Please don't forget that life is a gift and if you're lucky, an adventure. So get out of your box, take life by the horns and go have the adventure of your lifetime!
Merry Christmas everyone. May the season bring you joy and love.
P & B
Friday, December 23, 2011
Merry Christmas
Well, it is that time of year again. Time for family, friends and fooooood!!!! I know Christmas isn't about presents, but we are going to give you all one anyway. It comes in the form of a reminder. Here it is:
Please don't forget that life is a gift and if you're lucky, an adventure. So get out of your box, take life by the horns and go have the adventure of your lifetime!
Merry Christmas everyone. May the season bring you joy and love.
P & B
Please don't forget that life is a gift and if you're lucky, an adventure. So get out of your box, take life by the horns and go have the adventure of your lifetime!
Merry Christmas everyone. May the season bring you joy and love.
P & B
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Test Ride Tour
As this idea was expanding, we thought it might be a good idea to take a series of short S240's to indeed see if this is something that we enjoy. I have bicycle toured in the past (in my teens, meaning my far. far distant past) and am enthralled by the idea of a long distance tour. B on the other hand, has never thought about it. You see B is not an avid cyclist. She's working her way into becoming one, but prior to this trip, her longest ride was 15 miles.
We set out to plan a short trip. There is a beautiful state park 40 miles north of our home that B and I have been wanting to explore for a while now. We set that as our destination. This meant that the trip would be an out and back of 80 total miles. We also decided to stay for 2 nights. This would give us an entire day to explore the park as well as giving B a full day to rest in case she needed it.
The morning of our departure dawned slightly overcast, with a stiff 15 to 20 m.p.h. wind blowing directly north to south. We were heading directly south to north. My concerns for B were mounting. Here she was, about to take on a ride almost 3 times her longest ever and she was doing it on a loaded touring bike, into a stiff headwind, on a rather hilly route. Adding to the mix, was the air. There was a huge wildfire a few hundred miles to the north, so the air was hazy and thick with the smell of smoke. I knew almost instantly that this was going to be a long day.
Just a short 5 miles after this photo was taken, we had a scheduled lunch break at a coffee shop we like. As we were pulling into the parking lot I had that squishy feeling under me. I looked down and sure enough, my rear tire was going down. If I had to get a flat, this was the perfect spot for it to happen though. On a side note: this is the 2nd time I have rode my bicycle to this coffee shop and the 2nd time I got a flat in the parking lot. Odd.
After some lunch and a quick fix of my tire, we were back on the road. 15 miles to go, but now our bellies were full and so was my rear tire.
Shortly after this photo, we made it to the entrance of park. We were ALMOST at the campsite. Just 2 short miles to go and we would be done riding for today.
When mapping out our route, I discovered that there is a cat 5 climb (in layman's terms, "steep hill") actually "in" the park. That was, as we soon found out, quite the challenge. I wish now, I had taken a picture of it, but at the time, I was focused on just getting to the top. B took one look at it and said; "There is no way I can ride up that thing. Especially after riding 40 miles." She dismounted and began pushing her bike up the hill. I was going to ride to the top, park my bike and walk down to meet B and push her bike for her. Unfortunately, when I made it to the top, there was a group of teens that were eyeballing my bike pretty hard. I wasn't comfortable leaving it, so I rode back down and met B and rode along side as she walked her bike up the hill.
Once we got to the top, B said her knee was hurting pretty bad (among other things too). The hill had proved to be a bit too much. She remounted her bike and we limped into the campsite. I was so proud of her for making it, yet felt bad cause I knew she was hurting.
We picked a campsite, unloaded our bikes and quickly set up camp. Once that was done, we decided to make some much needed supper.
During our exploration, we came upon the edge of the world and I almost fell off of it. Good thing B is quick with the camera.
Our favorite part of the day was when we walked thru the Indian Effigy Mounds. These are old indian burial mounds that were made approximately 1500 years ago. I really wanted to take a few photos of this beautiful, peaceful area, but seeing as it is sacred ground, something just didn't seem right about doing that, so we chose not to. We walked peacefully thru the area, stopping to silently pay our respects to those that came before us. It really made us think about our lives and how things have changed so drastically, since the times of those whom are buried here. We thought about how important is it to just live simply, like they did. They totally appreciated their surroundings and what mother earth provided for them. More importantly, they were thankful for what they had. It made us realize that they had the right idea.
CALL THE DESSERT POLICE!!!! We have dessert abuse! B went to pour the water into our dessert and the envelope didn't stay upright, dumping dark chocolate cheesecake powder all over her. Good thing most of the the boiling water hit the ground and not B. Thankful for that! Still though, I had a moment of silence for the loss of the dessert.
Went to bed on the last night, knowing it was going to get COLD! I froze my buttocks off most of the night. 54 degrees I was prepared for. 34 degrees, I was not. Thought I was ready but I admit, I was WRONG!
Upon arriving at the park, B was concerned about the ride home as her knee was giving her some real issues. We discussed the scenario of her not being able to make the ride home and had a plan in place to deal with it, if it became reality. It did. Not a problem.
On the 3rd morning, I got ready for, what I called, a 40/40 ride. That's 40 miles in 40 degrees. I was on a mission to rescue the stranded damsel. Rode home and got the car, then came back to get B and all the gear. I rode hard and within 5 miles, was stripping off layers. But those first few miles were C-O-L-D!!!
All in all, we had a great trip. Lots more went right, than wrong and THAT is always a good thing. We learned some things too. We figured out what worked and what we need to change. For example, we definitely need better sleeping bags. Ours just were not warm enough. We learned that the freeze dried lasagna was delish! Some of the asian meals, not so much. We learned to make sure the tent fly goes all the way to the ground at the head end of the tent. We learned that I am never riding my bike into the parking lot of that coffee shop again. We learned that we liked the tent we had, but for a longer trip, want one just a little bigger. Also, a tent with an enclosed vestibule would be nice too. Time to do some research on tents and sleeping bags.
So that was our first test ride tour. 3 days/2 nights, 80 miles. Tons of fun. What was the best part you ask? For me, it was the part when B said; "Next time we do this...." It didn't matter what she said after that. All I cared about was the fact that she said "Next Time."
In discussing this blog, we made the decision to end all our blog posts with each of our High Points/Low Points of the particular subject. We thought it would be a cool thing to do as it will force us to look for a positive, even if we've had an really tough day. We will start with this post. Here they are:
P's
High Points: Had a great time making a memory with B and watching her complete her longest
ride to date.
Low Points: Was not prepared for the cold nights.
We set out to plan a short trip. There is a beautiful state park 40 miles north of our home that B and I have been wanting to explore for a while now. We set that as our destination. This meant that the trip would be an out and back of 80 total miles. We also decided to stay for 2 nights. This would give us an entire day to explore the park as well as giving B a full day to rest in case she needed it.
The morning of our departure dawned slightly overcast, with a stiff 15 to 20 m.p.h. wind blowing directly north to south. We were heading directly south to north. My concerns for B were mounting. Here she was, about to take on a ride almost 3 times her longest ever and she was doing it on a loaded touring bike, into a stiff headwind, on a rather hilly route. Adding to the mix, was the air. There was a huge wildfire a few hundred miles to the north, so the air was hazy and thick with the smell of smoke. I knew almost instantly that this was going to be a long day.
 |
| Just before we hit the road. |
 |
| B heading out of town and into the haze. After we rode 20 miles we took a much needed break to grab a snack and hydrate. I told B that we were at the halfway point. We could push on and deal with another 20 miles of wind and hills, or we could turn back and we'd still have 20 miles to go, but it would be with the wind instead of into it. B's response was; "I did NOT come this far to turn around and go back now. I may not be able to ride home, but I WILL make it there!" I loved that response. |
 |
| The 20 mile rest stop. |
After some lunch and a quick fix of my tire, we were back on the road. 15 miles to go, but now our bellies were full and so was my rear tire.
 |
| With just a few miles left, we stopped for a photo-op at a big blue chair. |
Shortly after this photo, we made it to the entrance of park. We were ALMOST at the campsite. Just 2 short miles to go and we would be done riding for today.
When mapping out our route, I discovered that there is a cat 5 climb (in layman's terms, "steep hill") actually "in" the park. That was, as we soon found out, quite the challenge. I wish now, I had taken a picture of it, but at the time, I was focused on just getting to the top. B took one look at it and said; "There is no way I can ride up that thing. Especially after riding 40 miles." She dismounted and began pushing her bike up the hill. I was going to ride to the top, park my bike and walk down to meet B and push her bike for her. Unfortunately, when I made it to the top, there was a group of teens that were eyeballing my bike pretty hard. I wasn't comfortable leaving it, so I rode back down and met B and rode along side as she walked her bike up the hill.
Once we got to the top, B said her knee was hurting pretty bad (among other things too). The hill had proved to be a bit too much. She remounted her bike and we limped into the campsite. I was so proud of her for making it, yet felt bad cause I knew she was hurting.
We picked a campsite, unloaded our bikes and quickly set up camp. Once that was done, we decided to make some much needed supper.
 |
| Our happy little home for the next 48 hours. |
 |
| I just rode my bicycle 40 miles. I"M HUNGRY!!!!! |
 |
| MMM. That's more like it! |
 |
| Battery Operated Christmas lights for "in-tent" lighting. |
 |
| One thing we learned on this trip was to make sure the fly goes ALL the way to the ground. A cold draft came in thru that gap and blew right on our heads chilling us a bit. Fixed it the next morning and all was good. |
 |
| The morning of our exploration day. Decided to take a hike and explore the park. |
During our exploration, we came upon the edge of the world and I almost fell off of it. Good thing B is quick with the camera.
 |
| HANG ON DUDE!!!!! |
 |
| So happy I didn't go off the edge that I celebrated by busting out my mad crumpin skills! |
 |
| Beautiful area for hiking. |
 |
| Biggest weeping willow tree I have EVER seen. That little black spot on the ground in front of it is B. |
Our favorite part of the day was when we walked thru the Indian Effigy Mounds. These are old indian burial mounds that were made approximately 1500 years ago. I really wanted to take a few photos of this beautiful, peaceful area, but seeing as it is sacred ground, something just didn't seem right about doing that, so we chose not to. We walked peacefully thru the area, stopping to silently pay our respects to those that came before us. It really made us think about our lives and how things have changed so drastically, since the times of those whom are buried here. We thought about how important is it to just live simply, like they did. They totally appreciated their surroundings and what mother earth provided for them. More importantly, they were thankful for what they had. It made us realize that they had the right idea.
 |
| Knew it was going to get cold this night so I started a fire. |
 |
| This little stove rocks. I love the tea kettle too. Worked great for boiling water for our meals and our tea. |
CALL THE DESSERT POLICE!!!! We have dessert abuse! B went to pour the water into our dessert and the envelope didn't stay upright, dumping dark chocolate cheesecake powder all over her. Good thing most of the the boiling water hit the ground and not B. Thankful for that! Still though, I had a moment of silence for the loss of the dessert.
 |
| Oops! |
Went to bed on the last night, knowing it was going to get COLD! I froze my buttocks off most of the night. 54 degrees I was prepared for. 34 degrees, I was not. Thought I was ready but I admit, I was WRONG!
 |
| F-F-F-F-F-R-E-E-E-E-Z-I-N-G |
On the 3rd morning, I got ready for, what I called, a 40/40 ride. That's 40 miles in 40 degrees. I was on a mission to rescue the stranded damsel. Rode home and got the car, then came back to get B and all the gear. I rode hard and within 5 miles, was stripping off layers. But those first few miles were C-O-L-D!!!
 |
| Stylin! |
All in all, we had a great trip. Lots more went right, than wrong and THAT is always a good thing. We learned some things too. We figured out what worked and what we need to change. For example, we definitely need better sleeping bags. Ours just were not warm enough. We learned that the freeze dried lasagna was delish! Some of the asian meals, not so much. We learned to make sure the tent fly goes all the way to the ground at the head end of the tent. We learned that I am never riding my bike into the parking lot of that coffee shop again. We learned that we liked the tent we had, but for a longer trip, want one just a little bigger. Also, a tent with an enclosed vestibule would be nice too. Time to do some research on tents and sleeping bags.
So that was our first test ride tour. 3 days/2 nights, 80 miles. Tons of fun. What was the best part you ask? For me, it was the part when B said; "Next time we do this...." It didn't matter what she said after that. All I cared about was the fact that she said "Next Time."
In discussing this blog, we made the decision to end all our blog posts with each of our High Points/Low Points of the particular subject. We thought it would be a cool thing to do as it will force us to look for a positive, even if we've had an really tough day. We will start with this post. Here they are:
B's
High Points: Riding 40 miles in one day. Also, proving P wrong. I knew he had concerns
about my ability to do this. It was great to show him I could do it.
Low Points: Hills, wind and not being able to ride home.
P's
High Points: Had a great time making a memory with B and watching her complete her longest
ride to date.
Low Points: Was not prepared for the cold nights.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Simple Idea. Complicated Plan
The Idea:
It really is super simple. Load up our bicycles with only a few basic necessities and spend the next year or so exploring this magnificent country, as well as ourselves and raising some awareness for a few issues that are important to us. It really is quite beautiful in it's simplicity.
It is as we transition from idea into plan, that things get complicated. Wow! Do they get complicated quickly.
You see, B and I have these little things called "lives" that we need to figure out how to put on hold in order to do this. If we were young and just starting out, it would be quite a bit easier. But, we are not young. We are not old either. I want to make that fact perfectly clear. We are, since you asked, in our late 40's. By the time we want to leave, I will be 50.
However, since we have been around a while and because we have bought into societies rhetoric for so long, we have accumulated a lot of stuff. Some of our stuff, the tangible stuff, will be easy to deal with. (Hello Ebay!)
There are other issues, or more accurately, questions that need to be answered too. What do we do with the house? The cars? The stuff we don't want to get rid of? Can we afford to live unemployed for a year or more? What if we get injured? No jobs equals no insurance. What do we do afterwards? What equipment will we need? These questions can and will be answered prior to our departure.
There are other questions however, that are raised thru fear. Can we physically handle the rigors of riding fully loaded touring bikes 50 or so miles a day, every day, 5 to 6 days a week, for a year? Can we actually live in a small tent for a year? As vegetarians, how difficult will it be to find quality meat-free meals? These questions are much harder to answer. Now can you see what I mean when I say things get complicated quickly?
It would be totally overwhelming to try and answer all these questions at once, so we have decided to tackle them one or two at a time. As we delve into finding the answers, we will share what we learned with all of you on this blog, and we are hoping for any input you may be able to add too.
This blog will not be a one sided entity. Sure, I will control the posts, but I am hoping that you all will comment (and often) on the posts. Weigh in with your opinions. Love what we're doing? Let us know. Have equipment suggestions and/or warnings? Let us know. Know of a can't miss place of beauty we should see? Let us know. Want to cook us a meal or give us a place to stay for the night? By all means, let us know. Want to help out by sponsoring a day, state or ??? Absolutely let us know!!! Want to just say hi? Go right ahead.
We will try to update this blog at least weekly once we actually leave on the trip. Up until that point though, it may be a bit more sporadic. We also have a facebook fan page you can "Like" that we are planning on updating more frequently. Please follow us there too and feel free to leave comments there also.
That's about it for now friends. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next post, (which I have already started working on) as it will cover a little test trip we did earlier this year.
Peace,
P
It really is super simple. Load up our bicycles with only a few basic necessities and spend the next year or so exploring this magnificent country, as well as ourselves and raising some awareness for a few issues that are important to us. It really is quite beautiful in it's simplicity.
It is as we transition from idea into plan, that things get complicated. Wow! Do they get complicated quickly.
You see, B and I have these little things called "lives" that we need to figure out how to put on hold in order to do this. If we were young and just starting out, it would be quite a bit easier. But, we are not young. We are not old either. I want to make that fact perfectly clear. We are, since you asked, in our late 40's. By the time we want to leave, I will be 50.
However, since we have been around a while and because we have bought into societies rhetoric for so long, we have accumulated a lot of stuff. Some of our stuff, the tangible stuff, will be easy to deal with. (Hello Ebay!)
There are other issues, or more accurately, questions that need to be answered too. What do we do with the house? The cars? The stuff we don't want to get rid of? Can we afford to live unemployed for a year or more? What if we get injured? No jobs equals no insurance. What do we do afterwards? What equipment will we need? These questions can and will be answered prior to our departure.
There are other questions however, that are raised thru fear. Can we physically handle the rigors of riding fully loaded touring bikes 50 or so miles a day, every day, 5 to 6 days a week, for a year? Can we actually live in a small tent for a year? As vegetarians, how difficult will it be to find quality meat-free meals? These questions are much harder to answer. Now can you see what I mean when I say things get complicated quickly?
It would be totally overwhelming to try and answer all these questions at once, so we have decided to tackle them one or two at a time. As we delve into finding the answers, we will share what we learned with all of you on this blog, and we are hoping for any input you may be able to add too.
This blog will not be a one sided entity. Sure, I will control the posts, but I am hoping that you all will comment (and often) on the posts. Weigh in with your opinions. Love what we're doing? Let us know. Have equipment suggestions and/or warnings? Let us know. Know of a can't miss place of beauty we should see? Let us know. Want to cook us a meal or give us a place to stay for the night? By all means, let us know. Want to help out by sponsoring a day, state or ??? Absolutely let us know!!! Want to just say hi? Go right ahead.
We will try to update this blog at least weekly once we actually leave on the trip. Up until that point though, it may be a bit more sporadic. We also have a facebook fan page you can "Like" that we are planning on updating more frequently. Please follow us there too and feel free to leave comments there also.
That's about it for now friends. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next post, (which I have already started working on) as it will cover a little test trip we did earlier this year.
Peace,
P
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Epiphany.
July 2011:
Holy crap! We're having a mid-life crisis. The words came streaming in thru my ears and rattled around in my head. I looked over at B and had (as Oprah calls it) an A-Ha moment. She was right. We were having a mid-life crisis. Crap! Now what?
The phone rings and I hurriedly answer it. Anxiously awaiting B's call to hear the reason she and the rest of her co-workers were called into an "Important meeting." Her voice met my greeting with the comment, "Well. Ready to move to New Mexico?" It was what we thought. Her job was gone.
To be honest, I was more than ready. I have a real love/hate relationship with Wisconsin. As beautiful as it is and as much as I love it in the summer and (especially) fall, it is cold, dark and depressing and I absolutely loathe it in the winter.
So, a plan was hatched. Well actually, a plan had already been hatched, but now was the time to put it into motion. And that, is exactly what we did. And that, was the exact wrong time to do it. For it was pretty much at that exact same time, that the economy took a head long, full nose dive, right into the toilet.
Every night, we would watch and listen as Charlie Gibson told about about all the jobs lost that day. 10's of thousands a day were being lost. The national unemployment rate went from just under 6% to just over 10% in a matter of a couple weeks. It was getting really depressing watching the top story every single day, being that, this company or that company was closing or laying off umpteen thousand workers. Secretly, we started to worry about our plan.
It was after a couple months of this being the norm and realizing that this downward spiral probably wasn't going to stop anytime soon, that we each started to re-evaluate our plan in detail.
Even though I was thinking about it, I refused to speak the words out loud. "If I don't say them, they can't come true." was my thinking. As a matter of fact, it took almost every ounce of willpower I had to keep from admitting to myself that our plan may be in jeopardy. It was B who finally brought it up. Her words rang true, but they also carried a cold winters wind with them. "I just don't feel, like this is the right time to be packing up and moving across the country." she said. In my mind and my heart, I was in total agreement. I just couldn't however, get my mouth to form the words. We discussed things for a while and my mouth finally agreed with the rest of me. "You're right." I said. "We should just stay here and wait for things to get better."
Even as I was saying these words, I was fighting them. I so desperately wanted to move to New Mexico. But I will admit that it was a bit freeing to say them as well. All the stress of NOT saying them was now gone. Oh but alas, it was replaced by the depression of realizing that everything I was looking forward to was also gone.
So here we are, 2 1/2 years later and we are STILL waiting for things to get better. The only thing that has has really changed is that Charlie Gibson retired and now Diane Sawyer is the one delivering the bad news every night. Jobs are few and far between as unemployment is still over 9%. The hemorrhaging of jobs has slowed, but they are not being added very quickly. We see reports on the news about how 52,000 jobs were added last month. Wow! really? 52,000? Considering that there are 14 million folks out of work, 52,000 is hardly worth mentioning. It is truly a scary time right now.
Adding to the fear, anxiety and uncertainty is the fact that there doesn't even seem to be a flicker of light on the horizon. Nothing, nada, zero, zilch, zippo! Our government is completely focused on another issue right now, and that is next years presidential election. Sure, all the politicians are talking and telling us what they "would" do "if elected" but not a freaking one of them is actually "doing" anything. Everyone in Washington is focused on either getting into power or getting the other guy out of power. In the meantime, nothing is getting done and the people of this country continue to get shat upon. It really is disgusting to watch and truthfully, has caused me to loose almost all faith in our system of government.
During these last couple years we have struggled with what to do with the rest of our lives. We came to the conclusion that, what we were doing, wasn't working anymore. We no longer buy into the American dream, because what does it really mean? Jobs, a house, 2 cars, an annual vacation, money in the bank? All great, but we have these things and none of them do anything to fulfill our souls. We need something more. A purpose, a sense of accomplishment. We need to leave our mark on the world and to know that what we did was truly good and that it helped. (Hmm. Mid-life crisis?)
So what are we to do? How can we figure out what to do with the rest of our lives when we aren't even sure if this country is going to survive the next few years? We are completely frustrated with the state of our nation.
The rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer. I know, I know. I KNOW! It's ALWAYS been this way, But you have to admit that things have gotten much worse since baby bush deregulated, well, almost everything. It has caused greed to go viral!
Corporate greed is another huge frustration we are feeling right now too. Huge corporations have taken over and are destroying everything. It's sad.
When is it enough? When do you say, "Nope. I'm good. I have enough. I don't need anymore." That concept is completely foreign in the corporate world.
Now don't get me wrong. Not ALL corporations are bad. There are great corporations out there that do wonderful things. They give back. They care about and protect the environment. They treat their customers with respect and dignity and they have an honest and heartfelt desire to provide a quality product. But then there are the corporations that don't. The are singularly focused on one thing. Make as much money in as short amount of time as possible and do whatever it takes, destroy whatever we need to destroy, in order to accomplish that goal.
Because corporate greed has consumed this country, there are less and less privately owned, independent businesses out there. Now I am NOT talking about privately owned franchises that have huge corporations backing them. Those, as far as I am concerned, are not independent businesses. Those are corporate. I am talking about real, private, independent businesses. The type where the owner is the one doing the cooking back in the kitchen. The type where the owner can't take a conference call, cause they are out making a delivery. Not the one where the owner is sitting in an office someplace in another location. I am talking hands on, privately owned, independent businesses. Think about it. How many can you think of in your area? My guess is that's it's not going to be very many. B and I love to support these types of businesses.
All the greed in the corporate world as well as in our government, has made B and I take a deep and long, hard look at ourselves. How did we contribute? Answer: By allowing ourselves to be lead around blindly. We bought into the multi-million dollar marketing campaign that fooled us into believing that we couldn't live without their crap.
Watching all this greed and corruption take over this country has spurred numerous conversations between B and myself about how we can disconnect ourselves from the madness. How can we separate ourselves so we are no longer a part of this fucked up system?
We started by getting rid of what we felt was absolutely not needed. We got rid of our blackberry's. We downgraded our cable. We cleaned out things from the house. Essentially, we got rid of crap that we didn't need in the first place. While all this was freeing, it wasn't enough. We still feel like we need to simplify and minimalize our lives even more. Basically, our anti-greed is going viral.
And BLAM!!!!! Enter our epiphany. What could be more simple and minimalist than getting rid of ALL our crap, renting out the house and hitting the road on human-powered vehicles. Nothing but a few changes of clothes, a shelter and some cooking equipment strapped to our bicycles. Not a single thing to worry about other than, which way and how far.
Stay tuned folks. This Mid-Life Crisis we're having, could be a wild journey...
Holy crap! We're having a mid-life crisis. The words came streaming in thru my ears and rattled around in my head. I looked over at B and had (as Oprah calls it) an A-Ha moment. She was right. We were having a mid-life crisis. Crap! Now what?
 |
| Time machine transporting you back to 2009 |
The phone rings and I hurriedly answer it. Anxiously awaiting B's call to hear the reason she and the rest of her co-workers were called into an "Important meeting." Her voice met my greeting with the comment, "Well. Ready to move to New Mexico?" It was what we thought. Her job was gone.
To be honest, I was more than ready. I have a real love/hate relationship with Wisconsin. As beautiful as it is and as much as I love it in the summer and (especially) fall, it is cold, dark and depressing and I absolutely loathe it in the winter.
So, a plan was hatched. Well actually, a plan had already been hatched, but now was the time to put it into motion. And that, is exactly what we did. And that, was the exact wrong time to do it. For it was pretty much at that exact same time, that the economy took a head long, full nose dive, right into the toilet.
Every night, we would watch and listen as Charlie Gibson told about about all the jobs lost that day. 10's of thousands a day were being lost. The national unemployment rate went from just under 6% to just over 10% in a matter of a couple weeks. It was getting really depressing watching the top story every single day, being that, this company or that company was closing or laying off umpteen thousand workers. Secretly, we started to worry about our plan.
It was after a couple months of this being the norm and realizing that this downward spiral probably wasn't going to stop anytime soon, that we each started to re-evaluate our plan in detail.
Even though I was thinking about it, I refused to speak the words out loud. "If I don't say them, they can't come true." was my thinking. As a matter of fact, it took almost every ounce of willpower I had to keep from admitting to myself that our plan may be in jeopardy. It was B who finally brought it up. Her words rang true, but they also carried a cold winters wind with them. "I just don't feel, like this is the right time to be packing up and moving across the country." she said. In my mind and my heart, I was in total agreement. I just couldn't however, get my mouth to form the words. We discussed things for a while and my mouth finally agreed with the rest of me. "You're right." I said. "We should just stay here and wait for things to get better."
Even as I was saying these words, I was fighting them. I so desperately wanted to move to New Mexico. But I will admit that it was a bit freeing to say them as well. All the stress of NOT saying them was now gone. Oh but alas, it was replaced by the depression of realizing that everything I was looking forward to was also gone.
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| Ok. Back to 2011 |
So here we are, 2 1/2 years later and we are STILL waiting for things to get better. The only thing that has has really changed is that Charlie Gibson retired and now Diane Sawyer is the one delivering the bad news every night. Jobs are few and far between as unemployment is still over 9%. The hemorrhaging of jobs has slowed, but they are not being added very quickly. We see reports on the news about how 52,000 jobs were added last month. Wow! really? 52,000? Considering that there are 14 million folks out of work, 52,000 is hardly worth mentioning. It is truly a scary time right now.
Adding to the fear, anxiety and uncertainty is the fact that there doesn't even seem to be a flicker of light on the horizon. Nothing, nada, zero, zilch, zippo! Our government is completely focused on another issue right now, and that is next years presidential election. Sure, all the politicians are talking and telling us what they "would" do "if elected" but not a freaking one of them is actually "doing" anything. Everyone in Washington is focused on either getting into power or getting the other guy out of power. In the meantime, nothing is getting done and the people of this country continue to get shat upon. It really is disgusting to watch and truthfully, has caused me to loose almost all faith in our system of government.
During these last couple years we have struggled with what to do with the rest of our lives. We came to the conclusion that, what we were doing, wasn't working anymore. We no longer buy into the American dream, because what does it really mean? Jobs, a house, 2 cars, an annual vacation, money in the bank? All great, but we have these things and none of them do anything to fulfill our souls. We need something more. A purpose, a sense of accomplishment. We need to leave our mark on the world and to know that what we did was truly good and that it helped. (Hmm. Mid-life crisis?)
So what are we to do? How can we figure out what to do with the rest of our lives when we aren't even sure if this country is going to survive the next few years? We are completely frustrated with the state of our nation.
The rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer. I know, I know. I KNOW! It's ALWAYS been this way, But you have to admit that things have gotten much worse since baby bush deregulated, well, almost everything. It has caused greed to go viral!
Corporate greed is another huge frustration we are feeling right now too. Huge corporations have taken over and are destroying everything. It's sad.
When is it enough? When do you say, "Nope. I'm good. I have enough. I don't need anymore." That concept is completely foreign in the corporate world.
Now don't get me wrong. Not ALL corporations are bad. There are great corporations out there that do wonderful things. They give back. They care about and protect the environment. They treat their customers with respect and dignity and they have an honest and heartfelt desire to provide a quality product. But then there are the corporations that don't. The are singularly focused on one thing. Make as much money in as short amount of time as possible and do whatever it takes, destroy whatever we need to destroy, in order to accomplish that goal.
Because corporate greed has consumed this country, there are less and less privately owned, independent businesses out there. Now I am NOT talking about privately owned franchises that have huge corporations backing them. Those, as far as I am concerned, are not independent businesses. Those are corporate. I am talking about real, private, independent businesses. The type where the owner is the one doing the cooking back in the kitchen. The type where the owner can't take a conference call, cause they are out making a delivery. Not the one where the owner is sitting in an office someplace in another location. I am talking hands on, privately owned, independent businesses. Think about it. How many can you think of in your area? My guess is that's it's not going to be very many. B and I love to support these types of businesses.
All the greed in the corporate world as well as in our government, has made B and I take a deep and long, hard look at ourselves. How did we contribute? Answer: By allowing ourselves to be lead around blindly. We bought into the multi-million dollar marketing campaign that fooled us into believing that we couldn't live without their crap.
Watching all this greed and corruption take over this country has spurred numerous conversations between B and myself about how we can disconnect ourselves from the madness. How can we separate ourselves so we are no longer a part of this fucked up system?
We started by getting rid of what we felt was absolutely not needed. We got rid of our blackberry's. We downgraded our cable. We cleaned out things from the house. Essentially, we got rid of crap that we didn't need in the first place. While all this was freeing, it wasn't enough. We still feel like we need to simplify and minimalize our lives even more. Basically, our anti-greed is going viral.
And BLAM!!!!! Enter our epiphany. What could be more simple and minimalist than getting rid of ALL our crap, renting out the house and hitting the road on human-powered vehicles. Nothing but a few changes of clothes, a shelter and some cooking equipment strapped to our bicycles. Not a single thing to worry about other than, which way and how far.
Stay tuned folks. This Mid-Life Crisis we're having, could be a wild journey...
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