Plan B - Optimized Failure

I should have been doing my final preps this week, packing, and stressing over the last details of a well planned thru hike.  I've diverged from the plan in the fact I am off the plan, and will not be back on it for I think many years to come.  Somehow I planned myself out of going.

So goes another failure to launch in a long string of failures.  I've spent a lot of money, educated and prepared myself as best able.  Yet when the critical moments of execution come I have discovered the inherent flaws of my ambitions, making it pointless to continue at this time.  I so wish I could be like some people who ignore things like that and just blindly push on...

Hitting the Wall

As anticipated, I have reached the juncture in this little expedition where I begin to question and rationalize my decisions.  And equally as anticipated I am very good at arguing the points of my own folly at taking on such a stress inducing endeavor.  I hate arguing with myself, mainly because I'm usually right.

Flip Flop and Try

I anticipated the universe would intrude upon my "ideal" thru hike in some manner, and as expected I am challenged with conforming my ideal with reality.  This is not a bad thing, as I will still traverse the same number of miles and see the same scenery and pass the same white blaze markers of the trail.  It just won't be in the order, direction, or time frame I had originally planned.  Unless I figure out how to bend space-time to my will, this involves

The Lull Between Disasters

As I imagine will be the case on the trail, so I have noted of late the spans of time between things worth mentioning.  I am working the plan, hiking the hike so to speak.  At this point the plan involves paying down the last balances on the credit cards (to the dismay of the credit card companies), and retaining employment without strangling my coworkers so as to accomplish said credit card paying.  In other words, life as usual.

Let's Make Some Whoopie [Slings]

Tinkering is one of those thing that satisfies the best parts of the human brain, or at the very least the male human brain.  For some it is much like smoking crack, except crack isn't nearly as addictive nor is it as much a burden on ones wallet.  This, I think, is why poor folk tend to do drugs instead of tinkering.  Too many times have I gone beyond my means with trying a new gadget only to be disappointed in what it couldn't do then promptly taking it apart to see if I could fix the perceived deficiency thus voiding the warranty and any chance of getting my money back.

This is why I stay poor and mostly humble.