Currently Reading Catch 22 By Joseph Heller see related

I've got three weeks left at Philmont.

Which is a shame, I only started liking it just a little while ago.

Currently Reading The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams see related

Here's a fun little story:

Today, a kid came up to my register and bought a Philmont coffee mug (or something, I can't remember, but for the sake of storytelling, it was a mug).  He paid with his Visa card, and I printed out the receipt for him to sign.

It took him an awfully long time to sign it.  He certainly took his time.  "That's quite a John Hancock you got there," I playfully commented.

"I have no fingers," he said after he was finished.

He actually did have fingers, but they were really small, like they only had one phalange on each finger. It kind of creeped me out.

Man, did I feel like a douche bag for giving him a hard time.

Currently Listening Late Registration By Kanye West see related

I just got back from a little backpacking trip.  I'm really tired, and I have to work tommorow. 

The trip was alot of fun.  Two friends and I decided to hike up the ridge out of base camp and camp at the tooth ridge before we climbed the Tooth of Time the next morning. 

We almost died twice.

The first incident took place last night.  My friends and I were having various existential discussions by a cliff (the only way to have them) and we stayed there until the stars were in full force.  The cliff was only a football field away from our campsite, but it got really dark, really fast.

I think we walked around for about an hour and a half, thinking that mountain lions were lying in wait to eat us.  We started banging sticks, yelling at things we thought were eyes (which turned out to be reflectors on tents for some of the boy scouts) and hopelessly roamed around.  What we ended up doing was ripping a camp map off a tree and we eventually found our way back to our tents.  I taped the map back to the tree the next day.

The second incident isn't as exciting to describe, but it was probably more dangerous than the aforementioned midnight peril we endured.

We didn't really have enough water for the hike back, (we couldn't refill it at our camp) so we basically got dehydrated by the time we made it back to base camp.

But none of us are worse for wear.  we're alive and kickin' and I'm sooo ready for the physical I need to get tommorow (lame).  It costs $55 (double lame).

ttfn.

Currently Reading Life of Pi By Yann Martel see related

I'm in the middle of a mini three day vacation.

I have nothing to do.

It's beautiful.

Currently Reading Everything Is Illuminated : A Novel By Jonathan Safran Foer see related

The campers have arrived.

And with them, they brought a living hell unto me.

I can't believe I was a boy scout for 12 years.  The majority of these kids are complete douche bags.  The one's that aren't a bag of douche are the timid kids that are scared to talk to you to get something they want in the trading post.  Then again, I'm not the most well adjusted young man out there...

It's really not that bad.  With the campers here, the place seems to have a pulse, a tempo of sorts.  It helps the days go by faster, and I'm always on the lookout for people from Ohio, even if they're not from the columbus area. 

I've taken a great liking to Mystery Science Theater 3000 here.  A friend of mine from the trading post has a couple volumes on DVD and I think I've watched three shitty movies get made fun of by three silhouettes in the tv screen's foreground.  MST3K is amazing.

Other than that, I was awarded a water bottle today for working so hard.  It's clear and it has Mickey Mouse heads on the side.  At least it holds water.

Later.