Course Change - January 20th, 2009

Today is a big day for me - arguably one of the biggest days in my life as an adult. I've been living a collegiate life of indecision for almost the entirety of the past two years - and today proves that statement. Today I withdrew from Calculus for the last time. I have done it twice before, but on this foggy day in January, I have decided to shoot the suffering dog dead. Physics and English will remain for this quarter, but I will not be continuing calculus or physics in quarters to come. With my decision to take off Spring quarter each year to allow for work in Alaska, I came to the realization that completion of my B.S. (Bachelor's of Science, Mechanical Engineering) degree at the University of Washington would happen no earlier than 2014, and even then the course load would have been tremendous.
To those who continue to do tabular integration, linear approximations, differential equations, and countless other rigorous pieces of calculus in my absence - I salute you. Perhaps someday I will again tread in the land of Newton, Leibniz, and Riemann - but my focus has changed and soon calculus will be a softly-defocused object in the background of my life.

Now, while it was neither a quickly or easily made decision, this change is absolutely going to open up my life to options that I haven't been able to truly consider for the past two years. During my time here at on N 102nd Street, I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I'd like to do when I get out of school - where to travel, what skills I'd like to gain, and the countless hobbies and sports to immerse myself in.

The list is such:

• Take a bar tending class at Flairbourne's School of Bartending
  
• Upgrade my Captains License to a 200/500Ton Inland Master
• Take Basic Safety Training (for fun, and to add to my Captains license)
• Finish my truck, and sell
• Purchase a sailboat to live on - (Mid-60's Islander 32's are pushing my buttons right now)
• Equip said sailboat for extended cruising around the globe
• Further develop my ability in the realm of photography: currently: image processing and compositing.
• Road-trip. A long one. 4Runner, kayak, friends, my lady, photo gear, climbing shoes, and sunglasses included.
• Take the 10 credit EMT course, and start working as one!
• Work in the Fall/Winter: as a bartender, as a tig welder, as a photographer, as a sailmaker and rigger, as a transmission technician, and as a bike mechanic. Not all at once, of course.

In addition to all of these various ventures, I also plan on finishing a bachelor's degree, just not one that involves calculus 152 and beyond. Small business management, business accounting and finance, and some other fun stuff along the way are definitely in the works. And I'll probably switch to Seattle Central Community College, as it is equidistant from my future living space, and it's a block away from my lady (awee...).

Speaking of new living spaces: I've talked to my dad about paying the moorage costs on Augusta (the family sailboat that I grew up on for 12 years) and living aboard her at the Shilshole marina beginning this fall. The main idea is that I get myself out the the house I'm in: I love my roommates to death, but I need to kick my own butt into gear, and into a direction that is less comfortable and easy. This move will force me to finish my truck - the plague of my youth - and prepare me for living on my own boat in the future. I've been searching for, studying, comparing, and even kicking the tires on a few boats over the past 2 years, and I'm almost in a position to comfortably purchase my first floating home. So as of now I'm planning on liquidating a number of my belongings by mid-April, then storing the rest until I move aboard Augusta in the Fall.

Travel plans: Spring break could possibly be a time for me to fly down to California to visit my Mom, see some friends, look at some boats, and tour a school (Brooks Institute). Also, at the end of the Alaska season Aimee and I have been planning on taking a couple weeks to plop ourselves down in Maui and do some swimming, hiking, and lazily wandering beaches. Beyond that, who knows! I've got a lot on the plate right now, and only providence knows what will happen.

Lastly, I'd like to be more social. I feel that I've been spending less time with friends than is right, and I aim to change that. Sailing, hiking, fun photo shoots, skiing, and sipping wine/slamming shots is definitely in order.

I wish I had some amazing quote to end this whole epiphany/plan of mine with, but a simple "Cheers" will have to do. I have said before, and I will say again: One lifetime is not long enough to experience all the wonders that this incredible world has to offer.

Cheers,

Danny