Kevin's Watch

erm. I have done ZERO things on my bucket-list. Must mean I have a really long time to shuffle this mortal coil (it's not because I'm a bad mod or anything like that...)

In 2010, aliantha, for her bucket list, wrote: * See Alaska (so I can finish collecting the set )

* Visit the Czech Republic. I've got my eye on a walking tour of the hiking trail that runs from Vienna to Prague. No, I wouldn't have to walk the whole way!

* Visit Ireland and try to find what's left (if anything) of the ancestral castle.

I've knocked off two of the three; the only thing left is Ireland.

I wouldn't mind seeing Iceland, so that's sort of been added to the list. My dad was stationed there during WWII.

And I'm formally adding "relocate to Denver," for fear I'll let inertia take over and never do it otherwise....

aliantha wrote:

In 2010, aliantha, for her bucket list, wrote: * Visit the Czech Republic. I've got my eye on a walking tour of the hiking trail that runs from Vienna to Prague. No, I wouldn't have to walk the whole way!

I've knocked off two of the three; the only thing left is Ireland.

Really? Where did you go? My time there was spent centered in Brno but we took lots of train rides to other cities like Telc, Jihlava, and Olomouc, but only one weekend trip to Prague. I was originally surprised by the countryside--it looks a lot like the Hill Country in Texas--but then it made perfect sense when I realized that the Czechs who settled here moved to a place which reminded them of home. I can still read some Czech but my verbal fluency was never that good--I didn't get enough practice at it.

That was towards the end of my relationship with the mezzo soprano so the trip was great but the company could have been better. *shrug*

lorin wrote:So how's everybody been doing on their bucket lists?

Yeah, I think most of mine (on the list I store in my mind) is kind of "fuzzy."

Linna wrote:* Be in a Shakespeare play.
* Commend various people to their parents, commend the parents of the same to their children. =)
* See if I can get some uber-"La Leche League"/breastfeeding/attachment-parenting-mommas to put their money (and time) where their mouths are and provide support for under-resourced mothers who want to breastfeed. (that last one has a bit of spite, sigh.)
* Promote some of the parenting secrets of the Amish in modern America.

Yeah, scratch the last 2. (Still don't think they're bad ideas; but one's harder than I thought, and neither of them are "the main thing.")

I've been working on "Commend various people to their parents, commend the parents of the same to their children."
But again, harder than I thought.

lorin wrote:And I am now the hard boiled egg queen

Wait... I lost my hold on that title before I even knew it was contested?? Hard boiled eggs are awesome!

lorin wrote:No more spike heels. Who cares.

Sounds sane.

lorin wrote:Finish my book. On page 400

wooooo!

Adding to my list:
* Tell my dad a whole lot more of the Gospel with patience, wisdom, courage.
* Play a part in helping at least 1 church to become welcoming to the kind of people they don't normally welcome. (whether that means young or poor or single or un-sanguine or different ethnicity)

I was originally surprised by the countryside--it looks a lot like the Hill Country in Texas--but then it made perfect sense when I realized that the Czechs who settled here moved to a place which reminded them of home.

Well, that's kinda neat.
Plus, we've got twooo people of Czech background who are/have been interested in their background (even knew some of the language!?)

See the Northern Lights.
Read the Bible.
Go to Mongolia.
[.....................] the one I can't write in case my wife ever reads this [It's not so bad - honest babe.]
Eat a meal cooked by Ferran Adria.
Own a Fresian Horse.
Get to know Wagners Ring Cycle.
Visit an Opera House where all the audience are 'dressed'.
Live in the country.

Neither work nor retiring kills people V. Age and disease kill people. There are kinds of work that while they don't kill you, are so wearing on the body that it starts to 'crumble' way before bodies that have been subjected to less physical stress. I saw an interview with a german explorer who lived into his hundreds [got a feeling it may have been the guy who the film 'Seven Years in Tibet' was about, but can't be sure] who was asked the 'secret of your long life]. His reply was "Eat a pot of yoghurt a day and never over exert yourself." Now I don't know about the yoghurt, but I know your body is like a car; treat it well and it'll last a lifetime, thrash it to death and...well...exactly that. There are reasons why the british royal family all live into their nineties or hundreds - they never exert themselves!

But back on track - anyone who puts off living today in the expectation of living tomorrow is on a risky wicket - but I believe middle age is the time to really start flexing your wings. Youth is fun enough in and off itself, even on your home turf; age is the time to reflect on a life well spent. No - it is in your middle years that you must push the frontiers and take the risks. Live three lives in the course of one [many will not live a fraction of a life, though they reach a hundred] and go to your final sleep rich in experience, not in the bank.

berk peter wrote:See the Northern Lights.
Read the Bible.
Go to Mongolia.
[.....................] the one I can't write in case my wife ever reads this [It's not so bad - honest babe.]
Eat a meal cooked by Ferran Adria.
Own a Fresian Horse.
Get to know Wagners Ring Cycle.
Visit an Opera House where all the audience are 'dressed'.
Live in the country.

peter, I often seem to disagree with you - but I think so many of these ideas completely rock!!


(I "helpfully" put those in bold, because of course someone else's opinion of your bucket list is supposed to matter?!?? lol! Umm, well, maybe not, but it is a discussion board...)

Why a Fresian? I mean, they are awesome. Would you ride it, drive it, have a business with someone giving carriage rides, or just watch it run around?

working doesn't kill people, RETIRING kills people.

I've heard this! I tend to believe it.

Lena, I love the way horses look - and I love the way Fresian horses look best of all. there is a bit of Ramen in me somewhere in that I don't much care to see a horse 'subjugated', however I do recognise the need to provide some interest and activity in their captive lives [alas they cannot all be 'brumby']. Ideally I would see them free-running in herds on open grassland. Now *thats* true beauty!

Linna Heartlistener wrote:

working doesn't kill people, RETIRING kills people.

I've heard this! I tend to believe it.

uhhhh, I hope not

I agree a galloping horse is a beautiful thing!
So powerful and graceful.

That's Linna. I don't want it to be "Lena."
Though I suppose it could be an intentional jest because, well, the topic was wanting to see horses running wild and free!

berk peter wrote:Neither work nor retiring kills people V. Age and disease kill people. There are kinds of work that while they don't kill you, are so wearing on the body that it starts to 'crumble'

Well, on the last part I should have said most modern labor, especially in the developed world, doesn't kill you...[ones attitude and leisure activities or lack thereof matter a lot more]
OTOH, moving is good, some stress is necessary.

On the first, though, it is pretty clear that [again in modern/developed world] people who retire die sooner. Plenty of ways to keep that from being true...but most folk don't do them. [U.S. anyway...I don't know detailed old-age stuff for other folk...except that they all live longer]

Middle age is not necessarily a BAD time to get out and about...but it's really and inconvenient time for most people to do it.

I still think, though...travel later may well change your perspective, travel earlier can change your life.
That thinking MAY be connected to simple environment. By which I mean, it's EASY for you folk over there. Over there I can get in my car in, say, Germany and in 6 hours drive end up in London having touched on 5 different countries. Over here, I can drive for 6 hours IN A STRAIGHT LINE and still be in the same STATE.

lorin wrote:

Linna Heartlistener wrote:

working doesn't kill people, RETIRING kills people.

I've heard this! I tend to believe it.

uhhhh, I hope not

Wait, you weren't planning to retire from throwing yourself into a garden, glass art, and possibly writing, were you?

Vraith wrote:Over here, I can drive for 6 hours IN A STRAIGHT LINE and still be in the same STATE.

Are you speaking from experience, Vraith? I wasn't aware that you were a fellow Texan....

Here is a sample from MapQuest: the most efficient route from Dalhart to Brownsville is a mere 14 hours not including stops for fuel, food, or the restroom. It is only 863 miles/1388 km, which isn't too bad.

Linna Heartlistener wrote:

lorin wrote:

Linna Heartlistener wrote: I've heard this! I tend to believe it.

uhhhh, I hope not

Wait, you weren't planning to retire from throwing yourself into a garden, glass art, and possibly writing, were you?

Heck no, just from real work

Hashi Lebwohl wrote:

Vraith wrote:Over here, I can drive for 6 hours IN A STRAIGHT LINE and still be in the same STATE.

Are you speaking from experience, Vraith? I wasn't aware that you were a fellow Texan....

I was actually thinking specifically of NY, where I was born...it's a bit over 6 hours from Buffalo to NYC.
But I have done Texas...and CA...and Montana...all those are over 6. Others I assume are, though not experienced...like OK, east to west? FL, north to south? Alaska must be...if there is any road that GOES all the way across...
Probably at least a couple I'm missing...don't recall how long it took to cross n. Dakota...

There's a retirement plan for peeps. Get on your bad motor scooter [or giant RV] and DRIVE.

Vraith wrote:Over here, I can drive for 6 hours IN A STRAIGHT LINE and still be in the same STATE.[/color]

Trust me V.; you drive for six hours in this country and you certainly won't be in the same state!

berk peter wrote:

Vraith wrote:Over here, I can drive for 6 hours IN A STRAIGHT LINE and still be in the same STATE.[/color]

Trust me V.; you drive for six hours in this country and you certainly won't be in the same state!

Oh, driving often puts me in a different state...all those amateurs.
Sometimes I wish that state looked like the sea, but it's more like:

Linna wrote:* Commend various people to their parents, commend the parents of the same to their children. =)

A month or two back, I had a cool breakthrough I wanted to talk about:
In one day, two parents of tutoring students called me, discouraged about their students' seemingly-impossible problems.
I was able to encourage each of them.
Parents calling me to talk about this stuff almost never happens.

On minus side.. since then, I've 'lost' one of those two clients.
With the other one, I've built up more trust and done a lot for the student. (still fear 'losing' that client; am trying to work on solutions..)

Linna wrote:* Be in a Shakespeare play.

I'm splitting this one into two different and possibly more feasible list items:
* Be in a play.
* Participate in a "Shakespeare read-along." (people used to do this at one school my hubby went to.)


(Feel free to laugh at me for taking this bucket list thing altogether too seriously, people!)