Day Eight - Everything Costs a Lot

I spent $67 yesterday. I'm not completely happy with it, not even really a little, but this entire town conspires to take all your money. I didn't lose any money on gambling, even though we all played a dollar on one machine in each casino we visited. The big thing is that food and drinks are ridiculous here. $21 dollars for a buffet, $8 for a Wendy's value meal, and $16 for a hurricane. That adds up in a hurry. I don't think I'll be spending as much the next few days, but needless to say, I think a few nights in Vegas goes a long way.

I finished working on the Weber book yesterday and did my final note taking. Today or tomorrow I'll go back and try to come up with summaries for the first few chapters from my notes, but I've got to look over my presentation for this conference I'm presenting at.

No running here. It's actually kind of impossible. There's just no where on the strip to do it. I'm a little disappointed, because it just seems impossible to carry out everything I'm working on here without setbacks at every turn.

On the up side, I'm having a good time. There are people from all over the place here, and they are a lot of fun. I can't wait to meet some other sociology folks at the conference today, and then maybe we'll have some good people to hang out with tonight.

Peace and Love

Day 7 - From the Grand Canyon to Vegas

Before I say anything else, let me point out that the Grand Canyon is one of the most majestic, beautiful places on this planet. The End. I literally cannot describe the view from the southern rim, other than to say that beyond the first mile of space, it looks like someone took some red, yellow, and green paints and laid out the most incredible landscape they could. The human eye cannot perceive the distance that you can see from one end of the canyon to another. And I was lucky enough to hike upwards of four miles (I ran one of them) literally 10 feet from the edge. It was absolutely surreal.

I spent $8 to get in, and that was it for the day. I am now in Vegas, and am thus adjusting my financial expectations such that anything under $50 a night will be considered a win. I want to enjoy my vacation here without going completely nuts. I've committed to not gambling, so anything I spend here will be one pure entertainment without the delusion that I can win money from this place. I'm struggling to define being responsible in this place, so any comments on what I should expect of myself are very welcome.

Finally, I got some great work done on Max Weber's theory in the car this morning to the tune of two pages worth of summations on the values of different Protestant groups. I think this book may actually help my dissertation, but I won't bore people with the details here.

That's it tonight. I'm going to write something more in depth soon, but tonight is not the right night for it.

Day 6 - This Land is Beautiful

Alright, so it is borderline impossible to be in a bad mood in Arizona. There is no way to describe just how beautiful this state is, other than to say that the desert based lyrics and music of U2's "The Joshua Tree" comes closer to capturing the experience of being in this land than anything else I can think of. It is both so ascetically incredible and completely desolate.

I did about an hour of good work on my dissertation and theory writing this morning. I doubled my reading of Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism to both get my work for next week's class done and to inform my writing about my thesis topic. The more I do it, the more I am in love with the idea of getting a bit of the work I need to do over the long term done at a time. I feel no stress whatsoever, and that is a real accomplishment for me.

I ran three miles in Tucson. Once again, this place is gorgeous, and I loved breathing the light desert air and watching the changing scenery go by as I got my workout in for the day. The whole morning run got me energized and ready for the day.

I spent $19 today, of which $7 was spent on some groceries for the next couple of days. While I've been budgeting pretty well, I can't get under $10 on a day. It seems travelling makes it really hard to keep from spending money, but this will probably only get worse in Vegas. All I can say is please pray for me.

That's all I have for the night, and I'm going to go enjoy a good night's rest and get back to it in the morning.

Peace and Love.

Days Four and Five - Intermittent Communicae

So last night we stayed in a Motel 6, and they will leave the lights on for you. That's about all they will do, but still, it was a place to lay my head for the night. So, I didn't get to post an update yesterday.

I have to admit, Being on the road does test the being patient, seeing the positive, and staying kind thing to the max. I've managed not to snap at all, but instead of being joyful, I've been more emotionally flat, which may be good for a long trip, but not necessarily enjoyable for everyone else. I am happy with the extent to which I've been able to stay level headed though, so we'll see how the trend develops over the next few days.

Yesterday I went running for two miles, as noted in the day three entry, and I am planning to go running again when we get to Sedona tomorrow, although Tucson is so pretty I may make a running tour tomorrow morning before we leave.

I spent $16 yesterday between a 12 pack of dr pepper, transportation in Dallas, and get ripped off by some guy's street trick for $2.

Him: I bet I can tell you where you got your shoes.

Me: You're on, but I'm sure I am not gong to win anyway.

Him: Well, you got one on your right foot, and the other on your left.

Me: Here's your two dollars. (And that was neither funny or impressive)

Today I spent $12 on a Subway sandwich meal and helping to replace my headphones (a travelling mate accidentally broke them in the door two nights ago, and graciously offered to help me replace them). We are eating out tonight, and I've set a budget of $15 for the meal.

I've also done darn good with working on the dissertation stuff. I've managed to read and organize notes the last couple of days on a theory book while on the road, and I like having small chunks to bite off instead of dealing with a lot at once. Hopefully this will continue when I am not on the road for eight hours a day.

I'm practicing patience and delayed reactivity right now. I think it's really helpful to do what is necessary to navigate the situation at hand without reacting inappropriately or counter-productively. Today for instance, I can't count the number of times someone cut me off in traffic. Normally, I yell and get angry for at least five minutes about this kind of thing, but it doesn't change anything about the situation. The important thing is to make sure that I get out of the way safely and effectively, then go on about my day without turning someone else's road rage into my attitude issue. I think the phrase is "Let him have his wreck somewhere else." So, I guess I'm learning today not to internalize things that are completely external to my control. I think when I waste my efforts dealing with things I have no role in determining, life becomes more stressful and I am less able to do the things that have been put in front of me to impact.

Peace and Love.

Day Three - Go West!

We drove eight hours yesterday from Birmingham to Shreveport and made it into a Super 8 motel at about 1:30 this morning. Lots of good conversation and laughs to be had, and I think the trip is off to a good start.

This will be short because we are pressed for time.

Yesterday I spend $26.50 at a gas station to go ahead and fill up my car since gas should be more expensive when I get back. Also spent $12.50 on a bottle of whiskey from the abc for Vegas. Not really planning on drinking very much, but it'll end up being cheaper to have a drink at the hotel to cap off the evening than to go out for one.

I read a theory book for at least thirty minutes yesterday in the car, and the day before I did some summarizing and reviewing of game theory articles for my dissertation.

This morning I finally returned to running, and did a solid two miles in just under twenty minutes. FYI, it's really flat and bland near the Super 8 in Shreveport.

We're about to head out so I'll cut this short. Thanks for tagging along!