A lot of great things

A lot of things have happened since my last post. This last month has been a non-stop whirlwind for me.

I started volunteering for the city of Los Angeles. A friend from church works in one of the city's shops and told me I should be a volunteer there so he could teach me how their equipment works. So far, my work has included using a laser engraver, learning how to program a CNC machine, and coming up with ideas for a solar generator. Almost everything I am doing will be very useful when I look for a job. As if that is not enough, it is a lot of fun.

Tomorrow night I will embark on Larry's next great outdoor adventure. We are going to Havasu Falls in Arizona. Aside from hiking, we will be doing legitimate camping. On Friday we will hike 8 miles to the campsite where we will set up our tents. On Saturday Peter will separate the lambs from the sheep with a 16 mile round trip hike. On Sunday we will pack up all of our stuff and carry it the 8 miles back to our car, which will involve a 1,000 foot elevation change. This is the first time I have done hiking and backpacking where I had to carry my tent and everything to a separate campsite.

There have been over 100 emails planning and talking about this trip in the last few days. Everyone is focusing on getting the correct gear. While that is very important, I fear people are neglecting getting in shape for the strenuous physical activity of hiking with packs and an elevation change. A couple of weeks ago I restarted my bike riding. On Saturday I rode 16 miles, so I am getting into good cardiovascular shape. I would have ridden 16 miles again toady, but my tire found a nail in the road half a mile into my ride.

The forecast has rain and cold temperatures for the trip. As long as we don't get hypothermia or experience anything too unfortunate it will be great.

As I mentioned earlier, in one of my classes there is a girl I have a crush on. Yesterday we went on a date. It was great. We watched a movie and went to dinner. We interacted well. There was talking, laughing, and learning about each other. She had a good time as well. After dinner she referred to the next time we go out.

I am excited. I don't know what exactly it is, but there is something about her I am really attracted to.

I am excited about everything. For the first time in a long while I am looking forward to what the next couple of months will bring.