Time Keeps On Ticking Ticking Ticking...

Two more full weeks and part of a week until I will be reaching the beginning of this upcoming adventure. I looked at my little calendar on my computer and rechecked it to make sure it was correct.

I am still trying to figure out when I should leave to go north... if I want to try and visit friends in South Bend or what, prior to going to Jana's wedding. I need to look over the invite for the time and location again, so I can print out a map before I leave out for it. If I had printed a map any sooner it would have gotten lost amongst all my insanity in my room!

My only problem with leaving any earlier than Friday is that my Dad's birthday is on Thursday. And I want to be here for it, but I would also like to be able to see friends in South Bend, if at all possible... I would love to be able to get up there on the Wednesday night so I can go to SouthGate to the youth group and to see others there.

I have two weeks to finalize my plans... and get my stuff packed... and remember to print vital info out - like a map to Jana's wedding, and my flight info so I can pick up my tickets (they give you a sort of "password" I guess you'd call it). Also, in the middle of trying to get everything else in line I will be moving most of my stuff that's in boxes and whatnot into a storage barn that my Dad got for me to put my stuff in so they could "have use of the house". Oi vey.

So...... yeah... Sorry for anyone who actually sat and read this whole post... It's mostly my pointless trying-to-figure-things-out post... Well... maybe not so pointless, but fairly useless information... I guess.

OK... I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead, sort of, and not babble on anymore. I don't even feel like this post is making any sense, and all I'm talking about is how indecisive I am being at where to travel when... except for that weekend, which is pretty much set in stone. The week is pretty flexible yet...

Three (3) More Weeks

Yep, three more weeks is about all I have to go until the grand adventure begins. I must admit I'm kind of nervous. I will be driving up for Jana's wedding, but might also be going earlier in the week so I can go to South Bend, and maybe see some people there, and close my bank account there. Probably should have done that when I left after graduation... or prior to graduation! Oh well.

Not sure what else to say... I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for my travels up north and back. I'm still trying to raise support for the month that I'm going to be traveling without a paycheck until the end of the month. I'm still working on what I'm going to pack. I've never been on any trip longer than 1 week, or 3 weeks or so coming home from college for breaks... and I have no idea what I'm going to need for 10 months... from what I have right now that I know I should pack it should all fit without any problems in my suitcase and backpack.... I hope...

I'm babbling... it's late... I should go to bed so I don't sleep in any longer than usual... It's been nice to be able to sleep in... but I kinda want a routine again...

Trying to find things...

So, I was looking for my charger for my old cell phone so I could take the pics off the memory card, since it was damaged by a jank camera that I had one time - You see, I had the bright idea of using the camera to get the pics off my memory card... and it practically ate my card... not in a literal sense, but in a very digital sense. I could not reclaim the pictures on it that were there prior to the tragic experience by my memory card. The only thing able to read the pictures on the card? My old cell phone. It is only a 512MB card, so fairly puny considering I have a 2GB in my phone now. But I decided to try and get the rest of my pics off of the phone/memory card by moving them from the card to the phone's memory. Then putting my new card in the phone and moving the pics from the phone to the card. Then I can use my current camera to get the pics onto my computer, since my computer's card reader doesn't want to work for whatever weird Dell-ified reason... (it simply makes the hardware attatched/hardware removed noise, and does nothing, when I insert a card... I've tried downloading a different driver, and still nothing, so I gave up and am just using my camera/USB cable to get my pics off my camera...)


All of that to say that I think my charger is in my box of old desk stuff that is currently burried beneath and behind a bunch of other boxes in the big room... And guess what is in those boxes... brown recluse spiders... I also think my passport is in that box of desk stuff, though I could have sworn I had my passport in my stacker drawers... Guess not since I looked today and didn't find it... not good. So... I think I'm going to go to the store, buy one of those cheap painter coveralls, some rubber gloves, safety goggles, and maybe a respirator, and a roll of masking tape to seal all the edges... and go hunting for my stuff... And maybe a can of Raid to carry with me...

I wish there was something simple and natural that brown recluse either didn't like or were immediately vaporised upon touching...

Can we say arachnaphobia?? Ummm, yeah....

Flight Information!!

Hey, I was able to purchase my plane ticket today with what money I have received! To those who have helped to support me financially, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

My flight info is as follows

Sun, Aug 16, 2009	Evansville, (EVV) to Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX)
Depart: 11:40 AM Arrive: 12:55 PM	Evansville, IN (EVV) to Chicago, IL (ORD)	American Airlines Flight 4324 operated by AMERICAN EAGLE (on Embraer RJ145 Amazon)
	Requested Seats: 6C 1 Stop - change planes Chicago, IL (ORD) Connection Time: 2 hrs 15mins
Depart: 03:10 PM Arrive: 05:28 PM	Chicago, IL (ORD) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)	American Airlines Flight 455 (on Boeing 767-300)
	Requested Seats: 34A Total Travel Time: 7 hrs 48 mins

It looks like I will be flying on one of those Boeing 767-300's. That model was in the news yesterday for having weak points towards the tail of the plane. Not a good thing, but the airline I am flying with is also NOT SouthWest, which is the airline that has had the problems with that.

I will have a long layover in Chicago, but unless I wanted to leave at 6:30am I am going to have to take that! I would prefer a longer layover, within reason, and two hours is reasonable, to a short one, like the half hour layover I had in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport when I flew out to California before. That was intense... wait for the plane to park, then wait for people to get off in front of me so I could finally get out, then try and find a restroom, then try to find my gate, have to stop to ask directions and have to jump on a little shuttle tram thing that ran around the airport. I will probably be looking at maps of O'Hare and LAX before I get on the plane to leave.

I just picked up a set of cheap luggage tags at Walmart today. I am still trying to figure out what I want/need to take, and what I need to purchase either before I leave, or when I get out there. Anyone have suggestions??

Packing list!

I am trying to think of and plan out what I am going to be packing with me to Camfel Productions. I'm trying to keep in mind the fact that I will be on the road the whole time, except for the first week I'm out there, which is for the training.

I will be packing my laptop and camera in my backpack, which I will use as carry on... Plus that is also my laptop bag, so it makes sense.

I need to find my other SD cards to take. They're not big capacity wise, but it might be good to have one or two others lying around just to use if I fill my main one up. I will be taking a LOT of pictures!

My luggage will consist of the rest of my stuff:
- T-shirts, long-sleeved t-shirts, jeans, khakis, dress shirts, etc.
- General bathroom stuff
- Shoes: I will more than likely wear my current pair of Vans, loosely tied, during all the flying stuff. I will pack my canvas Airwalks, my TOMS (although I will have to have band-aids ready since they hurt my pinky toes to walk too much in), my Avia sneakers, and my Vibram FF Sprint's. Definitely taking those... :P
- Domo Hoodie is coming, for those cold days. I will probably buy a jacket or something when I get to Cali or somewhere where it's actually cold.
- Notebooks/journal/reading material will also be coming, although not much.
- Domo will of course be coming!

I can't think of what else I should take or buy. I don't even know what I will need for living on the road for so long! It is suggested by Camfel that we bring a sleeping bag, easy to set up/tear down tent, rain gear and snow gear.

I'm also going to get some plastic ziplock type bags to put all my stuff in so it can be easily organized and not get stuff on it if something from my bathroom stuff leaks, like shampoo.

I only have about 1 month to go. Just a little less since I will be packing my stuff at least by the weekend prior to go to Jana's wedding and then come back and leave for Cali the next day! I hope to get to South Bend prior to that, though, and visit friends up there before I go out on this crazy adventure!!

I'm glad I like to drive. Coz I'm gonna be driving a LOT the next 10 months!!!!

I have a job!!! Now I just have to get there...

Hey all! I just got a job with Camfel Productions out in California! They are a Christian not-for-profit that sends teams of techs out to show their life changing videos to students across the country. To find out more about what I will be doing you can go here and check out their FAQ page about the job. It is right up my alley - technology, ministering to teens, long drives and seeing the sights of America!

The only thing is I have to fly to get out there. I will be flying out on the 16th of August, right after returning from a friend's wedding in Ft. Wayne. They are wanting me to be there by the evening of that Sunday, the 16th. I will be missing one week of training, but they are OK with that. I will be just a little behind everyone else, but will hopefully adjust quickly and get to know my teammates well before heading out on the tour.

I am trying to find a decently priced and scheduled flight. If I drive back home from Ft. Wayne in the evening of the 15th I should be able to be here, get a couple hours sleep in and then get a flight in the morning so by the time I get through with the layovers and stuff, I'll be in California by evening. If I get a flight that's a few dollars more, like $20 more or so, I can be leaving EVV in the morning on the 16th and getting to LAX or ONT by mid-morning, which would be good.

Right now, in order to get there I need to raise support. I have been out of a job since May when I graduated, and have had no income since then. What I had has gone to my monthly car insurance and cell phone bills. Right now I don't even think I will be able to afford gas to go to church for the next month since it's about half an hour away.

So... I need your help. Since Camfel is a non-profit organization I have started a ChipIn to raise support so that I can get to my job. I will have to raise the funds for the flight out there, which is going to be between $204 and $230, depending on how soon I can get the funds to get a ticket, and then another $200 for general expenses during the first month of work since we do not get paid until the end of the month.

I believe that this ministry is where God wants me to be for the next 10 months. It is an opportunity for me to use all my skills in computers, in ministering to youth, and in my Christian walk. It will be a growing experience for sure. I will be challenged to be "Jesus with skin on" as one of my favorite profs says, to these kids, just by my actions as a Camfel tech. This job, for me, is a call to be the hands and feet of Jesus where my actions will speak louder than my words. Many of the schools I will be going to are public schools, so "preaching" is out of the question, but "being" is not.

Here is the link/widget for my fund raising efforts. If you can, please donate something, even if it's only $1. Every little bit, the sooner the better, helps!

A completely nonsensical post

Here are some products that I used to get that are no longer produced... (I told you this was nonsensical...)

Great caffeinated citrus soda from Coke in the 90's. Used to get it all the time when we were on the road. Vault is a close cousin to it, but nothing like it.



dnL by 7up is the closest thing to Surge that I've tasted. dnL was a great soft drink, but apparently it had a small market also, as it was discontinued, too.









Josta - I only every had it once, but it had a somewhat spicy/fruity flavor or something, from what I remember. I would try it again if it was still around. Pepsi has sadly not produced anything like it since they discontinued it.








Suave AromaBenefits - Energizing Citrus Ginseng bodywash. This was my favorite body wash because of its robust orange scent and energizing ginseng that got me going at 5am when I had to be at work by 6am. I could have used this during college, but I think they took it off the shelves by the start of '04 because I couldn't find it after the fall of '03. It didn't take them long to get rid of it. I have not found another citrusy energizing bodywash that compares. Some have claimed it... but I would like to try Shower Shock - the caffeine infused soap bar from ThinkGeek - for a jumpstart on the day.




Crystal Pepsi - One of the random products I remember from my childhood. I don't really remember the flavor of it, but I still like the idea of no colors/preservatives in my cola. I hope to try Pepsi Natural if I can get out to the store and find it. It is still a caramel colored cola, but it claims to be "natural".




Coke Blak - One of my favorite, but expensive, drinks of 2005. I had it while working my first summer at school. Great stuff. A nice cola flavor with a coffee finish. Most people thought it was weird, but I thought it was a decent combination. It might have taken some getting used to for people, and the price for a small 8oz glass bottle of the stuff in a 4 pack was somewhat outrageous. I think that Coke could have done a lot better on this if it hadn't been for the packaging. It was classy, but too expensive for a fairly experimental beverage.


7up - Yes, I know that 7up is still on the market, but I have not tasted it in a couple of years or so. I have refused to drink it since they started making it with "all natural" juices or whatever they have in it now. It tastes too much like Ski, which I know a lot of people like, but I'm not into the whole sour lemon/lime/citrus beverage thing. I used to like 7up a lot, but not now. It is no longer enjoyable to drink since it is like eating a raw lemon.
Also, another 7up product that I miss is the Cherry 7up Bubblegum. It was cubes of gum that had a gooey cherry center. That was another childhood product.

Snapple Elements - An energy drink from Snapple. Good stuff. It came in aluminum cans. I think I only ever had the Rain drink and Fire since those are also in the name of a company.








Sobe Dragon - My favorite drink from Sobe. It had dragonfruit in it, and did not taste anything like the newer drinks with dragonfruit. Somewhere along the line people started to think that dragonfruit tastes like a flower instead of a fruit. Odd people, I know. The logo was also pretty cool. I copied the logo by hand and drew it one time during my freshman year at college. It was something I did for fun. I should find that... Hmm...







Anyway... that's my randomness as I wait on laundry to dry. I need to go to bed soon since I have a phone interview in the morning. Pray that it goes well and if this is where God is leading me that I would get the job!