Sunset over the Olympics 

Australia

I'm knee deep in planning for my trip to Australia in July with Rod. The itinerary is:

Sydney, Outback, Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand, Sydney, Hawaii. 3-4 days in each location.

At this point, we've got most all the plane tickets and lodging booked; all that remains is the car rentals, a few events, and trip accessories.

Yeah, it's going to be expensive. And this causes me to wonder if I'm really being wise about spending here. I could be saving up for a house, for instance. Add to that the fact that I really believe we're running out of oil, and trips like this will be nigh unobtainable in 5-10 years. I'm doing it now because I can do it now...but I'm exhibiting the sort of energy-rich activity that has contributed to our current global crisis. mmm guilt.

However, the bulk of the money is already spent. So I'm going to go, and take pictures, and soak up the experience.

All that stands between me and vacation is two months and a bunch of papers! (my last quarter has 6 papers required!)

Accomplished

I was astonished to find that I had the ability to be an effective leader for positive change. That people want to hear my advice, appreciate how I treat them, and trust me to take risks.

I'm just doing what seems right. Setting aside the fact that it has taken two years to get to the place of saying what needs to be said - it seems that I'm good at leading and enjoy it.

Now if I could just deal with the occasional bouts of depression and find some self-discipline and proactiveness in my personal life, we'd be getting somewhere.

Good bye chemicals?

I've just started a foray into the ancient eastern practice of Jala Neti

A number of years ago, a co-worker of mine used neti pots, and talked about how great they were. She convinced another guy in our office to start using them as well, and both of them reported significant postive benefits.

About a month back, in one of my weekly forays through PCC, I noticed they were selling neti pots and salt. And so, poised on the brink of allergy season, I decided to give it a try and see if I could control my allergies via nasal cleansing instead of pharmaceuticals.

This morning I looked at the pot and though "hmm, if this works, I'm going to have to figure out how to do it on my Australia trip. Cause it's really dusty there in the Outback. I wonder how that will go, with the youth hostel shower arrangements?"

Sometimes, being healthy means sacrificing convenience. Sure, you can nuke that pre-packaged chemical laden item that resembles food in 3 minutes... but don't be surprised by obesity and elevated toxin levels!