Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
Thomas Edison
Officer Taco
Mind equipment - Appalachian Trail
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#22
People judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hard-boiled egg.
"There are two standing orders for this platoon:
- Take care of your feet.
- Don’t do anything stupid to get yourself killed"
Lt. Dan from Forrest Gump
Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason
Jerry Seinfeld
You are what you decided to be
Officer Taco
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#23
i don’t know who to give credit to this quote-i don’t have the luxury of a negative thought- Also whatever my brother Aswah says-Right On !!! One big suprise about hiking is that a family comes with it-except this one likes it when you pee outside and burp around the campfire.
rambunny
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#25
Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
Thomas Edison
what? That makes no sense whatsoever brother Taco
Aswah
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#26
My sweetheart Aswah says that I showed him that mileage didn’t matter and that it’s the voyage that counts. He is the one that showed me how wonderful hiking can be. TRUST ME, I am the one who bitched the most on our hike about how hard it is and why am I doing this voluntarily??? So yes I agree that it is alot of mind games…alot of times I was wanting to get off the trail…but being with Aswah, an eternal optimist, I came to understand that the trail is not about hiking, rather, it’s about the relationships you make and the fun that you have on the trail. Screw that goal you have of mileage…what’s the point of that??? Are you enjoying the hike? Seeing the beautiful mountaintop? Hearing the birds chirping? Breathing the fresh air? Enjoying the sunsets/ sunrises? THAT is what is what is all about in my opinion…
ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT. Not all of life has to be goal-driven…you never know when your time may be up…my favorite quote by Pink Floyd…“All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be…”
Day Tripper :O)
Day Tripper
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#27
Aswah, I was referring to the fact that 25% of the “Trail” is in Virginia. Not that I was 25% done. One of my goals was to do the trail “State by State” (some of us LIKE to measure our progress) and I felt like I was in Virginia forever. I was known for getting up late, spending hours on a summit and taking naps in the sun. That’s why my hike took almost six months. Again, to each his own.
Hey dude… my bad… but still if you look at something as a chore it will become a chore. Perspective. Six month hike… sounds like you did it right!
Peace,
aswah
aswah
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#28
Dang Aswah! After reading your lingo I feel inspired to go hug a tree and recycle some styrofoam. Joy to the world.:cheers
Rowboat
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#29
“Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a fry cook.”
and also:
“I came to understand that the trail is not about hiking…”
“Not all of life has to be goal driven”
Thats all well and good. To all who live by this creed:
Just be sure not to burn my french fries get when I order them and if I don’t want to make it a combo, know that I don’t have to.
Officer Taco
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#31
Actually, French Fries can be burned. Mind you, if something can be FRIED it can also be burned. Once I was at Burger King and the workers shoveled up a bunch of fries from the bottom of their fry holding thingy and they were burned. I then proceeded to ask for freshly cooked fries, as I did not want to pay for and then eat burnt fries. That would have sucked.
Rowboat
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#32
Taco:
what the hell are you talking about?
Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a fry cook
Just be sure not to burn my french fries get when I order them and if I don’t want to make it a combo, know that I don’t have to.
are you attempting humor or talking about my vocation as a Chef in the numbered world? If it’s humor don’t give up your day job… If it a comment about me being a Chef then I would have to say that you are you completely clueless and your reputation on the trail is very befitting. As a chef I was rated by Food and Wine magazine as Chef of one of the top ten new restaurants in the world… So, no, I would never serve you fries or anything for that matter. You probably could not afford to eat in the restaurants where I work nor would your palate be trained enough to appreciate food.
ASWAH
p.s. Now go out and hug a tree…
aswah
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#34
Taco is a shotgun toting freak. Pay him no mind, A.
This was a cool thread until the neandertals showed up…
(And you first-level thinkers know who you are.)
(Impressive knowledge of french fries, BTW. You could turn that into a real job, R.)
There are always some who never outgrow their high school sensibilities. Arrested development, I think it’s called. A sign of deep and chronic inner fears.
Freaks.
Skoo Bah
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#35
then… I apologize about the turn in the thread… And yes, it is a great thread… ciao… back to me tree worshipping
one love aswah
aswah
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#36
I think that’s a very good quote…but like Aswah said, it’s all about perspective.
To me, it means that if a person is satisfied, he stops working for improvement. If you’re satisfied with your lot in life, you’ll never work to improve it, and that’s the point when you become a failure.
Again, this is about perspective. If you’re satisfied with low education or job training, then you’d better be satisfied being a fry cook. However, maybe it’s not economic value or social recognition that you crave, as OT seems to think is the case with his fry cook post. What if a person is completely satisfied with his fry cook position, but still endeavors for personal improvement that doesn’t have an economic reward? What if his reward is strictly his own happiness? Why does he have to live up to your standards or your expectations? (Read Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”. It’ll change your life.)
But again, the quote still applies. He’s satisfied with his low-paying job, but not satisfied with his level of personal development…so he goes hiking every year to improve his connection with nature.
If you’re completely satisfied with everything, you have nothing left to strive for. Then you’re a failure because you’ve stopped progressing.
Satisfaction isn’t the same thing as being content with your life and decisions. I’m content with where my life is going, but not yet satisfied because there is still so much left for me to do…including hiking the AT.
It’s easy to live in the “here and now” when I’m on the trail, but back in the “numbered world” I can’t stop thinking about what my “here and now” will be like on the next hike.
That’s me, anyway. You have to be content with you. Best of luck on that journey.
Jeff
Jeff
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#37
As usual, I will attempt to get this back to topic with some estrogen.
I’m surprised to see no one mentioned (I skimmed the posts, maybe I missed a reference) to the biggest head game out there: missing home. Be that spouse/kids/pets.
That was my biggest mental challenge and the reason that 20 somethings rarely have that issue.
It is incredibly difficult to leave behind someone you love, even though they love you enough to shove you out the door to live this dream.
Had I been single when I thru-ed I think quitting or leaving the trail would have seldom entered my thoughts. On the other hand, it was a daily occurrence to me. But I did want this, very badly, through the heat and the chafe and the constant humidity and dirt and lack of water (drought year 02) those issues weren’t in the forefront of pushing me to leave. Instead it was thoughts of my husband and dog and garden, etc.
It’s late and my thoughts aren’t congealing tonight. But IMHO missing home is a major mind equipment glitch.
Bluebearee
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#38
Hey Aswah, sorry, didn’t know you were actually real live chef. My bad. But I think Jeff cleared things up. And I have no intentions of quitting anything, ever, let alone my job.
And unless your restaurant serves, pizza, bacon cheeseburgers, or chicken fried steak; no, I probably wouldn’t appreciate it. Sorry, I guess thats just the neanderthal in me. But keep up the good work bruh!!
Long Live the 12-gauge!!! (did you know they also make shotguns in 10, 8, 6, and 4 gauge!! But the later 3 are not very common at all, and I believe illegal (too large). The 12 is the most common overall gauge, with the 20 gauge 2nd. The .410 is the smallest, next is the 28 (not common anymore) and the 16 is getting phased out as well but I find the 16 gauge to be great for meduim sized birds such as grouse and woodcock. The 12 gauge is used most often by police agencies, and most departments use 00 (pronounced “double-ought”) buckshot. This surprises many civies who ask, what would you do in a hostage situation with a shotgun loaded with buckshot? Simple. Double ought buckshot spreads, from the end of the barrel or muzzle, at a rate of one inch per yard. So at 3 yards, nine feet, you would have a pattern approximately 3 inches in diameter. About the size of a basebal i think.
Simply put the bead on the suspects ear opposite the hostage, and good night nurse.
Officer Taco
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#39
Your posts and journal entries are always soooo inspiring to me. You have a way with words, thank you. I needed that today, my personal philosopher.
Blue Jay
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#40
Thanks everyone for all the great posts!
Off-topic dreck is just that…
And nice words, Aswah.
See you out there!:tongue
Tyger