I haven't even packed and this is our last weekend in San Francisco. Bubba has been busy getting our ride ready for our long drive. His SUV is equipped with a roof topper filled to the rim with camping gear. He also has a cargo rack hanging off his hitch where we will strap our coolers and plastic gas cans. Inside the car, we have 2 rods to hang clothes. He even built a rack from wire to hold his Marlin Guide Gun , if our self-preservation ever came into question.
I am excited to leave this fog ridden city but once we enter the humid, sticky hot east, I'm sure I'll miss the climate of my hometown. But I'm ready to see my country through my 30 year old eyes and hopefully encounter the signature hospitality of people in small towns. It may be a refreshing change from the doubtful, skeptical folks of big cities. San Francisco, however is still a very unique and lovable city. Just last month we were able to get Bubba a license for prescription medical cannabis through a full fledged doctor after a mere 30 minute consult and evaluation for $90. We found the doctor through an ad in the SF Weekly .
The doctor wanted to know what ailments brought Bubba there. Our explanation that Bubba experienced chronic pain that could only be controlled by daily doses of morphine and vicodin led the doctor to tell him he was a good candidate. After exiting the medical clinic with an officially stamped cannabis license, there were strategically fixed flyer people who handed us a persuasive postcard to visit their cannabis club.
We went since it was in the neighborhood. Once inside the front lobby, a voice behind a laminated window asked to see the "license." Only license holders were allowed in through a trap door to an underground room. There, Bubba found a variety of herbs for sale under glass case displays.
With the card, Bubba can smoke a joint in public and grow his own pot without fear of breaking the law.
This experience is reminiscent of my visits to Amsterdam in the past. I remember encountering tourists and career professionals who proclaimed the ingenuity of Holland for its liberal posture toward cannabis and prostitution. How else would the Dutch maintain its foothold in an ever-evolving Europe besides housing the Hague and exporting its renowned tulips, they reasoned? It's their laissez-faire attitude which makes it a top tourist destination in Europe.
San Francisco is on the cutting edge, embracing such ingenuity...but here we are, Bubba and I, leaving it behind...hopefully not for good...but for now.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
I've Quit My Job...
I submitted my resignation last Friday. Since, I've never had to write one, I referred to a resignation template on About.com
I also asked a friend who resigned recently what the letter should contain. He said it should announce the date of departure and some goodwill comment.
A few months ago, this plan to drive cross country was only gradually materialising with sketchy details. Bubba and I were considering a stop as far as Florida, then back on up to Tennessee and ultimately Ohio, where his mom and step-dad are.
I requested a four-week vacation from my job with the intention of returning, even if it meant flying back and leaving Bubba on the road solo. My request was rejected by management as it would set an unusual precedence for more lengthy vacation requests from other employees. So, Bubba and I began to solidify our driving plans...incorporating stops along Indian Reservations, National Parks and momuments, zoos as well as nightly camp-outs. We decided that we'd take the whole summer and if neccessary, plunge into the autumn season and go anywhere, perhaps even overseas, without being on a schedule.
I submitted my resignation when Bubba had made me a sweet offer. He agreed to pay my monthly bills and he has already started with my car payment this month. With his small retirement pension and our combined savings, we should be able to stretch our non-working status out to at least a year. It is my hope that this blog will evolve into an pretty page with photos and enough interesting tales to draw in a loyal readership.
This drive across America will give me the opportunity to observe and appreciate my 'jus soli.'
In the coming seasons, Bubba and I are planning to pursue micro-lives abroad...four weeks in Italy, six weeks in France, eight weeks in Spain..maybe 12 weeks somewhere in Asia....and so on, so forth and I will have the privilege of documenting this lifestyle here in my blog.
I do hate beginnings, though. It's the most stressful of times. It requires the added energy of overcoming the strange and unfamiliar and the fear of the unknown.
When I find myself confronted with the fear of starting something...there's a sensible quote that comes to mind:
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
And to illustrate my concurrence with the above quote, I conclude with another profound favorite by William James,
"To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions!"
I can just hear the chorus of "Hallelujahs!"
I also asked a friend who resigned recently what the letter should contain. He said it should announce the date of departure and some goodwill comment.
A few months ago, this plan to drive cross country was only gradually materialising with sketchy details. Bubba and I were considering a stop as far as Florida, then back on up to Tennessee and ultimately Ohio, where his mom and step-dad are.
I requested a four-week vacation from my job with the intention of returning, even if it meant flying back and leaving Bubba on the road solo. My request was rejected by management as it would set an unusual precedence for more lengthy vacation requests from other employees. So, Bubba and I began to solidify our driving plans...incorporating stops along Indian Reservations, National Parks and momuments, zoos as well as nightly camp-outs. We decided that we'd take the whole summer and if neccessary, plunge into the autumn season and go anywhere, perhaps even overseas, without being on a schedule.
I submitted my resignation when Bubba had made me a sweet offer. He agreed to pay my monthly bills and he has already started with my car payment this month. With his small retirement pension and our combined savings, we should be able to stretch our non-working status out to at least a year. It is my hope that this blog will evolve into an pretty page with photos and enough interesting tales to draw in a loyal readership.
This drive across America will give me the opportunity to observe and appreciate my 'jus soli.'
In the coming seasons, Bubba and I are planning to pursue micro-lives abroad...four weeks in Italy, six weeks in France, eight weeks in Spain..maybe 12 weeks somewhere in Asia....and so on, so forth and I will have the privilege of documenting this lifestyle here in my blog.
I do hate beginnings, though. It's the most stressful of times. It requires the added energy of overcoming the strange and unfamiliar and the fear of the unknown.
When I find myself confronted with the fear of starting something...there's a sensible quote that comes to mind:
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
And to illustrate my concurrence with the above quote, I conclude with another profound favorite by William James,
"To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions!"
I can just hear the chorus of "Hallelujahs!"
Sunday, June 3, 2007
One More Month...
Yes, one more month to go and I am giving up my comfortable, monotonous job with benefits to drive across America with my man. He just retired from his 24 year military career. The thought of giving up a stable paycheck is indeed nerve-racking.
I've known nothing but work and academics my whole life.
Yesterday, my man, Bubba and I mapped out a route that we are taking on our drive across America. It will be my first long drive and ride. We are planning routes that will allow us to see National Parks, zoos and Indian Reservations.
After seeing the map outlined in pencil on our atlas (our journey is by no means set in pen [stone] or a timeline), it started to feel more real....
This week, I will hand in my formal resignation at work. Mark Twain's saying inspires me, "20 years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do!" So, I'm renouncing routines, cause life's too short.
I've known nothing but work and academics my whole life.
Yesterday, my man, Bubba and I mapped out a route that we are taking on our drive across America. It will be my first long drive and ride. We are planning routes that will allow us to see National Parks, zoos and Indian Reservations.
After seeing the map outlined in pencil on our atlas (our journey is by no means set in pen [stone] or a timeline), it started to feel more real....
This week, I will hand in my formal resignation at work. Mark Twain's saying inspires me, "20 years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do!" So, I'm renouncing routines, cause life's too short.
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