing CPR classes on a volunteer basis. And and I just feel that that is so impressive, Malika. And I, you know, all of the things that you mentioned on the show today, your insights, I mean, I just really want to thank you for for taking time to join me on the show today. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thanks, Malika. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com. And my books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I hope that Malika and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.


I was invited back to another Dino Alive Safari, but this time there were some surprises. The first one being this Stegosaurus that pooped. Whitney enjoyed that. The Pachycephalosaurus was a new Dino that would go around headbutting the actors. Very cute. The Chonky and Kyrosaur was also here, as well as the absolute unit that is the Brachiosaurus. And of course, there were dinosaur fights. This Allosaurus still had not learned its lesson from the last time. The T-Rex came out to show the Allosaurus how it's done, as well as to chomp on a few people. Then a fight between two trikes and two rexes broke out before they were interrupted by the new star of the show, the Giga Nodosaurus. So a final fight between two T-Rexes and the Giga commenced. It was hard to say who was winning, before even more dinosaurs entered the stage, giving everyone a chance to see these amazing creations. If you're a dinosaur fan and you happen to be in Japan during summer, I highly recommend checking this out.