Plan "B"

I FINALLY got rid of my headache. I'd had a headache for 8 days, and it was starting to get me worried. The word 'tumor' kept coming to mind. "It is not a tumor" (Arnold). Whew. I was probably going to have to cancel my skydiving trip, and I really didn't want to.

Otherwise, I still don't sleep more than 3 hours at a time. That all started 2 months ago when I got my emotional stomach kicked in. I've settled matters as much as I can in my head and heart over the matter, but I'm still sad at the outcome. It's not in my nature to let things go, but I must. I wake up in the middle of the night - still in disbelief over the whole thing. I've given it to God, but when you give things to God and forgive people in your heart for what they're doing, you still have to live with the consequences of that decision.

Over all, I give myself a check mark in the [x] Healthy box. I feel good, and had a really nice time at Marine World Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Saturday (pictures to follow). There were 15 of us total, and it was sometimes hard to keep track of everyone. What did people do before cellphones? The park isn't as well kept as Disneyland, but we didn't have to drive as far either. That was a fair trade.

Mostly, I don't like going to "The City". The strange thing is that I was born there. Well, maybe it's not so strange after all. I never considered myself a "country boy", but I would probably like that kind of living. Simple. I've lived in a small town (young city) before, and I really liked it. I've visited ranches before and I've been more relaxed there than anywhere. Maybe it was because the small city I lived in it wasn't in California where everyone's sue-happy. Maybe it was the lack of congestion, or the lack of people - or the kindness of the few people there were. Maybe lots of things, but for whatever reason, I don't really care for "The City".



I sometimes wonder to myself what sort of person I would have been if I were raised in a tiny country town. Would I be that different? Then, I wonder what kind of person I'd be if I moved to a tiny town. Right now, Morgan Hill is the closest I can come and still make it into work in a reasonable amount of time.

"The City" does have a few things to offer though. I ate breakfast at the W hotel. For anyone who's never been to one, it's very trendy and upscale. I enjoyed being around the modernesque atmosphere without spending $300 a night. I decided to treat myself to an upscale breakfast at a much more modest price than that. Around $20.

The restaurant was 'chic' to say the least. Too much to mention, but maybe I was just being impressionable.



After breakfast, I made my way to the MOMA where Picasso was on display. I snapped this picture before I realized (after asking) that we're not supposed to take pictures. I'm thankful for having gotten the audio tour. Seeing Picasso's work without a narrative would have been fruitless. I've often marvelled over Picasso's work, because I partially 'get it'. I understand his cubist movement and the abstracts that came out of it. I lack all talent, but what I lack in talent, I have in appreciation. One of my life goals is to have a piece of his work. Some are more reasonable than you'd think. This one below is not on my list. :-)



After MOMA, I decided to try to find a white silk bowtie. I tried Sax and some others, but came up empty handed again/still. There is a far less fortunate 'empty handedness' in "The City" though. I hate seeing people beg on the streets. I hate not being able to help them in a more tangible way other than money. I hate not being in a position where I can help them gain their dignity back. I hate not renting a room for them for one night and getting them all haircuts and shaves, so for one day - just one day, they could feel normal again. Please give to CityTeam ministries or the outreach center of your choice.

My latest social experiment began on Monday afternoon, after we had gotten some potted plants for Earth Day (which is April 21st if you know the song). On Monday afternoon, I noticed a potsworth of dirt at the end of our hallway. Usually, I'd be the first person to call to have it cleaned up, but we've recently changed our "just call the janitor, and they'll clean it up" into a labyrinth-based website where you need to know the subcategory and group class for your request. Seriously!

While I used to be the first person to call the telephone number to get stuff fixed, I don't see this new system as a way of maintaining our building. I do however see it as an excellent way of preventing maintenance from being performed. So, I've decided to stop being the person who calls things in. The first week resulted in the bathroom sink being clogged for several days - and then over the weekend. Eventually, when a spooky white film formed over the edges, it got cleaned up somehow.

This latest hallway experiment is an interesting one. It seems that without my calling, the dirt just remains. I placed some cones around the dirt to prevent people from grinding it into the carpet, but by and large, the dirt has remained untouched.

In a large way, it reminds me of why I'm always the person who goes over to a neighbors house to have him turn his music down. He does immediately, and we part friendly. I've noticed that I'm the only one who has ever attempted to ask him to turn his music down, which tells me that everyone else is completely willing to put up with the noise.

So far, everyone seems to be willing to put up with a pot of dirt on the carpet. D has taken some initiative though - and made little signs.







It's April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth DayMerry Christmas, Happy Birthday to whoever's being born
-- Dramarama's "What Are We Gonna Do"

Life is great! But I still hate broken cookie. O.K. I don't hate him as much as I admire someone who's able to travel so much with his family. I really want to know where he got his domain name from. What inspired it?

I've thought about changing my blog's name from "All Your Base..." to something a little more timeless. Something like "Who I was today." I briefly toyed with the idea of ending each entry with, "and that's who I was today". Sort of a Walter Cronkite signoff -timeless and trite all at the same time. Poo Poo that idea.

Maybe I'll just stick with what I have going. It seems to be working for me.

I warned her that this would be the title of my entry. Melinda and I went camping on the Sonoma Coast this weekend. It was fun, and she didn't complain once. She made a point of telling me that she wasn't complaining all the time. Especially when the tent started leaking during the rain on Friday night. She made a point of telling me she wasn't complaining about how I made coffee. Yep, there sure was a awful lot of not complaining going on.

Actually, it was pretty fun. We talked until about 2am about almost everything. Things that matter. We played Rumbacube (sp?) and tried our hand at outdoor cooking. It started pouring on Friday night /Saturday morning until about noon. The tent leaked pretty badly, so we took our sleeping bags to a laundromat (apparently not spelled "laundry" + "mat") to dry the bags. I flipped the tent over to let the water drain out through the roof.

We managed to find a little hip coffee shop, which also had a bunch of plastic toys, so she could get an espresso drink and I could play with the dinosaur and make grrrr noises - at least for a little while. We're so incompatible that it's fun and interesting. I don't need to be completely compatable with someone in order to go places with them. We just need to be easy going. I think that's why I love traveling with Michele so much (but she's more easy going than I am). The point is not to create social complexities. The point is to go camping, or snorkeling, or hiking, or cruising, or whatever. Anyone up for camping? I'm planning a trip to Pinnacles for some weekend this summer. Let me know what weekends work. How about a cruise to Tahiti next year!

To say that my office building is remote is pretty accurate. Not as remote as where my sister works (National forest), but pretty remote for being in the 10th largest city in the US. During our afternoon walks, we usually get to see some amount of wildlife, but today was rare.

We saw a cool spider that lives in a funnel shaped web around a hole in the ground going at it with a cricket. We think the spider's going to win, but we didn't stick around to see the final bell.

Someone ended up with a [I swear it was a] taranchula in either their pant leg or in their sock. There was a lot of jumping around as the little guy scurried off.

Just as we were coming to the side door to the building we saw a 3' long (and very thick) snake slithering across our path into some bushes. He was moving pretty slow, and he gave us plenty of time to see that he wasn't carrying a rattle.

So basically, I may not always know what to do when faced with a variety of wildlife, but I'm here to tell you that I'm pretty good at the "yelp like a little girl and jump around" parts. I wish I had my camera with me.

I am determined to get back up, dust myself off, and try again next holiday. In one sense, I feel like my family gangs up on me. In another sense, I also feel like my family gangs up on me. I can only imagine how everything I said or did was translated in their heads.

Sha boom. I'd rather be snorkeling in Tahiti, but lacking that, I'd rather be under a hot sun on a warm beach. Lacking that, I'll take a mini sim vacation. At least I get paid to lie on the beach.

Next, I'll take a camping trip.

I see that someone from Adger, Georgia visited my blog recently. Not sure why or who from Adger would visit me, but "howdy from California". I Googled Adger, GA and poked around a little. I wonder if it's like Walker Louisiana in any way. I really liked Walker. I started thinking about the possibility of a trip to Adger, GA to thank the person personally, but I've got a lot of traveling on my plate already. Not to mention the house sale.

In other news, I tore through some key passages in the original Greek Textus Receptus of the NT last night. It boogles my mind why the writers of other "bibles" would decide to remove belief in Christ as the way to get saved (John 6:47).

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life." Believes in what?

Original text: αμην αμην λεγω υμιν ο πιστευων εις εμε εχει ζωην αιωνιον

The house goes on the market on the 10th. The broker walkthrough is the 11th. The kitchen (and everything else) is done, and it looks pretty darn snazzy. My boxes of Bible translations showed up about 10 minutes ago (I can't wait to get into them). So, it's free fallin' time! Who's up for skydiving on May 5th? Near Sacramento! $209

Weeeeeeee!

P.S. I was moving some files around because it's the first workday of the month, and I have stats to collect. I came across this picture I took in Ocho Rios after doing the canopies. Again and again, I wonder why I'm not snorkeling right now. M and I talked about Tahiti this weekend. The idea of being able to snorkel right off the overwater bungalow sounds neat.