It’s been a bit of a hectic week, my grandmother has been steadily recovering since her fall last week, I've still been able to cycle, run and even got in another rafting trip. This last one was a bit more interesting and challenging than most other ones. The floor of the raft blew out at the put in. We attempted some on the spot repairs but nothing seemed to work. Luckily I had a brave crew and they all decided to take the journey through the Gorge. The boat filled with an almost absurd amount of water at every rapid.

Fortunately, the added weight of the water guaranteed  that we were at no point in danger of flipping the boat. We handled the rapids a bit more gingerly than usual but, a few miles from the end, one of the seats gave out sending one of the crew on a bouncy ride for the rest of the trip. The boat was literally falling apart at the seams. I suppose it’s to be expected though, it’s the boats third season on the water with over thirty trips on it. As we paddled up to the take out I felt like Jack Sparrow.

As captain I declared everyone’s bravery and courage earned them Pirate status.

This experience reiterated some lessons we should all learn, such as just because things get tough doesn't mean you should give up. If there is a challenge, except it, and let it make you stronger. Try new things, you just might like them. Life is meant to be lived, so live it! Make the most of every moment you can. And perhaps the most important lesson of the week brave readers,

This last week I finally began to turn the tide on my rapidly accruing debt. I am still close to the redline but I am definitely decreasing my spending. I am becoming the master of the staycation, using my house as base camp. On the summer solstice I led an awesome trip through the gorge.

 We picked up a guy who we floated down to a rope swing under a bridge. He performed acrobatics on the rope that led us all to believe he was going to do something truly amazing for the dismount. Instead he just simply dropped. He nicknamed him ‘letdown’. We all had an incredible amount of fun and even Barbequed after. We somehow broke a paddle rolling up the raft but quickly re-purposed it.

Unloading the gear when we got back to home base I discovered my grandmother missing and blood. A lot of it. So much in fact that I believed my grandmother was most likely dead. I just kept staring at the puddle of blood and thinking I may never see her again. How could someone, especially a small frail octogenarian, lose that much blood and still be alive?

  The next eight hours were an emotional roller coaster for me and I thank all my friends who put up with me. I canceled the rafting trip that was supposed to happen the next day. What was supposed to be another day of awesomeness turned into a night of ups and downs filled with anxiety and thoughts of human mortality.

  Thoughts like how we all have a number on the days we live and none of us truly know what that number is, so live your life to the fullest and minimize the amount of shit you have to deal with. Sometimes though, no matter what you do, things do add up and the events of the past month began to weigh down on me and I had a breakdown, on a scale I haven’t had in years.

 I went through the seven stages of grief in a few short hours. I was able to get in contact with the emergency room she had been taken to. She was okay, she got stitches and they were sending her home. It looks like things will be going back to normal, at least for awhile, although it seems some major changes may be happening in the next few months. In the meantime there will definitely be some river therapy involved.

The day after the solstice I took a much needed rest day and saw Edge of Tomorrow. It was actually really good, I recommend checking it out. Other movies I recommend, both streaming on Netflix, are Odd Thomas and Rapture-palooza. You can thank me later.

Until next time my supportive readers remember when you feel life isn't being fair and not going your way,

This will be a really short post this week, a quick update really, but I promise to make up for it with lots of funny pictures. It's been just about a week since my debt really spiraled out of control, I reexamined my goals for the next few years and I got my truck back. I have been asking myself the tough questions lately, things like:

Easy answer: poor financial decisions. I'm changing that though, and in order to do so, I have had to push my other goals waaaayyyy back until I gain my financial freedom. A lofty goal to be sure, but I will reach it. Nothing and no one will stop me.

It's going to be tough but I know I am strong enough to do battle with the debt monster I created in order to eventually live the life I deserve. I realize it is going to take time, possibly years, to achieve this. It will not happen overnight, so I must truly learn the lesson of patience and fortitude. Every day I will have to be vigilant and guard against my own weaknesses.

I have sworn off multi-day trips until I meet my goal of slaying the debt beast, although I will still go on daily adventures like rafting, running, cycling and hiking.

Until next time avid readers have patience and if you're feeling overwhelmed, remember

                                                 In the Shadow of the Valley of Debt

After three and a half weeks I finally have my truck back. Of course there were more problems found with it than initially thought, pushing my grand total for repairs to over $6000 and plunging me back into a debt hole I had finally started to climb out of. Needless to say I will be BAF for awhile.

My credit card is pretty much maxed out and I have less than $200 in the bank. There is a lesson here I am finally taking seriously though, debt is a very tricky and real thing. Debt is not just a bunch of imaginary numbers in a database, it's an amount of money you owe to someone and until it's paid off, THEY OWN YOU. Debt is a dangerous and subtle form of slavery. I have gotten a wake up call I have needed for awhile. I have been in debt for so long and every time I start to put a dent in it I allow myself to slip further back into it because I think it will be easy to get back out. No more. As of this event I am no longer deluding myself. Some part of my brain finally kicked in making me realize how serious this is.

I usually take at least a few overnighters a year telling myself it’s okay because I need to let off some steam.
I realize now the only steam I need to let off is from the freight train of momentum I am going to run into the mountain of debt that looms before me.

I will have to sacrifice other goals I have had for awhile, mainly travel related, but thinking it over, being out of debt has been a goal of mine for much longer. The interest I pay every month really adds up. It takes me roughly six weeks of work to pay one years interest on my debt.

No one ever became rich and successful by paying interest. If I had really focused seriously years ago on terminating my debt instead of just pretending like I had it under control I would have had enough money by now to complete all my goals. Luckily I have good friends that understand what I am going through and that are standing by me with love and encouragement during this time in my life. I give special thanks to the Commander, who has consistently inspired me to get my financial act together and is a fount of motivation for me. Her advice is brutally honest and is exactly what needs to be said.

It's going to take awhile, but I will do it. It is intimidating to think of how long it will take but I won't let it's weight continue to crush me. I will handle it moment by moment, building upon the foundation I have already started. I will emerge stronger, a better man, worthy and deserving of the life I desire.

Until next time patient readers, let nothing stop you or turn you aside from your own goals!

June 2, 2007. Seven years ago today, I met you, one of the best friends I have ever had. You, my bicycle, my Novara Randonee. We have traveled over 30,000 miles together, over mountain passes, along the pacific coast through woods and valleys, even occasionally handling some bumpy roads but we have never left the other one stranded. You’ve seen me through some difficult times and gently pushed me forward when I thought I was at the end of my abilities, both mentally and physically. I have been with you for more time than I have owned any single motor vehicle and you’ve been more dependable than any of them.  When my relationships went bad, you were still there, waiting patiently for me, not judging me. You helped me get through heartache and pain. When I am down you cheer me up.

Sometimes when I am stumped with a problem all I have to do is hangout with you for awhile to work things out and come up with a solution.

The way you make me feel is amazing and I would be hard pressed to put it into words, although I believe this picture conveys my emotions.

You help me stay in shape, the ultimate workout buddy, and when we go places you never ask me for gas money.

Okay, I will admit there have been times when I have been frustrated during our longstanding friendship, even sick at times. Truly though the fault was mine, not yours. You have taught me so many lessons. Among them, patience, perseverance and how to overcome obstacles. When I gave up and threw in the towel, you understood and again waited patiently for me, knowing that thanks to our experiences I would see that I am really capable of so much more than even I thought I was. Where would I be without you? You have helped to make me a better man in too many other ways to count, and for that I thank you my friend.

Until next time my dear readers,

It’s been two weeks now since my truck has gone in the shop and I’ve been carless. I have used my bicycle for the majority of my transportation needs the last few years, so it’s nothing new to me to get around on two wheels. The real difference now is that I HAVE to either walk or use my bicycle to get to where I want to go and to run errands like grocery shopping. I may not be able to get up to speed like I would in my truck, but I get where I need to go.

Really, it’s less stressful than driving a car, especially when I get to use cycling/pedestrian paths that are totally separated from motorized traffic. Well most of the time. I recently had an encounter with a couple of women walkers who were right in the middle of the path instead of the side of the path they were supposed to be on, which is clearly marked. When I signaled to them that I was coming up behind them and then passed them, one of them yelled at me like she controlled and ruled supremely over the path and told me I was in the wrong.

I kept going, it made me angry, I’ll admit. I really started thinking about the encounter and how great the rest of the ride had been except for this one encounter. This one moment was beginning to ruin all the good ones that came before that. I made myself calm down and start to shrug off what happened because one bad thing should not spoil 100 good ones. It made me contemplate, what is it about the culture we live in that will make us cling to one dramatic bad thing but not allow us to embrace the multitude of good things around us? I am still working on a definitive answer to that, but remember next time when something similar happens to you, you don’t have to focus on that one bad thing. Pick your head up and look around you at all the great things that surround us everyday, pick one of them, no matter how great or small, and focus on that instead. Remember it is you who must make that positive change in your life, not someone else.

Until next time my valued readers, no matter what comes your way, don’t let anybody hold you down, especially yourself.

It’s finally happened. I have to trade in my trusty truck for my trusty bike. For a little while anyway. I have been having problems with a cylinder misfire on my truck, and after trying several do it myself repairs I had to take it to the shop to get the problem diagnosed. The prognosis? Serious internal engine damage in the number two cylinder. Kinda funny when you think about it.

I have been without my truck for eight days and am in no hurry to get it back. My bike takes me most places I have to go. Work, grocery store, trivia night,  almost anywhere really. I have even managed to get in a rafting trip without it. I’m staying in great shape and racking up the miles!

I guess one not so great thing is getting a date when I don’t have a way to pick said date up, especially since I don’t look like this guy quite yet.

That and I was really making some headway into paying off the one credit card I have. I found out recently that my credit score is 100 points above the national average, something not many of us can say these days. It may take a serious hit though since I will be pretty much maxing the card back out to pay for the repair work. I considered just selling the truck and going carless, but it’s nice to have it for the rafting trips and heading out to the trail heads when there are time constraints. Plus I REALLY like my truck.

I will utilize the resolve and strategy I have been using to get my debt back down, namely paying off everything I spend and a bit more every time I charge something. I have also been looking at all the crap I've accumulated and ask myself, ’do I really  need this?’, the answer seems to be increasingly, ’no’.  I've been asking myself the same question every time I see some neat little gizmo or doodad I think it might be awesome to own. I realize that the money I spend on something new could instead go to pay off more of my debt or fund a future trip. If I don’t think I need it I won’t get it. The only exception to this has been going to see a movie a couple times a month and dinner out about three times a month. Again though, I pay those off and a little extra within twenty four hours. Alas, even my trusty bicycle has needed $80 in repair in the last week. I had to replace the front tire and front derailleur. A paltry amount though compared to what the truck will end up costing me. Even though I will be pockets turned out broke for a while,

 I won’t let this time of great repair and setback hold me down, I will emerge stronger and triumphant!

 Until next time, remember to believe in yourself even if no one else does!