Sleepless in Basra

This day has started out miserably...I didn't sleep but for an hour or two last night even though I was absolutely exhausted.  I guess part of it is nerves concerning the deliverables that we are working on right now, also probably some excitement about the impending travel back home, but mostly it was my trailer mates.  They are day shift people and just don't know how to be quiet...every one of them is a veritable bull in china shop.  From 4:30 am onward they talk and bounce and slam their doors, and stomp up and down their metal stairs...in and out all morning.  And if they aren't making it impossible to sleep the housekeeping staff is guaranteed to open the door at least twice...it doesn't matter that there is a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door.  In any case, when the housekeeper opened the door for the second time this morning at 7:45 am, I was done...I just couldn't fall back asleep.  I lay there for a couple of hours thinking about how much I wanted to be asleep, but to no avail.  So, I got up and went for a run...four miles later I came back, caught a shower, and I tried to lie back down but still couldn't sleep, so finally I just came into work.

Okay, the first paragraph is from yesterday...today has started much better with a full day's sleep, so the world looks better today.  The deliverable that you have all been listening to me complain about is basically finished, so we are looking at smooth sailing for a while out here...of course I am leaving the field in three more days, so I won't get to enjoy it too much.  Perhaps the calm will last through when I come back in five weeks or so.

So, I think that I may try to get back into indoor rock climbing while on break this time...I certainly have plenty of time for it, so why not.  I have wanted to for a long time, but was shy about heading into the gym because I had gotten so completely out of shape...so, I neither did something that I truly enjoy, climb, nor got into better shape to do all of the things that I enjoy.  It seems really stupid, right!? I thought about this senselessness a lot yesterday while I was running.  You allow yourself to get out of shape leading you to abandon some of the physical activities that you once really enjoyed...at some point you decide that you want to get back into it, but are then too embarrassed about your shape to get back into it, actually condemning yourself to remaining out of shape.  In this ways YEARS can pass, years stuck in a body that you don't relate to, don't feel comfortable with, and aren't proud of being the owner and inhabitant of.  It seems such a stupid trap, to be so frozen by fear about what others will think, the judgments that they will make about you to continue being EXACTLY the thing you think they might judge you for being...I always thought I was a stronger, more self-assured individual than that, but I guess I was wrong.  I have been doing a bit of growing lately though, as well as refocusing on making myself the person that I want to be and my life the life that i want to be leading, so I am adding this hobby back in.  I don't care that right this moment I might look a little silly trying to rock climb...I understand that i will look a little out of place, but I don't care...I enjoy it, so I will do it anyway.  And because I am going to big enough to do it anyway I eventually will look like I fit in again and will enjoy it even more as my fitness for the activity increases.

I have been reading more about living a simpler, less materialistic lifestyle lately, and I guess I have talked about it on this blog quite a bit...right now I am reading another book on the subject, and the things that it is talking about really resonate with me.  I feel like I have been asleep for the last fifteen years or so, because I KNEW this stuff when I was leaving high school, but lost touch with myself somewhere along the way.  I am almost embarrassed about it.  Not to say that the post-high school me was a great guy, because in many ways I was not...I was irresponsible, self-centered, and a bit out of control, but I knew myself, my wants for my life, and my dreams very well.  I lost touch with that deeper understanding of what I was really looking for out of this life for a long time, and I am glad to be waking back up and realizing that there is still time for the life (or a close approximation of it) that I really wanted to live...only it will be even better, as I have a family that was never anticipated by the younger me.  I obviously can't re-embrace all of the dreams and expectations of youth, as I am quite certain at this point that I will not write the great American novel, be anyone famous or of interest outside my direct social circle, and will lead a life small compared to many in the world.  It still has the potential to be the perfect life for me though...a life full of adventure, joy, experiences, love, and happiness.

So, I guess that is where I will leave it for the night, as it is getting really late to post, and I still have a lot of work left to do.  Goodnight!

A Missed Birthday...

Yesterday work just got completely out of hand, so I didn't get the opportunity to post, so I will include the post that I started yesterday and then move on to a new one after...

I slept later than usual today, so I am a bit bummed that I missed my run, but it is okay, as I am so excited that it is my daughter's birthday...she turns seven years old!  It is hard to believe that it has been so long.  I remember the night that I first discovered that I was going to be a father, and I remember the amazingly complicated emotions that I felt about it...sadly, I didn't handle the news well, not well at all, and it is something that I will forever regret.  I couldn't help it at the time; I was scared, very scared.  In retrospect though, the birth of my daughter, and my son later, stand out as the happiest experiences in my life.  I wouldn't trade being a father for anything in the world...I wrestle with the implications of having kids a lot, but  I never regret having them.  They make my world shine brighter than I ever imagined it would.

So that was yesterday...

Today opened in just as poor a way as did yesterday...for the life of me I couldn't get to sleep this morning and didn't finally fall asleep until almost nine am, so I ended up sleeping late again and missing my run...mucho frustrating.  Then, I walked into a mess in the processing shack, so I am fighting just to get back in the game.  We have an important deliverable that needs to be finished in the next couple of days which is really the impetus for most of these frustrations, so now I just hoping that once we get this item complete on time we can relax and breathe a little bit.

I am afraid that it is too busy to write more tonight, so I will post and try to get more in tomorrow.

Workers of the World Unite!

So, I awoke this afternoon to discover the camp in a state of unrest as our junior workers (primarily local employees) were apparently on strike...they had blockaded the camp and were allowing no vehicular traffic in or out of camp.  Some of the guys who were scheduled to crew change today missed their flights, and it was generally a bit tense around the camp.  The strike was completely peaceful...there were no weapons or anything, but still, the Senior Staff and Security Staff are outnumbered over three to one by junior staff.  So, our production has been off two days in a row due to civil unrest now inside our camp as well as outside of it...good times over here everyone...good times indeed.  I haven't yet heard if or when the strike will come to an end or what the terms of the cessation will be.

In other news, I ran much longer than normal today and feel really great, though due to the strike there were far more junior staff in camp during my run than are usually around.  It seems that in Iraq it is a real laugh to make fun of overweight people trying to get in shape...you run and the guys jog next to you laughing and holding their bellies. They point...they stare...they laugh...they say things to you in Arabic with huge smiles, so I am guessing they are just taking a good-natured piss with me, but who can know for sure.  But yeah...they laugh at fat people in Iraq, I have first hand experience with it...before you think that I am drawing a generalization off a single experience, this happens almost whenever I run through Junior Camp, there were just more guys pointing and laughing and holding their bellies today.  That's all right though...I will be laughing when I am running through their camp come August, sans my gut...it is fuel for my fire.  I can tell you that nothing motivates weight loss like being made fun of in a foreign country...it sucks to be exactly the stereotype that they have of the fat, white, rich American, or that is the stereotype that my Libyan friends tell me dominates.

You might be laughing now, but just wait!

So, it was an eventful day out here...two days in a row!  This is the type of drama that I was expecting when I signed on for this tour in Iraq.  I had started to think that there was no excitement left in the world...I mean you come all the way to Iraq to live on the edge of safety and risk and discover a country as tame and quiet as anywhere else I have ever been...it was a little discouraging.  I am mostly joking...I did come here with the intention of experiencing something somewhat raw, but I was not coming with the intention of placing myself in harm's way - I can't tell you how much I researched and considered and weighed the risks versus the rewards before agreeing to accept this post here.

Erin and I have been talking a bit today about budgeting...I am trying to work on paying down my debts, but I guess I have neglected building a new budget which accounts for my new expenses versus revenue.  I think that tonight I will try to take a little time while I am on shift to get a current budget written and ready to go.  I leave for home in just about a week (can you believe I have already been out here more than a month), so the timing is just right!

Speaking of home...I never thought that I would say this, but even Houston is shining like a star for me right now.  I am so excited to get home.  There is so much that I want to do...restaurants to eat at that I have missed...my weekly pilgrimage to Houston Dairymaids with friends...evening drinks at the Arms...and of course morning games with the kids!  I tell you folks, it is the little things that make life worth living, and the real trick to life is figuring out how to get yourself in a place where the little things are easier to appreciate.  I haven't figured it out yet, as anyone who has read my blog before knows...I am an absolute mess generally speaking.  I don't feel like I know up from down half of the time, but still I work on it, work on myself, and try to make sense out of what seems more and more to be a senseless world.

Well, I guess that will do it for today...keep it classy, World!

Security Troubles and Travel Plans

Today has been a very busy day, as I had an important client meeting this evening and a bit of a security scare as well.  The meeting went very well, so that was a relief.  Earlier today we had a group of local men approach some of our crew and tell them that they can't work in the part of our spread that we are currently shooting in.  It was worrisome enough to send our crew back to the safety of the camp and our walls.  Later in the day groups of armed locals with machine guns were seen patrolling around on our spread.  Apparently one of the local sheiks is offended by us being here collecting seismic data.  The military and oilfield police have been called out and are patrolling the area surrounding the camp tonight.  It is a bit tense around here this evening to say the least.  Interestingly, for as dangerous or worrisome as it all sounds, I feel completely safe...I can't really explain just how much security there is for us out here, but it is impressive.

A moon with the dawn in Iraq

Aside from the security issues going on today it is a pretty slow and boring day over here, much the same as always.  The flares are burning all around us, the sky was clear except for the smoke from the flares, and it was in the mid-60s.  I am sitting in my office right now listening to the QC guys argue with each other in Arabic, or I think they are arguing...one can not be sure.  It is funny, they are all very laid back guys when they speak in English, but when they return to their native tongue they speak much faster, louder, with much more passion.  Hands up in the air...they remind me of the stereotypical Italians from movies.  One of the guys is going home tomorrow, and he is REALLY excited.  I will miss him, as he is the one who always shares his culture and religion with me...he calls me "Americano" in a really terrible Italian accent.  He, still being in training, works a murderous schedule of 6 weeks on and only 2 weeks off.  I feel bad for him and for all of the guys who are working that training schedule as they work their way through our training program.

Moon still up with dawn breaking over the camp

I was reading quite a bit this morning before sleep overtook me about Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and I think more and more that it is where I will head for five or six days while I am in the US.  It sounds like it contains some very challenging hikes as well as some inspiring views.  I am usually not so much of a desert person, but it seems that the high Guadalupes enjoy a climate similar to someplace much further north because of the elevation.  I am definitely getting excited for this little trip, now I just need to decide when to do it.  I guess that I need to check the old calendar and see what is on the agenda so far.the first two weekends are booked for sure already, so I know that the week between them is out for a trip.  The following week will be out as well, because I will be driving back to Houston on that Sunday from New Orleans and the last thing I will want to do is continue driving for another twelve hours to make the National Park.  It shouldn't be so challenging to plan a trip when I have almost five free weeks, right?!  Perhaps it is simply further evidence that we are over-scheduled and complicated these days...I really wish that it were just easier...leisure shouldn't be full of stress.

Looking towards the Guadalupe Mountains

For the next break which will be late April and through May I have made myself a deal involving an intermediate goal in regards to my getting in shape resolution.  If I have lost 25 pounds by the time the break comes, since the year 2013 started, then I am going to treat myself to a trip to either Romania or to a few of the National Parks of the West...perhaps Grand Canyon, Zion, and Death Valley or Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite.  That trip will be a real vacation...not five or six days, but two weeks or so.  A chance to really enjoy and get into the backcountry of the places that I will visit...also it will be one last reprieve from the heat that will be coming both to Iraq and to Houston.  I have plenty of time still to plan that trip, but I really want to have it be good, so I don't want to skimp on the planning (though I am normally not so much of a planner).  I actually tend to like traveling about without much of an itinerary or agenda...that way I don't feel stressed by getting places at a certain time or feel bad stopping to enjoy a view or place that I found.  It is nice to sort of know where you are heading but not be constrained about when to get there.  I think what I will do if I decide to go the National Park route is to pick a two or three day trail in each place that I want to visit and then really just have those six or eight days truly planned, and that will give me about a week to drive out and back and mess around along the way.  SO EXCITING!

Do you know one thing that I have never done before that I would really like to do...slot canyoneering. I have been in a slot before, but have only barely hiked into one...only about a mile and a half, and that slot was in the alluvial fans of Death Valley, not one of the super deep, super narrow slots of Southern Utah.  I think that I will take a trip out west to try slot canyoneering with a guide service.  I think it would be really challenging and exceptionally fun.  I don't know exactly what inspired that thought, but I thought I would share it...perhaps I will talk more about it in a later post.

A Utah Slot Canyon

That's what I've got for the day...later!

Beard check...OUT OF CONTROL!

Dances and Daydreams

I woke up today much better rested and feeling more myself than I have in a few days at least...I am entering the homestretch now, so time passes a little more slowly, but the end is in sight and gets nearer everyday.  When I leave here I will have five weeks of freedom...freedom from work obligations, freedom from deadlines, freedom from client demands...sounds like five weeks of Heaven.  I just learned that I will be able to attend my daughter's Father-Daughter Dance for her girl scout troop due to a slight change in my travel arrangements, so I must say that I am even more looking forward to this upcoming break...it is the little events like that one that I can't stand to miss.  I was so happy and grateful to have unexpectedly gotten the Holidays off, as I was able to see her ballet performance...we were so nervous about whether she would be able to perform (she has terrible, paralyzing stage fright sometimes) and then she just went out there and DID it!  I was so proud of her and so happy for her!

Well, as I can now grasp that the hitch's end is near I can begin to really focus on life after Iraq...after this hitch at least, as I will be spending four or five hitches here in total, I think.  So, I think that I will spend tonight daydreaming a bit about what sorts of things I may do over the five weeks that I will be home.  I know that the first weekend will be spend home, taking my daughter to her dance, spending time with Erin, and visiting with friends that I haven't seen in quite some time.  I also plan to drive a lot...how American is it of me that I miss driving so much - I miss my Jeep.  I can't wait to get behind the wheel, put my hand on the stick shift, my foot on the clutch, and GO!  I will have to find some place to put it in four-wheel drive just because I miss it so much.  The next weekend will be spent out of town in New Orleans...I won't share our plans for the weekend except to say that we are going to my favorite restaurant in the city...YES!  And that sums up my definite plans for the break...I have a basic plan to go to Enchanted Rock to camp for a weekend, but I need to get that one finalized.  So, that is three weekends out of five accounted for, and none of my weeks...what should I do?!

Ah...Enchanted Rock. I haven't been yet, but I am excited - hopefully the kids can come on this one

I know that for at least a few days I need to be in New Orleans to help my dad and to visit with my family there, so I need to place that on the list of things to do.  Let's call one of my weeks now covered...that leaves four for just hanging out and perhaps a trip somewhere exciting.  If I were to leave on a Sunday night and return for Saturday, that would give me five days for getting there and doing whatever it was that I decide to do...many grand adventures could be had with five days, and let's face it...I have time...I could make it a touch longer.  But towards the end of last year I went to Colorado and New Mexico for five days and had a great time...so a lot can be done with even this limited amount of time.

I am vaguely considering a trip to the Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Cavern,  it would easily fit into the available time. It is close enough to Houston to make the drive there and back in one day (though a very long day).  I have been to both National Parks before, but it has been many years, and I wouldn't mind seeing them again.  The tallest mountain in Texas is in the Guadalupe Mountains (it is called Guadalupe Peak, in fact), so I could tick it off while was there.  they have some really cool fossils in the rocks there as well, as the Guadalupe Mountains themselves are actually an upthrust Permian reef complex.  They have some reasonable backpacking in the park, and some historic houses which belonged to the geologist who donated the McKittrick Canyon to the U.S. Government to act as the heart of the park.  The canyon itself has been called the "best hike in Texas", and it is a draw in September and October as the leaves change color.

Capitan Reef is the most distinctive geologic feature in the park

McKittrick Canyon, I believe

Up in Carlsbad Caverns they have some spelunking trips that I have always wanted to do but haven't had time for before, so perhaps I will give that plan a shot as well.  Interestingly, in the three or four times I have been to Carlsbad Cavern NP I have never actually stayed for the bat show, which is supposed to be one of the most impressive anywhere.  Millions of bats exit the cave every night to feed, and from the people that I know who have seen it, it is impressive to say the least.

Well, it is already after midnight here, so I am going to go ahead and post this entry.  Good night.

Don't Know What I was Thinking...

It is funny how the world works sometimes...I am having a bit of a rough "morning" out here today (it is technically afternoon by the sun), and it is all my own fault.  The problem isn't with anything that I have done or haven't done out here, it is that I am out here at all!  I am just SO ready to head home, and I still have more than a week left on the hitch.  I am missing my kids...my daughter has a birthday next week (of course I will miss it), I have missed nearly the entire season of basketball, I am missing my daughter's first science fair, and I missed her riding her bike without training wheels for the first time.  I miss so much for my job...to further my career.  I sure hope that it is worth it somehow, as I am genuinely struggling right now to see the upside.  It seems always that my personal life pays the price for my professional development.  Has it always been that way in the world?  I guess that prior to the Industrial Revolution there was little concept of "leisure time", so perhaps the development of the modern economy was good in that regard...but now that we have this leisure time how many of us really see much of it...we shoot back and forth to work, we crush ourselves into the gym so that our muscles don't atrophy as a result of our desk jobs, we place our kids in daycare to be raised by someone else, and we dream of the week long vacation we will take in eight or nine months...does that lifestyle make any sense?  Sure, perhaps you have a nice car, a nice house, can afford for that week long vacation to be someplace expensive, and are looking forward to living the good life in retirement come 70 or 72.  Doesn't sound like much of a life to me...

Estes Park, CO...possibly my favorite place in the Lower 48

Interestingly, when I was a teenager I understood fundamentally that I was against grinding it out for the best part of my life for something good LATER...why not live it up when you are young...you aren't guaranteed longevity anyway?!  Of course, as I have aged (and boy have I aged) I have taken on additional responsibilities, cares, and worries...I have kids now; in fact, I have the most wonderful kids in the world, and I want to provide for them materially, but more importantly I want to provide for them a life worth living. Not full of junk and stuff, but a life full of experiences, and love, and a sense of wonder.  Is that what we are giving our children in these modern days in America?  We try...I genuinely believe that we try, but I don't think we are making it...I should stop here and say that I don't think we need to go back to the Stone Age or anything...I am not a Luddite...I just think that I want a more natural and free childhood for my kids.  I want rivers and forests and climbing and fishing for them...currently they have Wii and iPad and TV.  I am overstating a bit; my kids play outside every day, when I have them we go to a park after school everyday, and when their mom has them she takes them out to play, ride bikes, and just be in the sun - she is remarkably fit, and so ensures that the kids get their exercise as well.  I don't know what I am trying to say...I guess it is simply that I want my kids to experience a sort of pioneer upbringing, but in the knowledge that the modern world is right inside the door...I want them to have access to the profound beauty of Nature.  I worry that they don't have enough open space in their lives...I worry that they will grow up to have asthma because the air quality is so bad in the city that we live in...I worry that they will grow up to fast and miss true childhood (school curriculum these days seem like they push the kids too hard, too early)...I worry about so many things when it comes to my kids.

Oh well, I don't know why today seems so much harder than in it has before, but there you have it...I guess that we all have good days and bad days.  Actually, now that I have had my jog and eaten a little dinner, I do feel much better.  I wish so much that I could just feel like everyone else seems to...they go through this life complaint free...it just IS their life and so it is okay.  It is the same problem that I suffer from with religion...I just can't stomach the idea of FAITH...that something just IS.  Why is it, what is it, where is it, and how is it?    I have to know in order to understand something, and I must understand in order to believe...it is just my nature.  I envy so much the faith of my family and friends who BELIEVE...it doesn't matter whether that belief is in God or Allah or Buddha or the Goddess or in nothing...their faith is a beacon for them in dark times, a rock to build a life upon.  I just always feel afloat...perhaps it is one of the reasons that I have such a fear of putting down roots and settling into life for real...to bloom where I am planted, to refer to the old aphorism.  I have a very good friend who lives in Arizona, and she has such a strong faith, and it brings her strength and conviction, and I want a little of that...she says that all you have to do is believe and faith follows.  I have heard that before...my dad says basically the same thing...live as though you believe and soon you will believe.  I haven't found it to be true yet, but I guess one can always hope.

Well, this post has become more personal than I normally go in for, so I am going to wrap it up there...come back tomorrow with a clear head and hopefully something interesting to report.  Keep it real world...adieu!

January Has Ended and I'm Not Buying It...

It has been a couple of days since last I wrote, and I apologize for it...it has been very busy out here on the front line.  We have a huge deliverable coming up, so everyone out here has been focusing their energies towards making the deadline.  The long days have returned for me, though I should say long nights now that I have shifted myself to working through the night and sleeping through the day.  I have been trying to get up at a reasonable hour, one or so in the afternoon, so that I can get the gym and a jog in before heading into the processing shack, then I have been trying to get in a somewhat longer run in the early morning before I turn in (between 4 am and 6 am).  It has been going pretty well, though I sometimes worry about running in the dark here for fear of twisting an ankle amidst the ruts and divots of our work yard.

So, January has come and gone...one down and 11 more to go on 2013...should we check in on my Resolutions?  I have been very good on them, it seems...so far so good.  As of this writing I am about 6 kg down in weight which is about 13.2 pounds, so I am definitely well on track with this one.  Siddhartha has been read (re-read I should say)...one classic down, and it appears that Gilgamesh is on my list for February.  I have written 17 blog entries so far this year (not including this one, I believe) and have written five or six times in my journal, so while my journal writing can use some improvement I am sticking to the resolution by the letter.  I have been reading a couple of books about overcoming materialism and consumerism, so i have been working on being a better dad even though I haven't been with the kids since I came up with the resolution, so this one will have to really wait for an update. I have paid off two outstanding debts while I was over here, so I am on the road to financial freedom.  I have been thinking about vacations like crazy out here, as it is sort of the most favorite pastime of everyone on crew, so I know that I will get my vacations in this year.  And lastly...the GRE, I have not yet done anything in preparation for this resolution, but I have been in Iraq, so I am giving myself a pass for this one for January...I will act on it while on break in the second half of this month.  So, to tally, I have made forward and dutiful progress on six of my seven resolutions this year so far and taken a bit of a mulligan on the last one.  Not too bad, if I do say so myself...having to report on them to everyone who may read actually does make it easier to stick to things, in case any of you are looking for motivational assistance.

A little more svelte though no better looking...check out my hair! AWESOME!

So, as I have talked a little about I am really making an attempt to live a more purposeful and less materialistic life these days...I want to live this way both for the sake of simplicity in my own life, but also for the benefit of raising children free of the consumer drive and the materialism that fuels so much unhappiness in American society.  When you are always looking for more and better stuff you never feel contentment or peace with your life, and I think that is very unfortunate.  I know the feeling of dissatisfaction and wanting more, because I feel it very strongly...I was raised to be a consumer through no fault of my parents, but I bought into the American dream fantasy from early on.  I now very much want out of the buying cycle.  I KNOW that I can't buy happiness now, and I am looking for another path there.  I am looking for contentment in my life, peace in my place in the world...I have always suffered from a certain amount of self-aggrandizement and felt strongly that I was drawn to some great destiny, but I suspect that may not be the case as I begin to see my middle years looming on the horizon and no great destiny has yet set itself in my path.  Now, I feel like it is important to find happiness with my lot in life...happiness isn't really the right word...I have been happy in my life; I am one of the happiest people that I know, generally speaking.  I am more talking about contentment...a lifestyle that feels rewarding for the right reasons.  My current lifestyle of constantly looking for the next raise, the next promotion, the next step up the corporate ladder is perhaps less gratifying than I would have hoped...what is the point, after all? To earn more so that I can buy more...more stuff, a bigger house, fancier vacations...is that what life should be about.  These increased earnings come with ever greater commitments of time and energy, more sacrifices in my personal and familial life, and less opportunity for sports and leisure (READ: good health).  So I end up wealthier with more junk, but missing out on my health, enjoyment of leisure time, and the experience of spending quality time with my family and friends...I will ask the question again - is it worth it?

These would definitely make my list of 100 things

I have been reading a book called The 100 Thing Challenge, and while I am not always in agreement with the author on why he developed the challenge or in how he went about undertaking it for himself, I think it is an interesting idea.  Basically, for those who have no idea what I am talking about, the Challenge is to live with only 100 personal possessions for an entire year.  The idea is that by so limiting your ownership of stuff you sort of "reboot" your spending and buying impulses allowing you more freedom from materialism and American consumer culture.  I am not sure that it is exactly correct theoretically from a psychological perspective, but I am willing to play...I think that it may have some validity.  In any case, I am not that far into the book right now, only about 1/3 of the way through, so I am not sure how he does, what sorts of hurdles and pitfalls he had to overcome, and whether he ends up feeling like it was worth it, though I suppose that he certainly feels like it was worth it in the end as he now sells a book all about the experience, so whether it freed him from the consumer lifestyle or not he at least makes his living off the experience now.  I am pondering the notion of doing a similar sort of experiment in my own life, or possibly just taking his challenge as is...I could use to get rid of much of the junk that has accumulated in my life...I have a lot more stuff than I have room in my little apartment, and I don't need most of it, I think.  I tend to be a little sentimental about things, so it is hard for me to throw stuff away sometimes, even when it has far outlived its useful life.  Something to work on, I suppose.

As I work on minimizing my stuff and lifestyle, I also want to work on minimizing my environmental footprint. I feel very bad that I have not been better about recycling and reusing and buying products made in an environmentally responsible manner.  I will be better about all of these things moving forward.  I plan to start implementing these lifestyle changes as soon as I return to Houston and my "real" life.  I know that one person won't change the future or make the world better, but perhaps I at least can feel better about my own impact on what my kids and grandkids will be left with when I am rotting away in the ground.

Well, that is what I've got for tonight before it gets too late.  I will really make an attempt to put something good out tomorrow.  I am just enjoying another night in paradise...I hope you are too!

Beard check...furry.