This turned into a rant about Adventure.
The problem with working full time is that when you get an idea for something to rant about on your blog, you are at work. I'm going to have to start taking long lunch breaks and staying late or something or the Platypus Manifesto is going to die, I haven't posted to it in a year!
I have been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender on netflix, you know that children's cartoon by Nickelodeon that M. Night Shylamalon destroyed? The cartoon is pretty awesome. Its plot is surprisingly good for a cartoon. Yeah...I'm totally a fan of a show aimed at twelve year old boys....
To offset that embrassment I will now talk about how I have decided I need to try a wide variety of alcoholic beverages for the sole purpose of knowing something about alcohol. I figure its something that I should at least be familiar with, you know, man knowledge. Anyway, I've been trying some different types of beers and have been coming to the same conclusion. Beer is expensive and doesn't taste all that great. For having never tried alcohol I'm honestly surprised that I've finished every beer I've tried, I suppose this is good since I could probably drink anything if I was in a social situation that called for it. But I've not liked any of it, and once I feel I've sampled a wide enough range of light and dark beers I don't think I'll be buying any again. Waste of money, root beer is so much better.
Now rum on the other hand, its a little better. Primarily because I've discovered it has the useful side effect of drying up your sinuses in small amounts. I was being murdered by my allergies the other day and remembered how when I had a cold one time my dad gave me a shot of whiskey, which helped with the cold a lot but was also part of the reason I never tried alcohol again until of late. So I decided to give that a shot since it fit into my quest of trying alcohol anyway and bought a small bottle of bacardi rum. Its not too terrible, it has a useful purpose and at least it doesn't taste like two week old bacon. Even if it does burn.
I suppose at some point I'll have to start sampling wines.
Work is going pretty good. I'm on a couple different projects right now, and there's only one I'm bored with. I can't talk about them very much though, which sounds much cooler than it actually is. I'm going to give a presentation to this year's CompSci seniors at GCC and I can't talk about my most interesting project! Oh well.
Texas has cooled down, thank God! In August and early September we were in the triple digits for a few weeks. Temps even topped off at 108 one day. Already my electric bill in June was through the roof, 125 for my little apartment, so I rose my air conditioner up to 78 degrees. I tried 80 for a few days but it was just depressing so I bumped it back down. Keeping it at 78, my bill rose to 130! I just got September's bill though and it dropped 30 bucks, in celebration I've dropped the air down to 76, woo hoo! Now that the high isn't even breaking 90 I am a happy camper. Which is fun since in NE Ohio, we don't really go outside if it breaks 90. Or if we do its to go to the lake or a pool.
Steven, my next door neighbor for the large majority of my life, packed up everything and moved out to Seattle. He called me the other day and wanted to know if I'd sail from Seattle, around South America (the long way, no canal) back home to Madison next summer. Honestly, that sounds like an awesome trip and I'd love to do it. Problem is, I have a job, which means they actually expect me to show up! I told him I'd love to do a trip like that but the best I could do would be a week. If this actually happens maybe I'll fly down and meet him in the gulf and he can drop me off in Houston? I don't know, but it could be fun.
I'd really love to do the whole thing though, talk about an adventure. Not gonna lie I sorta feel boxed in. Like I should have taken some time off and done something crazy like that before entering the work force. I mean, I've never had an adventure. Sure I've been to Philmont where I lived out of a pack for 8 days, and I've drank straight from lakes up in Quebec where the sky is so clear you can watch satellites move across the sky and the milky way is a thick arch over the whole sky. And those have been good trips, but there was virtually no risk to them. I got sick on the trail at Philmont, you know what happened? My dad hiked up to a staffed camp and they called a truck to pick me up and take me back to base camp. Some adventure.
Not that I don't value that experience, Philmont was great. I climbed a fracking mountain there! I carried a 40 pound pack over 60 miles at elevations ranging from eight thousand to twelve thousand feet. I hiked along a ridge line where I could see the peaks of mountains whose bases were over the horizon. It was great. Same with Quebec. i canoed a 60ish mile loop. Carried a canoe a mile on my shoulders, drank out of crystal clear water. Paddled an eighteen foot long aluminum canoe on a lake during a lightning storm (really good for your prayer life by the way) and paddled a canoe down a lake at night as shoot stars danced across the heavens at night. I've had some great experiences.
But I haven't had any adventures. Philmont was controlled, Quebec, while less controlled, had worse come to worse we were at most a few miles away from a road, and most of the lakes we camped on had at least one house or lodge. If we needed help we could have gotten it. Adventure involves risk and a certain lack of control. Not a lack of self control, but a lack of control over your environment. In Philmont help is always at most an hour away. In Quebec help was absolutely no more than a day away. On the open ocean, help may be too far away. Its an adventure because there's more risk.
Not that the risk is unreasonable, but its real and its there. There is a lot more that can go wrong on a boat at sea than a canoe on a lake. But boats are proven technology, and the sea is well understood, albeit unpredictable and unforgiving. The sea isn't a controlled environment, there's no camp staff to drive you to base camp, no roads leading to a hospital.
Man, I want to have an adventure. I've never even been outside the US! (except Canada, which doesn't really count sorry) But what am I going to do about it? Maybe, maybe, hop on a boat with Steven for a week.
I don't regret where I am. Surviving GCC was a bit of an adventure honestly, there wasn't any rescue for my GPA! Part of me wants to do something crazy though. Like buy a one way ticket to Europe and backpack across the country. Or sail around South America. But stuff like that requires no commitments to hold you back. I've always been committed to something. During the school years, school, during the summers jobs and calc classes I couldn't pass in school.
Oh well. We'll see what happens this summer, a short adventure is better than no adventure. Though there is a certain type of commitment I wouldn't mind getting in the way of this summer. I'd be rather happy if it did. :D
Oh wow, this started as a "I haven't blogged in a month, I should write something or they'll get bored" post. Because, you know, you guys get bored without me. :/ Imma walk away now.
I have been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender on netflix, you know that children's cartoon by Nickelodeon that M. Night Shylamalon destroyed? The cartoon is pretty awesome. Its plot is surprisingly good for a cartoon. Yeah...I'm totally a fan of a show aimed at twelve year old boys....
To offset that embrassment I will now talk about how I have decided I need to try a wide variety of alcoholic beverages for the sole purpose of knowing something about alcohol. I figure its something that I should at least be familiar with, you know, man knowledge. Anyway, I've been trying some different types of beers and have been coming to the same conclusion. Beer is expensive and doesn't taste all that great. For having never tried alcohol I'm honestly surprised that I've finished every beer I've tried, I suppose this is good since I could probably drink anything if I was in a social situation that called for it. But I've not liked any of it, and once I feel I've sampled a wide enough range of light and dark beers I don't think I'll be buying any again. Waste of money, root beer is so much better.
Now rum on the other hand, its a little better. Primarily because I've discovered it has the useful side effect of drying up your sinuses in small amounts. I was being murdered by my allergies the other day and remembered how when I had a cold one time my dad gave me a shot of whiskey, which helped with the cold a lot but was also part of the reason I never tried alcohol again until of late. So I decided to give that a shot since it fit into my quest of trying alcohol anyway and bought a small bottle of bacardi rum. Its not too terrible, it has a useful purpose and at least it doesn't taste like two week old bacon. Even if it does burn.
I suppose at some point I'll have to start sampling wines.
Work is going pretty good. I'm on a couple different projects right now, and there's only one I'm bored with. I can't talk about them very much though, which sounds much cooler than it actually is. I'm going to give a presentation to this year's CompSci seniors at GCC and I can't talk about my most interesting project! Oh well.
Texas has cooled down, thank God! In August and early September we were in the triple digits for a few weeks. Temps even topped off at 108 one day. Already my electric bill in June was through the roof, 125 for my little apartment, so I rose my air conditioner up to 78 degrees. I tried 80 for a few days but it was just depressing so I bumped it back down. Keeping it at 78, my bill rose to 130! I just got September's bill though and it dropped 30 bucks, in celebration I've dropped the air down to 76, woo hoo! Now that the high isn't even breaking 90 I am a happy camper. Which is fun since in NE Ohio, we don't really go outside if it breaks 90. Or if we do its to go to the lake or a pool.
Steven, my next door neighbor for the large majority of my life, packed up everything and moved out to Seattle. He called me the other day and wanted to know if I'd sail from Seattle, around South America (the long way, no canal) back home to Madison next summer. Honestly, that sounds like an awesome trip and I'd love to do it. Problem is, I have a job, which means they actually expect me to show up! I told him I'd love to do a trip like that but the best I could do would be a week. If this actually happens maybe I'll fly down and meet him in the gulf and he can drop me off in Houston? I don't know, but it could be fun.
I'd really love to do the whole thing though, talk about an adventure. Not gonna lie I sorta feel boxed in. Like I should have taken some time off and done something crazy like that before entering the work force. I mean, I've never had an adventure. Sure I've been to Philmont where I lived out of a pack for 8 days, and I've drank straight from lakes up in Quebec where the sky is so clear you can watch satellites move across the sky and the milky way is a thick arch over the whole sky. And those have been good trips, but there was virtually no risk to them. I got sick on the trail at Philmont, you know what happened? My dad hiked up to a staffed camp and they called a truck to pick me up and take me back to base camp. Some adventure.
Not that I don't value that experience, Philmont was great. I climbed a fracking mountain there! I carried a 40 pound pack over 60 miles at elevations ranging from eight thousand to twelve thousand feet. I hiked along a ridge line where I could see the peaks of mountains whose bases were over the horizon. It was great. Same with Quebec. i canoed a 60ish mile loop. Carried a canoe a mile on my shoulders, drank out of crystal clear water. Paddled an eighteen foot long aluminum canoe on a lake during a lightning storm (really good for your prayer life by the way) and paddled a canoe down a lake at night as shoot stars danced across the heavens at night. I've had some great experiences.
But I haven't had any adventures. Philmont was controlled, Quebec, while less controlled, had worse come to worse we were at most a few miles away from a road, and most of the lakes we camped on had at least one house or lodge. If we needed help we could have gotten it. Adventure involves risk and a certain lack of control. Not a lack of self control, but a lack of control over your environment. In Philmont help is always at most an hour away. In Quebec help was absolutely no more than a day away. On the open ocean, help may be too far away. Its an adventure because there's more risk.
Not that the risk is unreasonable, but its real and its there. There is a lot more that can go wrong on a boat at sea than a canoe on a lake. But boats are proven technology, and the sea is well understood, albeit unpredictable and unforgiving. The sea isn't a controlled environment, there's no camp staff to drive you to base camp, no roads leading to a hospital.
Man, I want to have an adventure. I've never even been outside the US! (except Canada, which doesn't really count sorry) But what am I going to do about it? Maybe, maybe, hop on a boat with Steven for a week.
I don't regret where I am. Surviving GCC was a bit of an adventure honestly, there wasn't any rescue for my GPA! Part of me wants to do something crazy though. Like buy a one way ticket to Europe and backpack across the country. Or sail around South America. But stuff like that requires no commitments to hold you back. I've always been committed to something. During the school years, school, during the summers jobs and calc classes I couldn't pass in school.
Oh well. We'll see what happens this summer, a short adventure is better than no adventure. Though there is a certain type of commitment I wouldn't mind getting in the way of this summer. I'd be rather happy if it did. :D
Oh wow, this started as a "I haven't blogged in a month, I should write something or they'll get bored" post. Because, you know, you guys get bored without me. :/ Imma walk away now.