As the post heading suggests, I am (for the time being) casting off my self-appointed label of 'nomad' and replacing it with the more suitable title of 'ploid.' I have settled into a new, albeit temporary (So I guess one could argue that I am still a nomad. But "Nomad Remaining Status of Nomad Yet Also Acquiring the Title of 'Ploid'" seemed too lengthy.), house and now occupy my time being a ploid.
'Ploid' is not a word that one would find in the dictionary, though hopefully one will soon find it in the online Urban Dictionary (thanks to my handiwork). In fact, some of my friends - ploids at the time - coined the word two summers ago when they found themselves sitting around the house, more or less (or totally) unemployed. "We are unemployed," they declared. "We are ploids. We are ploids who are unemployed." Not the most exciting etymology, but one befitting the creators of the word itself. Over the course of the summer, the word 'ploid' found its way into everyday use, and the self-proclaimed ploids won renown for their flexible schedules, fun and interesting daytime projects and their laid back lifestyles. They also had no source of income, but they didn't care because they had enough money to survive for the interim time between jobs.
Now, based on this description, I am not a ploid in the strictest sense of the word. I am currently unemployed and I do revel in my wide open daily schedule, but I am looking for work. And as of this morning, after a Personal Financial Investigation (looking at my account balances), I'm redoubling my efforts. Am I worried? No. Will I survive? Yes. I am merely coming to the realization that my savings are finite and that my spending-to-income ratio is infinite (or undefined, I suppose, mathematically speaking). In order to improve this ratio, I am now trying even harder to find a job, and I'm getting less and less picky. I've now applied to the local school system (for substitute teaching), several tutoring positions, several food industry positions, and most recently I signed up to take a qualifying test to work for the 2010 census! (I'm secretly hoping for a census job at this point. Decent pay, novelty and temporariness are all good things right now.)
On the other side of the coin I decided to take a tip from Obama and work at Freezing Domestic Discretionary Spending. That is to say that for the time being I'm not going to spend money on craft beer (expensive vice #1), chocolate (expensive vice #2) or... anything really. You may be thinking, "beer is one thing, but how do you freeze spending on other expensive vices like... say... FOOD?!" No worries. One housemate works at a bakery, the other at a diner. I get free carbs out the wazoo! (Judging from Urban Dictionary's definitions of the word 'wazoo' that last statement is true in more ways than one...) PLUS, in my vast amount of free time I find plenty of time to dumpster dive, scoring such finds as oranges, peppers, green beans, onions, eggs, yoghurt, and PIZZA ROLLS! (Let the record state that though I think those little morsels are disgusting, I also think that they are disgustingly delicious. And I was probably pleased by this find the most.) So I won't starve at least.
And speaking of vast amounts of free time, let me say a bit about all of the, er, productive things I've been doing with my time. The first priority, obviously, has been to secure a job, and much (though admittedly not enough) of my time has been devoted to searching the web, filling out applications, and tailoring resumes. I have also been spending a decent amount of time exercising - something I had not really had time for with my previous job. Squash, climbing at the rock wall, and pond hockey have been my preferred means. (Though hockey has been a tough one recently as one of my borrowed skate's blade broke off - sorry, Tim!) Moving in/organising my room has been another ongoing endeavour (I've been finding that it's difficult to organise small things when you have no furniture.) and has led to construction of a coffee table from dumpstered materials. I have also been intentionally setting aside time for self-edification, and I've been reading on such topics as digital photography and computer programming. Finally, I've been spending glorious amounts of time hanging out with friends and playing games! Woot! I may not have any money, but life is good! And that is the anthem of the ploid.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Nomad's Lament
I was originally intending to write a light and humorous post about my last day of work. It was to have gone something like this:
Yep, it turns out that there wasn't that much more to do around here (the winery). I had one last day slated to work, bottling ~2000 liters of vodka. [By the way, a good way to not be an alcoholic if you're not already one is to be around that quantity of that wretched stuff for that amount of time!] Typical of my stint at the winery, the day was a logistical nightmare. To get bottles from the barn I had to first spend 20 minutes with a pickaxe, chipping away the ice that had seized up the barn door. Then I noticed that the forklift in the barn wouldn't start because of the cold. Then I tried to jump the forklift with my car. Then it still wouldn't start. Then I had to move the cases of empty bottles onto smaller, more manageable palates and load them into the truck with the tractor - not really designed for this. Then I almost died several times when the weight of the bottles was about as much of the tractor and I was tipping all over the place while driving them over the snow. Then we finally started bottling and realized that it was going to take FOREVER. Then I realized that I was starting to get sick. 200 liters later I had a pretty bad sore throat. 200 liters later I had a nasty fever. Before we were halfway through I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep. So much for a nice cozy sentimental last day of work!
With some fleshing out, I'd like to think that I could have made that funny. But I don't really feel like it. I'm now sitting in my bare room one last time, an hour or so from leaving (assuming I can coax my loaded car out of the icy driveway). I cooked Colin one last breakfast and we shared it as usual... only this time I wouldn't be going to work with him, nor would I be here when he got back.
Funny how emotions work. They led me to decide to leave this place. The story - since so many people seem to be asking - of how I came to decide to leave Colorado:
By the end of fall, Jonathan had left, and it was down to just Colin and I working our *tails* off. Work days were long, and stress left everyone feeling less than their best. I got chewed out a few times at work for this or that - I hold that I've been giving nothing but my all since arriving here, but upon occasion Lance and Anna thought otherwise. Also, I was getting a bit sick of winery work - moving tanks, moving liquid between tanks, always being overly cautious... it started to drain me. Several times I had decided to leave by Christmas (in a fit of emotion), but then Colin helped me think about things a little more positively/rationally... Furthermore, though I had friends I wasn't feeling like I was really connecting with people here. More likely than not, I was just recalling the deep friendships of Goshen, forged by living with the same people for years at a time. Whatever the case I left for vacation a bit more than fed up with the Western Slope. Then, after visiting all of my fine friends in Goshen and longing for the comfort I once found there, I started thinking about my life while in the solitude of the northwoods of Minnesota. And my conclusion was that I should leave. I arrived home, put in my notice of intent to leave, and then proceeded to have a totally awesome, fun 3 or so weeks.
Maybe it was the knowledge that I was for sure going to be leaving, maybe it was not having to work that much, maybe it was seeing friends again after being away for a month... I don't know. But I had a lot of fun these past few weeks. And I spent some quality time with some quality people, and I realized - duh - that part of making friends is just the time involved in getting to know them. Sure there aren't that many of us out here... and we're all fairly different from each other (as perhaps compared to the much more homogenous culture of Goshen)... but we have fun together. And we share with each other - food, thoughts, floorspace, feelings, [gossip]... And now that I'm actually leaving, I'm sad to. I'm sad to leave the mountains, the fresh summer fruit... and I'm sad to leave the people. So before I go... Shout out to the interns (old and new)! Shout out to the Cransons! Shout out to the frisbee croud! Shout out to the Sarahs! Shout out to the VISTA folks! Shout to Luke, Logan and the local crowd! Shout out to anyone I've ever met in Paonia and Hotchkiss and the surrounding area! And shout out to the best housemates ever: Colin and Google!
And now this blog comes full circle in a sense. I began it when I was just setting out on the adventure that was my time in Colorado. And now I'm headed back to the land of corn and humidity and excessive cloudcover... but it's still an adventure. And who knows where I'll be headed next...
Yep, it turns out that there wasn't that much more to do around here (the winery). I had one last day slated to work, bottling ~2000 liters of vodka. [By the way, a good way to not be an alcoholic if you're not already one is to be around that quantity of that wretched stuff for that amount of time!] Typical of my stint at the winery, the day was a logistical nightmare. To get bottles from the barn I had to first spend 20 minutes with a pickaxe, chipping away the ice that had seized up the barn door. Then I noticed that the forklift in the barn wouldn't start because of the cold. Then I tried to jump the forklift with my car. Then it still wouldn't start. Then I had to move the cases of empty bottles onto smaller, more manageable palates and load them into the truck with the tractor - not really designed for this. Then I almost died several times when the weight of the bottles was about as much of the tractor and I was tipping all over the place while driving them over the snow. Then we finally started bottling and realized that it was going to take FOREVER. Then I realized that I was starting to get sick. 200 liters later I had a pretty bad sore throat. 200 liters later I had a nasty fever. Before we were halfway through I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep. So much for a nice cozy sentimental last day of work!
With some fleshing out, I'd like to think that I could have made that funny. But I don't really feel like it. I'm now sitting in my bare room one last time, an hour or so from leaving (assuming I can coax my loaded car out of the icy driveway). I cooked Colin one last breakfast and we shared it as usual... only this time I wouldn't be going to work with him, nor would I be here when he got back.
Funny how emotions work. They led me to decide to leave this place. The story - since so many people seem to be asking - of how I came to decide to leave Colorado:
By the end of fall, Jonathan had left, and it was down to just Colin and I working our *tails* off. Work days were long, and stress left everyone feeling less than their best. I got chewed out a few times at work for this or that - I hold that I've been giving nothing but my all since arriving here, but upon occasion Lance and Anna thought otherwise. Also, I was getting a bit sick of winery work - moving tanks, moving liquid between tanks, always being overly cautious... it started to drain me. Several times I had decided to leave by Christmas (in a fit of emotion), but then Colin helped me think about things a little more positively/rationally... Furthermore, though I had friends I wasn't feeling like I was really connecting with people here. More likely than not, I was just recalling the deep friendships of Goshen, forged by living with the same people for years at a time. Whatever the case I left for vacation a bit more than fed up with the Western Slope. Then, after visiting all of my fine friends in Goshen and longing for the comfort I once found there, I started thinking about my life while in the solitude of the northwoods of Minnesota. And my conclusion was that I should leave. I arrived home, put in my notice of intent to leave, and then proceeded to have a totally awesome, fun 3 or so weeks.
Maybe it was the knowledge that I was for sure going to be leaving, maybe it was not having to work that much, maybe it was seeing friends again after being away for a month... I don't know. But I had a lot of fun these past few weeks. And I spent some quality time with some quality people, and I realized - duh - that part of making friends is just the time involved in getting to know them. Sure there aren't that many of us out here... and we're all fairly different from each other (as perhaps compared to the much more homogenous culture of Goshen)... but we have fun together. And we share with each other - food, thoughts, floorspace, feelings, [gossip]... And now that I'm actually leaving, I'm sad to. I'm sad to leave the mountains, the fresh summer fruit... and I'm sad to leave the people. So before I go... Shout out to the interns (old and new)! Shout out to the Cransons! Shout out to the frisbee croud! Shout out to the Sarahs! Shout out to the VISTA folks! Shout to Luke, Logan and the local crowd! Shout out to anyone I've ever met in Paonia and Hotchkiss and the surrounding area! And shout out to the best housemates ever: Colin and Google!
And now this blog comes full circle in a sense. I began it when I was just setting out on the adventure that was my time in Colorado. And now I'm headed back to the land of corn and humidity and excessive cloudcover... but it's still an adventure. And who knows where I'll be headed next...
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Best of 2009
[This was also begun January 4, 2010]
And now (in an unprecedented dual post-publishing event) the SECOND of two consecutive posts! [Funny, now it's three...]
It has come to my attention that it is in fact a new year, according to the U.S. calendar. I was only made aware of this change approximately two days after the event when I said to myself, "Oh. It's 2010 now." The simple reason for my unenthusiastic hailing of this new decade (Or does that start in 2011? We never figured that out ten years ago, did we.) is that at the hour of the roll-over, I was peacefully sleeping in my bed in wood-heated cabin in a snowy woods. Funny how the night ends earlier without the artificiality of electricity to keep you revved up. It was this same lack of electricity (and access to the internets... and maybe laziness) that kept me from writing this post at a more appropriate time. But 'better late than never!' is my motto for this year (as are 'eat less sweets' and 'do what makes you come alive'), so I will post away.
The following are lists of good things that I found this year - in several different categories. I share them with you both to let you in on a part of my life and to offer recommendations of various media. Enjoy.
BOOKS:
I only completed a few this year. Most were spectacular. The highlights:
Anna Karenina (by Leo Tolstoy): This epic Russian novel is full of detail - to a fault if you're not into that sort of thing, but I eat it up. Throughout the reader is led back and forth between the lives of Anna the tragic woman, cursed by her unsympathetic husband and the consequences of her sins and Levin the philosophical protagonist, on the quest for a fulfilling life. Very interesting.
-The Sandman Series (by Neil Gaiman): What an amazing story! In it we meet Dream (Morpheus, the lord of the Dreaming), his siblings - the Endless - and a whole host of other awesome characters. The character development makes the series, but the drama that unfolds is ingenious as well. This definitely opened up my eyes to the unique potential of the comic book medium.
-The Ancestor's Tale (by Richard Dawkins): A survey of evolution, as described by our (humans') evolutionary ancestors. Marvellously written, this book has captured my attention more than any other work of non-fiction and has thoroughly excited me about biology.
MUSIC:
I love listening to music, and with a plethora of mind-numbing jobs to be had at the winery (pruning, driving tractor, etc.), I've had plenty of time to listen! These were some of my favorite from 2009:
-Ben Harper: I went with some friends to see him in concert in 2007 without knowing his music that well. Since then, I've been slowly getting into him, and this year I was blown away! He is such a versatile and talented musician, as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist. And, passing one of my strict criteria for a good musician/band, he came out with a new album last year that totally rocked! (as opposed to petering out later in his career)
-Jurassic 5: I have always kind of liked old school hip hop, but I often had difficulty finding stuff that wasn't too vulgar or annoying. And then I heard Jurassic 5. They've got a rocking/grooving/funky sound combined with some amazing rhymes. Not to mention, if you listen to the words you hear feelings! emotions! A song about treating women well, the complexities of relationships, being a good role model for your kids... A unique group in the genre.
-Creedence Clearwater Revival: These guys can rock! The more I listen to them the more I like them. Also, listening to their actual albums (rather than just the songs compiled on Chronicle) has allowed me to fully appreciate their range of style. A great band to drive, cook or rock out to.
-Medeski, Martin & Wood: I've known about these guys for a while, but this year I really got into them. Not only do I love the jazz organ in general, but these guys take jazz to a whole new level! Some of it's kinda avant-garde, but on the whole it remains very listenable... and just plain funky and AWESOME.
FILMS:
I like watching movies. Mostly I watch them for entertainment, but I can also really appreciate film as an art form. Bonus points if the film-maker can entertain me in a beautiful way...
-Milk: An amazingly true story about a gay man running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Sean Penn is fantastic in portraying such a charismatic and principled character. And the story depicts an amazing landmark in Equal Rights.
-Adaptation: I'm still not sure I really understand this movie, but it was mind-blowing. The layers of plot and character development are just fantastic. A beautiful movie.
-I Am Sam: Maybe I just love Sean Penn or something, but this movie marks another amazing performance by him. The story of a mentally challenged father seeking custody of his daughter, this movie is a real heart-wrencher (I cried quite a bit during it). In my movie notes in my journal I have written, " Amazing acting, amazing cinematography (great angles & movement), amazing soundtrack (original music AND Beatles covers), and amazing story!"
-Stardust: I've watched this movie at least 3 times now, and it never gets old. Maybe it's just the genius of Neil Gaiman, but this story is the epitome of fantasy: Fantastic characters (with outstanding acting), fantastic world, and fantastic lore. A very happy tale.
And now (in an unprecedented dual post-publishing event) the SECOND of two consecutive posts! [Funny, now it's three...]
It has come to my attention that it is in fact a new year, according to the U.S. calendar. I was only made aware of this change approximately two days after the event when I said to myself, "Oh. It's 2010 now." The simple reason for my unenthusiastic hailing of this new decade (Or does that start in 2011? We never figured that out ten years ago, did we.) is that at the hour of the roll-over, I was peacefully sleeping in my bed in wood-heated cabin in a snowy woods. Funny how the night ends earlier without the artificiality of electricity to keep you revved up. It was this same lack of electricity (and access to the internets... and maybe laziness) that kept me from writing this post at a more appropriate time. But 'better late than never!' is my motto for this year (as are 'eat less sweets' and 'do what makes you come alive'), so I will post away.
The following are lists of good things that I found this year - in several different categories. I share them with you both to let you in on a part of my life and to offer recommendations of various media. Enjoy.
BOOKS:
I only completed a few this year. Most were spectacular. The highlights:
Anna Karenina (by Leo Tolstoy): This epic Russian novel is full of detail - to a fault if you're not into that sort of thing, but I eat it up. Throughout the reader is led back and forth between the lives of Anna the tragic woman, cursed by her unsympathetic husband and the consequences of her sins and Levin the philosophical protagonist, on the quest for a fulfilling life. Very interesting.
-The Sandman Series (by Neil Gaiman): What an amazing story! In it we meet Dream (Morpheus, the lord of the Dreaming), his siblings - the Endless - and a whole host of other awesome characters. The character development makes the series, but the drama that unfolds is ingenious as well. This definitely opened up my eyes to the unique potential of the comic book medium.
-The Ancestor's Tale (by Richard Dawkins): A survey of evolution, as described by our (humans') evolutionary ancestors. Marvellously written, this book has captured my attention more than any other work of non-fiction and has thoroughly excited me about biology.
MUSIC:
I love listening to music, and with a plethora of mind-numbing jobs to be had at the winery (pruning, driving tractor, etc.), I've had plenty of time to listen! These were some of my favorite from 2009:
-Ben Harper: I went with some friends to see him in concert in 2007 without knowing his music that well. Since then, I've been slowly getting into him, and this year I was blown away! He is such a versatile and talented musician, as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist. And, passing one of my strict criteria for a good musician/band, he came out with a new album last year that totally rocked! (as opposed to petering out later in his career)
-Jurassic 5: I have always kind of liked old school hip hop, but I often had difficulty finding stuff that wasn't too vulgar or annoying. And then I heard Jurassic 5. They've got a rocking/grooving/funky sound combined with some amazing rhymes. Not to mention, if you listen to the words you hear feelings! emotions! A song about treating women well, the complexities of relationships, being a good role model for your kids... A unique group in the genre.
-Creedence Clearwater Revival: These guys can rock! The more I listen to them the more I like them. Also, listening to their actual albums (rather than just the songs compiled on Chronicle) has allowed me to fully appreciate their range of style. A great band to drive, cook or rock out to.
-Medeski, Martin & Wood: I've known about these guys for a while, but this year I really got into them. Not only do I love the jazz organ in general, but these guys take jazz to a whole new level! Some of it's kinda avant-garde, but on the whole it remains very listenable... and just plain funky and AWESOME.
FILMS:
I like watching movies. Mostly I watch them for entertainment, but I can also really appreciate film as an art form. Bonus points if the film-maker can entertain me in a beautiful way...
-Milk: An amazingly true story about a gay man running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Sean Penn is fantastic in portraying such a charismatic and principled character. And the story depicts an amazing landmark in Equal Rights.
-Adaptation: I'm still not sure I really understand this movie, but it was mind-blowing. The layers of plot and character development are just fantastic. A beautiful movie.
-I Am Sam: Maybe I just love Sean Penn or something, but this movie marks another amazing performance by him. The story of a mentally challenged father seeking custody of his daughter, this movie is a real heart-wrencher (I cried quite a bit during it). In my movie notes in my journal I have written, " Amazing acting, amazing cinematography (great angles & movement), amazing soundtrack (original music AND Beatles covers), and amazing story!"
-Stardust: I've watched this movie at least 3 times now, and it never gets old. Maybe it's just the genius of Neil Gaiman, but this story is the epitome of fantasy: Fantastic characters (with outstanding acting), fantastic world, and fantastic lore. A very happy tale.
Everything I Know About Life I Learned From Agricola
[This post was begun January 4, 2010.]
To anyone who actually reads this blog on a somewhat regular to regular basis, it will no doubt seem that I have fallen off the face of the earth. Indeed I have, in a sense. In my month or so of vacationing I have traveled approximately 5,000 miles by air, road and now rail. (I am presently in the middle of My First Amtrak Adventure.) And that is a distance that would put me 1/50th the way to the moon... so perhaps my travels really aren't that impressive. (The most impressive feat yet this far on my vacation comes here at the end: In traveling from Ely, MN to Hotchkiss, CO I will have in two days driven southeast to Tomah, WI, taken a train east to Elkhart, IN, taken a car back west to South Bend, IN, flown west to Grand Junction, CO and finally driven back east to Hotchkiss. Talk about taking the scenic route!)
As a side note, the least impressive feat of my vacation has been to sculpt a diorama of 'pissicles' using solely my own bodily fluids and the forces of nature...
But as I mentioned before, I am on the train home, and alas my carefree days are coming to a close. Soon I will begin to work again, earning desparately needed money. This isn't entirely a sad thing, though after two weeks spent relaxing in a cabin I will miss the choice of daily activities: sleeping, eating, reading, socialising (I have been reading a book by a British scientist, and I am presently toying with the practise of spelling 'ize' 'ise.' Gmail does it for me anyway. The jury is still out on 'colo[u]r'...) or playing games. Playing games was perhaps my favorite holiday endeavour. Though I've made friends in Colorado, none yet seem to be the 'game type,' at least in the tradition I am used to (playing card games, traditional board games and 'European-style' board games). So blessed was I when I spent a good deal of the last month playing games with family and friends. I was treated to Rummy in Kentucky, El Grande in Indiana, Rook and Hearts in Minnesota. And perhaps best of all, I got to play a good eight games of Agricola, a great new board game I got for Christmas.
Tipped off by a friend and a favourable review on boardgamegeek.com ('favourable' as in best-rated board game in any category), I put Agricola on my list (Amazon shopping cart). Much to my delight Santa (USPS) not only obliged on this request, he even brought it a good week before Christmas (perfect timing for gaming with Jonathan, an old college comrade). Latin for 'farmer,' Agricola is a game of farming the old fashioned way and set in the medieval European countryside. Players strive to improve and expand their small farms while constantly struggling to feed their families. In fact, my first couple of times playing the game I failed to do anything besides feed my family! Among comments uttered was, "How am I supposed to raise a bloody herd of sheep if my family keeps eating them all?!" Though playing can be stressful when food supplies are low, it is quite entertaining to raise children, animals and the like. And tactically the game is brilliant! I'm beginning to get a grasp on strategy, but the gameplay is so complex that any particular strategy is never foolproof. In short, Agricola is awesome.
Divertisement aside, I've been discovering that Agricola also has quite a lot to say about life. I never thought I would find wisdom coming from a board game, and yet it is surprising to me how many times in the last week I've found myself saying something like, "Yep, it doesn't pay to stock up on something when you can't really afford it... just like in Agricola." (Now I know that any resemblance to real life found in the game arises - duh - from the game being derived from the subsistence of small-time pastoral farmers. But since I've already devoted 696 words to the thesis 'Agricola teaches us valuable lessons about life' just bear with me.) Without further ado, I will summarise the teachings of this illustrious board game, as presented to me through routine, devotional playing.
1. Children are inherently valuable, but the real reason we have them is the free labour. Compare the following: 3 victory points per family member at the end of the game vs. the victory points one child can amass by plowing, sowing, baking bread and herding sheep during the course of the game. C'mon Mom and Dad, I know why you had me.
2. Begging is preferable to letting your kids starve. Your kids can't actually starve according to the rules of Agricola. Still it's a valueable lesson: the stigma (or negative victory points) attached to begging far outweighs the heavy conscience of letting your kids starve so that you could 'plant that one more field of grain'...
3. Colour does not matter. It doesn't matter if you're red or write... or purple or green or blue... we all have (or should have) equal opportunity.
4. It's wise to worry about feeding yourself before you start improving your home. Renovations can wait! You can't swing a hammer if you're famished! This game is set in the middle ages, so there aren't cars and modern conveniences, but I think the priciple applies to other things: Food before cars, TVs, cool toys, etc.!
5. Vegetables are the best! When counting up points at the end of the game, vegetables give you the best item-to-point conversion rate. Moral: vegetables are better (more nutritious? tastier? all of the above?) than grain, sheep, boars AND cattle!
6-a. Working too many jobs can spread you thin. There have been games where I try to take on 4 or 5 occupations. To accomplish this I usually sacrifice time in the fields. Time is precious. Feed yourself and enjoy life. Don't spend so much time in the office (or butchershop or clay pit or...)
b. Just pick a job and stick with it! All the occupations are cool in their own way, and help you out in the game. What gets you is choosing one, then seeing that one helps you better, then another... and before you know it, you've got 7 jobs under your belt and you haven't used any of your cool skills. One could argue that more satisfaction/points could be derived from just picking one job that really suits you and making the most of it. (In real life I don't do this...)
7. Cows make great pets! They don't take up any more room in your home than a sheep does! ... Wait. Maybe this one doesn't translate to real life...
8. Farming really can be sustainable! It's pretty neat how you can plant a seed, watch it grow, harvest it, eat some of the yield and plant the rest! Thanks mother nature! And if you do it right, you can feed your whole family and still have time left over to do other things!
9. If you want your animals to make babies, don't eat them! I think this one explains itself.
10. Farming can be pretty stressful, but it is also quite rewarding. I get more uptight playing this game than just about any other, including Jenga and Don't Break the Ice. There are a million things I want to get done, and in the back of my mind I know that it's not possible to accomplish them all. But I get over it and enjoy the time spent with family and friends. And even if I don't win, I still (usually) wind up with pretty awesome farms.
To anyone who actually reads this blog on a somewhat regular to regular basis, it will no doubt seem that I have fallen off the face of the earth. Indeed I have, in a sense. In my month or so of vacationing I have traveled approximately 5,000 miles by air, road and now rail. (I am presently in the middle of My First Amtrak Adventure.) And that is a distance that would put me 1/50th the way to the moon... so perhaps my travels really aren't that impressive. (The most impressive feat yet this far on my vacation comes here at the end: In traveling from Ely, MN to Hotchkiss, CO I will have in two days driven southeast to Tomah, WI, taken a train east to Elkhart, IN, taken a car back west to South Bend, IN, flown west to Grand Junction, CO and finally driven back east to Hotchkiss. Talk about taking the scenic route!)
As a side note, the least impressive feat of my vacation has been to sculpt a diorama of 'pissicles' using solely my own bodily fluids and the forces of nature...
But as I mentioned before, I am on the train home, and alas my carefree days are coming to a close. Soon I will begin to work again, earning desparately needed money. This isn't entirely a sad thing, though after two weeks spent relaxing in a cabin I will miss the choice of daily activities: sleeping, eating, reading, socialising (I have been reading a book by a British scientist, and I am presently toying with the practise of spelling 'ize' 'ise.' Gmail does it for me anyway. The jury is still out on 'colo[u]r'...) or playing games. Playing games was perhaps my favorite holiday endeavour. Though I've made friends in Colorado, none yet seem to be the 'game type,' at least in the tradition I am used to (playing card games, traditional board games and 'European-style' board games). So blessed was I when I spent a good deal of the last month playing games with family and friends. I was treated to Rummy in Kentucky, El Grande in Indiana, Rook and Hearts in Minnesota. And perhaps best of all, I got to play a good eight games of Agricola, a great new board game I got for Christmas.
Tipped off by a friend and a favourable review on boardgamegeek.com ('favourable' as in best-rated board game in any category), I put Agricola on my list (Amazon shopping cart). Much to my delight Santa (USPS) not only obliged on this request, he even brought it a good week before Christmas (perfect timing for gaming with Jonathan, an old college comrade). Latin for 'farmer,' Agricola is a game of farming the old fashioned way and set in the medieval European countryside. Players strive to improve and expand their small farms while constantly struggling to feed their families. In fact, my first couple of times playing the game I failed to do anything besides feed my family! Among comments uttered was, "How am I supposed to raise a bloody herd of sheep if my family keeps eating them all?!" Though playing can be stressful when food supplies are low, it is quite entertaining to raise children, animals and the like. And tactically the game is brilliant! I'm beginning to get a grasp on strategy, but the gameplay is so complex that any particular strategy is never foolproof. In short, Agricola is awesome.
Divertisement aside, I've been discovering that Agricola also has quite a lot to say about life. I never thought I would find wisdom coming from a board game, and yet it is surprising to me how many times in the last week I've found myself saying something like, "Yep, it doesn't pay to stock up on something when you can't really afford it... just like in Agricola." (Now I know that any resemblance to real life found in the game arises - duh - from the game being derived from the subsistence of small-time pastoral farmers. But since I've already devoted 696 words to the thesis 'Agricola teaches us valuable lessons about life' just bear with me.) Without further ado, I will summarise the teachings of this illustrious board game, as presented to me through routine, devotional playing.
1. Children are inherently valuable, but the real reason we have them is the free labour. Compare the following: 3 victory points per family member at the end of the game vs. the victory points one child can amass by plowing, sowing, baking bread and herding sheep during the course of the game. C'mon Mom and Dad, I know why you had me.
2. Begging is preferable to letting your kids starve. Your kids can't actually starve according to the rules of Agricola. Still it's a valueable lesson: the stigma (or negative victory points) attached to begging far outweighs the heavy conscience of letting your kids starve so that you could 'plant that one more field of grain'...
3. Colour does not matter. It doesn't matter if you're red or write... or purple or green or blue... we all have (or should have) equal opportunity.
4. It's wise to worry about feeding yourself before you start improving your home. Renovations can wait! You can't swing a hammer if you're famished! This game is set in the middle ages, so there aren't cars and modern conveniences, but I think the priciple applies to other things: Food before cars, TVs, cool toys, etc.!
5. Vegetables are the best! When counting up points at the end of the game, vegetables give you the best item-to-point conversion rate. Moral: vegetables are better (more nutritious? tastier? all of the above?) than grain, sheep, boars AND cattle!
6-a. Working too many jobs can spread you thin. There have been games where I try to take on 4 or 5 occupations. To accomplish this I usually sacrifice time in the fields. Time is precious. Feed yourself and enjoy life. Don't spend so much time in the office (or butchershop or clay pit or...)
b. Just pick a job and stick with it! All the occupations are cool in their own way, and help you out in the game. What gets you is choosing one, then seeing that one helps you better, then another... and before you know it, you've got 7 jobs under your belt and you haven't used any of your cool skills. One could argue that more satisfaction/points could be derived from just picking one job that really suits you and making the most of it. (In real life I don't do this...)
7. Cows make great pets! They don't take up any more room in your home than a sheep does! ... Wait. Maybe this one doesn't translate to real life...
8. Farming really can be sustainable! It's pretty neat how you can plant a seed, watch it grow, harvest it, eat some of the yield and plant the rest! Thanks mother nature! And if you do it right, you can feed your whole family and still have time left over to do other things!
9. If you want your animals to make babies, don't eat them! I think this one explains itself.
10. Farming can be pretty stressful, but it is also quite rewarding. I get more uptight playing this game than just about any other, including Jenga and Don't Break the Ice. There are a million things I want to get done, and in the back of my mind I know that it's not possible to accomplish them all. But I get over it and enjoy the time spent with family and friends. And even if I don't win, I still (usually) wind up with pretty awesome farms.
The Woes of an Underpaid Transient Farm Hand, B. A.
I'm fired for the day! That makes three days in a row if you count Tuesday, when I went to work, moved some stuff around and then left before 10 AM. Not good for the pocket book when you consider that I'm planning on taking a four-day MLK weekend starting tomorrow (and that I get paid by the hour).A friend was recently confused when I used my new terminology. "Wait. I just don't understand how they can just fire you like that!" Oh they can. But just for the day. "Wait, what?" And this is coming from another underpaid person - an Americorps volunteer. (Please note that when I say "underpaid" in this context, referring to myself or others, I'm only meaning that I don't feel that the amount of compensation we get equals the value of the work we put in. We knew coming into it that we'd get paid crap. That's part of the adventure I guess. But it's still fun to gripe sometimes...) Apparently this practice is not normal. But that's how we roll here. If you'll bear with me, I'll rewind a bit and try to explain the reasons why I haven't blogged for so long and for my present employment woes.
Second week of December, 2009: Work is crazy. We have thousands and thousands of litres of wine in huge stainless steel vats, and it all needs to get into bottles. But there are many steps to this process - moving tanks, racking, emulsifying and filtering on our part and getting lab samples, labels approved and buyers lined up, all that happens outside of the realm of our influence. The result is that when work can be done, we do it and do it for looooong days. But sometimes there just isn't anything to do. I'm feeling worn out from working, yet I don't work enough to make much money. Add in some sense of loneliness and missing the community I left in Goshen, and I'm ready for Christmas friggin' vacation!
December, 2009 - January 5, 2010: During what was perhaps one of my best vacations ever, I was able to visit with all of my immediate family (not easy since they managed to spread themselves out by a good 1000 miles) and catch up with numerous good friends. Plus the last two weeks of that vacation were spent isolated in a cabin in Northern Minnesota, so I was able sleep plenty, read plenty AND get my board/card game fix for a few months. (The lack of internets in the cabin, plus my busy schedule before hand led to me not blogging during this time, in case you were wondering.) I also had plenty of time to think. As a result I concocted a great scheme for my life, and it involved leaving Colorado, at least for the time being. (Perhaps more details on that at a later date.)
January 6, 2010: First day back at work. I put in a long day. It wasn't too bad - in fact, I kind of enjoyed myself. Afterward, I tell Lance and Anna that I have plans of leaving but that I don't want to inconvenience them. I tell them that I will stay long enough to help them accomplish all of the jobs that need my extra hands and then I will leave. [An aside: Right now I'm poor. I mean, I'm doing okay, but thanks to my extended winter vacation I now need to work to meet my monthly expenses. My thought process: a move and subsequent job search = not income. I'll help bottle wine, work really hard, make a little extra and then leave before the work thins out again.] They say give me their blessing. All is going according to plan.
The Past Week: Last Friday work was scant. I took some wine samples to send into the lab and got hay to feed the cows. Monday I put in a full day only because I was stupid and got the truck stuck in a snow bank on Grand Mesa and had to wait almost two hours before someone could pull me out (maybe the subject of another 'I'm Dumb' post?). And now for the last three days I have been all but unemployed. So much for making money before the move. What's worse is that I wake up early, get dressed for work, make the trek over to the winery and then find out that there's nothing for me to do. Inconvenience with no compensation. (Though today I learned and called ahead while still in my PJs.)
I can't blame Lance and Anna. There really isn't any work for me to do right now. And they're a small business that doesn't make a lot of money; they can't afford to make up random busy work for me to do. So what do I do? Read, write letters, fill out applications, go for walks, try to fix my car (Colin - with the help of an icy driveway - busted one of Gwen's headlights.), and now blog. Whoopdie-joy. I have several other blog drafts from earlier days. Perhaps today will be a record blogging day...
Friday, December 4, 2009
Today was a Good Day
The evidence:
1. I went to work and found out I didn't have to. Yay, three-day weekend!
2. I sat around by the fire and read the first half of the morning.
3. I put new guitar strings on my guitar the second half of the morning. It sounded so nice that I just had to play it for a long time.
4. In the afternoon I went up to Grand Mesa to go cross country skiing. I love cross country skiing!
(4 1/2. My boss has the same size feet as me, and so his ski gear fit me. Yay skiing for free and without mailing my skis from MN!)
5. Even though it was the first time I had skied since last season and I was up at 10,000 ft and it was like 8 degrees outside, I still had so much fun!
6. Now I'm going to a friend's murder mystery birthday party and I get to be a big important gangster and then die! (Oh wait, that kinda stinks... but it'll be cool until I die!!)
Q.E.D.
Time to shower.
1. I went to work and found out I didn't have to. Yay, three-day weekend!
2. I sat around by the fire and read the first half of the morning.
3. I put new guitar strings on my guitar the second half of the morning. It sounded so nice that I just had to play it for a long time.
4. In the afternoon I went up to Grand Mesa to go cross country skiing. I love cross country skiing!
(4 1/2. My boss has the same size feet as me, and so his ski gear fit me. Yay skiing for free and without mailing my skis from MN!)
5. Even though it was the first time I had skied since last season and I was up at 10,000 ft and it was like 8 degrees outside, I still had so much fun!
6. Now I'm going to a friend's murder mystery birthday party and I get to be a big important gangster and then die! (Oh wait, that kinda stinks... but it'll be cool until I die!!)
Q.E.D.
Time to shower.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
I'm Dumb the Fourth
The past two days, I've been driving a tractor - all day, until the sun sets. It has it's perks - I've listened to all the Creedence and Led Zeppelin recordings I have and thoroughly enjoyed it, plus I get to be in the sun all day! - but it also has the major downsides of boredom and fatigue. And maybe the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome (?). (I used to think that joysticks were the best thing ever, especially if controlling a space ship or airplane in a video game. I am now totally joysticked out. I have been moving a stupid little joystick back and forth (at ~ 1Hz) for 8+ hours a day! My wrist is so sore!!!) Anyway, the reason for all the tractor driving is that it's getting very cold out here on the Western Slope, and the poor little vines may be in danger of freezing. And during the growing season we regularly strip the vines of their earthen clothing (a side effect of the turbulent inter-vine weeding made possible by the weed badger), making them even more prone to the cold. So now is the time of year to push dirt back over the bases of the vines to guard them against the cold! And what better way to do it than with yet another tractor implement?! (I think by now I've taken a full tour of the vineyard with all of 4 or 5 different implements...)
Okay. So now we're picturing me yesterday, on the tractor cruising through rows of vines. I am bundled from head to toe, a ball cap shades my eyes, and I'm now rocking out to Jethro Tull. My hand rhythmically moves a joystick back and forth, back and forth to guide a large steel blade in and out of the vines, pushing earth against them. My mind wanders to stave off boredom and monotony. I finish a row, turn the tractor and prepare to begin another, and I see one of the dumbest things on the property. A sight I'm by now familiar with (thanks to all of my tractoring), a large blue hydrant stands proud at the end of one of the vine rows... or rather, exactly in between two rows... right where any vehicle moving between the rows would have difficulty avoiding it. I don't know why it's there. It's just asking for trouble.
I noted the hydrant as I continued on beside it. "I [hoe in] should really [hoe out] remember to [hoe in] to be careful [hoe out] of that when I [hoe in] come back up the [hoe out] next row [hoe in]..." I traveled onward down the hill trying to think of some way to remember to be alert in another five minutes. My mind wandered. (It really is curious how your mind wanders when you're doing something that requires a great deal of attention and yet absolutely no brain power. It's kind of similar to the thoughts flying through your mind as you begin to fall asleep... intense, scattered and fleeting...) Back up the other side. [Ian Anderson sings: What a reason for waiting and dreaming of dreams...] End of the row. I look down and notice some irrigation piping I had safely laid aside earlier. Piping. Pipe. Hydrant. SHIT!!! I looked in front of me. No hydrant. (I was still moving forward.) Maybe this wasn't the row. I look behind me. There it was: a bent pipe gushing water, the remains of the hydrant fixture dragging behind me from the tractor. OHNOOHNOOHNOOHNO!!! I tried to stop the gushing, got wet, realized it was futile and ran to get boss man.
We headed up to the main shutoff valve for the domestic water for the entire farm, he chiding me the whole way. We shut the water off while he went to get a cap for the mangled pipe. I went to tell Colin and Anna how I was the source of the recent water scarcity. "Did you need the water for anything?" Colin replied, "Well, it was cooling the cooling tower for the still..." OHNOOHNOOHNO!! I ran back to turn the water on, a mini geyser better than a fried piece of expensive equipment. Too late. The still was okay, but the run had to be aborted. And back to shut off the water again. Lance came back with the cap, we screwed it on tight and I surrounded the pipe end with dirt so it wouldn't freeze. And back on the tractor until the sun set behind Grand Mesa.
Today, as soon as I spied the wind machine I started loudly chanting, "Matthew, don't hit the wind machine. It is imperative that you don't hit the wind machine with the tractor. It's getting closer. Don't forget. Don't hit the wind machine..."
Okay. So now we're picturing me yesterday, on the tractor cruising through rows of vines. I am bundled from head to toe, a ball cap shades my eyes, and I'm now rocking out to Jethro Tull. My hand rhythmically moves a joystick back and forth, back and forth to guide a large steel blade in and out of the vines, pushing earth against them. My mind wanders to stave off boredom and monotony. I finish a row, turn the tractor and prepare to begin another, and I see one of the dumbest things on the property. A sight I'm by now familiar with (thanks to all of my tractoring), a large blue hydrant stands proud at the end of one of the vine rows... or rather, exactly in between two rows... right where any vehicle moving between the rows would have difficulty avoiding it. I don't know why it's there. It's just asking for trouble.
I noted the hydrant as I continued on beside it. "I [hoe in] should really [hoe out] remember to [hoe in] to be careful [hoe out] of that when I [hoe in] come back up the [hoe out] next row [hoe in]..." I traveled onward down the hill trying to think of some way to remember to be alert in another five minutes. My mind wandered. (It really is curious how your mind wanders when you're doing something that requires a great deal of attention and yet absolutely no brain power. It's kind of similar to the thoughts flying through your mind as you begin to fall asleep... intense, scattered and fleeting...) Back up the other side. [Ian Anderson sings: What a reason for waiting and dreaming of dreams...] End of the row. I look down and notice some irrigation piping I had safely laid aside earlier. Piping. Pipe. Hydrant. SHIT!!! I looked in front of me. No hydrant. (I was still moving forward.) Maybe this wasn't the row. I look behind me. There it was: a bent pipe gushing water, the remains of the hydrant fixture dragging behind me from the tractor. OHNOOHNOOHNOOHNO!!! I tried to stop the gushing, got wet, realized it was futile and ran to get boss man.
We headed up to the main shutoff valve for the domestic water for the entire farm, he chiding me the whole way. We shut the water off while he went to get a cap for the mangled pipe. I went to tell Colin and Anna how I was the source of the recent water scarcity. "Did you need the water for anything?" Colin replied, "Well, it was cooling the cooling tower for the still..." OHNOOHNOOHNO!! I ran back to turn the water on, a mini geyser better than a fried piece of expensive equipment. Too late. The still was okay, but the run had to be aborted. And back to shut off the water again. Lance came back with the cap, we screwed it on tight and I surrounded the pipe end with dirt so it wouldn't freeze. And back on the tractor until the sun set behind Grand Mesa.
Today, as soon as I spied the wind machine I started loudly chanting, "Matthew, don't hit the wind machine. It is imperative that you don't hit the wind machine with the tractor. It's getting closer. Don't forget. Don't hit the wind machine..."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)