10 unique things
OK, OK, lj-land, I give up. I submit to the power of the lj
meme. It nearly had me with the "post what you read on line x of
page y of the nearest book", just because what I got when I tried it
was so shocking when taken out of context.
But everyone likes to feel unique, so the seductive pull of the "10 things that your friends probably haven't done before" meme is just too hard to resist. So I offer this bit of trivia for your consideration:
I'll bet you haven't:
1. Driven solo coast-to-coast across the US in 2 1/2 days in a formerly-abandoned car with a purple skull and crossbones painted on the door and 3 spare tires in the trunk (none of which fit the car's wheels), while still managing to use them changing a flat tire in a snowstorm.
2. Witnessed the birth of an American Bison into a herd you cared for every day.
3. Piloted an honest-to-goodness jet helicopter over the Florida Everglades.
4. "Sat" in the cockpit of a well-preserved WWII Japanese Zero fighter aircraft that happened to be resting in the cargo hold of a sunken transport ship under 40 feet of water.
5. Stood next to miners as they wired the detonators to freshly-packed explosives 3300' below the Earth's surface while sweating like a pig (not from the explosive situation, it's just freaking hot that far down).
6. Been awakened while sleeping alone in a cabin 10 miles from the nearest road by a haunting noise that turned out to be coming from a flock of penguins on the beach outside.
7. Sat in the front passenger seat of a vehicle watching a bus full of people coming downhill straight at you (and the driver crossing himself with one hand while steering with the other), after spinning out in a 180 degree turn on a winding mountain road (named El Espinoza del Diablo) and coming to rest on the edge of a high cliff, then escaped oblivion by a few seconds as your car, spraying loose gravel, lurched into the opposite lane.
8. Witnessed one of the longest total solar eclipses of the 20th century at its maximum point (centerline of the moon's shadow at local noon with the sun at zenith overhead), on the site of Mayan ruins.
9. Toured professionally as a puppeteer.
10. Found, in the middle of one night during a storm, over a dozen different and rare handblown glass Japanese fishing floats that had just washed up onto the beach after they had crossed (or circled) the Pacific.
Hey, that was fun. Life is such an adventure. Now I'm wishing it was "25 rare things".
But everyone likes to feel unique, so the seductive pull of the "10 things that your friends probably haven't done before" meme is just too hard to resist. So I offer this bit of trivia for your consideration:
I'll bet you haven't:
1. Driven solo coast-to-coast across the US in 2 1/2 days in a formerly-abandoned car with a purple skull and crossbones painted on the door and 3 spare tires in the trunk (none of which fit the car's wheels), while still managing to use them changing a flat tire in a snowstorm.
2. Witnessed the birth of an American Bison into a herd you cared for every day.
3. Piloted an honest-to-goodness jet helicopter over the Florida Everglades.
4. "Sat" in the cockpit of a well-preserved WWII Japanese Zero fighter aircraft that happened to be resting in the cargo hold of a sunken transport ship under 40 feet of water.
5. Stood next to miners as they wired the detonators to freshly-packed explosives 3300' below the Earth's surface while sweating like a pig (not from the explosive situation, it's just freaking hot that far down).
6. Been awakened while sleeping alone in a cabin 10 miles from the nearest road by a haunting noise that turned out to be coming from a flock of penguins on the beach outside.
7. Sat in the front passenger seat of a vehicle watching a bus full of people coming downhill straight at you (and the driver crossing himself with one hand while steering with the other), after spinning out in a 180 degree turn on a winding mountain road (named El Espinoza del Diablo) and coming to rest on the edge of a high cliff, then escaped oblivion by a few seconds as your car, spraying loose gravel, lurched into the opposite lane.
8. Witnessed one of the longest total solar eclipses of the 20th century at its maximum point (centerline of the moon's shadow at local noon with the sun at zenith overhead), on the site of Mayan ruins.
9. Toured professionally as a puppeteer.
10. Found, in the middle of one night during a storm, over a dozen different and rare handblown glass Japanese fishing floats that had just washed up onto the beach after they had crossed (or circled) the Pacific.
Hey, that was fun. Life is such an adventure. Now I'm wishing it was "25 rare things".