I work in abstraction these days, in an arbitrary world of numbers, rules set atop rules to meet accounting and inventory tracking standards, spreadsheets growing in cellular complexity daily, interconnected by formulas and references, a web of imaginary numbers based loosely on reality.

I crave a return to trailwork, to manual labor where the days tasks are more easily aligned, the outcome more completely visualized. Here and now, I am struggling with the same battle that I often fought with in graphic design - a mental knowledge of work completed that I have difficulty connecting to a physical reality. I know that I am completing a set amount of work daily, know so rationally, but cannot feel it in my bones, nor in my exhaustion when ready for sleep.

I play atop human concepts that rest loosely upon natural ones. I can rationalize a successful path in tracking inventories...but I can feel the weight of a granite stepping stone slide into place.

In the here and now, I find myself an observer of things in the same removed way, diminished in force and passion. In the here and now I am bearing witness to the end of small businesses, to family dreams, to the stability of jobs, to the change as one massive company acquires another... I am indirectly affected by our economic instability through the stories of the lives that touch mine.

I witness human struggle of the immediate reality, but know my own struggles only loosely. Survivor's guilt, as it were... So you offer what you can - hold a friend who lost her job just the other day, listen to the story of another as she tells of dealing with layoffs, reason with a co-worker rationalizing if he will be employed in a year, and ponder bankruptcy and financial despair in the trials of friends and family. I am stable, for now, but know that all is precarious.

In light of that, I breathe deep the mountain air, await the stars racing in after sunset, and remember that there are greater things to explore, to accept, and to be accepted by than the systems we devise on top of the natural world.

Posted by noblehobo at 6:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Regarding the previous entry, I had a suggestion show up from a friend today. I've been looking at "IT Boot Camps" to gain some of the basic certifications that I need to back up the experiences in IT that I currently have and to gain new knowledge. All told, having the certs would allow me an easier path to job hunting than trying to simply prove my experience on my resume. It would also allow me a way to step back into trailwork and then return to a contract IT position. In some fashion I consider the pursuit of IT certifications such as an MCSA or MCSE* as a career and travel maneuverability option.

Unfortunately, most of the boot camps are quite expensive. IT certifications can set one up for a well-paying career. As a result most of the boot camps are on par with a semester or two at a state college for cost. The suggestion that came in from my friend today was to look outside of the US.

As it turns out there are courses available in India for about half of the price stateside that offer the same certifications. I'm hopelessly intrigued by the idea as it would let me combine the reality of supporting my travel and dreams while expanding them. No sense, if I were to fly to New Delhi, to only spend the class time there when Nepal, China, Mongolia, Southeast Asia, and the stopover in London (or elsewhere in Europe) are nearby.

I've no idea yet if I'll pull it off but a first glance at the program and ticket prices from Minneapolis to India leave me strongly considering it. I compared the cost of trying to get there from New Zealand post-ice and from getting there after Christmas from the states. Turns out it's actually less expensive to fly out of Minneapolis in January or February than it would be to catch the Asian subcontinent in November or December from New Zealand.

My plans - in other words, for post-ice travel are to stick to New Zealand and Hawaii, focusing on beaches and a slow transition back to the real world from the isolation of my current life. No sense trying to cram in a trip to and through one of the worlds largest, dirtiest, craziest cities after having just spent the last ten months with only sixty people. I like culture shock but I also like my sanity.

Still, it's fun to dream and the reality of leaving here debt free is becoming very, very empowering.

• MCSA and MCSE stand for Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, respectively. One of those and an additional certification focus in security and/or Linux System Administration should leave me a far more marketable IT geek.

Posted by noblehobo at 2:31 PM | Permalink

lest not all be doom and gloom as i write here, some pics from my current working gig in sequoia national park:

chainsaw training (believe it or not, that's a small tree).

rock drill training (post-drilling, now splitting).

the morning commute to work.

my office cubicle.

my backyard.

planning out for a bridge (5' × 15') on a frontcountry trail.

digging for earthworms.

making a rather large mess.

taking a break from tearing out bridge project number two (8' × 25').

and that is that for now - lots of hiking planned in the future - but my pictures do the land here absolutely no justice. the trees, mountains, sky, and color really should be seen. poetry and literature evoke the land far more than these pictures. care for a gander at how i feel about this place? grab a copy of edward abbey's 'desert solitaire'. he says it far more eloquently than i ever could.

now, back to hiking, er, working.

Posted by noblehobo at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)