Well, I enjoy the crotchety part some times.. hehe plus.. your smart ass witty comments are good learning/reading. But I can understand the change. HI is a hell of a place, yeah?
It's OK, but I wouldn't live there. I think if you had a good solid month you could do everything worth doing, from snorkeling and surfing to history and culture. After that, meh. The whole state is very much like Las Vegas in that it is a tourist driven economy. Even their specialized agriculture (tropical fruits, etc) isn't spectacular per se.