AtomJohnson Blog

Well, I’m a new fence closer to selling my house. The fence guys showed up this morning and put up a really beauty. I had other contractors tell me that I could use the bent 4 x 4 posts, but I was sure that they could be used. With a bit of elbow grease, and some screws, I’ve got a beautiful (straight) new fence in the backyard.

As I get ready to sell the house, leave my job, travel a good bit of the world and then start fresh in Colorado, I’ve constantly been thinking about what I want to do when I get there. There are the questions of where we want to live, what we want to live in, and what we want to do for a living. As much as I’ve enjoyed my time in the field of computers and technology, I just can’t stand another job sitting behind a row of computer keys trying to keep my inbox from constantly filling up.

As I posted earlier, Nat and I have been seriously considering purchasing a piece of land in CO and living in a Yurt. The ultimate plan would be to build a more permanent structure on that land, but we could love Yurt living in the mean time. Living in a Yurt and building your own house used to seem like a radical idea, but I’ve come to realize that its not all that radical, just unconventional. Right now the idea of living in a treehouse seems radical, but as I read more about it, it too begins to move into the realm of merely unconventional.

Living here in Northern Virginia with a high monthly mortgage and the necessary high-salary job to match, I’ve begun to question my own life and how I am living it. Is this what I want? Am I fulfilled by a job that takes up the majority of my life? Why is a high-paying salary important to me? What would I need to give up in order to courageously pursue something that would provide meaning and fulfillment? And the most important question of all….Are you gonna eat that?

The city of Lyon, France has started an innovative new initiative to curb commuter congestion. The Rent-a-bike program allows anyone with a credit card to rent a bike for $1.20 per hour. However, the first 30 minutes are free. Since most trips are relatively short, you could conceivably leave your car and own bike at home, yet still commute efficiently about the city. If you’ve ever been in the middle of a gorgeous city on a Sunday morning, or other low-traffic time, you know how enchanting it can be. Similar free bike programs have been attempted in other cities, but they have worked on the honor code. Since this system requires a credit card and a $180 check or credit deposit for each bike (cashed or charged if bike is kept more than 24 hours), theft has not been a problem.

Read more about the rent-a-bike program here.

Would you believe me if I told you that a Subaru factory in Layfayette Indiana produces less waste each week that a typical household? They have figured out a way to reduce or reuse almost everything in their manufacturing process. This is the beauty of sustainable design practices. It doesn’t mean that they have to stop producing cars. It doesn’t mean that the manufacturing quality suffers. It simply means they have thought out how to do things better to produce less waste. You can read more about it here.

I aim to do the same. One area where I try to reduce my waste is with plastic shopping bags. I keep about 5 canvas bags (stuffed within each other) in the closet next to my front door. When I go to the grocery store, I take these and pack my groceries in them. It benefits me, because I can put more in one bag, so I’m not hauling 17 plastic bags from the car each time I go shopping. It also feels great to not fill my garbage can half full with plastic bags after each trip.

I have always loved the environment and the outdoors, but as an urban dweller, it has been very easy to give into the convenience of wasteful living and turn a blind eye to the hurtful environmental practices of the way that we live. I’m not suggesting that we all grow our hair long, stop showering and listen to The Grateful Dead, but we can all pitch in and live in a more sustainable way. Alot of it has to start with us as individuals, but there is alot we can do at the urban planning level. One thing that we can do as individuals is to buy organic foods and free range meats. Please take a moment to watch The Meatrix. Its a great little cartoon about large factory farming practices. It is very real, and its time that we all pitch in and try to create a better world for our children (or our dogs, or even ourselves).

Welcome to the Jerry Rig Bed and Breakfast. Our mission is to cover up obvious blemishes around the semi-luxurious townhouse in order to provide the illusion of comfort and luxury for our guests….

So, Nat’s Mom, Grandma and Grandpa all flew into town last night from Wyoming for her induction into the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club. As always, I cleaned up the house as much as usual for the arriving guests and about an hour before they show up, I panic and realize that I have no guest towels, guest soap, guest sheets….or anything else that a normal responsible adult has for guest accomodations. My simple Southern Hospitality has never let me down, but these are fairly important guests. With the best intentions, but no time on my hands, I had to make do. I realized that the dog drool stains and tears in the comforter could be easily solved by flipping it over…for a cleaner, silkier presentation. All pillows in the house could go to guests, while the giant couch pillows work well for the residents. The standard mint chocolate that is neatly displayed on the pillow after fold down could be equally substituted with an expired 20% off coupon for Bed, Bath & Beyond…..please enjoy your stay.

The purpose for their visit is Nat’s induction into the Sergent Audie Murphy Club. This is an incredibly high honor to achieve (only 0.5% of the Army has). It honors those soldiers who ‘lead from the front’ and put their soldiers first. Nat was so nervous before going before the board in July, but when she called me that morning to say that she had been inducted, I was so relieved, happy, and proud of her. It was not until today that I realized what a great honor it is to be in this club, and how well Nat did in front of the induction board. At one point, I overheard one of the board members say to her that she was the most impressive soldier that he has seen in front of the board. He expressed his belief that it is because she truly serves her soliders from the heart…the most unselfish place. She is an amazing solider. I was so honored to be part of such a wonderful ceremony and unbelievably proud of Nat today.

So, I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do for living and for a living when I return from our travels and settle down in Colorado. I have a ton of ideas, but the two that appeal most right now are going into the field of sustainable planning and design, or opening a doggie day care. The place where I take Sadie now offers franchise opportunities. I’ve been speaking with the owner about opening one in Colorado and she is very interested. We have a meeting tomorrow night about it. I was thinking Phase I could be the doggie day care, and later I could expand it to also be a health food and natural products store for pets. I think it would take off.

I’ve also been considering the idea of living in a Yurt. A yurt is a basic, round structure built from wooden latice work and wrapped in an insulated, treated canvas covering. The roof is composed of wooden beams that rest against a wooden center ring. One can be purchased for about $10K and constructed in a weekend. Imagine living on a beautiful piece of land in the Colorado mountains with nature just outside your door and no house mortgage (just the land). I’m studying up on it now, but I think it’d be an amazing, unconventional way of living. Plus, it’d just be great to live in something that starts with the letter ‘Y’.

I may have just heard one of my favorite quotes ever. It was from Eunice Kennedy Shriver (John F. Kennedy’s sister). She says her parents used to instill in them:

“You do the best you can….and then to hell with it”

I love it! You take risks, you do the best you can with what you’ve been given…everything else is up to someone besides yourself.

Talking about travel plans is one thing…actually doing the work to get ready to leave is quite another. Today I began organizing and cleaning the house for the sale. One of my least favorite activities is filing papers. I would rather be locked in a hot recording studio with Celine Dion than file away the hundreds of papers that I must keep in case someone comes knocking at my door wanting to see them. Upon filing my bank statements, I realized that the last time I filed papers away was March 2004. That explains the giant stack in the blue room of my townhouse. Well, I have finally made it to the bottom of the stack, and now I’m onto the next set of choirs…

At least Nat and I are together doing the labor. Of course, she is on basement duty, so we are really two floors away, but I’ll be down there soon debating whether I should donate a basketball to Goodwill or keep it for another 4 years in case someone comes over and wants to play.

We are going to see the travelling Broadway production of The Lion King in Baltimore tonight. Nat has always wanted to go, and being the good boyfriend that I am, I agreed and bought tickets. Maybe we’ll go to Chuckee Cheese for dinner and then be sure to get up early so we can see Sunday morning cartoons.

Be sure to see the movie Murderball. We saw it last night and it was amazing! It is the story of the US Paralympic Rugby Team. It is much more about overcoming your obstacles and not focusing on what you don’t have, but acceling in life with what you do have. Its a truly beautiful and inspiring film.

Talking about our travel plans more and more has really begun to get me more excited about the trip. Now that the leadership at work knows, I can start telling more and more people about it. Its fun to hear people’s excitement and answer their questions. I don’t have alot of answers now, except for the fact that we plan to be gone for about 6 months. The current draft of our plan looks like New Zealand for 2 months, Australia for 1.5 months and Europe for 2.5 months. We would like to be in Europe for the 2006 World Cup. If you don’t know, I have an incurable passion for soccer. I have two blown out ACLs to prove it.

I am hoping to either expand this site into a travelogue with lots of photos and videos, or to start another site where everyone can follow along. I found The Travelling Guys website today. Its a site to track the journey of 2 guys who are hopeing to change the world by documenting different places, cultures and pitching in the do some acts of kindness while they are there. It is certainly an interesting concept. My current plan just involved drinking as much beer as I could in each location and watching the toilets flush backwards in Australia, but maybe there is an old woman somewhere with a funny accent that needs help crossing the street. If I’m still sober enough to stand, I’d be happy to help her out. If she pays me in Doritos and a ham sandwich, I’d say we’ve got a win/win situation.

So, it is somewhat official now…the Adam and Nat World Tour of 2006 starts in February. Nat and I have decided now would be the best time to drop out of it all for a bit and go see a some of the world. In tune with the great themes of ‘No Regrets’ and ‘No Guts, No Glory’, we are actually doing it. This weekend I signed a contract with a realtor to sell my house in September and this morning I informed the Principal at my office that I would be departing the pattern in December. He is sad to lose me, but he was in support of and very excited about the plans. He said he wished he had done that when he had the opportunity. Well, I have the opportunity, and I’m taking it…and I couldn’t be more excited right now.

Strangely enough, I was totally unmotivated yesterday in my job. I could stay focused for about 4, maybe 5 seconds at a time. After the conversation with my Principal, I’m completely reenergized and ready to do as much as I can before I leave. I’ve always enjoyed finishing races at a full spring, so I guess this will be no different.