The Stats, The Plan

“Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything... 14% of people know that.” ~ Homer Simpson

As you know, this blog is only about a month old. I have a cute little hit counter at the bottom of the page, and this links to my blog statistics, which I look at every day. Since it is a brand-new blog, and I think because I switched it up right around the holidays, it is taking some time to build the numbers. That can be a little depressing, because with the last blog I had a good base built up, and now all the numbers are low... but that is just accumulation, we'll get back to it. There is also a map, with pinpoints on where the hits are coming from, all over the world. Don't worry, I can't pinpoint it to your EXACT location, I won't be showing up on your doorstep or anything. But now those pinpoints have to build up all over again, whereas I left behind a map full of them with the "Smalltimore, the Movie" blog. That was nice to look at.

But the cool thing is that, now that I do have somewhat of a base and a following, the numbers can be a bit more accurate because there are more people hitting the sight on purpose. The stats are cumulative, so on the last blog the more recent numbers were still watered down by numbers from a year ago, when less people were following and a lot of the hits were accidental. Does that make sense? It is all about the "Visit Length" stat. Even though it feels in some ways like I am starting from scratch, the stats are actually better. I can already see that a much larger percentage of the hits are staying on the site for 5 minutes or more, and about half of the hits that land here on purpose are staying for an hour or more. Some of that could be attributed to people leaving it up on their screen and walking away from the computer for awhile, but since it is a significant number increase it can't all be about that. Anything less than five minutes I figure was an accidental hit, because obviously most of my posts take at least 5 minutes to read!

Part of it, I am sure, is me getting back into the groove myself, and posting on a regular (at least weekly) basis. I am pretty much there, I just needed a slight breather.

It is so important to stay current, to stay in front of people. That would be hard to do, for me, if I didn't love it. I can't stick to something if I am not enjoying it. And the other side of that coin is if you are not enjoying it, people pick up on that, and they can't stay interested in something you are presenting if you are not even interested in it yourself. I am at the point now where in my daily life, I don't need to verbally barrage people on sight, gushing about whatever project I am working on this week. Now, they expect me to be working on something, so they ask what I am up to. And then I gush! But it is sincere - they are sincerely interested (the majority anyway; probably a few are just being polite), and I am sincerely excited about whatever I am doing. And if I do figure out that they are just being polite, I keep it brief.

So my little pinpoints on the map are, at the moment, largely clustered around Baltimore and D.C., but I also have a small bunch in the L.A. area, another in New York City, and a smattering in Western Europe. And one lonely little pinpoint that pops up once in awhile in Budapest (Hi, Jonathan!).

I have a plan to try to connect those dots between the east coast and the west, though that is not what the plan started off to be. It just started off as a plan to do something I have always wanted to do, something that I think almost every American wants to do at some point in their life - drive cross-country. But, why not at least try to kill two birds with one stone?

I doubt I will be employed past the end of April, and even if I get into that program in NYC, that leaves me the month of May (my birthday month, incidentally - I am a Gemini to the bone, if you hadn't figured that out yet), with maybe a week or two on either side. I haven't been unemployed for over 12 years, at which time I had 7 or 8 weeks off between this job and my last. And before that I was employed by the same company for over 9 years, uninterrupted. So this may be my only opportunity for a long time to take a decent chunk of time and check this off my to-do list.

Not enough people take these sorts of things into account, when they are presented with the time or the money to do something special, that they may never have a better chance to do it. It is easier (and less scary) to convince themselves that they'll get around to it... someday. Screw that. I am not being unrealistic or irresponsible in planning to do this. The reality is, I might not get a chance to do this for another 12 years. And who cares about hearing about the adventures of a 50+ year old on the road? "Hit the Early Bird Special in Dallas, El Paso, AND Phoenix this week! Woo-hoo!" I kid. I sure hope I will still be doing stuff like this 12 years from now. But the important thing is to do it NOW, and make plans, not make excuses. Tomorrow is not promised, to anyone.

My Dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 2002. He died in 2003, when he was 56 years old. There was a lot he still wanted to do. In 1999 I took my first overseas trip and was instantly bitten by the travel bug. I made a conscious decision to spend every last dime I had in 2000 on travel, and that I did. I planned trips to Spain, London, Paris, and Scotland. My Dad that this was super-cool. He asked me if I had ever thought about taking a white-water rafting trip. I hadn't, I said, but I could. Daddy said he had always wanted to raft through the Grand Canyon. We had never traveled together before. It meant a lot to me that he would want to do this. I said I'd look into it, and I found a great outfit, Grand Canyon Expeditions (they are still in operation - GO, I promise you'll love it). At the time it was about $2,000 per person, with a $500 deposit, for an 8 day trip that included all meals, camping gear, and experienced guides on pontoon boats that held 14 people (it is about $2,500 per person now). That was a lot of money to either one of us. Dad said he'd think about it. I thought about it, too. I knew there was a good chance he would talk himself out of it, and I knew there was an even better chance that if we didn't do it now, we never would. I sent in the deposit for both of us without telling Dad. He called me a few days later and said, "You know what, let's do it." I said good, because I already sent in the non-refundable deposit. Dad laughed. "What if I had decided not to go?" he asked. "That wasn't an option," I said.

It was an amazing experience and I believe likely the single best experience of my father's life. He talked about it to anyone who would listen for the next three years, up to the day he died.

Not long after that, my Great Aunt June on my Mother's side died. In spring of 2001, the estate was settled and my Mom inherited a nice chunk of money. Not a life-changing amount, in that it wouldn't carry her the rest of her days or anything, but potentially a life-changing amount in that it was likely that she would never have a chunk like this all at once again, as Aunt June was the last of the elderly people in our family. A chunk like that can certainly change your life if you know what to do with it.

My Mom had been talking for as long as I can remember about going to Pompeii. She has always been very interested in archaeological digs, especially Pompeii. She was hemming and hawing about what to do with the money. I told her she needed to go to Italy. There was a trip with the company I had traveled to Spain, England, and France with that would be just right for her. She said she'd think about it. Why does everybody need to think so damn much? After about the third time she said she'd think about it, I put my foot down. "Mom. You are never going to have a lump sum like this again. Go to Pompeii. I am not talking to you again until you book the trip. I am totally serious. I'm hanging up now." A few days later she called me. "I know you're not talking to me, but what is the number to that tour company?" She booked it for that September. Then 9/11 hit. I knew she'd consider backing out. I called her and told her, look: I know you're nervous, but don't cancel. Postpone it until a date you are comfortable. The company (Go Ahead Tours, they are also great and also still in business) is really cool and I know they'll let you do this without a fee. DO NOT CANCEL.

She rebooked for February, and not only did they not charge her a fee, they refunded her a bit of money because the new trip dates were a lower, off-season rate. She had a great time and the experience made her a lot more fearless. Last spring I found an incredible deal to Russia. Another place Mom had always talked about going to was St. Petersburg, to see the Hermitage. I forwarded her the info. It was absolutely never going to be any cheaper than this. It didn't take too much convincing. She booked it and went to Russia all by herself, this wasn't even a group trip with a guide. I've never even been to Russia!

So, what can I tell ya? I gotta go. I know in my gut this is my best opportunity to do this cross-country trip. I'm not totally hardheaded about it, in that if my job gets extended another month, I can be flexible with the dates, but I figure by September at the latest. I've been laying very low the last couple months, not going out too much, paying down my credit cards. I'm in a good groove with that. So to prepare for this trip, I have started saving for it by buying a $100 Shell gas card when I can, at least one per paycheck. I have two so far. If I can get 2 to 3 a month from now through April I should have a good handle on it. I'll talk more about this in the days to come. And how fun will it be to blog my way to the west coast and back?

So there you go. That's my plan. Carpe, Diem, baby! Carpe Diem.