Fuck. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. So things were going relatively well, I shoot some disc golf, eat dinner at Boudeaux’s and have a few beers at the Cellar.
I get back here, continue some packing, all giddy abuot the tights that I bought at Blue Ridge Outdoors. Tights are a prmium thing to get giddy about. Just don’t do it in public while attending a straight-guy-rally. I sit down to check my email, get up and i’m standing on the snapped buckle of my Buttpack. Aaargh.
I thought I was cursed when I was trying to put the new battery into my pocketwatch/keychainwatch and dropped one of the screws putting back together. 10 minutes of searching ensues. Out comes the minimag. Out comes the manget-on-a-stick. No luck. F that. I finally sit down having given up and take one more look down to find the screw right where it should have dropped, grinning at me. As always, the moral is - don’t stress it, pretend like you don’t care and the bully gods will just let you proceed on course. If you get pissed you’re liable to break some more stuff.
Well, the real moral (and hmm, shall we say reson #1 to always carry a frisbee) is: A Frisbee is great for working with small parts.
My High School Chemistry teacher Gary Bobbitt told the class a story one day about his experience caving where he was exploring a little shaft the got tighter and tighter and eventually curled up around a bend and dead-ended. Try as hard as he might he could not back his way out. There was nothing to grab. No way to gain purchase. His arms stuck in an awkward position. His legs probably treading mud. Eventually panic set in - thrashing, high heart rate, hysteria and all the fun that comes with a bit of an adrenaline rush. After he settled down he gave up, regretted having to die in a cave, and sobbed some tears of sorrow. Next thing he know’s he opens his eyes in he’s back in the main chamber where he started. All he needed to do to get out was relax and not stress it and his body was able to slide right out.
That story’s stuck with me for a long time. I’ve seen this work out so many times. If your shit is just stuck in a jam and you see no way out, have a good cry and give in to the pressures and you’ll slide right through to the light on the other side.
Well, at least it’s a philosophy I like to live by. Works sometimes. It doens’t always solve the problem but it does put you in a more serene mindstate where you can act a lot more productively, if nothing else.
All is not lost, I think the buckle on the topsack of my big backpack will fit the Mountainsmith Buttpack. Let’s try it…. Werd! It fits!
Posted by volker at January 25, 2004 12:31 AMi remember that story - it's a good one. i keep it in mind too. :-)
Posted by: gaiadancer at January 27, 2004 03:19 AM