I did not make this story up

The first week of August in 2011, I had the opportunity to go visit my good friend Jim down in NY state for a long weekend of canoeing, camping and fun. Every couple of years I visit Jim in Westtown, NY. We traveled in Up with People together in the year 2000 and have kept in touch.

Ever since Jim was a teenager, he and two of his friends, Daryl and George, have participated in an annual canoe trip down the Delaware river. It is a two day journey that includes camping overnight. The three of them don't make it every year, but at least one of them has made the trip every year for at least 15 years. I had previously experienced one of these trips back in 2007.

On this year's trip, we would only need two canoes. One for Jim and myself; the other for Daryl and Austin. Daryl is Jim's good friend from childhood and Austin is one of Daryl's good friends. It's a very likeable group of guys.

I arrived in Westtown at around midnight on Friday night. I had only finished my shift at work around 8pm and headed right to NY after that. I'm not sure if this was some foreshadowing but I mowed down a possum about 10 miles from Jim's house going about 65. Poor fella. Daryl, Jim, Austin, myself and a few others sat outside by the chimnea til about 3am. We went to bed feeling good. Nothing like a poor night sleep to start off a camping adventure.

It seems every time we go canoeing, we drop in the water later and later. I had done just a day trip earlier in the summer where we started paddling around 3pm. On this trip, we did even better, 4pm.

On a side note...by the way there are going to be many side notes, so bear with me. The forecast did not look good. In fact, we knew it was going to rain. It was supposed to rain all weekend. But because this was the last chance for Jim to get in the annual canoe trip, the trip had to proceed.

As soon as we put our canoes and gear in the water, it started to rain a good, steady rain. Luckily for us, we had all we needed: beer and good company. The first few hours weren't so bad. It was very peaceful out on the water. I don't recall seeing very many other boats on the water. The Delaware was beautiful, with Pennsylvania on our left, and New York State on our right. I kept wondering where exactly George Washington crossed.

Around seven or eight, the rain started to take its toll on us. You could say we were shivering just a tad. We found an open area on the banks of the river that had a lot of rocks on it. This looked like a solid place to make camp for the night. Jim and Daryl helped pull the canoes completely out of the water and onto the rocks. We trudged all our gear, with the exception of our paddles and life jacket, up the hill and to our camp site.

At this point I remember the rain picking up. It no longer was steady, it was now just pouring down. And our body temperatures were starting to dive as well. But there was a lot of work to be done so I don't think any of us was ever worried about our safety. Immediately we started setting up tarps and tents, and searching for firewood.

Jim and I handled the tent rather swiftly. It's not easy setting up a tent with barely any daylight left and the pouring rain coming down. Daryl and Austin started using their scouting skills (I don't think Daryl is an official scout, but Austin is!) and began the difficult task of starting a fire in the rain. We did luck out with the fire when our neighbors camping just downstream from us gave us some t-candles that really helped the fire get going. Without those, we wondered if the fire would have been started. Another lucky find was just before we started canoeing, I found two heavy duty flash lights in my car. Those two lights would be all the artificial light we had all night.

So after about an hour and a half, the four of us have our tent up, the tarps are over the fire pit, and we have all changed and are dry. The next few hours were some of the most enjoyable moments of the trip. We brought steaks, corn on the cob, steamed clams, the works and had a feast. The drinks never ran out and we just had a great time talking around the fire.

Keep in mind, that the rain never stopped during this whole time. It only intensified. Once in a while a large volume of water would spill over the side of the tarp that was above us. I can't remember a rain like that, or being stuck in one like that.

Fast forward to about 3am. The four of us are ready for bed. The rain actually let up and was now just a drizzle. What a crazy day. Even though we had a four person tent, it was a little close in there. Thankfully the Bud Light's put me right to sleep.

Cock a doodle doo! Sometime around 9am, Austin got up to relieve himself and pick up some of the beer cans. We were all sound asleep, but would soon be wide awake. I remember him zipping open the tent door and uttering something along the lines of, "We may have a minor issue; The canoes are gone."

Gone. Let's think about that for a second. We're on a canoe trip. We're somewhere between NY and PA. Our only means of transportation...the canoes...are gone. Where did they go?

It turns out that little Delaware river rose a couple of feet in the night. So much in fact, that our canoes that were well out of the water when we landed ashore, floated away down the river.

Now Jim, being the owner of these canoes, was the most concerned. I definitely can understand the shock, disbelief, probably anger, in losing our rides. In all his years on this trip, they had never tied the boats down. Why would he this time?

So now that we were all up, it was time to make a plan as to what to do. The first idea was to walk down stream and look for the canoes. Maybe they got caught in a bend in the river. The four of us started through very thick woods. It was a wet, miserable walk. After about 20 minutes, Jim and I sent Austin and Daryl back to make breakfast while Jim and I continued. We walked another 20 minutes and finally came to a steep cliff. No canoes anywhere. So we turned around. I kept thinking on this entire trip through the woods that I hope there isn't any poison ivy around as I am very allergic to that stuff.

Upon returning to our site, we talked to the neighbors who gave us the t-candles and they told us how they had tied their boats to the trees because the previous year they had also lost a canoe. They had two canoes and three people, which meant, if we needed it, they had one extra spot for a person. This would be an important detail later on.

Next, we decided to go talk to the neighbors on the other side of us. They were one spot over upstream. This group of about six or eight had rented rafts, and just like us, had lost one of them. So they actually couldn't be of any help as far as getting one of us down stream went. But, thankfully, they had talked to their neighbors upstream and this is where our plan to rescue ourselves and our gear got complex.

This group of six had three canoes. So there was no room for any of us. BUT, they did have a car across the river that they needed to get to, and didn't know how to get to it. Jim comes up with a master plan to swim across the Delaware, to this group's car, and drive it to them. While he is to swim across, I will join the three men with the two canoes down stream and they will drop me off at a beach about a half mile down. The group with the three canoes will meet me there, as well as Jim who will have these stranger's car. They will then drive Jim and myself about 15 miles back upstream to my car, where we will then drive to drive to a raft rental, and then go rescue Daryl and Austin on our raft. It sounds too simple, I know.

My part of the plan sounds easy, but it wasn't. I, along with my new three friends, set off for the beach down the river. Unfortunately where we started was about 100 yards away from a decent sized rapid. Immediately, my canoe sank. I really hadn't anticipated that and realized I had no life jacket on. So I'm being pulled by the river, trying to hold onto the canoe, and whatever else I can grab onto. Miraculously, the canoe's only life jacket was right next to me and I grabbed onto that for dear life as I see the other guy in my boat reach shore. I wasn't so lucky and was pulled another 50 yards or so down river. I paddled to shore and caught my breath. A rock had struck by back and I was a little freaked out. As I was climbing on shore, I slipped on a rock and hit my ankle, thinking I'd broken it. But it was just a bruise. Another miraculous find was that their beer cooler floated right over to me as well. Unfortunately, the group lost some fishing poles and an entire watermelon, as the other canoe had sunk as well.

The rest of my canoe trip to the beach, was easy. Jim, on the other hand had his own adventure going on.

Because the river current was moving so fast that morning, Jim estimated that he should walk a mile upstream past where he was to land, figuring that the mile would give him enough time to cross the river with the current. Throughout the weekend, we had heard stories how up to 8 or 9 people had died this summer trying to swim across the river. We all felt that Jim would make it due to the fact that those people had died trying to cross the river parallel to where they started. In this case, Jim would end up a mile down from where he started. You're probably asking yourself what Jim had for a life jacket. Well, it wasn't exactly a jacket and it wasn't supposed to be a life saving device. It was one of those seat cushions you bring to a sporting event. God Speed Jim.

According to Jim, about halfway through his journey, someone on the PA side of the river called the police saying someone was drowning. A park serviceman then followed Jim down the river with a bullhorn, "Are you okay!" Jim was giving him the universal sign for okay by tapping his head. But for some reason this young man was a little freaked out. Jim reached shore about 20 yards from where he intended to and had to have a chat with the Ranger who seemed flustered. With some pleading and explaining that he was just fine, Jim had the Ranger call off the police and ambulance, yes ambulance!

Let's recap how the plan has gone so far. Jim safely reached his landing point, and I safely reached mine. Well, maybe we could remove the word 'safely' from those previous two sentences.

Jim then picked up the car of the very trusting strangers and drove down stream to pick me and one of the other canoers up. It felt great being back in a car after the hellish hours we'd just spent in the rain. It took about 20 minutes to get back to my Jeep Cherokee. We thanked the guys very much for returning us to our car, and set out to find a raft to save Austin and Daryl.

As soon as the two men left us at our Jeep, we hit another snag; My car would not start. Are you kidding me? That's basically the look on Jim's face. The car would start, but then as soon as it was placed in gear, it would stall. We tried it about ten times, then Jim tried starting it one more time and nothing. No sounds, no click, the car had ceased up. Shit. Yeah this seems to make sense though, seeing as the rest of the trip has had nothing go quite right. As Jim starts to make a plan to hitch hike, I realize that the car has an automatic car starter for the winter time. I try it out and voila! The car starts! I'm laughing as I write this but the look on Jim's face now is "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"

He jumps in the Jeep and we go looking for raft rentals, and a 12 pack of beer for the raft trip. We knew of one called Indian Head, that was about 10 miles back downstream. Jim does the talking and starts off telling the guy it's just the two of us. Somehow throughout the explanation of the last 12 hours we'd experienced, Jim basically says "We gotta go rescue two friends, please give us two extra life jackets and paddles." It worked because the man charged us for two people, but gave us the gear for four. This plan was working to a T, well minus the near death experiences we'd just went through and the car not starting.

As we were about to set off on our raft, we met two rangers. Jim asked if they'd heard of anybody swimming across the river. Indeed they had. Jim had a sense of excitement in his voice when he told them about it. But they were a bit stern, reminding us that people had died trying to do the same thing. Actually I think one Ranger said, "Well eight other people would love to be telling the same story right now." Jeez buddy.

I imagine going from a canoe to a raft is like going from a motorcycle to a moped. Rafts are mind numbingly slow and take a ton of effort to get moving. Jim thought we needed a lot of river to get across to rescue Daryl and Austin, but I truly believe he overestimated. It seems like if you ask anyone on the river how far something is, they always answer, "About a mile." They all lie. It took another hour for Jim and me to reach Daryl and Austin.

The moment we saw Austin and Daryl just sitting there, sun tanning on the rocks, was another great moment. It was like reuniting after being lost at sea. We all went back up to the campsite and had a great breakfast consisting of sausage and eggs on a roll. And beer.

They had cleaned up the campsite and we loaded everything into the raft. Everything comfortably fit in, and we were off. Having four men paddle was a lot better than just two. Plus, the worst was behind us and I remember the next few hours just being a ton of fun. Now and then we'd get hot from the sun and dive into the river. We'd all jump in at once at times. Just fun times. All afternoon we looked for the canoes, but never saw them.

Towards the end of the day, we hooked up with some other rafts and canoes with a bunch of young people on them. We stopped at a place that had some cliffs to jump off of. Daryl, being somewhat crazy, was the first to tackle that challenge. Jim and myself were all set with tempting fate for the second time. Austin, being kind of a macho man, followed behind Daryl. It was scary, but they pulled off jumping about 20 feet into the river. As we were heading back to our canoes for our final stretch, I stepped on a wasps nest and took one solid sting and two or three weak ones to the legs and feet. Yep, that sounds about right.

I wish I could say that's the end but we passed one more stop before being done for the day. There was one more cliff to jump off for Daryl, and a fun rope swing for the rest of us to jump off of and land in the water. Daryl, Jim, and myself went successfully off the rope swing. But Austin's hands slipped while gripping the rope and while he successfully landed in the river, he broke a finger. Also on the unfortunate side, Daryl had climbed up to the highest point for his cliff jump, and nobody witnessed him jump! Bummer!

We only had about 10 minutes to our landing spot on the NY side after that. Austin was a little loopy because of the pain in his finger. Upon arrival at the landing spot, we unloaded all our gear while Jim went and retrieved his car that was parked just down the road.

We left the gear at the beach so that Austin could be brought to the emergency room. The whole way Daryl was giving Austin crap about how he could make a splint and save all the trouble of ER bills. But Austin insisted.

On our way to the ER, I realized something. I had NO idea where my car keys were. No idea. This was a problem because my car was way back in PA and I had to be in NH the next day. So now with Austin at the ER, Daryl, Jim and I decide we're going to drive back somewhere on the PA side and walk through the woods, back to our campsite and find the keys. They must be there because I had laid them on the rocks when we arrived. Mind you, it was now dusk, and we had our flashlights only. This plan seemed awfully dumb. About two minutes into our walk into the woods, we hear the loudest crack of thunder we'd all heard in some time. I'm so thankful for that because we all immediately turned around and started coming up with ideas on how to replace the keys...

The last thing the four of us did that night after we went back to my jeep to see if we could break into it to get our cell phones, was go for a hearty dinner at a little roadside diner. Daryl had no shoes, I only had on my under water shoes. Jim had a little cash, so we could afford dinner. It was a pretty miserable dinner. We were just so fatigues from the previous events. Austin ordered some hot wings that were causing him to feel more pain. Some drunk woman at the end of the bar kept harassing Daryl. It was time to end the trip.

Jim and I went home back to Westtown, while Daryl and Austin picked up the gear back on the beach. Our plan was to drive back to Vermont in the morning and pick up an extra set of car keys at my dad's work, then drive back to Pennsylvania, pick up my jeep, then drive my jeep back to NH. It was something I was not looking forward to, at all.

In the morning, I decided to unpack everything that was on Jim's lawn. That's where Daryl and Austin left everything. Jim and I were scheduled to leave in about 30 minutes, so it was really just a last ditch effort to find the car keys. Well, as Jim is looking for his tooth brush, he sees them and basically makes my day. I didn't have to do miserable drive to New England and back after all.

I stayed another few hours. It was a nice morning drinking coffee, reminiscing about the trip. I did feel a little itchy in the morning, but figured it was because I hadn't showered in a couple days. The trip home was uneventful, but I have never been so happy to be home.

The trip seemed to be over, but for Jim and myself, there were a couple more things to come. Jim and his dad rented an airplane so that they could look for the canoes. I'm not positive how far they went down river. Maybe to New Jersey. But sadly, the canoes were never recovered.

I, on the other hand, didn't have just an itch. It seems that when I went to the bathroom at the beach that the friendly canoers had dropped me off at, I had transferred the poison ivy on my hands (that I had come in contact with on the hike to search for the canoes)to many other places on my body. I battled the poison ivy for three weeks after that and even had to go to the ER 48 hours after I'd returned home due to the pain. I think if I had to do it all over again, I would have stayed and made breakfast while the others go hunt in the woods for canoes.

It's a story I'll never forget and I will definitely partake in another one of these canoe trips. Hopefully next year. I think that if anything goes wrong in future trips, Jim, Daryl, Austin, and I can always say that nothing will ever top the 2011 trip.

A little update

Hello friends, or whoever still checks in! I thought I'd give a long overdue update on what's new.

I posted in January that you'd hear more from me, but that wasn't the case. I didn't even try to write anything since that last post. Today is my day off. It is a beautiful day outside. Motivating.

I've been working at U.S. Cellular in Keene as a Retail Wireless Consultant since mid November. Who would have predicted I would be a phone salesman. The job consists of more than just selling cell phones. I provide excellent customer service in an industry that can be frustrating at times to the customer. U.S Cellular has been a great transition for me in getting acclimated with living in Keene. Living less than two miles from the store, I'm saving a lot of money on gas!

Hockey was a big part of my winter. I played in the Keene Men's League which took place in Winchendon Mass due to lower rink costs. Then I played the last six weeks for the Winchendon Men's League. A couple of my teammates played on both teams and they picked me up for the WML team when another player got hurt. It was a thrill to play twice a week and get in shape. Plus it was a good group of people to play with. We didn't end up winning in either league's playoffs, but we were a pretty good team and I look forward to playing some more hockey this summer.

I just registered for my Up with People 10 Year Reunion. It also happens to be the 45th anniversary of Up with People. It is in Tucson from July 29-August 1. I haven't seen many of my cast mates in 10 years, so it looks like that is going to be an amazing weekend down in Arizona.

Other trips I'm planning for 2010: Carroll University Homecoming weekend October 1-3. I've never been to a homecoming weekend but I hear it is a lot of fun. It's been awhile since I returned to Canada, so hopefully a Montreal or Ottawa trip will happen. One weekend to Princeton with my brother and another for my cousin's wedding in September, and that's about it. Oh, hoping to go on my first Carnival Cruise in December since leaving ships back in 2007.

TV shows also are a big part of my week. Current shows I'm following: Season 8 of 24, The final season of LOST, and the all new Justified on FX. I don't like to be tied down to too many TV shows, but I really look forward to Monday and Tuesday nights. If any of you are LOST fans, I'd love to talk to you about this season. So much speculation as to how the series will end!

As I mentioned, the weather is beautiful here in New Hampshire. 50 degrees at least today. T shirt weather. Those of you in the south must think I'm crazy. But it's true. It feels like winter is behind us. This was my first winter in Keene since the early 2000's. I missed that ice storm of 2008 by 2 days.

Whew, that felt good writing a few paragraphs. Hope to do it again soon!

Curing writer's block

I created 84 posts in 2009. 2010 has inspired one post prior to this one. Since October 2009, I've only written two posts. How could I have gone from being "on fire" to "stone cold?" I'm not positive, but when I came home from Australia, there was a noticeable change. My main audience including family and friends of the family, were no longer 10,000 miles away. They were right in the same town and under the same roof as me. Just telling them about my day, rather than writing it down seemed a lot easier than a blog post.

With coming home, my inspiration dwindled. I've had a great five months back in New Hampshire, but nothing here is making me want to write like I did when I was on the road. My goal is to find that passion again here in Keene, New Hampshire. When I was pumping out posts last year, I had so much energy and pride in my work. Gotta get back there mentally.

So with that in mind, I've always thought that the best way to get back into writing or into anything is to just do it. Expect to hear from me more often. I'll think of something...

Up with People

January 16, 2000

(On the plane) Day one...What to expect? Unknown. Mom is crying already. Dad isn't but he is gracious. Donna, crying too. Funny how things work out. I was cracking forwards' skulls and robbing gappers a year ago. Now I'm off to become a performer. I thought this day would never come. Haven't met anyone yet other than Joel and Stephanie. Sitting next to a nice man from Portland, OR. If only George Carlin were sitting next to me now. We're beginning the announcements. This is gonna be funny. 11:35am and the plane is going to take off soon. No butterflies. Amazing. Everybody's faces are flashing through my mind......Jon, Donna, Watterson's, Gemmells, Kenny. Not only am I on a plane that is taking off. I'm on a plane where a dozen New England kids lives are taking off. I am strengthening as a person. My confidence is going to increase....11:50 We're taking off!

Ten years ago today I wrote those words in a little spiral journal with the title "A Traverler's Notebook" written on the cover. I was about to fly to Denver to join Up with People, the international performance group that traveled the world. I was 18 years old.

The next 12 months would prove to be life changing. I participated in countless hours of community service, lived with 60 or so random families in a dozen countries and performed on stage for thousands.

More than that, I found self respect and confidence. Someone who had always been hiding behind a metaphorical mask for 18 years, jumped out into the spotlight and took advantage of one of the most unique and strange opportunities ever thrown at an individual....

"Hey Ry, let me introduce you to 130 people from 25 countries. 125 people from 25 countries, this is Ryan....Oh by the way, Ry, you won't see your family for a looooong time. You'll live in strange homes, eat strange food, be forced to sing and dance and perform....No pressure, Good luck!"

It's hard to remember if I was more scared or excited. I think it was a mixture of both. But for some reason, the fear never held me back. I landed in Denver with an open mind, ready to accept whatever was thrown at me. I knew I could be whoever I wanted to be.

And that is one thing about Up with People that I will always appreciate and remember; Nobody there was ever going to tell me I wasn't good enough or that I wasn't talented enough. I had 130 family members for 12 months of my life who supported me through the fun times and the challenging ones.

At the end of my tour, sitting in some random room in France, our staff members told us, "Ten years from now, you'll look back on the year 2000 as the most Extraordinary year of your lives."

Well, they weren't lying. I've had some great years since then, but nothing will ever compare to the year 2000. It would be impossible to match.

With 10 years already gone in the blink of an eye. I'd like to to say to my family who supported me doing something completely out of character, and also to my cast mates from around the world who helped me find my voice, Thank You.

One Year

Time flies, don't you think?

A year ago today I started this blog. Some of you remember it was called Ryan Down Under because I was preparing for my trip to Australia. At some point I felt that the title was unoriginal and didn't really reflect who I am. So I changed it to A Place for my Stuff. That title still remains, but I expect it to change again in the next few months. After searching around the Internet, I found a couple other people had blogs with the same title. And while mine may have been first, it still isn't original as I borrowed the title from one of my greatest influences, George Carlin.

This was the second title photo I used.

In the 365 days I produced 98 random posts. The topics included pro sports, Australia culture, childhood memories, pop culture commentary and so much more. I originally thought it would just be a place for my family to see how I was doing while in Australia. But it evolved into it's own work of art. I'm very proud of some of the work I've done here and plan on continuing my passion for writing for many years to come.

The album that inspired the title of my blog. To listen to the entire album Click Here

If you're a regular, check back in soon for my one hundredth post. I will revue my favorite posts of the first 100 and try to kick off the next 100 with a bang.

Thank you again for reading...I'm off to the Pumpkin Festival in Keene, NH. What do you think of the camouflage hat?

Life is...

Sad

I found out yesterday that one of my former co-workers at Up with People, Hector Ramirez, died in Germany. I'm not positive the details of his death, I only know that it was from an accidental fall apparently.

I've only known Hector since June, 2007, but he left a lasting impact on me. He was one of the Education coordinators for Up with People's Cast B 2007. He was full of life, passion and energy. We really bonded at the Up with People reunion in Tucson, Arizona in July of 2007. I remember enjoying a few drinks with Hector and talking about life and the exciting things that we would do with our futures.

My last interaction with Hector was a few months ago while I was in Australia. Hector needed some help with his application to Doctors Without Borders, so I helped edit his application. I was more than happy to help someone I considered a true friend. I know he would have done the same for me if I asked him for a favor.

So Hector, wherever you are, you are already missed by hundreds of people that you touched in your 30 short years here on earth. My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and friends. I'll never forget you.

Also, the same day I heard the news about Hector, a well known family man in my home town, Steven Krause, died in a car accident. I grew up playing street hockey with his children.

Another man died that day as well. He was a former co-worker of my fathers. Hearing about the deaths of three amazing men on the same day was hard to take.

Happy

On Tuesday morning, I woke up and checked my facebook news feed and noticed that a former co-worker on Carnival Cruise Lines was playing in his band in Northampton, Mass., only about an hours drive from my house. I wrote him back right away and let him know I was interested in going to the show.

Joe set me up with a few tickets. I didn't have any friends to bring so I asked my parents to come along. You know you're getting older when you finally ask your parents to go out to a bar with you for company.

Joe and I met on the Carnival Glory in the Fall of 2004. We watched the American League Championship Series together. If you don't recall, that was the series where the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the New York Yankees in seven games after being down 3-0.

Joe plays piano in a band called Bonerama. It features three trombones in the front, as well as a guitar, bass, drums and piano. Joe is probably the most talented in the whole band. My parents and I were also impressed with the lead singer. He could belt it out.

One of my favorite parts about the traveling I've done in the last ten years is the fact that I get to meet people randomly that I haven't seen in years. Like Joe for example, I haven't spoken to in person for five years, yet when we met on Tuesday night, we talked just like it'd been a couple of weeks.

Full of uncertainties

I've been applying to random jobs lately. Luckily for three weeks I was employed by a vending company but they only needed temporary help. I've applied to be a sales representative for a up and coming drink called Vita Coco. They will not be making their decision until December or January.

So the search continues. I am going to try and give waitering another go. So far I haven't heard from anyone.

I've even thought of returning to the cruise ship life lately. In the 28 months since I've left ships, I once in awhile go through phases where I think I want to go back to the ships. Then I shake the thoughts out of my head after a couple days. But recently I had a day where I watched a movie that took place on a cruise ship (Boat Trip), watched a documentary on cruise ship life (The Norwegian Pearl was featured), and talked to my best friends from ships, Craig Johnson, aka Sexy Craig. All these ship references in one day had me really wanting to return.

So you never know. I still speak very highly of my experience with the cruise industry. I can definitely see myself returning.

Overall, Good, if not Great

I've been seeing a lot of family lately. Mostly my parents and brother. But I've also had the opportunity to go lunch with my grandpa a lot lately. He is 88. He still has his wits about him and makes me laugh. While I was in Australia, I really missed my family. And more than I used to, I appreciate seeing them everyday. Over the past 10 years I've always felt that I was in a hurry to get somewhere else as soon as I arrived in Keene. But since returning, that feeling has faded. I still have dreams and aspirations that involve leaving New England, but as long as I'm here and get to see people I love everyday, I'm not in such a hurry.

I've been able to connect with some friends over the past month from Up with People and also my childhood. I am lucky to have met some amazing people in this life. The fact that I get to see or talk to them nearly every day is a blessing.

So that's a little update on things in my world. Thanks for checking in.

Starbucks

In February, 2004, while attending Carroll College, I wrote the following article for the independent publication, Amorphous, which I served as co-editor of...

Sometimes I wonder how we take Starbucks seriously. Sure their products taste fine, but I often wonder how their utterly foolish use of language is so easily overlooked. Perhaps nobody cares and maybe people enjoy using funny language to order a coffee, but I just want to make sure you are aware of the everyday farce known as Starbucks.

First of all, I have to get this monkey off my back. Let’s talk about Tall vs. Grande for a few minutes. (Editors note: There was no Venti size at the Carroll College Starbucks at the time) A Tall is a small and a Grande is a large. Are we agreed on this? After three years, I think I finally understand. But how can a Tall represent a small? I remember when I was about four years old watching Sesame Street. Grover taught me about NEAR and FAR. The Count taught me how to count. I also remember Big Bird and Slimey teaching me about big and little.

Here’s the point: Tall will always be synonymous with Large. Always. Grande, obviously a French word for large or grand makes sense. It really does. But if a large is a Grande, then shouldn’t a small be Petite? It doesn’t make sense that both sizes are named after words meaning “big.”

Next up, the ridiculous descriptions of various flavors of coffee starting with Light Note Blend, which is described as “Smooth and round with a straight forward, delicate flavor and a crisp clean finish”….garbage.

Can anyone tell me what a straight forward drink is like? Is Starbucks telling me that their coffee is bullshit free and they’re gonna hit me with the flavor straightforward? And how can it be delicate if it’s straight forward? Delicate to me would mean the coffee is holding back. I don’t like my coffee holding back. And I don’t know what a crisp clean finish is. How do they know how my coffee will be when I finish it? Maybe it’s cold and has been sitting out for two hours. Well then, it’s not too crisp and clean is it my friend?

How about a Colombia Nariño Supremo? With a name like that, I could be getting chili. But I’ll look at the description to make sure I’m not mistaken. “Full bodied with satisfying walnut overtones" …hmm. I have never heard of a full bodied coffee. I have some friends and family who are definitely full bodied, but have never seen a coffee that was. And what is a walnut overtone? Sounds like musical peanuts to me. It should say, “Tastes like walnuts.” That doesn’t confuse me. Straight up and to the point.

One more just to drive the point home. Sumatra coffee is described as “Spicy and intense with herbal aromas." Okay, enough. I don’t need an intense coffee. I just need something to get my day started. Spices and coffee don’t go together. And if I wanted herbal aromas, I would have ordered a tea. Sumatra coffee sucks.

Another complaint is that I participate more in ordering my drink than I do in a whole semester of classes. Ordering a coffee isn’t so bad. I only have to answer about six questions. But get one of those crap-achino drinks and you’re done for. How many shots of espresso? Points or cash? Whipped cream? Tall or Grande? What flavor? Leave room for cream? I feel as if I deserve a letter grade along with my latte.

One more Starbucks bash for you. In the last week of January, the coffee machines broke. No coffee for a whole day. None. And I still am not over it. If I’m correct, the name of the franchise is Starbucks Coffee. The product that started it all wasn’t being served. I can’t believe that it couldn’t be fixed within an hour or two. There are Starbucks representatives all over this great nation. The fact is they let me down. I had to go buy a $10 Dole instead.

So next time you’re in the coffee shop, take a look around. Order a small or regular coffee and see their reaction. Whatever you do, don’t take it too seriously.

Today, my thoughts on Starbucks haven't changed much. Just last week I went in to my local Starbucks to use their wi-fi. I bought a coffee because I figured as long as I was getting free internet, I should have something to drink. It turns out that wi-fi at Starbucks is not free at all. What made me angry was that 100 feet away from Starbucks is Panera Bread, a restaurant with free wi-fi and much better coffee.

September Ends

Where did September go? Wow that was a fast month. If you check in here regularly, you know it was a slow writing month for me. Back in Australia, I wondered if I'd be able to keep up the pace of a couple of blogs per week. I guess I've found out the answer to that question. The real world consumes up time! So today I'm just writing to write. It's good practice.

September was a great month. It has been only five weeks since I returned home from Oz. I managed to squeeze a lot of fun into that time. Here are some of the highlights:

I went down to Norton, Massachusetts to see my friend Ken Macie who is the Assistant Superintendent at TPC Boston. The course was hosting the Deutche Bank Championship which is a PGA Tour tournament and was the second of four tournaments that comprise the Fed Ex Cup.

It was a great weekend visiting with the Macie family and also seeing Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and a slew of other PGA Tour players in person for the first time. One thing they never show on TV is the players' wives. They should more often. Brian Gay's wife was unreal. I mean pretty much store bought if you know what I mean.

A couple weekends later, I traveled down to Medway, Massachussetts to visit three of my Up with People cast mates. I met up with Carrie, Carissa from NH and Jesse from NY. I hadn't seen Carrie in 9 years, Carissa in 7 and who knows how long for Jesse. We had a great afternoon of talking about old times on the road. Carissa and Carrie both are moms now and Jesse is a drummer in a few bands based out of Boston.

September also had me rediscovering my golf game. I went golfing twice, once at Bretwood in Keene and another time at the Brattleboro Country Club in Vermont. My dad and I also hit a few buckets of balls. What a great sport. Frustrating, but great.

Being home is great. I may have mentioned that in my last post, but being home and seeing family everyday has been one of the best aspects of my return. In the five weeks I've been home, I have spent quality time with lots of family. About ten of the Wattersons had a big get together last weekend to help stack my grandma's wood pile. It was a lot of fun and great to see family even if it was in the rain.

Finally, I managed to work for three weeks for Monadnock Vending in Keene. It was hard, physical labor that involved working several 7pm-7am shifts. I helped another guy work on vending machines and learned a lot about the trade. One aspect I loved was going into factories around the area. I was in paper factories, food warehouses, gun factories, etc. It was exciting to see where some of these products were made.

So that was September. I have some ideas for upcoming stories so check back in. I have had a couple job interviews that I'm waiting to hear back from so you may be reading about that soon as well.

My final Australia Post

By now, you probably know I’ve left Australia and am enjoying being back in New Hampshire. I never announced that I was leaving until after I actually left Oz. The purpose of this was so I could surprise a couple of my family members. I wrote the following blog while sitting in the airport in Sydney on August 27 (Sydney time) waiting for my flight to depart. I forgot to post it when I returned home.

August 27, 2009

The final 10 days of my Australia trip were fun. I initially thought they would be grueling because all I would be thinking about was going home. But, they proved to be relaxing.

I was pretty hurting on cash and knew I’d have to get creative with meals for 10 days. Thank goodness I am a master of the grilled cheese. I bought some incredibly cheap bread and cheese, and some apples, and had grilled cheese sandwiches and apples for most of my meals for a week. One might think that’s awful, but I don’t think you understand how much I enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches. It was heavenly.

The rest of that week I listened to a lot of Red Sox games on the internet and slowly packed a little every day.

On my final Saturday night, I went to an ice hockey game with the York Brothers, as well as a few of the guys we play hockey with. It was great to see some ice hockey even if it was pretty awful. It featured the Sydney Bears vs. the Canberra Knights. Mike and Curt have a couple friends I’d met a couple of times on the Canberra team.

The Knights and the Bears were the league’s worst two teams. They were telling me this was Australia’s best hockey league, but I honestly think I could have contributed out there. I’m sure the top teams have some solid players. I think there are a lot of European and Canadian players on the better teams, so there has to be talent. But on this occasion, it looked like men’s league.
The next day, Curt York had his final soccer match of the year. He was playing in the championship game, which in Australia is called the Grand Finale. It’s hard to explain but I’ll try.

Where I live, there are tons of soccer leagues. Or rather, levels. So each town has their own team, for example, Curt plays for Lilli Pilli (Yeah the name of an actual suburb) and Lilli Pilli has around 16 teams. Curt was telling me it is the largest football organization in the Southern Hemisphere.

Anyway, if your team has success in the league it is in, then the next season the team moves up a level. So Curt’s team was playing in the Level 6 Grand Finale, and if they won, would move up to Level 5 next season.

It was a gorgeous day for a soccer game. I think it hit 75 degrees and was sunny all day. I walked a good three or four miles to the game, underestimating the walk. So I missed the first 15 minutes or so. When I arrived, Lilli Pilli was up 1-0.

Right before the end of the half, a Lilli Pilli player and a Miranda player collided while attacking the ball and the Lilli Pilli player broke his leg! It just sounded bad. I didn’t have a great look at it, but I heard it. The ambulance took forever to get there, and the game ended up being stopped for 90 minutes while they took the poor guy off to the hospital. (Or as that sentence would read in Australia….”…ended up being stopped for 90 minutes while they took the poor guy to hospital.” They don’t use THE when referring to the hospital)

In the second half, Miranda scored on a penalty kick and seemed to have the momentum for the remainder of the game. Neither team could score until the second overtime, Lilli Pilli got a breakaway and capitalized. They won 2-1. It was an exciting finish.

It was good to say goodbye to Curt’s parents and a couple other friends I’d met along the way.
On my final night in the Shire, Curt and his girlfriend Paivi, Mike, Eoin and his girlfriend Steph, Bryce and Mick took me out to dinner to say farewell. I was really touched by this. I wasn’t expecting anything really. I chose a Mexican restaurant that I had wanted to try for a few months because I didn’t have Mexican food my entire stay in Australia. It was okay, a little overpriced. In Australia they don’t give out free nachos and salsa. But I had a beef enchilada. It tasted great.

It was sad saying goodbye to all of them, but goodbyes are sad. In the morning I got up early and said goodbye to my roommate Steve. Jeff then brought me to the airport where I had to wait six hours for my flight.

And that was the end of the post. I should have documented the rest of the trip because it was fairly eventful. Here is what I remember from that flight home...

Written on September 17, 2009

My flight home from Sydney consisted of three flights: Sydney to Fiji, Fiji to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Boston. The flight from Sydney to Fiji is the one I will always remember. I was in the aisle seat, with an Australian guy sitting next to me and a British woman who was about 20, sitting in the window seat.

Prior to takeoff, we talked about our travel habits and if we liked to sleep or move around. The woman seemed nice and I felt it would be a smooth ride having her there.

Let's fast forward to the middle of the night. It's dark, I'm sound asleep, just like most of the rest of the plane is when I awake to the sound of someone vomiting. Is it the guy next to me? Nope. But it is the nice British 20 something woman next to him. What a nightmare. Can you imagine that this plane has probably 400 or more passengers and the woman in MY ROW throws up! What are the odds?!

It was a long night of cleaning up for that young lady. I was so turned off that I didn't help her much. I don't think I should feel guilty about that. The Australian guy who was sitting next to me was pretty horrified but did a decent job at helping her out at first. Eventually he and I just went and stood by the bathrooms for what seemed a good half hour. Luckily for him, there was one empty seat left on the plane so he was able to sit there. I, on the other hand, had to sit there all night.

At this point, I took advantage of the "Free booze on international flights" policy and ordered a couple of Jim Beam and Cokes. I watched a couple movies to distract me. Honestly there wasn't much smell so it wasn't unbearable, but the sick British woman now was sitting right next to me because here seat was just a mess.

The rest of the night I stayed awake making sure she didn't deliver a repeat performance. A couple times I thought sure she was going to lose it again. My attitude was a tad on the annoyed side. This woman had told me she was on one of the beginning legs of an around the world trip. I guess as someone who considers himself to be the lowest of the low maintenance travel companions, I can't understand why some people travel when it is such a hassle to get from point A to point B.

The rest of the flights went smoothly. LAX was great to spend eight or nine hours in. The first thing I had was a Burger King Coffee, then several Bud Lights. I made it home about 36 hours after I left Sydney.

Look forward to more blog posts coming soon!

My facebook rules and complaints

Some of you may have seen my facebook page on 9/11. A couple of my "friends" had an argument on my wall after I posted the phrase, "Taking time to remember..." An innocent comment by one friend led to a full on fight about not taking 9/11 seriously enough and who had more patriotism than who. It got ugly and I had the opportunity early in the day to delete the thread, but decided I would keep it up there and see where it went. By the end of the day, there were about 20 replies from five or six different people.

In my mind, I kept it up there to show people just how misunderstanding and miscommunication leads to hurt feelings and anger. I wish that the people who were making the comments could have personally emailed each other and discovered that they probably were both on the same side. They were all Americans. They were all attacked on 9/11. Why were they fighting with each other? I hope some people learned a lesson from it.

I guess that's a good transition into my facebook rules. Some of you have thought of these. You may have heard some of them from someone else, but these are some things that drive me crazy about facebook. I do love checking my facebook everyday, but these are things I could do without.

If you are going to write more than 20 words to someone, please put it in an email. The personal wall posts are - well personal. Keep it that way. I wonder if some people post that kind of stuff on other people's wall, so other people will know what they are chatting about. Or maybe they like that other people can see who they are contacting. It could be an ego thing.

Relationship updates. Since I created my facebook page in 2006, I have never updated my relationship status. Honestly I've only been in one relationship that would have been suitable for me to change it. But I think most people get annoyed by those friends who change their relationship status more than five times a year. It's a lot like "too much of a good thing is a bad for you." I would never write these people saying congrats on their new relationship because I would have to do it again in six weeks. Again, I think it has to do with insecurities. Some people want to be in a relationship so bad and let people know about it when they do. Trust me people, being single is great. Great on the wallet too.

I'm going to leave facebook for one paragraph while I'm thinking of this next one. Here's a good one for twitter. If you're not famous and you have nothing interesting to say, please don't tweet 25 times a day. You fill up my page and keep me from seeing funny people's tweets like Kevin Smith, Dane Cook, Shaq, Bill Simmons and Penn Jillette. I was talking with my brother about how tweets should be interesting or clever. I guess you going to the grocery store is just not interesting.

Back to facebook. Photo albums with more than 60 photos are too big. I used to like the 60 photo limit. It made facebook stalking so much faster! Just kidding. But 120 pics in one album? Too many. What I do is weed out the crappy photos and keep my albums between 40 and 60 photos. You don't have to put every photo from the digital camera on there. Be selective, weed out the junk.

Also, people love pictures with people in them. Your landscape photos or pictures of flowers are boring. I am guilty of having one album of a day where I walked through a park. It is my most boring photo album.

I've heard some people complain about mothers putting up their child's photo as their profile pic instead of them. I really don't have a problem with this one. If you think your kid is amazing and you want it to be your profile pic, I have no problems there. I find that most people who put their kids on there do not like having their picture taken.

Learn how to post pictures that aren't the size of a thumb tack.

Don't use the F word in your status updates. It is trashy.

Also, going back to the first one, don't be rude on my wall. I have family, former teachers, co workers who are my facebook friends and will have to read it.

Please stop sending me "Mafia Wars" requests. Or any facebook game. I will never join. The only one I join is NCAA March Madness.

I'm not a fan of "Becoming a Fan" of...I will become a fan of my friend's businesses or if a friend asks me to become a fan of something, but most of the time, I don't like looking at that box on the right side of my facebook page. I've seen Become a fan of God, Jesus, and most recently, Worshipping God. Because I don't become a fan of these does not mean I am not a fan. I'm a fan of the Boston Red Sox, but not on the interweb.

Here's one you've heard before: I wish facebook would stop suggesting friends to me. Maybe once or twice I have appreciated who they suggest, but most of the time, NOPE!

If we've never hung out before, weren't in the same class, and probably never will get together, how come you're requesting me as a friend? Does that make sense to you?

Oh here's one that I have strong feelings about. When you request me as a friend, and I accept and say a nice hello, and then you never write back....what was the point of the friend request? I'm still waiting to hear from a couple of you.

Wow, I went on a rant there! (Calm down...Calm down)

Some of my friends have told me they do a yearly "pruning" of their friends. I need to get into this. What would your rules be for that? I would say if you haven't spoken or emailed for three years, off you go! I think I'm being nice there. The reason I don't delete friends is because I never know where I'm going to be down the road. Maybe I'll be in Virginia or Texas or New York and I have a random facebook friend I can look up. Actually, now that I think of it, I put this plan into play in Australia and a handful of my Aussie "friends" did not respond to my request to get together... Yep, I'm all for the pruning!

A couple more for you...

Several times in my facebook "career," some female "friends" have deleted me as their friend due to them being in a relasionship, then requested me again, once things were smooth with their boyfriends. Ladies, if you are deleting male friends from your facebook out of fear of the boyfriend, it is not a healthy relationship.

Don't take it personal if I miss your birthday on facebook. Somedays I don't check the birthday list. And sometimes there are six people with a birthday that day! I guess it's just luck of the draw. I think for every person I've ever wished a happy birthday to on facebook, I've included the phrase, "Hope it's a great one." So that's all you're missing if I forget to wish you a happy birthday this year.

Finally, I have no problem with older generations being on facebook. Good for them!

Feel free to leave your comments at the bottom with ones I forgot. I hope facebook doesn't delete my account for making fun of them a little. Imagine if facebook facebook-stalked me!

Finally I have to say I still do enjoy facebook. It is somewhat addictive but I'm not to the point of needing help yet. Have a good day.

9:09am: 9/9/09

Today is September 9, 2009. This post will be published at 9:09am. My favorite number is nine. For that one minute I imagine I'll concentrate on all the good things in my life and appreciate that in my lifetime, there will never be another 9/9/09. There will be a 9/18/27 (hopefully) and a 10/10/10 but this date will have more meaning than any of the others.

I don't believe anything crazy will happen. Someone was telling me about July 7, 2007 and how many people were married on that day and how some people believe seven brings good luck. No spaceships will land to pick me up. It will be just another minute in my life. But it will be my moment, unless I oversleep.

So here are some photos of the nine. Enjoy.

Ted Williams

Wayne Gretzky (2 nine's!)

Gordie Howe

Kasey Kahne

Roger Maris

Bobby Hull

Mia Hamm

Michael Jordan (The original Dream Team)

Roy Hobbs, The Natural

Maurice "Rocket" Richard

My news in New Hampshire is provided by channel 9

Baseball has nine innings. People compare dramatic or stressful situations to "the bottom of the ninth."

When you have good luck, some might say you have 9 lives. It's also a very popular cat food.

And there's actually a potion named after 9. Trust me, it works.

New Hampshire, my home state, is the ninth official state.

"Two, four, NINER, five, six seven..."

There are nine Supreme Court Justices

Nine Inch Nails, the band

"Nine times..."

Thanks for enjoying the number nine with me for a few minutes. Til next time...

I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now

The time has come to pack my bags and head home. It's been an amazing 267 days of my life. There's no need for teary goodbyes. Anything I'm feeling right now I most likely said in my Six Months Post.

It dawned on me as I was writing this that in all my travels, be it the college years, Up with People or cruising with Carnival, I've never been away from home for this long. I can feel it in my heart that it's time to go home, at least for a little while.

A friend of mine sent me this quote, that I believe in the next few weeks, I will discover the true meaning of...

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time." - T.S. Eliot

So goodbye Australia, you've been good to me. Keene, NH, here I come...

"Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"

New Zealand Photos

Here are some of the better photos I took in New Zealand. Enjoy.

This is on the way to Queenstown from Christchurch. We pulled over to take in one of the many amazing views.

Another stop for a picture. It started getting chilly the further we ventured into the mountains.

My rental skis. Watterson misspelled once again

The first day was a Sunday. Packed! But what a day for skiing.

First day of skiing at Coronet Peak.

Picking up the fundamentals

From the conveyor belt on the bunny trail at Coronet Peak

Up the conveyor belt on the bunny trail. I learned to ski on this hill. Getting up after falling down was challenging at first, but I got the hang of it eventually.

After day one of skiing at Coronet Peak. Feeling good about the day

The Remarkables

The start of one of my favorite trails. Was scary at first

The Calypso. I made sure not to venture towards "The Highway"

The Remarkables had many trails...

Many that weren't on the map. The advanced skiers did the hiking. I tried to stay on my skis all day.

This is the view I liked, when my skis weren't buried in snow or in the air.

Most of our group would split up for the day, so it left me taking a lot of my own photos as you can tell! It was so peaceful being out there by myself.

I believe this was taken on skiing day two at Remarkables. It was the advanced hill I stumbled upon. It was challenging getting down, but I made it and went back to try it again later on in the trip.

This is the only photo from day three of skiing at Coronet Peak. It was hard to see. That's Lockey on the right. I was exhausted after two and a half hours of pushing myself to the limit.

Day four at Remarkables. This is part of my favorite trail. I had a freaky fall near here on my second day, but walked away unhurt.

Another shot at the top of my favorite trail. The view never got old.

Coming down the dirt road from Remarkables

View from Remarkables. Above the clouds. Unreal.

The trail at Remarkables I mentioned where it would be easy to fall off to the left.

It was exciting to get close to the edge and look over.

The blue signs are where I roamed mostly. I ventured a couple times into a black trail, but found my way back to blue as soon as possible.

Listening to my 90's rock playlist on the last day at Remarkables

The Remarkables jump park. I stopped a few times to watch the snowboarders do their tricks.

Another view of the steep hill at Remarkables I took on.

View from the chairlift at Remarkables. I wish I knew how fast I got going down that hill. Maybe I don't want to know.

Another chair lift photo

Ryan and Lockey

On my way up the gondola to the luge park

The view was spectacular

The luge course

It was another beautiful day. We really lucked out with the weather that week

The luge

The speeds were fast going down hills. It was possible to crash as both my roommates did.

I wore the blue helmet meaning "medium size head"

Steve and Lockey on the luge chair lift

We were fairly high up you could say

The only picture I have of my two roommates and me. That's Jeff on the left and Steve in the middle.

A few of the guys I went on the trip with

Getting closer to New York

A Czech Republic Budweiser, I still look forward to an American Bud

We went to many bars. This particular one would light the bar on fire. It lasted about 15 or 20 seconds then went out.

Watties! The official ketchup of New Zealand!

The view from our rented apartment each morning. Well, some mornings. When it was cloudy, the mountains were not visible.

My last New Zealand meal. Those hot cakes were made in New Zealand, thank you.

Another stop on the way back to Christchurch of a beautiful view

The very classy Emirates airlines. The meal was amazing also.

Shrimp cocktail on a plane. You should have seen what first class looked like

A very large stuffed and animated kiwi bird

Thanks, hope you enjoyed! Check back in again soon...