YouTube Deleted My Channel

 YouTube deleted my channel when a scammer or virus or something invaded it and apparently posted some forbidden videos. Google simply deleted my channel with no warning or explanation, and no evidence at all. Now I have to go through a long and complicated process to try to get it back. Google sucks, and that was a really crappy thing to do.

Corie E. Mushrooms doing some jumpies.

My Kimchee Recipe and Instructions

 NOTE: Plan one day of salting and 3-5  days of fermentation.

Things you will need:

- Sealed glass container
-Large mixing bowl, stock pot, or crock. Use only stainless steel, glass, ceramic, bamboo, or wood. 
-Wood, bamboo, or stainless spoon to stir with.

  If you like kimchee (kimchi), you need to either have a Korean grandmother, a very cool friend nearby who makes it, or make it yourself. Store-bought kimchee is ok, and some of it is pretty good, but homemade is always better. Just take a little time and do it right. Make your own.

  I usually make basic kimchee with napa cabbage (The Korean name for napa cabbage is baechu (Hangul: 배추) , but sometimes I will use some red cabbage too, or add wild green things like purslane or poke. You can put anything you want, really. I'm just going to tell you how to make the most common type (beachu-kimchi), which is napa-based.

Napa cabbage is the best for kimchee, and it is easy enough to find in pretty much any grocery store. The rest of this stuff is pretty common, too, except maybe the chili paste. Any Asian market will have an assortment of chili pastes to choose from, but if you don't live near one, look in the Imported Foods aisle of your Publix/Kroger/Wegmans, etc. You could make some chili paste if you really need to. (You are clever enough)

(Don't forget scallions!)

So, get some napa cabbage, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, carrots, fish sauce, shrimp paste (I use tiny frozen shrimps and soak them until they are less-salty, then I chop them up in a coffee mill), and either daikon or red radishes. I use jicama because it is easier to find, cheaper, and mostly because it stays crisp longer. And scallions. Try to use organic as much as possible.

Start by cutting  out the base of the cabbage where it is tough, and give the bits to your baby goat helper. She may not eat them, but she will probably at least smell them. Then the leaves are easy to separate. Traditional method (baechu-kimchi) is to layer the leaves with the paste in-between them,  but I do it a different way. I prefer to chop them into bite-size pieces and mix everything evenly, which makes  a lot of nice juice. (All that liquid is really great to drink or add to other things.)

STEP 1: Peel all of the leaves off and let your baby goat helper inspect them for quality with her keen sense of smell and discriminating tastes. 

STEP 2: Stack the leaves with sea salt in-between them in the pot. Cover it and leave for 24 hours. After that, rinse it several times in clean water until the salt is gone. Do a good job of this, because it's still going to retain a lot of salt.  

I give it a good stir in several changes of water until it is least-salty.

STEP 3: Drain and chop the cabbage leaves, slice thin the (peeled) ginger and garlic, carrots, and whatever else you want to put. I cut the jicama (or daikon radish) like matchsticks. Add the chili paste (in whatever amount you  want), a little fish sauce (be careful!), some shrimp paste (or not), and jam it all into the sealed jar. Put it somewhere out of the way for a few days with the top OPEN but covered with a cloth or something. Fermentation produces CO2 and will explode the jar if you seal it too soon.

In three or 5 days  it will be nice and tart with lots of liquid. I refrigerate it at this point to stop it from getting too strong or getting mold on top.

What the? What?

You are never going to believe this one.

  A few days back (a week, maybe?) I found myself in a very frustrating position. I had nearly finished the transmission replacement on the Winnebago LeSharo, and one of the two M16x1.5 banjo bolts used on the final drive cooler was missing. Never mind the technical details - that doesn't matter. What does matter is that without that very uncommon piece of hardware, my departure could not happen on time. I need to get back to Florida ASAP.

  I had to find one. I started looking online, but I did not really want to order one without being able to confirm the dimensions, and none of the few available had all specs listed. Herb said we should take the one we have and go check with some of the auto parts stores and industrial supply stores in Tuscaloosa. So we did. Every single one of them. I had already spent several hours online looking, and then we spent most of the morning driving around and looking, and we were nearly out of options.

  In the truck, we were talking about how strange things happen when a person needs an odd or rare part. We had both experienced the phenomenon of going to the least likely place and just mentioning it casually and the person saying: "Oh yeah! I have ten of those out back!". We also talked about how the best way to find a lost part is to buy a new one and then install it, and wait until the next day; the lost one always shows up.

  We were in one of the last industrial supply locations, and the man said we should go to the other place and make sure we go straight to the "old-timer", because he would know if they had anything unusual like this. Of course, we already knew this, and we also knew that it is even more likely that an old black man would know. The really old black guy at a place usually knows more about everything there than anyone. Why? I don't know, but it always seems to be so.

  I was thinking about other possible ways to find one, and it occurred to me that I was
only looking for a banjo bolt used in similar applications. I knew that they were used in motorcycle brake systems, and after a bit more thinking, I remembered them being used on turbo-chargers, too. I mentioned it to Herb, and he said: "There's a turbo shop right down here in Buhl, about 5 miles down the road". Well, we had run out of ideas, so we figured might as well go have a look. I knew when I woke up yesterday that I would be finding a bolt by end of day, and the day was winding down, so it seemed like this was it.

  We drove down to http://www.mjmturbo.com/ to see if they might have one. Buhl, Alabama is a one-horse town, and I am not even sure if they have a gas station. They DO have the biggest turbo shop I ever saw. This place was amazing. Thousands of turbos everywhere.This looked like a serious operation, but when we got out and walked over toward the building, it seemed deserted. We suddenly heard someone calling from the stairway of one of the buildings, and we went over to see this person. It was an old black man. I showed him the bolt, and he said something like : "Oh yeah - we got about a thousand of those out back". He was not kidding.

  We went inside the big warehouse, and he started looking through buckets and coffee cans under a bench.It was dark in there, but I knew right away that we would find it. Within ten minutes, he handed me one and I said it would work. He took it over to the blast cabinet and cleaned it up, and while he was walking, I got out the only cash I had, which was a Ten. I asked what he would take for it, and he said $1. I would have given $20, but I figured I better just give what he asked, since this situation was already spooky. We walked toward the exit and I nearly walked off the dock. I told him I didn't want to do like Corie Mushrooms did when she jumped off the fallen pecan tree and her front legs buckled. He seemed to like that I had baby goats, and he laughed about that. I thanked him and shook his hand, and we left.
 

  I tested the new bolt and it fit perfectly. I had spent nearly a week looking all over the world for a seemingly rare part that was absolutely essential, and right at the very last minute before running out of ideas, all the necessary elements came together, as if by magic, and it was all settled - just like that. From the moment of remembering the possibility of a turbo application, all the clues coalesced and it was so obvious and simple. I do admit that this can be considered simple logic (a basic algorithm), and that anyone could examine all possibilities and eventually reach a solution, BUT - at the same time, it really, REALLY seems almost impossible that this worked out the way it did.

  This is actually more normal in my life than not. I always think about how people worry so much and they get mad at me sometimes because I just sorta "wing it", and everything always works out for me. It's true - I always know everything will be fine, and somehow - it always is. I have a charmed life. Somehow.

Epiphany?

  I just experienced what some would call an "epiphany". It was fascinating, and surprising. I came inside from walking with the babies, and I sat down with my catfish and organic fries and was listening to the Band Of Horses Live at Nudie Jeans 2014 recording on YouTube. Some of the songs they played were what would be called sad songs by most. Melancholy at best. Anyhow, I was thoroughly enjoying being inside in the A/C and my food was remarkably good, as it usually is (I spent many years honing my craft and I am obsessive about quality and attention to detail), and it suddenly occurred to me that I was experiencing this music in a way I never had in my life.

   This is the interesting part. These songs, by nature, are written to express something the writer has experienced, usually, and they seem to elicit a similar response in the listener most of the time -when they are really well-done. Yeah? You with me? Anyhow, I have (mostly)always either been "in love" or "feeling bad-about-some-failed-love", and thus I either listened only to "happy" music or "sad" music.

   Just now, however, I suddenly found myself experiencing a very new response to this "sad" music. For the first time, I heard the song. Just the song. I heard what HE was feeling, and I heard the lyrics, and the instruments, and the art of it. I had no emotional response whatsoever, other than a rational appreciation for the poetry of the song. I am neither "in love" with someone, nor mourning the loss of someone. I am merely alive and well, and pretty happy. It is utterly fascinating to me. I am truly amazed.

   I guess I passed an important mile-marker in my growth as a human today. Yay! 

My Kombucha Instructions!

  Instructions for Continuous-Batch Process Kombucha with SCOBY Originating From T.F.Wright and Previously Sourced from the Single-Batch Process of Ray Fisher in Land O'Lakes, Florida                                                                         

  I use (2) 5-gallon glass carboys as my bulk tanks for the main body of my kombucha, but it does not have to be done on such a large scale. If you intend to use it only occasionally and sparingly, a gallon jar or two could work fine. It seems that the most practical way for most people would be the glass 2.5 or 3 gallon jars with a tap on bottom. These are found at Walmart and are fairly cheap. I dislike the plastic tap, but it works well enough. I use the two carboys for bulk storage, the 2.5 for "working" storage, and several smaller jars for secondary fermentation and to drink from. Simple enough. Anyhow, here is the list of necessary items to do it the easiest and most practical way:

• (1) 2.5 or 3-gallon GLASS JAR with tap
• Organic sugar
• Organic Earl Grey tea (any other kind of tea can be used, but I think Earl Grey is best. Coffee kombucha is on my list of things to make in future)
• Springwater or good well water. It is necessary to have the natural minerals found in these waters. DO NOT use tap water under any circumstances! Distilled water is dead and will not work. 
• Stainless-steel tool for stirring. (I use a aerospace-grade titanium rod, but that is not necessary)

  That is it. No fancy stuff, and nothing expensive or hard to find. Organic tea is cheap at Big Lots, and organic sugar is cheap at Walmart or any grocery store. It is very easy to do this, ok? Just make sure you observe a few basic rules: NEVER use anything plastic or aluminum. NEVER! Try to keep it out of the Sun. Do not put hot tea with your SCOBY - it will harm it. Cool the tea first. Always use organic stuff and good water. Let the jar breathe a little, but not wide open. You have to keep out wild yeasts and mold spores.

  So, here is what to do when you get my SCOBY and starter: Your glass jar will be already clean and ready. Make the tea and get it cooled off beforehand. Use 8 large or 12 regular-sized teabags per gallon. Add a cup or so of organic sugar per gallon and stir to dissolve. Once the tea is cool, add the starter and SCOBY that I send you. (Make sure to leave room for it). Put the lid down or screwed on loosely, or cover it with cheesecloth instead. Put it out of direct sunlight, but does not have to be in the dark.

   That is it. After a period of a few days to a week, you will see a white waxy-looking film on the surface. That is your new SCOBY growing. All is well. You can start drawing it off any time you want, and then either drink as-is or do a secondary ferment to make it fizzy. Just make sure you never let it go below halfway or so before adding more tea (NOT HOT!) . You can always message me on the Facebook, or by SMS with questions. See? Easy peasy, man.

Time to Write

I guess I will have to start writing again, now that someone has drawn attention to my blog. For unknown reasons. Some random stranger.

Don't ever buy a pig in a poke.

I do not know how to type. Nor can I knit, do accounting or taxes, sing well, speak Russian, or play a piano.

But I DO know how to read. I also know how to do exhaustive research, compare sources, question experts, and watch documentary films with experts interviewing other experts. I double or triple check information before I accept it as fact, and even then, I stay open to further revisions or corrections, as more information becomes available.

If I tell you that something is known to be a fact at the current level of understanding by experts on that subject - you can be pretty sure that I am qualified to tell you that.

I don't mind being proven wrong, because that always shows me a deeper truth, but if I say it's true - it is very likely to be so.

Maybe not everyone has the energy, time, or desire to do this kind of investigative research, but it is one of the things that happens to drive me. I NEED to know the truth and facts of things that are important to me, and I rarely trust what I hear or see, especially if it is something on facebook or yahoo, Fox News, Bing, etc. I will look to a source with no vested interest in the information it presents, capable of being objective and accurate, and then I will find one or two more similar sources to compare.

The entire sum of all recorded human knowledge is readily available to anyone, if only they make some effort to distinguish between shit and Shinola

There is a lot of made-up garbage all over the media and internet, and it's way too easy to be tricked or mislead by something that seems - at a glance - to be true.

Don't believe anything the first time you hear or read it. Don't even believe me. Just look with both eyes, and think a little.

Energy madness!

 I think that the world is overdue for some major changes. We need to be more efficient, more sensible.
It doesn't take a scientist to understand why.

  Just think about this one example: Millions of people for a hundred years have somehow overlooked the insanity of consuming huge amounts of energy to cool a box (refrigerator) that is contained within another box (house) that is itself consuming huge amounts of energy staying WARM, even though there is abundant cold air right outside of the warmed box it is inside of. WHAT? How can any conscientious, reasoning person rationalize this, especially considering the escalating fossil-fuel crisis we are in the middle of?

There are obvious and simple ways that everyone can make changes to the world we live in., regardless of how things are and have been.

Don't jump off a boat. Not 'till you see monkeys.

  I'm trying to learn to live in a way that I feel o.k. about at any given moment. Life is a complicated ride, and sometimes it can really be tough-sledding. I guess everyone has challenges to face, some more than others. I don't have a thing to complain about, because even on my worst day, I'm still so much better off than a billion other people. I don't know if anyone ever really figures it out. I can really only speak for myself, and I know what to say about that.

  I am waaaay behind a lot of people in some of the ways that I understand and interact with the world around me. I am not really sure why that is, and I'm not sure if it matters - I'm not a blamer. I have a long way to go before I can say with any confidence that I am doing a really good job of being a decent person, or being successful by any common measure. I have a lot of personal shortcomings to address and overcome, or to at least set right, and I think I will always have growing-up to do; that never seems to end.

  Sometimes I really lose my footing for a moment, too, and whatever I have been doing well, I mess it up a little. This happens to everyone sometimes, I know. It takes a lot of energy and focus to maintain a heavy burden, and even a mule can stumble. I don't know if I mean to compare myself to a mule, but I guess mules are ok. For me, the burden I carry seems to be the weight of my own lack of understanding and personal growth. I have wasted a lot of my life in running from the things that I did not want to face and deal with. I do not relish taking this opportunity to admit that, but I must be sincere.

  I must do these things for myself. There are others who I have obligations to in this world, but as everyone who has ever lived and died would tell you, if they could - we all come here alone, and we will leave alone.

  That being said, I will go ahead and make my point. I have somehow managed to find myself traveling with another someone who is faced with challenges of her own, and hers are just as tough for her as mine are for me. She is fighting to maintain her identity, independence, and freedom in the midst of the sometimes stifling and difficult situation we share. Sequestered against our will in a place we do not belong, by circumstances we could not have foreseen or prevented, we now struggle to endure a forced period of accelerated relationship-learning. Stuck in a tiny house, with limited everything, waiting for the chance to move forward. It's a chrysalis, and we are liquid caterpillars right now, waiting to get out of it and go. I can handle it, partly because of how much of it is in my hands. It's easier for me to stay optimistic and have faith, because I have been battle-hardened, I guess. But it's a tough thing for her, and it breaks my heart to see her so lost and scared.

  I know that everything will be o.k. I KNOW this. I can't make it be so clear in her mind, but I would if I knew how to. I have to try to take care of myself, our things, our situation, and in some ways - her.  She doesn't need or want someone to take care of her, and I don't, either, but we are in it together, and we feel best when we care for each other as well as ourselves. It's tough to manage a team when not even having a serious command of the self. Anyone who knows me will readily acknowledge that I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm kind of a mess, sometimes. I don't have any illusions, and I'm not trying to fool anyone. I'm just trying to get it together in time to give myself and this amazing girl a chance to have some really good years together, full of productivity and purpose, and happiness.

  It's a lot to shoot for, considering the methods that we have chosen to go about making our way there, but if I can just inspire in her enough faith for her to stick with me through the tough part, I have a certainty, fixed solidly inside of my spirit, that we will find ourselves emerging into a brilliant land of opportunity - of our own making.
  

The Roasted-Corn Solution

This is the first solution I will publish. There will be many more. This one is a pretty simple one, but I'm kinda proud of it. Beth wanted to make some chicken tortilla soup, and the recipe specified roasted sweet corn. This was not really practical, since it's January, and there is no fresh corn in January. Not here, anyhow. I told her not to worry, I would find a solution.

 I don't think she even doubted at all that I would. So I spread the bag of frozen white corn (thawed) out on some heavy-duty foil, and I went over it with a propane torch until I caused a Maillard Reaction on the surface of the kernels. This is exactly what happens to the corn on a cob roasted over an open fire.

 So, how did it work? As you can see in the photos, it looks just like it should. And it smells and tastes exactly as it should - like fire-roasted corn. Just that easy.

You can do this any time, with any kind of corn, I'm sure, and use it in any kind of recipe. I would think that it would work nicely with carrots, peppers, etc., too. In fact, I like to make recipes using fire - roasted peppers, and they can be made in a similar way. It's actually easier with peppers, because you can just roast them directly on the burner grate of your stove top until they are all black, then put them into a zip-lock bag for twenty or thirty minutes. They will finish cooking in the bag, and the blackened skin can then be easily removed, leaving the nicest fire-roasted peppers that can be made indoors. Next time I do it, I will post the recipe I like for chicken stir-fry with fire-roasted peppers. 

Delinquent. As usual.

I really need to be more diligent about writing in here. I get distracted so easily. I'm going to figure out how to do this. Hang in there.

$1.00 tacos on Mondays

We found a very nice Mexican restaurant about a mile away that has $1.00 tacos on Mondays. Yep. And they are good. Chicken or beef. They come with free tortilla chips and salsa, even. It's nice to find good things, even little things like this. Thank you, Mexico.

Stupid knowledge!

Ignorance is bliss. That's what they say. I can tell you for a fact - that is usually true. I was once really smart. I mean super-smart. I never, ever stopped thinking, even when asleep. I was always stressed, and always making everyone crazy with all of my thinking, and talking, and questions, etc. Then I got a few traumatic brain injuries, went through an accelerated program of relationship-training, and tried real hard to be rough on myself in general for a few years. Now, I'm slightly less smart, a whole lot less sharp, and my memory is pretty much ruined. Am I happier? I certainly am.

  Well, I was. Everything was going just fine, until I decided to write a blog. At first, I thought to myself: "How hard could it be? It's simple, right?". Then, I decided to do what I always do - I would learn everything there is to know about writing a blog. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for me. Yeah, right. As it turns out, there is a LOT to know about writing a blog! Arrrrrgh! I currently have about 30 tabs open in my Firefox pertaining to blog-writing (plus another 40 or 50 for other things, mostly wikipedia). It seems that I am doing it all wrong. I can't continue writing my blog this way! I have to go back to the very beginning and start all over! Crikey!

  So, here I am. What, now? I guess I have to design and build a whole new blog, while continuing to write in this one. Also, I have to do all of the other things that I have to do, such as: get my car inspected, dress myself, make stupid food, shave, answer my phone, and all the other tedious, seemingly unimportant nagging chores I have to live with. I also have to be awesome for Beth, try to pretend I like people when I go to the store, Be funny on facebook, and convince my kids that I'm not the worst daddy ever. It's a lot of hard work, doing all of these things that require thinking. Oh - I'm also continuously learning languages, science stuff, stock-trading, medicine, dentistry, *astrology, metallurgy, geology, and 20 other useless, random things. On top of all that stuff, I'm trying to plan our world tour.

  What ever happened to my big plan to simplify my life? I guess I'm gonna need another traumatic brain injury. This cognitive-function recovery is getting out of hand!

 *Exploring scientific validity

Dental disappointment.

Richest country on Earth - with the crappiest health care. That seems suspicious to me.

I have to go to the VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) dental clinic tonight. Yeah - tonight. Actually, at 2:00 A.M. They only take the first 10 people in line when they open at 7:00 - AND I have to have $75 in hand for the cost of x-rays only. How am I going to stand in line for 5 hours without going to the loo? Also - why should anyone have to? It just doesn't make sense. Greatest country in the world, my ass! America is like a bully who talks a lot of crap, but really has nothing behind the facade of awesomeness except self-proclaimed greatness. I have been to the E.R in 5 or 6 hospitals in 4 states, at huge expense, just to deal with dental emergencies resulting from lack of dental care for 12 years. I am simply too poor to go to a dentist in the U.S. I think I will end up going to Mexico to get my teeth fixed. Maybe I will stay, too. That's just pitiful.

Grrrrrrr!!!!!

 I had a new post almost written, and my clumsy fingers touched some button, I have no idea which one, and it all went away. I hate that. A lot. I'm not going to smash anything, as I wanted to, but I'm also not going to write the whole thing over again. I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but it is maddening. I'm going to sleep on it and write a new one tomorrow. I'm so mad, I'm literally angry with rage! I guess I should have been writing it in Notepad, as I am now, or in some other kind of office utility, which I know nothing about.

  I guess I need to learn some office skills.  Next stop: OpenOffice.org.

Oh, and, by the way- I just noticed that I opened Notepad, and still went ahead and wrote it directly in the Blog editor. Unbelievable.

Cork-board

 My friend Billy told me when I was 20 or so that organization is the key to success. He said it at least once a day, for a few years. He also said that Little Debbie Swiss Rolls were better than Hostess Ho-Hos. I set up a double-blind test, with all 5 participants choosing Hostess- including him. That has nothing to do with organization, but it proves that I know what I'm talking about- when it comes to crap I never eat!

  He was right about organization, though. This is why I have been trying to simplify my life, and concentrate my energy on fewer things. I am very organized in my mind, but in reality, I always have WAY too much crap, and too much going on all the time, to ever give any one thing the attention it deserves. I have a whole barn full of stuff that I am trying to forget about, I just sold 18 cars and trucks, and I still have too much to deal with. I am going to try to get rid of everything I can't keep in my car with me. Well, maybe not my motorcycles. And my four-wheeler. And my leather massage chair. And my '68 Mercedes. The rest is going.

  I told Beth today that we need to get a cork-board, and put it on the wall inside the door, where we can see it every day. Then we can maybe begin to have some lists of things we have to do, and in what priority. We only have about 6 months to get ready for leaving, and it seems like we have more things to do every day. I would almost trade everything for a couple of nice horses, and some good saddlebags. That would really be a lot easier to manage.

  Anyhow, we have to make lists, and we have to put them on this cork-board. I have tried the dry-erase board, but those markers always quit working right, and I end up writing on them with a Sharpie or something. This maybe doesn't sound so bad until you consider that I have some Industrial Super-Permanent Sharpies. Now you can see why that doesn't work out so well...

  All I have to do now is actually remember that the cork-board is there.

Metronidazole

 It seems that there is only one way to treat amoebic dysentery, and that is with Metronidazole- a powerful antibiotic, amebicide, and antiprotozoal. It is also the medicine of choice for several other conditions - including certain dental infections. The kind of dental infection a person might get after drilling out his own root-canal with a non-sterile drill. Even if great care is taken with all of the other equipment, it seems that the drill is actually the one part that really should be sterile.

  So, how is it that a person who is dumb enough to drill a root-canal with a non-sterile drill would just happen to have the one thing on hand that will treat this type of infection? That's a good question. I just happen to know one possible answer.

  It could be possible, hypothetically speaking, of course, that this very same person may have, at some time in the past, become the unfortunate victim of amoebic dysentery, and that the level of suffering resulting from this experience would have motivated this wise and foolish person to obtain and possess a supply of Metronidazole from an online pharmacy in Singapore. Or Malaysia, or something. If this is indeed the case, then it would mean that there must surely be a story to explain how this person ended up with amoebic dysentery while lost in North Carolina on a mountain-climbing/Appalachian Trail-hiking trip. I will investigate, and if there is a story, I will post it some time. You know- if it's true.

 

Sweet Potato

  Sometimes, when a person chooses to live life on the edge, it becomes necessary to adapt to less-than-optimal conditions. If one gives up the security and comfort of home to experience the adventure of life on the road, these conditions can pop up at any time. For example, when a certain person, who will remain anonymous for his protection, decides to just get in his car and drive off to some unfamiliar location, for no apparent reason (or some woman), he tends to do such irresponsible actions without serious regard for the possible difficulties that will likely arise. 

  This usually means money issues. They say money can't buy happiness, but I say that's crap! It seems to me that the only people saying that are the ones who have enough money! I know that I would be a lot happier if I didn't have to worry about it every day. Like the expensive traffic citation I got on the way to Virginia. I mean- this person got...  Anyhow, unexpected expenses, memory issues, and general irresponsibility can really make life on the road tricky.

  Once, when I lived in Wyoming, I found myself without money or food for a whole week. Since I lived in the desert, it was easy enough to find food, but I think I will be ok with never living on cactus again. Ever.

So, here I (I mean, that anonymous person) am in Virginia, 500 miles from anyone I have seen in twenty years, and we have managed to get ourselves completely broke, and we are down to where we have little more than sweet potatoes to eat. But- we are happy, rent is paid, we are both clever enough to overcome, and, most importantly- sweet potatoes are a damn sight better than cactus, ANY day.

Midlothian, Virginia, U.S.A.

  Greetings, my friends. I am in Midlothian, Virginia, outside of Richmond. I originally planned to come to Virginia Beach, because of the fact that it is not too south, not too north, and it had an ocean. Everyone should live part of their life by the ocean. Anyhow, I decided after I left Tennessee in June that I would never spend another winter in Pennsylvania, and that was the reason for coming to Virginia. I expected to stay here long enough to get some things figured out, and then move on to Australia, maybe. As it turns out, this was not part of the *bigger plan. This is where it gets interesting.

  I met this woman, you see...

  I wish I had a dollar for every time I said those words!

  So, anyhow, she lives in Midlothian, and I figured that if I'm going to just go to Virginia without a real plan or place to live (SOP), that it would make just as much sense going to the Richmond area as VA Beach. Since this woman I met lives near Richmond, it was a simple choice. This woman is Beth. Beth Wright. Yeah, same last name. She changed it, though, and it is now actually Alexza Wright DeCroix. Something about witness-protection or something, I don't know. So we are going to spend some time together, and in 6 months or so, we are going to leave here and go across the U.S. to the NW, and then on down to La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Maybe live there for a while, and then go on down to Tierra del Fuego, and work our way back up through South America, one country at a time. We will live lean, and make do with little. We will live off the land, and trade or work for what we need along the way. I'm clever enough to do this. She is, too. We make a good team. We will make plenty of photos and video, and post on here and facebook.

  Why should we sit around punching a time-card, waiting to die? Routine and structure may be ok for some people, but not so much for us. I realize that it simply isn't possible for most people to live the way I do, because of the need for stability and all that, but I know a lot of you probably dream of doing this, and probably never will. So, I kinda feel that I have a duty to do it for you, and write about the adventure along the way. You know- that vicarious thing. I'm incredibly lucky to have found my partner in this adventure. Everything great is only truly great when it is shared.

  So, this is where the real adventure begins. We are getting ourselves prepared and situated for our mission.  It's a bit vague, sometimes, and challenging -to live like this- but it is absolutely worth it. I could never live any other way. Beth and I believe that we were put together for a reason. Not sure exactly what, yet, but we will know - when we need to.