Well there's really no use in complaining about not having time to write, given that we've all been granted an extra hour this evening (sorry for the broad generalization Arizona, et al, but not observing D.S.T. is just freakin weird). I'll try to use my time wisely and not spend the entire lot on revision.

Camping last weekend was just what the doctor ordered. I remember thinking to myself sometime Saturday evening that it felt like I'd been fone for a week. I don't know if that's what it's always like when you get away from everything that makes life fast and just slow down or if camping is just that boring to me, I'd like think it's the former because I had a really good time. Mother Nature was somewhat generous with the amenities, I mean there were benches along the hiking trail which I just have to stop and stare in awe at how trees fall and shed themselves in just the perfect shape of a slatted bench. The day we hiked up to Hanging Rock was a little bit foggy and that was disappointing at first. Then I sorta got to thinking and thought it might be a little bit selfish and narrowminded to think that the only thing beautiful about that whole thing is what you can see looking out; that maybe there's more to see than changing leaves and more to feel than what I feel when I see them. I love outside. I don't think I exude that because I love stuff that requires computers too, and computers are generally inside ... but outside is awesome. And I mean any kind of outside. Foggy, rainy, cold, warm, sunny and blue, night time and black. Give it to me any time, any way, any place.

This week I'm taking my first vacation from the working world. Where I work, they encourage (almost require) vacations to be taken in week long increments, so that's what I'm doing. Since I wasn't exactly sure when I was gonna be allowed to take my vacation I never made any solid plans to do something, but I like the plans that are forming. I'll be heading up to D.C. for a couple of days which apparently is where everyone in Raleigh goes once they've had enough. I can't say that I blame them, after my many visits to the area last year the place immediately made a good impression on me. It'll be nice to get out of Raleigh to see people who remind me of Raleigh and it'll be nice to get away from work. I'm kind of interested to see how I reacclimate myself to the schedule when I get back. I still haven't hit that point where I hate working yet, but to not have to for a week will be a welcome change.

That's all really. This is going to seem out of place, but I really wanted to share that I'm excited about life right now. Not that I'm ever disinterested, but over the past year I've bounced back and forth from overwhelmed, to underwhelmed, to unimpressed, to hurried, to stuck, to anxious, and back through once or twice again. It's a nice feeling, perhaps I'll try to find a way to tuck in my back pocket for emergencies.

I'm going camping this weekend. It'll be interesting to see how the great outdoors takes to the requirements of my normal lifestyle; I've made a few suggestions. I like the ambient temperature right around 70 with not too much or too little moisture in the air. A calm, cool breeze would be nice; just a sconch stronger than my ceiling fan on medium speed would be ideal. I was never a good indian-style sitter (is that P-inC now?) so a stump about 18-24" high with a soft layer of pine needles, fallen leaves, and wild cotton covering it would be lovely. I like to rock back and forth sometimes too so if the dirt around the roots is a little loose, that'd be pretty alright too.

I'm excited to see what Mother Nature has in store for me. I think she'll appreciate the suggestions I've made and will be glad to accomodate me. I'll be sure to let you know how it all turns out.

[Editor's Note: Normally I try to pay attention to punctuation and/or correct capitalization when writing my posts, but I like the flow of this so I'll leave it. This might change throughout the day as I remember stuff or get away from the distraction of work. Enjoy.]

had an abrupt start to my day. only minutes after I hit my snooze button for the 7th time, my phone rings. I look at the number and see what can only be my boss' cell phone number. "dustin, I'm stuck in traffic from an accident and I'm supposed to cover a meeting this morning at 8. can you be there at 8?" ... [looking at the clock and seeing 7:12 ... calculating ... calculating ... thinks to self ... dern, it usually takes me an hour to get up and get there taking into account traffic at this particular time in the morning. man, if I had only - oh right, boss is waiting for a response] ... "yeah, I can definitely try".

so I jump out of bed ... ooops don't forget to turn off your alarm for real this time, you might wake the neighbors ... get in the shower and repeat over and over to myself, "there ain't no way I'm gonna make it." ... no time for lather, rinse, repeat this morning ... yep, I'm gonna have to get by with lather, rinse ... in fact, I might even have to skip the rinse part. at least I'll smell good. I need to be out the door by 7:30 ... and that's pushin it. man, I hope my water bottle doesn't smell bad, I don't have time to get the clean one out of the dishwasher. does this mean I need to buy a 4th one? crap, BJ will really make funny of me then. okay, so I think I'm clean. crap I gotta shave. man if only I kept my electric razor charged. how do people do that anyway, use their electric razor in the car without getting shavings all over them. I'll have to ask some folks about that. okay, so I already brushed my teeth. I might have to put my tie on in the car, but what if the length is wrong? no, I'll put it on in the house. that would only save me like 30 seconds anyway. traffic is gonna stink. I can't wait for the mirror to defog this morning, I'm just gonna have to wipe it with my hand. I need to clean the bathroom anyway, it's getting disgusting. man, I hope BJ and Amber don't look in here, it's gross. I promised myself I wouldn't let the bathroom get nasty. Promises promises - oh right, back to the task at hand. man this mach3 really kicks butt. it's a lot better than those stinkin throwaway razors. if only the replacement blades weren't so darn expensive. okay, I can get dressed now, let me just throw on some of this deodorant ... brushed my teeth while the shower warmed up, I'm good to go.

get dressed, put my shoes on. as I'm putting my shoes on, I'm looking at my computer thinking to myself .. don't move the mouse don't move the mouse, you don't have time to look at whatever might be on the screen ... just get your crap and get outta there.

walk outside, oh crap my windows are going to be fogged up and - oh what's this, I left my windows down last night!?! great, now they're gonna be fogged up on the outside AND the inside. this is not going to be pretty. normally I use my ice scraper to get rid of the dew quickly (is this weird?) but of course it doesn't work well for the inside of the windows ... something about the concavity. I'll just have to go without the use of my back window, and my side windows are already down so no need to put them up now. I'll hand wipe the windshield and rely on my windshield wipers and fluid. I can't see a thing out of the back, I hope I don't hit BJ's car. then he'll wish he went to work this morning.

I get out fine. Traffic isn't great but isn't bad either. I make it to work at about 7:57. Good, the meeting hasn't started yet. I poke my head in, no empty chairs. I go get a chair and make it in just as our district manager is closing the door. "who is this kid", they all ask to themselves. I know about 2 people in the room. the manager leading the meeting doesn't know who I am and this leads to an all conference room introduction session. oh good, I think there are a couple of other unfamiliar faces, I'm not the only one. "Dusti-" oh shoot, it's not my turn, oh I can go ahead okay "Dustin Riego - OE". whew, now that that's over with, on with the meeting. 15 minutes pass. in walks my boss. I have been relieved of my duties. walking out, I hear my name. "yes sir?" "Great job, Dustin" ... thanks Mr. District Manager Sir, all in a morning's wake up call.

For as long as I can remember I've been a huge fan of music. I'd spend hours at night sitting in the living room switching between cassettes and LP's and 45's exploring the depths of my mom's music collection. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a pop music addict and that I have very forgiving ears. I like songs with a catchy tune and so-so lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally mesmerized by truly poetic lyrics and complex melodies, but I'm not looking for the next Lennon or Dylan everytime I turn on the radio.

I'm telling you all of this to announce that I've been challenged to create my all-time top 10, in no specific order, and that out of this will probably come a much longer list. So for some accountability I'll be posting my progress in the form of vague thought processes rather than a running list to keep the suspense up. As I post some of the characteristics and criteria of my list, feel free to weigh in with your own.

So the job is going well. Life is still moving at a steady pace and I'm kinda ready for it to take a bit of a break, but I can't really complain. It's been kind of interesting watching myself evolve from a people-less person into a people-most-of-the-time person. Not that I've really been watching myself that closely, I'm not that narcissistic.

Okay so maybe I am.

But seriously, I think one of the interesting things is how I'm still kind of unsettled with the whole people-most-of-the-time scenario. If I were a pocket psychologist, I might say it has a lot to do with the fact that I was an only child raised by a single mother. Since I'm not a pocket psychologist though, I'll say it is what it is and I'm just trying to be. Forget I just said that.

I like this novel concept of building and maintaining relationships (or trying to anyway) but it has definitely drained the time I have for some other things that I love. I guess I'm still trying to figure out how to balance all of that with a 9-to-5 (or in my case a 7:30-4:30 except on Mondays when it's a 5-12:30 or 1ish). I think it's kinda stupid that I didn't try harder to be all relational and stuff when I was in college and the balance wasn't quite so out of whack. I'm not trying to impart some lame looking-back wisdom on any of you sponges out there - just trying to write 'cause I haven't written in a while.

Thoughts don't quite come completely to me these days and I think that is why I have a hard time communicating. It's like they come in pieces, not really in ADD type pieces (or is it ADHD?) ... not all spastic and what not, more like they come slowly, over time, after much consideration.

So amidst all the changes in setting, in aspirations, in atmosphere, in relationships and in thoughts, I feel my life is like one big word jumble just waiting to be discovered. I'm looking for letters that relate to other letters that tie together to form words that are related to other words that complete the puzzle. At some point I will find all of the words in the list but then why stop there? A word not in a list is a word all the same and who knows what other words may be out there. And that's my attitude right now, to take what I find with me, to scratch it off the list, but instead of stopping when I've scratched everything off the list to just keep going ... [falls asleep]