My head is all over the place. Ever feel like there is so much information on a topic that you don't know, yet can find, that you can't figure out where to look? If I were Rummy I might think that I know there are things that I know I don't know and there are things I don't know that I don't know... Yeah, that's about how I've been feeling lately.
I've decided that if all the stars were to align and every other element of matter were to coalesce into a synergistic structure that would affect fate in such a way as to allow for the possibility, I would like to sail around the world. I understand there is a lot standing in my way, not the least of which is the fact that I don't know how to sail, nor does anyone in my home. My father-in-law sails... I'm feeling some FIL ass kissing in my future... But that in the face of all else in my way seems trivial, and perhaps the easiest to overcome.
Lets consider what else could be in my way:
Does my wife want to go around the world in a tiny sailboat? Living in it for anywhere from 2 to 5 years? Only having brief visits home in that time and mostly living near third world countries, or at least the third world elements of many modern countries. Does she want to spend upwards of 25 days at sea when crossing an ocean in possibly lumpy, or worse, seas? Cook in a house that's rolling at 20o to each side? Stand watches outside in the rain in the middle of the night? Truthfully I think I can overcome this one. It's all in the presentation... :D
Does my son want to go with, perhaps delaying college a few years, and be crew for anywhere from 2 to 5 years while he sails around the world with his family? Hell yes he does! That's my boy!
Does my daughter, all of one month old, want to begin her schooling on a boat, forsaking any friendships she's developed by the time we depart? Bah! I'll be Captain Ray by then and Seaman Recruit Madison will simply deal with the realities of her existence! Wow! I'm really feeling better about this whole thing already!
Okay, this is big one. How would I finance this whole she-bang? Not only would I have to purchase a well found and safe blue water capable boat; Nay, that alone would be easy! I am currently buried under a house and mortgage that has been ravaged in value by the current recession, as are a majority of home owners in the US right now. But if only that were the completeness of the financial challenges, still I would feel reasonably confident. No... Ray Ray has been a little cavalier in his spending habits over the years so the hole has been dug quite a bit deeper... Does this discourage me to the point of not dreaming? Hardly! Not only Where there's a will there's a way but Necessity is the mother of invention. And that is something I have truly believed for a long time! I mean I never even thought about creating a dropdown list with color coded entries until a user requested it. Sounded assinine to me at the time, but I built that sucker! I have had a use for it exactly once but that's not the point!
And finally what could quite possibily be the biggest obstacle to this whole nutty dream: What to do with all the shit I've accumulated over the past 42 years!
So here I am with a dream and little else. Far greater things have been built on less...
Ciao,
The Future Capt. Ray
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