Tag Archive for ‘Monica’ at spencerb.net

Tag Archive for 'Monica'

Travels and TripIt

Published on January 13, 2010 in Life, London and Travel. 7 Comments

Okay, here we go.

Wow…It has been a while. I’m not sure why the blogging stopped. But it did and it’s time to move on. I have about a week left of my break between Michaelmas and Lent Term. A lot has gone on over break alone, to briefly recap: Dan’s Visit, Rome, Zurich, Monica’s Visit, and Barcelona. Coming up this week (as of the original writing, these trips have since passed) is Brussels, Tallinn, and Helsinki. The following week includes the first week of Lent Term (LT) classes and a trip to Amsterdam. Perhaps I planned too much for these two months.

Time has gone by fast though and I certainly feel the finite nature of the time that I have in London. A couple of months down and overall, I’m not entirely sure what to think. Surely, one is supposed to be impressed by a city with the reputation and history of London. I definitely don’t want to give the impression that I am unimpressed or that I am unsatisfied with living in London. Neither of those would be true, nor do I anticipate will become the case over this next year. As my travels may indicate, I am certainly enjoying the adventure of living abroad, although there are many things and people that I miss from home.

While Dan was visiting, we were talking about skiing. It has been a sort of fantasy of mine for a while to live in a ski town (yes, I love the sport that much). I mentioned that if I could live anywhere, I think that it would be Whistler, BC. He replied succinctly, “you can live anywhere.” For a 20-something, the question of where you will or want to make your home is a fairly significant question.

This question is complicated by a myriad of issues including family, friends, career, citizenship, and language to name a few.

I plan on writing some more about where I have travelled and what it seems like each place revealed about itself and what the future may hold for me.

With all of this frolicking through Europe complete, I can’t more strongly recommend the website TripIt. You can log in using your Google Account, which makes life easier, one less login to remember. It makes travelling so much easier by creating itineraries for you based on booking confirmation emails. So I just forward an email from, let’s say Delta or Holiday Inn to plans@tripit.com and it automatically puts my flight times in, check in time at the hotel, and directions to the hotel along with maps of the surrounding area from Google Maps. Moreover, it has links to check flight status and check in for the flight right on the site.

It also acts as a great log for your trips. The last feature I’ll mention is the ability to easily give other travellers access and the ability to edit the trip.

Okay, another post down…I think I could get used to doing this again.

Diving from the Sky

Published on March 31, 2009 in Sports and Travel. 0 Comments

As promised, here is part 2.

To be fair, I hope this part interests you more than the set up.

Okay. As first time jumpers, we were both going in tandem with an experienced skydiver. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of this, but basically it involves wearing a harness that goes over the shoulders, around the legs, and around the waist. That harness clips on in several places to a similar harness (with parachute) that the experienced guy is wearing. After being suited up we crammed into a small plane with a seat for the pilot and barely enough spaces for the four of us.

Monica and I were warned that the plane would take about 30 minutes to get up to 10,000 feet. In the little plane, you could really feel the wind tossing it around.

The trip up provided a great view of the national park below us. Had the fear of an impending jump not been on my mind, it would have been a scenic trip. After about 25 minutes, I looked at the altimeter on my guy’s wrist and it read about 9,000 feet. We were close. Then all of the sudden, Monica’s guy opened the plane’s hatch and the cold air rushed in. She stuck her legs out and then she was gone.

I was up next. When the hatch pops open, it gets loud inside the plane. It’s already loud because the engine is literally a few yards away, but with the air blowing by its twice as loud. My skydiver and I creep toward the door. Finally, I get close enough to stick my legs out onto a little step, one foot at a time. I can feel the diver behind me doing the same. The experience stands out in my mind in a way that is hard to imagine. Of the total skydiving process, sitting in the door way strikes me the most. It is incredibly surreal. Having no control over the timing of the jump, I was powerless to reverse my course. The mix of adrenaline and fear is familiar to anyone who has done any sort of extreme sport or somewhat-dangerous sport (skiing/snowboarding included).

Then we were out and falling. The fall is completely different than what I imagined. The sense of freefall and stomach jumping wasn’t there. It was loud and cold, but the fall was a huge rush, so much adrenaline falling to the ground. The speed of the fall creates a sort of wind cushion underneath you that honestly feels unreal. Although you are falling, there is this resistance guiding you down to the ground.

After a little more than 30 seconds, he pulled the chute and we were calming sailing down. The chute going off was somewhat jarring, but most likely because I did not anticipate it. The ride down felt interesting because I did not have a sense of the ground rushing up toward me until about 100 feet off the ground. Until then everything is relatively so far away that it is difficult to distinguish from 5,000 and 2,500 feet off the ground (at least for me).

As we sailed down, I looked around for Monica below me, but did not see her. A few seconds of terror passed, then I looked up. Her chute was a little loftier and sailing down a bit slower. Finally, we made it down to the ground, landed safely, and he packed up the chute.

We had done it.

Skydive Moab

Skydiving – Check

Published on March 25, 2009 in Sports, Travel and Weather. 1 Comment

A beautiful day in southern Utah. An unsuspecting couple. And a small airstrip.

Monday night, Monica and I went to the Moab Brewery in Moab, Utah (Moh – Ab). As previously mentioned the town had a strong sense of adventure. In the bar, they were playing a video of a local skydiving group. A phone number flashed on the bottom. Monica and I started talking about it. She wanted to go. I was surprised and a little nervous. I’ve always wanted to go and she had said previously she might be a bit too nervous. But now the moment was coming where I might ACTUALLY go. And now…I was nervous.

Anyway, nothing came of it that night. We woke up in our fairly nice hotel room, went down to breakfast, and another sign came. Reading through a brochure, we spotted several ads for skydiving. It claimed to be America’s most scenic drop zone. Since, I have only gone once, I cannot confirm this. Driving to the airport, I can say that it was beautiful. We were right on the edge of a national park.

At breakfast after a little bit of thought…Monica said let’s go. I was not quite ready yet. She insisted…let’s go at 10. I could tell she wanted to jump right into it and get it over without thinking about it. I needed some time to process and rationalize the risk/thrill we were considering engaging in. Then, we made a decision. We would drive out to the airstrip, check things out and decide.

So we did that and we gave it the green light. We were going to jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet.

I’m going to leave this post as a teaser (so you come back and read tomorrow). But I will say that of things to do before I die, mechanical bull riding and skydiving are now checked off the list.

The Return Phase Begins

Published on March 24, 2009 in Sports and Travel. 2 Comments

The great thing about a road trip is that coming home is just as much a part of the trip as the beginning.

Currently, we are visiting the very scenic and very beautiful Moab, Utah. Personally, I like Utah, I think that it is a great state and that there is a lot of adventure to be had.

First of all, I can tell you there are a TON of mountain bikers in this town. Nearly every car has a mountain bike on the roof or on the back of their car. There is clearly a sense of adventure and outdoor enthusiasm here.

Last night, Monica and I visited a local brewery and ate some good bar food while sampling a few different beers.

Yesterday’s adventures included visiting the Mesa Verde National Park in CO and stopping by the Four Corners Monument. Going backwards, Four Corners is a novelty, pretty much everything you would expect. If you ever go, you only need to go once. Mesa Verde was as majestic as expected. The park has several Indian cliff dwelling sites from around 1200 AD or so. We hiked to one of the best preserved sites and did a little exploring. It was fascinating to see the homes of Indians from hundreds of years ago. Also, the national park was extremely beautiful, I would like to camp there some time. Once we arrived in the park, we had to drive 20 miles to get back to the trail. It was quite the scenic drive through the mountains.

Today, we’re heading back into Colorado. Probably towards Denver.

Grab the Mechanical Bull by the Horns

Published on March 22, 2009 in Minneapolis, Travel and Weather. 1 Comment

Kansas City turned out to be a lot of fun. The highlight of the night was easily going to a western themed bar that had a mechanical bull that you could ride for free (after paying a small cover to get in). Inside, there were a lot of people and the atmosphere was fun. Monica and I both decided to give it a try. It was tough, but a LOT of fun. I would recommend that everyone ride a mechanical bull at some point.

As I mentioned last post, there is a new area in KC called the Power and Light District, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, and entertainment in this area, including a movie theater and a bowling alley. It is obvious the area is new and intended to draw people into the city. It reminds me somewhat of Minneapolis’s Block E. The cool thing that KC has that MPLS doesn’t have is the weather to have a big outside pavilion that has a stage and a lot of seating. It also has electric heaters on the roof for cooler nights, making it very versatile.

Tonight, we stayed in Pueblo, Colorado. Honestly, it has been interesting getting into the Southwest and leaving the Plains. The atmosphere changed quite a bit. Pueblo is slightly depressed economically, but it has a historic main street area that is quite charming. Recently, they built a River Walk that has several restaurants and stores nearby. It gave the downtown area a much more personal (and safe) feel.

The weather has thrown a wrench in our plans. A big storm hit the West Coast and the forecast indicates much cooler temperatures are coming. As Dan commented on last post, the great thing about road trips is flexibility. We’ll see where we end up.

Stay tuned.

The Trip Begins

Published on March 20, 2009 in Economics, Minnesota, Northwestern, School, Sports and Travel. 1 Comment

It’s spring break and I could not be happier to have classes over! My most difficult final, econometrics, went fairly well. I answered all the questions (which I’m quite happy about), so we’ll see if the answers were right.

Monica and I are heading west. Monica wants us to end up at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I want us to end up in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. We’ll see what happens.

We stayed the night in down-state Illinois and we trucked through Missouri today and decided to do some sight-seeing in Kansas City. I’m excited, there is a really nice area called the Power and Light District that I look forward to exploring and getting a few drinks.

I hope everyone is having a great break (even though Minnesota lost).

Winter Break

Published on December 14, 2008 in Chicago, Economics, Northwestern, School, Sports and Travel. 1 Comment

It has arrived finally. I finished up my econ final and turned in a final paper for my music class last Tuesday. On Friday, I took my history exam. Today, I found out the results of my economics exam and I am extremely pleased. The only reason I’m sharing this is because 1) the class was tough and 2) it ensures I can write a thesis next quarter.

I have a few travel plans for this winter break. I’m very excited about embarking on all three of them.

First, Monica and I will be heading up to her parents’ cabin in northern Wisconsin. It will be nice to be away from things and relax a little bit. I can’t say that a whole lot of relaxing has gone on this quarter. Plus, I am excited to be going “up north”. That phrase is tossed about frequently in Minnesota with little meaning. Going up north covers a huge array of geographic areas. I am using the phrase just as wantonly, but the universal recognition of its meaning makes it a useful phrase.

Second, we’ll be heading to southern Wisconsin for Christmas. There we’ll be enjoying present opening and a lot of food with Monica’s family.

Third, we’ll be meeting my family in Vancouver for a ski trip to Whistler. I haven’t had too many opportunities to ski recently – thanks to living in Chicago and the lack of snow. Hopefully, I can get some practice when we’re up north, but otherwise I’m soooo excited for what will surely be an amazing trip. Honestly, I love skiing, it is an amazing sport. There is no better feeling than stepping out onto a mountain in your awkward boots and getting ready to carve down it.

Happy Holidays everyone and if you’re on break…enjoy it!

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving

Published on November 30, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, Life and Weather. 2 Comments

Hello!

Another blogging holiday. I’ve missed this outlet for the past few days, but have enjoyed myself relaxing and eating plenty.

Monica and I went to her folk’s place for the holidays and had a great weekend. I have to give a shout out to them and the delicious Thanksgiving Day meal.

I made a big mistake though when we left because I forgot my laptop! That required me to take a very early trip this morning to the Northern border of Illinois. I met Monica’s dad and got my laptop back. The bad news was the transportation-related nightmare for one of the busiest days of travel – snow. Chicago was expecting approximately 4 to 5 inches of snow with northern Wisconsin getting about an inch. This was a reversal from a few days ago where the opposite was supposed to happen. In the end, I think the original guess was correct because Wisconsin got snow and Chicago got a bunch of sleet and wind.

Today, I had an awful grocery shopping trip. I’ll exclude the name of the store though. I enjoy the experience of grocery shopping (besides paying). The store I was at is in the middle of remodeling, so the atmosphere was that of a store in war-torn Eastern Europe, rather than Chicago. I made it out less $150, but with enough supplies for a while.

Can Money Buy Happiness?

Published on November 13, 2008 in Life and Politics. 2 Comments

I’ve pondered this question several times with several different people. I’m not sure I want to spend this post answering this question, but just considering the implications of one way to answer it. If that doesn’t make sense, keep reading and I hope it will.

You all know I have been pretty concerned with politics leading up to the recent election. Issues regarding economic policies especially concerned me.

Monica’s dad once told me that he viewed money as time in a concentrated form. I think this is a reasonable way to view money because it allows you to put your hard work into a form that other people value. In a society with division of labor this is necessary because people are not self-sufficient. So people need a way to value each others work.

Money certainly facilitates happiness by furnishing people with the ability to acquire goods that make them happy. Having money also eliminates stress by providing people with a cushion to make decisions. Additionally, if you think about money as time, then you can consider money as the opportunity to do something that makes you happy. Of course, you cannot go to the store and buy 10 units of happy when you’re feeling down, but you can use money to do things that facilitate your happiness.

The concept of redistributing wealth, which has been touted by Democrats this election cycle depends on people answering ‘no’ to the above question. Why? Because it demands that people separate money from their own personal work. Therefore, it removes the power from the individual to make themselves happy. Specifically, it does this because if the government were literally to remove happiness from people and give it to other people, that would be seen as wrong. I’m not arguing that money should be equated with happiness, but instead I’m saying that disconnecting money from happiness removes any moral quality from redistributing it. In fact, it compels individuals in office to believe that their power can create happiness for people. Thus, they see it as a moral demand to redistribute wealth.

These ideas didn’t flesh out as cleanly as I had hoped, but think about it and let me know your thoughts. Feel free to critique mine!

Look At This Pea Coat, Tell Me He’s Broke

Published on October 31, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Okay, yes, I stole Kanye West lyrics to title this post. Actually, I chose the title first and have been debating how to fit appropriate content to this title. Of course, my first impulse was some sort of political statement. So let’s take it there. My second impulse is to relate it to the talk that Monica and I went to featuring James Carville and Mary Matalin. So let’s take it there too.

I’m going to be honest, it is tough to find pictures of politicians outside in the cold. I’ve been scouring the internet looking for a picture of McCain in a pea coat. I know they exist, I’ve seen it in the paper before. In that respect, please have faith that I have done due diligence. This post is supposed to be bipartisan, in so much as it attacks both sides.

It has become popular in political rhetoric to focus on working class roots. In fact, I’m not sure you can run for office unless you do. In one respect I understand it. My family’s roots are important to me and certainly define many of my goals. On the other hand, I don’t think that it should be a prerequisite for political communication.

At the Carville-Matalin talk (if you’re not familiar, wiki them), they mentioned that after all of the campaigns they’ve worked on that they’ve observed one of the most important qualities of a politician is the ability to communicate. This really made sense to me because policies are important, but so is the ability to succinctly communicate the ideals of your campaign. Also, think about the absurd amounts of money the candidates are spending. Lastly, consider that whoever we elect president we are paying nearly $2 million dollars over the next 4 years.

Perhaps this sort of rhetoric is necessary to connect with people in a meaningful way so that policy issues can be discussed.

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