Your Top Adventure After Winning the Lottery

Scrolling through the list of upcoming shows on the Travel Channel with my TiVo, I see one called "Top Ten Places to Endure Mother Nature". I always get a good chuckle out of Travel Channels Top Ten Lists as usually they are just rehashed footage of places they have done a feature on. This one was no different. I mean seriously... Is San Francisco really the #3 place to survive Mother Nature?

The show did get me to thinking, if I won the lottery what would be the number one adventurous challenge I'd give myself to conquer? As demented as this will sound, ever since reading "Into Thin Air", I've thought it would be cool to summit Everest. Most people would say your nuts as there are a significant numbers of people that don't even survive the challenge. Seriously, they die trying. Now, I'm still relatively young and in good health and lets face it, I can be a bit of thrill junkie. With significant training , a good outfitter, and exceptional Sherpas maybe it could be done....

... okay coming back from that little fantasy to something a little more realistic. I've also wanted to do I high altitude Elk hunt in Wyoming or Colorado. I'm talking about the kind of hunt where you have to pack in by horse and sleep in wall tents kind of hunt. Where you brush your teeth by moonlight every evening because there is no electricity. For that matter there isn't a WiFi or Cellphone signal either. Where you walk from ridge to ridge, day after day in search of that 700 pound bugling beast. Yes, I think this would be the number one adventure I'd pursue after winning the lottery. What would yours be?

Um, what is a ...

... MP4 player? Is that newer than a MP3 player??? BTW If anyone wins this f'n thing let me know, I dropped a mother load in that machine..... okay that was joke. Really it was.... yeeeeahhh, okay maybe not.

The Greats

As a youth I wasn't much of a risk taker and pretty much a homebody. So when I was presented the opportunity to go watch Michael Jordan play during his time with the Chicago Bulls I passed it up. It involved travel and staying over night in a strange town -- something I just didn't do. To this day, I deeply regret that.

Since that time I've made it a point to see those considered "the greats" whenever the opportunity presents itself. For instance, I've been to Lambeau Field in Green Bay Wisconsin to watch Brett Favre play football. I've watched Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson pitch and Ken Griffey Jr bat. I've seen Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull play hockey. All great sports figures. But I have also had a beer with Eric Gamma, while attending a programming conference in San Jose California and attended photography classes taught by National Geographic Photographer Jim Brandenburg. Recently, I saw Joe Satriani play live.

I haven't stopped with seeing just great people. Sometimes its locations that are very unique or known world wide. For instance, I've been to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota (nearly costing me my job). I've already mentioned Lambeau Field in Green Bay Wisconsin. But I've also seen Soldiers Field and the Sears Tower in Chicago Illinois. On separate trips to California, I've seen Apple Headquarters, The Golden Gate Bridge, the mysterious Winchester House, and Disneyland. I've also been to Disney World in Orlando Florida. How about the Bad Lands and Wall Drug in South Dakota or Devils Tower in Wyoming? Yup I've seen those too.

Sometimes, I've made an effort to see people that I don't consider great but others do (or have). For instance, Barry Bonds was supposed to play against the Minnesota Twins, but apparently he had a boo-boo that night and just sat in the club house (okay between you, me and the internet - I secretly had dreams of catching a home run ball hit by that thug and defacing the piss out of it, but I digress).

The point here isn't what or who I've seen since I passed up that opportunity to see Mr. Jordan play (although seeing that list in writing feels good). No, the point is I've thought a lot about why I regretted not going to see Mr. Jordan play. I think it boils down to this - "the greats" provide unique events in the human experience that transcend and cut through social, racial, age, and economic boundaries. They provide memories. I watched that Monday night football game where Brett Favre through three touchdowns, two days after losing his biggest idol - his dad. An amazing game that I'm sure I won't long forget. But watching these people or places on television, listening to the event on the radio, looking at pictures, or reading about them/it in the newspaper or blogs only provide what someone else thinks is great about that person/place. It doesn't let you form your own opinion about what makes that person/place great and make that a part of yourself. That is what I regret. So please, whenever you are presented the chance - go see "the greats".

Subtle Changes

People that know me will tell you that I've been trying to lead a healthier life style. Part of that I owe to the job change which makes it brain dead simple (and stupid not to) to use the on site gym. Part of if I owe to a friend challenging me to run a 4 man relay in a marathon. Another part of that is I have an excellent friend whose like minded and does a great job of making sure I get my ass in the gym even when I don't feel like it (it's mutual - I do the same for him).

People who also know me will tell you I complain about my bathroom scale A LOT! Its been stuck on a certain number now for almost three weeks. At first it was just pissing me off, then it became somewhat depressing. I mean seriously, I bust my ass in the gym and that damn scale simply refuses to show me any sort of love. People would ask me, "But how are your clothes fitting?" which to me always seemed like some sort of cop-out. Not to mention I hadn't really noticed any changes in that department either.

That was until just a couple of days ago. One morning I went to tighten my belt and realized, "Holy crap, I've gotta go one more tighter!?!". That was such a boost to my morale! Finally, a quantitative change I can see. That's not the only one either. I was at lunch (felt like I was starving) and had chosen a 12oz soup with a side salad. I'm barely have done with the soup and realize I'm full!?!? How can this be? Dinner that evening was the same thing. Clearly portion control is working.

Last week saw me filling my workout sheet for the first time. I hadn't actually calculated the percentage gains until just before writing this blog post. I realize that I'm just starting out and so gains like this can't be expected forever. But holy cow!! I'm up 20% (or better) in every muscle group! Another major boost to my morale!

Now I feel guilty...

Today I wasn't feeling real inspired to get my butt in the gym. I stayed up late working. So I admit it, I slacked off hoping that OhCaptain was feeling the same way. As our usual 11am gym departure time approached; the dreaded "Gym?" instant message didn't seem to be coming.... theeeen.... oh crap... noooo... wait... false alarm, OhCaptain wanted me to review the code he had finished rewriting. SWEET! So yeah, I skipped my workout....

You know your a regular at the gym , when one of the "Big Guys" -- you know the type, muscles buldging from everywhere, a neck the size of your waist, and in the gym before you get there and after you leave -- yells from across the cafeteria "HEY! Where were you guys today? How you gonna get big?!?".

Yup, now I feel guilty and strangely... kinda proud. By him acknowledging that we were not there means I've been doing something right thing. It means while in the gym - someone else has seen the hard work I've done and even cooler, knows what I'm trying to accomplish. And that feels pretty damn good.