Archive for February, 2009

Off to Florida

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Thursday.  Ok, just barley Thursday.  Still the day before our next adventure.  We are off to Florida.  We are going to be staying with Marlo’s friends for a few days.  While we are down there it turns out that there is a big race nearby.  You may have heard of it.  I think that it is in Daytona.  It is a long race.  I think that it is rather long.  Maybe 500 miles or so.  Now let’s put this together, it’s in Daytona and it’s  500 miles.  Yup we are going to the Daytona 500.  Why you may ask.  Neither one of us really care about Nascar, but it is the largest spectator sport in the world and this is the big event A ND we just happen to be there that week.  We are in!  After that we might go visit the everglades.  I have always wanted to do that… and we are going to be down there.  So we will go.  Now these are both significant thing there is one more thing.  I plan on backpacking from Venice Beach Florida to Miami Florida.  After I get to Miami I plan to get a car and spend a few days in the keys.  Don’t you like the sound of that…  in the keys… :>
The aforementioned backpacking is more like a long walk across the peninsula that we call Florida.  According to Google maps, that now has walking as an option, it could only take 2 days and 16 hours.  I think that means 64 hours of walking.  That would be 8 days of 8 hours… hmmm, Delormes, said 4 days.  It also sent me through the alligator infested everglades…  we won’t be doing that.  Anyway, it should make for some interesting writing…
Some, ok probably everyone, wonder why I would do such a thing…  well the short of it (I will leave out the long of it) is that the opportunity has presented itself and it should be an interesting adventure.
I plan on hitching, sleeping on the ground, walking A LOT, and going to those all night diners that you read about.  It should be … urban survivor.  Maybe I can sell the rights…  I am currently making a list of things that I need.  The short list is GPS, Cell Phone, a camera and Laptop.  Maybe some clothes, a tarp, a raincoat, flashlight, matches, a lighter…  I will make a complete list.  I will take some pictures and make some videos too.  It should be amusing…  that’s all for tonight.

These days

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Unemployment. The days go very quickly. I look for a job. I try to learn French, I study for the CISSP test. I eat. I go to coffee shops. I hang out on facebook.
People say that they wish that they could do what I am doing. Everyone has the power to do what I am doing. All they have to do is quit their jobs. People tell me that they cannot quit their jobs. Why not? What are people afraid of? I think part of it is that the grass is always greener. The other thing is responsibilities. Am I irresponsible? I would have to go with a qualified yes. I am currently not in debt. Ok, I owe on my house and car. The house is worth much more then I owe (http://realtor.com tells me that) and the car… (http://cars.com) well it’s close. What other responsibilities do I have??? My children… At this point I told them all that I would pay for ½ of their colleges. I am keeping that commitment. Other then that the rest is gravy. My expensive are low and I don’t really care too much about the future or retirement.
I think that is the key. Worrying about the future. Well, I am not worried about the future. Do you know why? Well the things that you worry about don’t happen. It’s the unexpected things that happen on a boring Tuesday. I firmly believe that I will be just fine in every way. I will be happy and financially secure… somehow. The universe of happy thoughts will bring fortune my way. Am I crazy? Well, who is not?
I am going to enjoy this time in my life as much as I can. I am going to enjoy the time off and I am going to study languages and I am going to travel and I am going to wait for that awesome opportunity to fall gently in my lap. And when it does I will seize it. There is no such thing as a lost opportunity…there is always someone to capitalize on it.
Now, what do I want for the future? The underlying want is happiness for me (always first, sorry world; not) and for the ones I love. The rest of you people, good luck. What will make me happy? First and foremost is money. Yup, there it is, I like money. Why you ask, well money is security. Now the real question is how much money do I want and much more importantly is how hard do I want to work for it. I know for a fact that if I really worked at it. I mean really worked at it forsaking all else I could be pretty rich. Now the problem is that I really don’t want to work that hard… so I settle for well off. How well of. Well starting off as a poor black boy, well of is not that rich. Working my last gig, I was comfortable. Now unemployed, not so much. Enough of that for now.
What am I going to do for work? As I said I will wait for the opportunity to fall into my lap, but I may help it a least a little. I will apply for the ultimate job of caretaker of the island on the Great barrier reef. If I get it I will be set for a year, and then who know what. I think I will just image that for a while. I may apply for a job in New Zealand too… the great barrier reef job just might… we will have to see.