The Budget

I've been re-crunching the numbers lately concerning my budget for my camping trip I want to take this fall. The last thing I want is for my trip to be cut short or an outright failure because I failed to budget properly.

It's approximately 900 miles to get to the park I want. I took the average gas mileage of my car, which is 30 mpg, to figure out how much gas I will need. Then I multiplied that by a gross overestimation of gas prices.

900 miles / 30 mpg = 30 gallons

30 gallons x $4.50 = $135.00

Now since it will be a lot of highway driving I expect to get slightly better gas mileage than 30, but a conservative estimate is better than the actual figure. The price of gas probably won't be that high but it's better in this case to overestimate. There will be a few toll roads, plus I'll want to get a few snacks along the way so I'm just going to make expenses an even $200. I probably wont use all of that budget and that's fine.

I decided that I want to pick up some new hiking boots as well, but I need to try on shoes before I buy so I don't really have any picked out. $150.

Backpacks are the same way, I need to try them before I buy one. $200.

I already know what tent I want: the Eureka Solitare. $90

Stove and fuel: $50

I don't need a knife, I don't need a compass. I'm considering getting a small hatchet. I also need a bear bag as well as some rope. A headlamp would also be nice. Mess kit. $120

So right now you add all that up it comes to $830. And that's a relatively high estimate, especially on the back pack, tent, and boots since Amazon generally has everything cheaper and I get free shipping with prime. That's if whichever store I go to doesn't price match it. I would rather buy from the actual store but money is money and I've yet to plan meals for this trip. I'm figuring that will probably be around $50, but that's is an extremely rough estimate.

All the Stupid People

            One of my favorite things about walking through the woods, besides just having time all to myself, is the likelihood that I will see the native wildlife. In Ohio that generally means seeing a white tail or two, maybe a turkey or a coyote if I'm lucky. Each time it's a magical experience. They'll know I'm there and we'll just stare at each other. I'll sometime take a few photos and they eventually wander off. What I don't do is try to pet, get close to, or in any way interact with them.

            That's why every time I hear about some tourist at Yellowstone that was gored by a bison I can only sigh and shake my head. It's not an uncommon occurrence at the national parks for something like this to happen or just barely be avoided thanks to the quick actions of a park ranger. Alright, I suppose if you consider the park visitor to injury ratio these kinds of things are somewhat rare. It's just that anytime something like this does happen it's well publicized.

            The trouble is that in almost every case the tourist was doing something stupid. Trying to take a selfie with a bison is just asking for trouble. Playing with a bear cub right next to a salmon run is even worse. Putting your young daughter on the back of a Bison is just... Why? What did you think was going to happen?

            It's not like these people can feign ignorance either. 

There. 

Are. 

Signs.

            There are signs everywhere telling visitors to stay a good distance away from the wildlife. They have no excuse. It's just common sense to keep a good distance between anything bigger than 500 pounds and has teeth or horns but if these tourists can't be bothered to read the warnings, odds are they don't have much good sense.

            I would love to pinpoint a cause to these kinds of things. Maybe argue that we live in a society that is too used to animals being domesticated and safe, but the sad truth is that this is not a new phenomenon, it's just better publicized. The sad, sad truth is that some people are dumb, ignorant, or both. Dammit people you're breathing, you must have a brain. Use it.

Times They Are A Changin' But Not Too Much

            There’s been an important development this week. I was offered the chance for a promotion at work which if I get it should allow me to not work on Saturdays. I really look forward to having long weekends again. If I get the promotion that is. I’m not one for counting anything before they hatch, but if my manager is to be believed my chances are good.

            I really want my weekends back. I’ll only have to have one job where I’ll still be making more than I was before with the two I had. Longer weekends will let me go camping more. Once I get my gear all sorted out it shouldn’t be that big of a deal to just take off for a weekend to a park. Plus just having an extra day to do whatever I want is very enticing.

            A promotion would make my résumé more impressive too. Maybe. Either way it improves it, so hopefully after a few months I can find a job more in tune with what I want for a career. I’ve said before that if I’m still at my current job after two years someone needs to shoot me. I’ve got a year and a half before that happens, so there’s a bit of time but the sooner the better. What I should do is take this opportunity to take some more classes at the university and pick up another degree.

            Anyways, that’s what happened this week. The roommate search continues, but hopefully it will be figured out by the end of this week.

What Did You Think Would Happen?

            There is a culture in the US of not taking responsibility for mistakes. It's not just in the United States and it's nothing new. Man has been trying to pass the blame ever since we formed societies. We're a bunch of right greedy bastards combined with an amazing potential to be huge dicks to one another. Passing the blame really only works when there's something or someone else to put it on, after all.

            Take the BP oil spill in the gulf for example. Perhaps the worst oil disaster the world has ever seen all due to gross negligence and a fair bit of incompetence. Now, there was no way that BP could have shifted all the blame away from itself. They owned the oil rig after all and no amount of finger pointing was going to cause that to change. That didn't stop them from trying to shift the most egregious of their offences onto their subcontractors. The subcontractors deserve their own share of the blame, but it always sounded like a six year old who has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar tattling on Billy and Timmy for taking cookies too. It's a means of shifting the spotlight.

            There is no corporation on the planet whose main goal is to pollute the world like some captain planet villain. The goal of a corporation is to stay in the black and survive. Unfortunately this incentivizes risk taking and gambling and in turn it also constitutes a need for damage mitigation when those gambles fail. It's also unfortunate that the heaviest burden caused by these failures is often shouldered by people who just happened to live in the area, often with no real recourse. The corporations can throw money at the problem, they can pay for damages but they can't ever put that oil back in the ground or decontaminate everything. They make a momentary payment for disasters that will stretch decades or even centuries.

            Hydraulic fracking is a prime example. There is always the risk that fracking will contaminate the groundwater in an area, even if the corporations claim they have safety protocols or methods that will not allow it. Those can be ignored in the interest of greater profits. It's been done before, it's happening now, and you can bet it will happen in the future. Then there's the relatively new development that fracking is causing earthquakes in the surrounding areas. I don't know how they expected breaking the bedrock of an area to not have any adverse effects, but that didn't stop corporations from acting surprised.

            Corporations have the best chance at affecting lasting change for the better when it comes to the environment. I'm not saying they shouldn't be turning a profit, but when it comes to the planet's health having a large margin should come second. There's a pickle jar that I loathe to open, because who can say how much money is enough? But come on guys, do you really need that much? Really? A person could live comfortably off a fraction of a percent of what you make. A better world should beat out large sums of money every time, because even with all the money in world, you still have to live here. Why not make it better?

The Sum of All My Fears

            One of the goals of this blog was to get better. Not just in my writing but in other aspects of my life. So far that hasn't really happened. Oh, I've met a few of my goals, but only really the small ones. In light of that I've decided to break from the more researched post this week to analyze the progress I've made as well as what I'm doing wrong. Hopefully I can come up with some solutions.

            I'll focus on the writing aspect first, because it's the easiest to talk about. When I started I had planned on doing one good article each week but it quickly became apparent that I couldn't keep up that level of writing for very long on that time schedule. So I took to every other week, alternating between the more editorial posts and self-updates every other week. That's been working for me so far. It presents a challenge, but along a timeline that I can meet. Two weeks to write a post I can manage.

            There are two big hurdles to my writing that are presenting an issue: Finding something to write about and my own insecurities. I'm one of those types that don’t like repeating what's already been said, except where necessary. Generally when I'm cruising around the internet I'm finding and reading news articles, press releases, and tweets there are a plethora of good topics, but in my mind everything I want to say has been said already. Often better than I could have said it. You see how my own insecurities feed into my writing.

            So how do I overcome this? I have a feeling that this is one of those things where I just have to buckle down and keep writing, no matter how I few what I write. They say writers are their own worst critics and in my case it's definitely true. And that solves both of those problems. Since I don't have trouble finding topics to write about, only feeling that I don't have anything to contribute, saying what I think about whatever topic despite that feeling seems like the only thing I can do. Even at the risk of sounding (to myself anyways) repetitive.

            Surprisingly, I haven't had much trouble actually sitting down and writing. Some days I'll write these posts, some days I'll just do a stream of consciousness and sometimes I'll write a short story for a friends blog, but I am writing almost every day which is meeting one of the biggest goals of the blog.

            I haven't had a chance at failing any of the camping goals I've set, but I am well on my way to meeting them anyways so that shouldn't be much of an issue. I have most of the budget put aside; I'm just currently waiting for my housing situation to be resolved before I start gathering all my gear. I imagine once that's done actually getting out to go camping shouldn't be terribly difficult, or at least it will be easier.

            Well, there it is. As always the biggest problem I face is overcoming me. It's what I consider to be my biggest character flaw. I tend to get in my own way as often as I help myself along. I don't actually self-sabotage, but I do refrain from making big decisions due to my own irrational fears.

Slowing down a Bit

It's time for another update on the camping preparations. I'm ashamed to say that at the moment they've come to a stand-still. I kept meaning to get out to the Cabela's to purchase a backpack and tent, but then every weekend there's been something else popping up that's prevented me.
And now it's May first, and that means that my lease is up. It's well on it's way to getting renewed, but until all the details of that are worked out I figure it's better to hold onto all the cash I've saved up instead of spending it to buy all the gear I need. Not to worry, there's still time to get all that sorted and still make the camping date I've set for some time in June.
I would talk about the gear, but so far the only specific thing I know for sure that I'm going to get is the tent and I've already talked about that. I'm one of those people that prefers to hold something in my hand before deciding yay or nay.
At any rate, that's what's going on.

Parks Not Personal Monuments

            My favorite thing about going about on trails and seeing huge natural formations is the sense of discovery that comes with it. You can never be quite sure about what is just around that next bend or over that next hill. Unfortunately, all the natural wonders I enjoy have been slowly eroding, but not by natural means. We’ve all seen the litter along trails. We’ve all seen the names carved into a rock or tree.

            I love it when structures are built to complement the landscape. Trail improvements should be the same way. They should move along with the contours and trees instead of cutting right through it. I’ve seen a lot of trails that do just that. Adding stairs and bridges that don’t detract from the scenery can enhance the experience. At least they make the parks that much more accessible. If done wrong though, they can destroy the magic of a place. The last thing I want when I go to a park is to feel like I’m in the middle of a commercialized enterprise.

            That’s one of the reasons I’m against the proposed “improvements” to the Grand Canyon National Park. The addition of a gondola to ferry tourists to the bottom of the canyon and an increase is commercialized space would intrude too much. The National Park Service has other reasons for opposing the development. Mainly they have concerns about the water situation, which is already tenuous at best. I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but when I eventually do visit I don’t want to feel like I’m in a mall with a view.

            For the most part trail improvements are necessary and can increase park visitor numbers, which is only a good thing. I praise anyone that would go spend an afternoon walking along a trail, but with greater accessibility comes an increase of those who lack respect for the park. We've all seen litter along the trails. You're just as likely to see a water bottle as much as a tree. But unfortunately, that's the least damaging thing we've all seen.

            If you ever get the chance, go see the Rock House in Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio. It's a good little jaunt and you can easily walk the entire thing in an hour or two if you take your time. The parks department has made several improvements to increase the accessibility of the cave. But the site is marred by the continued and repeated wear and tear caused by visitors. With one goo look you'll see dozens upon dozens of carved names on the floor and walls. There are large grooves worn into the soft sandstone by people repeatedly scraping their foot in one place.

            If this isn't cracked down on, anything natural in these places will eventually be destroyed, along with everything that makes these places special or interesting. Instead of natural beauty all that will be left is a battered and scarred monument to self-gratification. At that point what’s the difference between that and a shopping mall? The park service can’t do it alone, so the next time you’re walking along a trail, pick up that bit of litter. Maybe this time don’t hold your tongue and tell the other visitors that carving on the rocks isn’t okay. Keeping the parks in good condition should be the goal of everyone.