Talk about your endless summer

Some surfboard manufacturers and apparel retailers are salivating over the prospect of turning any landlocked town into Surf City USA. Members of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association were among the business people and investors who gathered in Laguna Beach, Calif., this month for the first Surf Park Summit.

The gathering aimed to raise interest in building the parks, which are essentially massive pools with artificial-wave machines. The main idea is that geography would no longer limit the ocean sport, but even coastal states such as California and Hawaii are seen as potential sites. While an endless source of flawless waves — chlorine and all — may prove irresistible to some, we prefer the real thing. After all, the hunt for that elusive perfect wave is part of surfing’s appeal.

Road work begins, world doesn’t end

Freeway shutdowns, never a fun time, are at least survivable.

That seems to be the takeaway from the start of the "H-1 Rehabilitation" project on Sunday. Eastbound lanes from Likelike to Ward Avenue were closed for eight hours from 8 p.m. Sunday, and again Monday overnight.

Setting aside the unwitting tourists who sat in traffic and vented their anger at the hapless cabbie, it seems all the advance publicity about the graveyard-shift work did the trick, and folks stayed away.

Perhaps there are lessons to be applied to future projects. Honolulu rail planners: Surely you’re watching this closely.