Journal Entry #2

I had a pretty good day today. The most important thing is that I got a lot acomplished. I awoke, well, sometime this morning. Come to think of it, I did not check the time. I ate breakfast with Gpa, always good to chat with him. It is very important to respect your elders and listen. Although everything may not be all that exciting, some pretty interesting stories come up occaisionaly. Unfortunatly, today was not one of those.
Later, took a walk through the woods with my dad. My grandparents property was a great place to experiance a childhood. They own twenty acres with two houses and a lake. As a child I experianced many great adventures there, playing in the woods, riding horses, shooting bows and arrows and guns, and hiking the depths of the Mini-Grand Canyon (this was just a small ravine that seemed really big to me at the time. A kid’s imagination will take him anywhere!). Back then the property really had no bounds, because the woods went on forever, and the closest neighbor was miles away. Now it is a lot different. There is a trail that circumnavigates the property, cutting through the woods, traversing a dam across the lake, and connecting back to the driveway. From this trail, where you could at one time embark on an adventure into the woods, you can now see the surrounding residential buildup of boring, look-alike houses that are claustrophobically close. The trail was very overgrown today, but we did a little bit of pruning to put the growth in check. I could probably work 40 hours a week for 2 months straight and still not finish everything that needs to be done around here. It was nice spending that time with my dad. Don’t get to see him as much as I would like to these days, him living in CO/GA and me down in FL. Before returning home, we picked some roses for Gma. Anything to brighten up her day, even if only for a minute. When we got back, I remembered how much I hate ticks! I pulled 4 of the fuckers off when we got back.
After that, I went on a jog on that same trail. Ran around the property 3x and then did 60 push-ups and 60 sit-ups. This is very important to me, cuz I need to get in shape. Made a deal with my friend Andrés a little while ago that we would not do any partying unless we had done our exercise for the day. My goal is to run 5 miles a day and do 200 push-ups and sit-ups a day by the end of the summer, and get a 6pack.
I also spent some time analyzing stocks with my dad. He is interested in investing a lot of his inheritance from Aunt Martha Ellen’s death. So far I have done a little bit of investing, and have seen a 10% increase in only 2 months. We have been looking at investing in hybrid car technology, and after reading an article in Wired Magazine, decided Toyota was the way to go. So he cut me a check which I will put into my Sharebuilder portfolio. Worth mention here are my top earners, Whole Foods Market, Dean Foods, and the mother-load, Google.
I still need some equipment for my journeys. Top priority is a digital camera, backpack, tent, and sleeping bag. All of these will help me travel. Did some research on consumer reports and backpackers magazine’s website, and selected a few items to buy from amazon Afterwards I packed my bags and was off to the Atlanta Airport, headed to DC to see Ma Dukes. Airtran has a deal so that you can fly standby for 59 bucks called the X-fare, of which I decided to try to take advantage. I called to check the availability and found out there was plenty of room, went to the Atlanta Airport, and got it with no problem. After taxes the fare was still less than $70US, and now I am sitting in my mom’s living room in DC.
The arrival was a bit more exciting, depending on how you look at it. We of course did not make the right turn and missed the scenic way into town, from which one can see some of the monuments and memorials, like the Lincoln memorial, in honor of the 16th president. Then we went to Matchstix, a restaurant in Chinatown at the corner of 7th and H st., that was closing at about 10:30. What a shame, because it had a really nice ambience, and according to my mom has great pizza. With her seal of approval, it must be good, as she is one of the pickiest people that I have known. This part of town looks really cool, with Chinese architecture and artwork lining the streets. There was even a Hooters restaurant that appeared to have its name in Chinese above the door! However, seemed a little sketchy at night. Maybe it was the drunks or the crack-heads (I think I even saw a hooker), but I just had a weird little feeling of anxiety being there. There also seemed to be some people just hanging out that seemed out of place. Drug dealers, robbers, or even rapists perhaps. I hate to sound judgmental, characterizing people by their looks, but that is part of being street smart. Sometimes you just know to look out, and these things, along with a gut feeling telling you that something is not right, are things you need to know and sense when you are anywhere, especially in a strange place. Even if you are wrong about your judgements, it is always good to trust these instincts, cuz it is a lot better to not know if something bad would have happened, than to find out if it does. I also don’t like it when people go out of their way to approach you, trying to help you out or sell you something. Hustlers can spot a tourist from a mile away, and it is best just to ignore them. I don’t even say anything, just keep on walking, keep on movin’. And that is what it is all about, just moving on along, getting by right? Well, more later.