Blog – Page 33 – john paganetti

Green vs. Simple

Here’s something I can’t post on the JWT blog:

I was talking to someone about this project recently and describing all of the modifications to the bus, and how we’d be getting along once we’re actually on the trip, and they commented how “green” the whole thing seemed. And they’re right, its a very environmentally friendly project. But that isn’t the point.

Environmentally friendly and practical are starting to mirror each other. Life on the road is practical by necessity. You cannot bring much with you, you cannot generate much waste, you have fewer resources to work with, and because of this you are forced to be practical.

I couldn’t do this trip on diesel fuel, because I could never afford it (the cost getting back from MN was high enough). If I could go across the country on free diesel, I probably would. As it is, we’ll be using cooking oil – for practical reasons, not environmental ones.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the environmental movement, but there are people out there who know and care far more than I do. We’re not trying to promote anything, we’re just doing what works. This is a roadtrip without agenda.

Or at least I wish it could be. It seems sponsors don’t want to jump on anything unless it has a purpose. So what is most likely to happen is I’ll put up a friendly facade until we get what we need, and then dispense with the crap. I’m not looking to preach to anyone.

Other Trips

I’m not sure why, but this summer I’ve seen more websites pop up about people’s trips. I don’t know if more people are traveling or if more people are blogging, but there are a lot of websites up about people in motion. Some folks are traveling in their cars/vans, living in them as they go. Some are traveling by bike, or on foot. Then there are the larger scale trips that have a decent sized number of people on them, and have been going for years (BioTour, Big Green Bus, etc).

I’ve added links to many of these sites on our links page, and I suggest you check them out.
They’re pretty interesting, and I’m certain you’ll find at least one that you’ll keep up with.

Maybe more of these blogs are popping up because there is a growing interest in this type of project. I know that nearly everyone I’ve talked to about the Juan Way Tour was immediately interested in the idea, having thought about doing something similar. I wonder what’s causing the interest.

I’m a Dog

So I was looking at my dog sleeping next to me on the couch this afternoon, and I was wondering how he sleeps so much. I know he sleeps through the night, spending the whole time at the foot of my parent’s bed. Oreo used to wonder around the house at night, making sure it was safe, but Mario sleeps. We play outside, if the weather is nice, but that’s usually only once a day or so. He has a lot of time to kill, and I was wondering what he would do if we just let him do his thing. In the wild, dogs would spend their time getting food, but domesticated dogs don’t have to worry about that. It has been that way his entire life, so he isn’t used to any other lifestyle.

I, however, did things during the day for most of my life. Now I’m on the same schedule as my dog. I’m living off the fat of the land: living at home all my basic expenses are taken care of, and I don’t need to worry about getting money for food or rent. So what do I do with this time? Plan, dream, think about things that I quickly forget. I’m not sure if Mario is doing the same. I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

I’m dog-sitting for neighbors this week, so I have to get up early to walk and feed him, then again around dinner, and walk him once before I go to bed. Their dog, Pokey, has even more free time than me and Mario combined. Since the house is empty, he is on his own for most of the day. Pokey is a dog with a lot of energy, so I can’t imagine this suits him well. I’ll hang out with him for a while, so he’s less lonely. Tonight I watched Daily Show / Colbert Report over there instead of here, so he would have some company for a while.

Where the Hell is Matt?

An update to the previous videos. I love this stuff.

A Guide to Good Jobs

This is a bit of an update to the man-job theory I wrote over two years ago.

One point of clarification: while the jobs titles listed below may not be the official title of the job (garbageman being ‘civil sanitation specialist’ and the like) if a job can be referred to by a -man name and understood as such, it qualifies.

-man jobs are still at the top of the list of good jobs. -man jobs are nearly always jobs that don’t involve sitting behind a desk, are always interesting, and not very difficult. -man jobs pay well – not enough to live extravagantly, but enough to live well on. -man jobs usually have easily met prerequisites, most training occurs within the job.

-man jobs:
Fireman, Delivery Man, Mail Man, Spokesman, Policeman, Garbage Man, Milk Man, Salesman

-smith jobs are also very good jobs, and while they rank above -man jobs in awesomeness, they rank below -man jobs in everything else. -smith jobs don’t pay any better than -man jobs, but require more training (apprenticeship), and more skill. Make no mistake, -smith jobs are very good jobs, but because of the increased emphasis on training and skill, ranks below -man jobs.

-smith jobs:
Blacksmith, Goldsmith, Silversmith, Locksmith

-er jobs are far more common than either -smith or -man jobs. -er jobs are like -man jobs in spirit, but it isn’t as smooth sailing as a -man job. There is some undesirable aspect that sets it apart from -man or -smith jobs. These jobs embody the -man job spirit, and are a good first step in the direction of a good job. Note: -er jobs are still better than jobs that do not fall into any of these categories.

-er jobs:
Painter, Shopkeeper, Barber, Teacher, Auctioneer, Dog Walker,

I plan on updating this list with jobs in all three categories as they come up. Comment if you have any to add.

Som Day 08

What a good day. I woke up this morning to an email from a guy running the diesel program at Cheney Tech in Mansfield – he offered their services in getting the bus operational (both maintenance wise and the veggie conversion). Then about a dozen people showed up downtown to terrorize the populace as ninjas. We went from crosswalk to crosswalk, one cluster of ninjas on each side of the street. When the crosswalk changed to WALK, be bolted out into the center of the street, and fought the other group/anyone around us. Once it changed back to DON’T WALK, we ran back to one side or another. We went up Main St. and Washington St., and even managed to get some other folks to join in. Good stuff.

Venetian Snares – Szamar Madar

Floorplan

A basic floor plan I sketched up. I’ve been musing with a bunch of ideas for a while, and I think this is the most all-purpose plan. The backs of the benches can span across the walkway between the two to make decent sized beds. The dinettes will also fold down to […]

Misdistractions

Obama’s Speech
Hillary’s Speech
I just finished watching both of them, and all I can say is that they’re both absolutely terrifying. Not Obama or Hillary, but their supporters. People are supporting their candidates with such conviction that you would think that candidate personally saved their life. Is universal healthcare really so exciting? I just don’t think that universal healthcare, or gas prices, or even the war in Iraq are the most pressing issues our country is facing today. They’re a step in the right direction, but none address the source of these problems – how we treat other people. People are at odds with each other over things that don’t matter. Love for other people – complete strangers – can solve all these problems. We should work on that.

Tuck and Roll

It’s almost happening again. Less so this week, but last week I felt it creeping up on me. Habit. More than habit, routine. The same thing, day in day out. It’s a great way to lose track of time, and a great way to cruise through a week of school, or any time when you would rather be doing something else. But that’s not what I’m trying for this summer. Days need to be memorable, or else you lose them.

I always think of blowing through days by way of habit as “tuck and roll”. If you’ll bear with the metaphor, it works pretty well. When life is good, you’re walking through life. You’re not in a rush to get anywhere, and you notice things around you in greater detail than you normally would. When you’re working towards a goal, you’re running through life, and you see things rush by you, but you only pay them a slight bit of attention, since you’re looking at the goal. When you just want to the days to disappear, you tuck and roll, and suddenly everything is a blur, and you can’t really see anything right – maybe you see something, but its upside down – and then suddenly, you’ve traveled all this distance without really knowing how.

Routine is a great way to do this, if that’s the goal. Same thing every day makes days blur together. They’re easily forgotten, which makes it seem like less time doing whatever you’re doing. But I’m not trying to tuck and roll, I just tripped. I’m glad I’m out of the swing of things again, and I’m going to have to try to keep it that way. The other night I found myself with nothing to do, and it was a beautiful night, and I thought about going for a bike ride. I didn’t, but next time I will.