When a Vacation Gets Busy

While I was at work, it was easy to say "I don't have enough time" to be worried about activism and protesting. Now on vacation, 'not having enough time' is my own problem, not one I could attribute to my boss or shortened days caused by time advances. At the same time, while at work I could shout as loud as I could off the gunwale of the ship, and no one would hear me. It was an eye-opening experience to trade a weak satellite connection for wifi and broadband; to use internet configured for me rather than one optimized for sending simple text emails. Yes, I did some of my recent blog posts through a satellite connection. I'd write ahead of time, and then wait for early morning to access blogger.com, when the absence of "higher priority" traffic allowed me a connection to the host website. I will be the first to tell you MSNBC clickbait, used as my ship's internet homepage, does not an informed citizen make.

When I was traveling for work, I sectioned attention to friends and family into a 20-minute phone call or a paragraph email, and a twice-weekly Facebook check. Otherwise, my afterhours were my own to plan and divvy. So when I got home at the beginning of the four-day Independence Day weekend, I was surprised by how much time went to 'family time'. A devotee to an art would tell his or her associated to "leave me alone". A dilettante like myself seeks to appease, placing others' desire for attention above attention to the craft.

For me, the 'staycation' does not work. I created, and am working through a punchlist of items that I couldn't readily complete overseas like tax adjustments, ordering books and videos, and making appointments, visiting Mr. Liedman, my coin dealer. Things I guess people do over lunch break, or late afternoon at work, for the lucky ones. So to get away, I take a 'real' vacation, like my week tramping around the old Austro-Hungarian empire of Central Europe (material for another blog post). I left the US on Inauguration Day (faster than a talking head celebrity), and arrived back after five months away. I was quickly reintroduced to American culture: upon arrival in the US, it appeared that half the border control agents took Friday afternoon off! This was only unusual to me since six full days of work a week is the norm on my ship, and seven days is normal too. Instead of "getting ready for the weekend" on Fridays, the anticipation was "getting ready for the overtime".

I feel like a have just a handgrip keeping me from obsolescence. Tinder, where women sort through virtual binders of men, and men do likewise, was the butt of jokes when I was in college just three years ago. Now I've read that online dating had replaced the 'bar scene' as a matchup forum. I landed at the airport alone in one's own city: In Washington, DC, the summer social calendar is light; and none more so than the week of July 4th. As the weeks away from the US turned to months, I needed to take the time reconnecting with friends. They said Mitt Romney was stuck in the 1950's; he missed the 1960's and ensuing cultural changes as a husband and a Mormon missionary. If I wanted to, I could become a virtual hermit on the ships, with a W2 wage statement and a portfolio ledger as my sole concerns in life. That is not the life for me.  To know that I will go out again, I vow to have all matters better organized for my next vacation!

Checking In

Been enjoying the Christmas Break. Met over half my high school classmates at a parent-sponsored event Tuesday night. Spent Christmas in Canada with family- Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. I've resumed keeping a daily journal, and will pull out the highlights to post on my blog. Felt very productive today, and this is the icing on that cake. Did a 4-mile run on the C+O canal, did homework, played the violin, and even picked up doing work on a short comic book that I started back in 2005. Just opened a can of worms. At least it's a kid-firendly book!

Sailors, Seneca, Sunday

I had a dream. I was in a white sailor's suit, saluting then piloting a ship. That was a nice dream.
On a summer Sunday, I have little to do after the extraordinary morning church festivities (Patron Saint's day, SS Peter and Paul).
Twenty miles away from home, a lake in a regional park in Upcounty Mont.Co. looked appetible as my family finished business off in Germantown. The lake was Seneca Lake, in Black Hill Park.

On the small beach were young-looking lake attendants in Yellow polo and Khaki shorts chillaxing under an umbrella. Gosh, that's the future summer job of many DC lifeguards.(The DC guards say the pay and benefits are better across the state line, but that they demand experience). Really, they were environmental police. They were there to, in a friendly way, remind you that what you dump in the lake is what comes out of the tap next week. For this reason no swimming or motorboats are allowed. It makes the Lifeguards'/ Dockhands' job easier: any soul soaking in the water is either in distress or mischeivious. Let's call these people Tap Water Guards.
I'll just say that it's a huge difference in scenery: Poolside versus Lakeside.

I took a look at the Baywatch episode list. As expected, the plots are way over dramatized. That's understandable, but that show's got a lot of wild things going on. Still have yet to see my first episode.
In the real lifeguarding world, a reach-from-the-deck a day is an impressive record. It's also a sign that someone's neglecting prevention.

A Hurrah for Youth Empowerment

Some oft quoted ideas

Allow everyone to register to vote at 16- current law in most stes allow you to register if you will be 18 by the next election. That may be as young as 16 or as old as 18. All 16 year olds are allowed to make political contribution (Hey kids, remember sending money to the Obama team? Maybe you were a Ron Paul fan or for Romney or maybe on the McCain Train)

Drinking age
If prohibition won't work then a country probably needs a drinking age
Let's make it 22. Your brain is more developed then than 21.
21 or military ID?
Let's let responsible college kids have a sip.
18 with completion of alcohol safety course (required for boating and driving in many states, why not have one for drinking responsibly), 17 with diploma (or otherwise proven responsible) to allow for younger freshmen. If they're going to do it anyway, why not make it legal

There are loopholes in many states, but to keep this site FAMILY friendly, they're not being listed here.

Smoking- consensus says: Just ban it.

PS If you're reading this post while driving or operating other large machinery WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!

Cautiously Pessimistic

The Denny's disaster of a nationwide dusting of snow, significant enough to close school, but not enough to scare drivers from driving, did not happen. And a snow day for the central DC region tomorrow, according to my books, may not happen tomorrow. Let me tell you- a lot of the weather tonight will be what a lot of kids call dismal- the weatherman(or woman)predicted wrong about a major snowfall.

So then, my forecast for tonight is wishy-washy. According to the national data, a significant snow is falling from Minneapolis south to Raleigh east to Boston, and north into Canada. Somehow, all this snow is to dodge the Chesapeake? The local meteorologists are calling a snow tonight, although a brief one. However, NOAA is differing. Or maybe there'll be the yink of an hour delay. After all, I do want to see little brother off.

Water and The Working Girl

Working Girl. A great movie about an aspiring secretary (Melanin Griffith-never heard of her name) from Staten Island (supposedly) who speaks with a Brooklyn accent. A ski scene, she becomes 'da boss', plays the Wall Street game, wins over the respect of men in the workplace, gets Harrison Ford and dumps Alec Baldwin. Then she gets a secretary, and they have coffee together. Which reminds me about how important proper hydration is.

Having gone all morning and afternoon without a drink. On a bridge while biking, my head hurt a lot for no reason. I thought I would faint--but soon, I found a water fountain that Little Brother noted. I pushed the little button, and nothing came out. I pushed harder, and ka-bam! Now if someone caught a video of me lapping the water (from a shiny, brand-new water fountain) like a dog...

Test and Quizzed and Examed

This is my life

Monday
History, Quiz (Post-Reformation Europe)
English, Quiz (CH. 9, Great Gatsby paragraph)
Geometry, board assignment (Congruent Triangles)
Physics, Quiz (Waves)
French, Test (Crime, Subjunctives, Double Object Pronouns)
Humanities, some had a 10-min Presentation (Post-Renaissance Art)
Latin, Test (Infinitives)
Religion, Prepare Essay (Marriage)

Tuesday
Latin, Quiz (Verbs)
French, Test, cont.
Physics, Quiz (?); Lab Rpt. Due

Wednesday
Physics, Test
Religion, Essay Due

A little nervous about Physics- very comprehensive test.
I got a great tip from a classmate to write out those physics equations on paper- and memorize them cold. As for the other 10 Q+T, exams are next week. Thursday, Friday, hard review.

LIfeline

I flooped on the Physics test from last Friday, I found out. Now take a picture of the mess I made, print it out, and show it to the world. Yes, I get disturbed when I floop on tests, but especially since I was trying to make a recovery. Anyhow, I made one basic error, had it triplicate, and lost lots of points. That's what made me sad all day, and giving me a psychosomatic stomachache plus fatigue. Now about the picture. That is the final grade going into the progress report. If I am fortunate, I will have been saved from utter failure, if not, I am a sucker. Remember- no matter what goes around internally on a piece of paper, it's only 6 weeks to exam. Scary yike.

Mile for Life

It was a surprise. I would have brought my running shoes if I were had been forewarned. But why now? It had to happen before it got too cold. The ground was wet, and the temperature was chilly. I wondered about if the reduced friction would help our speeds. My heart rate was fast, considering I had run a democracy run to fetch mock ballots, stuck in the upper building, an hour prior, plus all the anxiety of the next 8 minutes. Seconds after the 'go' was given, I had taken place halfway between the front runners and the laggers, having not sprinted. Yet, after the first half-lap, of 3-1/4 laps, I was already panting like a dog. Hypothesis wrong. Wet grass is a detriment. Friction helps propulsion, I thought for a brief second. "2:12"- first lap. It's all a matter of breath control. Pags (freshman) does this well, I was informed, and managed a 5:40. I don't. "4:55" end of lap 2- I was pacing, keeping Joey B. within view, while the head runners were still dashing. We were separated by half the perimeter of a soccer field. Lap three- even the head runners were losing steam over the wet turf. I gave up chasing Abe, he had a sizeable advantage. 3/4 through the 3rd lap- Abe was slowing down a little, perhaps tired. I saw Joey B. coming up from behind. I rounded the last corner, into the final segment, now in as best of a sprint as I could furnish. Joey B.'s longer legs propelled him past me for a two second lead, as I could hear him call out Abe's final time of "7:02". Joey's time was 7:09, mine 7:10. The coach was distracted, or maybe my brain was running time slow. So close to breaking 7, I was. Then I think of Abe. At the end of the 3rd lap, with a little clock, he would have mustered a full sprint to make it under 7. It's all relative. I had cut 1:05 from my previous time, averaging 8.4 mph (I'll recheck the sheet- yes, photographic memory), up from 7.1 mph on ideal conditions. What a difference one year can make. The leader, at 5:45, averaged 10.5mph. Impressive. I tried hard not to collapse to the ground. I had to lean on the soccer goal to stay up, as I took shallow breaths and felt delerious, and watched the trailers come in. Yet, 6:30 was the average time. Everyone was like that, 6:30. Anyway, the kid who I sent to hell in my Dante paper, he proclaimed that he knew CPR. I wouldn't let him become the proudest fellow, so I didn't pass out. Lots of replenishing water, and some indoor 2-ball soccer. Yes, we won. And yet, afterthree hours, my heart rate was still in the 110 range, definately aided by candy. But by Orchestra, another hour later, my cardiopulmonary had recovered, and my legs were starting to get sore.

So, I don't want to do that for another year. Make that "I'll never have to do it again in my life", because this is my last year of Phys Ed. So be it.

Then today, I come across a pair of handcuffs, made I never tried them to see if they were legit or not, but they looked like they were, even though they were made in China. Yes, EST is keeping us up. Even though I've switched my clocks, it still feels as if I were always given an hour by mercy- I have to get used to 6pm sunsets. Before I stay up until 10pm, or my body's 11pm, ciao for now.

Wasn't that a week ago?

Like a cartoon character chased by personified steel nails, I can say finally can tell you about last Saturday night. Homecoming. I promised people that I would go. I get a little pep talk about attire- 'semi-formal', so then I look it up. I selected style based on the explanation that, if no further word was given, such as 'suit-and-tie', this implied smart casual, or something. Yes, we love to dress up whenever we have the chance. It was a black-suit, shoes, and tie event, I was informed when I got to the gatekeepers. I was not the first. Yes, they would let me in (for a fee), then run the chance that I be chased out by disciplinarian. And anyway, it was part-over, and I was pretty tired. I tried to come, so what can they do to me? At least I didn't become laughing stock of the town on Tuesday morning.

Zut Alors, I have a physics test tomorrow. Gotta dash!