Post Vacation Needed

After a nice break away from work (and the Bay Area in general), I feel that I am in need of another vacation entirely. I need to take a vacation to recover from my vacation. I bet we can all relate to that, right?

You know, it’s not that I want to spend time complaining about a nice tropical vacation, but it’s hard to return to the daily grind of things when I enjoyed my vacation so much. Haven’t you ever spent so much time preparing (and enjoying) a vacation that when you return you are not as relaxed as you thought you’d be? Yeah, that’s where I am now.

I would have liked to believe that after spending time away from the Bay Area and all my stresses, I would return well rested and ready to take on the world. Well, I’m in no condition to do that. Not only am I not mentally prepared to return to the daily work force, but I’m so badly sunburned that I cringe at the slightest touch from others…yeah, I know, very pleasant.

Anyway, what was the point of this blog again…? Oh yeah, I need another vacation.

Jaywalking

Crossing the street is an art. You would think that almost anyone could do it. Well, that’s partly true. Anyone could cross the street and get to the other side, but the question is, how long should that process take? If you could cross the street faster, wouldn’t you?

I found myself at an intersection this morning. As usual during the morning hours, the sidewalk was full of people. I stood on the sidewalk and noticed that my crossing light was red. I looked at the red light and the empty intersection with not a car in sight. So I did what, I assume, anyone would do. I started to cross the street. As others started to follow my lead, an elderly gentleman started to screech about the importance of citizens following laws and not participating in “disorderly conduct.”

OK where should I begin with this one? Well, let’s start with jaywalking. Jaywalking is against the law…why? I don’t know. But be that as it may, if I'm faced with a red light, but there are no cars, I don’t see a reason why I should stand on the sidewalk when I could cross the street to the other side. As long as I don’t put yourself or others at risk or cause any unnecessary commotion, I say I'm fine to cross. I mean, why would we all teach our kids to look both ways before they cross the street if, in the end, they are just going to follow what the little “walking man” or “hand” is doing? Stupid, I know. Now, as for the “disorderly conduct” comment…I hardly think jaywalking is a form of disorderly conduct. Seriously, when you think of disorderly conduct, does jaywalking automatically pop into your brain? Me, not really. When I think of disorderly conduct, I think more along the lines of disturbing the peace…so if you were to jaywalk while screaming at the top of your lungs, during the middle of the night, banging pots and pans, and being outrageously drunk…then yes, I would classify that as disorderly conduct. But other than that…I don’t think so.

So walk on, people. Walk on.

Alize

On my walk from the BART station to the office, I pass through a couple of, shall we say, shady areas. Let’s just say there are no shortages of bums in the general neighborhood. As such, these bums often help decorate the walkways and gutters along the streets with empty alcohol bottles. And hey, that's all right. Who am I to say what people should be doing when they aren’t spending their time working and paying taxes to help pay for the clean up their trash? But I digress. What's interesting about this is how often I see Alize bottles among the general bum detritus. So often, in fact, that it seems to be a full-blown phenomenon. And one I fail to understand, at that.

By way of background, Alize is a blend of cognac and various fruit juices. A pint of it costs around $7 - $10 and it is 16 percent alcohol. Just as a data point, let's compare that to, say, Georgi Vodka. A pint of that stuff -- containing more than twice the alcohol -- costs less than a pint of Alize.

So I just don't get it. It's frustrating! Some people want to intervene and help the homeless find housing or employment or health care services. I want to help them with their choice of booze. If they just went for the wood varnish remover they sell in the liquor stores as "gin," they could get so much more bang for their buck. Sure, it's not as stylish, but until a steady stream of cash can be expected, some sacrifices have to be made. I mean, really, are homeless people saving up money to buy truffles? From the crap that I see on the streets, my guess is not. I notice that homeless people flock to Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Burger King. And with good reason, you know how much food you can get for super cheap? So why does the same not hold true for alcohol? It's a mystery to me.

Basically, it's just unfortunate to see the homeless people throwing away their hard-begged cash like that. It's almost like bums don't have a strong sense of money. Huh. I wonder why? To all the homeless blog readers out there: what do you think? We can do this together, right? If you can't make sensible decisions about your intoxicants, then what CAN you be sensible about?

July

Yes, that’s right, July is here and in full swing. Can you believe that? Who would have thunk that we would have already reached mid-2008 so soon? Yeah, I know, I sound like an old person, but seriously, I, for one, can’t believe that 2008 is halfway over. I mean, it just seems like yesterday that I was ringing in the New Year…Is it just me?

Well anyway, after spending some time on the East Coast, I’m back nice and refreshed and ready to hit the ground running. Before anyone gets too excited, I got a lot of crap to wrap up before I gear up for another vacation to a more tropical location…Wahoo. Can you tell that I’m excited? Oh yeah. I’m super excited.

As for the rest of the year, who’s up for more vacations? Oh yeah, sign me up, I’m always down for some rest and relaxation…but I guess who wouldn’t be? As a kid, I was never super excited about traveling, seeing new things and being away from the comforts of home for too long, but now as I get older and more appreciative of other things, traveling is great and I love it. As an adult, I can definitely better appreciate planning vacations, experiencing new things, and enjoying exotic foods. Don’t get me wrong, I still love having a place to call home and not having to spend all my time traveling and living out of a suitcase, but I can definitely say that I look forward to vacations more often than I used to.

And as for July, 2008 is halfway over so that leaves me with a short amount of time to plan any upcoming vacations…any ideas?