Funnyquote Friday

My mother, who was under the impression my apartment was about twice as large as it really is, on my sleeping arrangements while my parents were visiting me here in SKB:

"His head was in the living room,
and his feet were in the kitchen."

Yes, I was very grateful to get off of the floor and back into my own bed after my guests returned back home to the States.  And especially to get off of that silly little air mattress, which is so noisy that I woke up every time I turned over in my sleep.

I finished up Week 2 of the 100 Pushups Challenge today, knocking out 72 of the suggested 81.  For tomorrow, I have to max at least 25 in one set in order to progress on the track I am currently on.  It's challenging, but I am being rewarded both physically (increased strength and toning of my triceps, pectorals, and lats) as well as virtually (Fitocracy points; see Not Real).  I'm pleased with the progress I'm seeing in only two weeks of being on this pushups regimen, and I'm well on my way to reaching the stated goal of doing 100 pushups in a single set.

Tomorrow is a big day – a community service volunteer project to clean up the Irishtown Bay Road in the morning, followed by a Hash run starting at Black Rocks in Saddlers.  Hopefully, the nearly 50 student volunteers from local secondary and tertiary education institutions will be enough to clean up all of the garbage on the bayfront in Basseterre during the morning hours, and the one-off project will be a success.  The Hash that afternoon is being planned by a fellow volunteer, so I want to support his efforts, despite his assurance that the run is going to be very difficult.  Eh, part of the fun of doing these runs through the bush and through the country is getting to find out what I am capable of when I don't limit myself.

Can't Tag This

I chose to follow some good advice for today's post: for what may prove to be my longest update so far, I'm not going to bore you or take up bokoos of space on my front page by listing the whole thing.  Instead, it's going to be available "below the fold."  So if you are interested in reading this week's latest intrigue, Why I Don't Use Facebook, please click the "Read More" link below.  Else, keep reading this otherwise normal post and enjoy your day.

I took to heart some other good advice and got a haircut on Monday, and am constantly reminded of it everywhere I go (even from strangers who ostensibly recognize me, but I don't recognize them) – but in a good way!  In fact, some of my friends indicated the change was very beneficial, saying the 'do looks "really, really good" now, whatever that means.  I did, of course, meet with a few awesome people who lamented the passing of the shaggy mane, but I assured them that it would have a fair chance to return in 8 months' time.

I kind of feel inundated with small things to do – apart from my job search, which is inseparable from a small sense of urgency and priority, I have these innumerable small tasks to think about, each too small to focus on but too relevant to ignore.  The stress isn't getting to me, though; someone out there in Internetland must be praying for me, because I've been emotionally buffeted all week since last weekend, but have managed to keep my head above water, so to speak.  I'm not getting down on this job search, either, though the progress is slow and, as always, ambiguous.  But maybe a third bit of advice explains well the reason for my buoyancy: it is always easier to search for a job when you have a job, or as in my case, something to do with your time.

Congratulations to all of you (I guess?) for reaching the next milestone on this blog: 7,500 pageviews!  Thats 83.33% of the way towards earning a special reward for your consistency.  Keep reading, and don't be afraid to use any media sharing apps to spread the word.

Clear Enough to See the Bottom

I kayaked across the channel on Sunday for the second straight year.  My fellow PCV from Boyd's Village and I teamed up to usher across the 130 swimmers participating in the StarMile 2.5 Mile Swim Across the Channel.  We took off from Cockleshell Beach, St. Kitts this time, and swam southeasterly towards Oualie Beach, Nevis, which is the reverse direction from the previous 9 years this competition has been running.  The result was a slightly more difficult trip across, since we had to face a strong current that was about 30° against us, as opposed to in our favor.  Still, the winning time was no worse than previous years, with the fastest swimmer coming in at ≈68 minutes, an astounding pace.  Even kayaking for 2 hours is wearisome (mostly on the wrists and glutes, I've found), and with the majority of the swimmers in at that point, we decided to float ashore as well.  As for Peace Corps representation, this year we fielded just one swimmer and three kayakers, but we encouraged the participation of three friends-of-volunteers and one former PCV.  It is a little disquieting to think that this time next year, there will be no official Peace Corps representation at this fun and challenging local annual event.

I'm going to say that my job search is in full swing, despite not having any replies from the dozen-or-so applications that went out last week.  I am finding ways to keep myself productive, both when I have leads and when I do not.  For example, the latter half of this past week I spent designing my first Graphics Arts and Design résumé, which incorporates a number of alternative elements, like very casual language, humor, logo graphics, and color!  As it is merely an attempt to get me noticed and, hopefully, stand out a little bit from the crowd, I took a lot of liberties in achieving that end.  Of course such action risks being ignored by employers who are interested in someone with more coursework, job experience, or professionalism in his/her CV, but I opted to have a little more in the way of fun and self-expression in this particular work.  And now that is finished, and I can apply to the more artsy positions I have been examining, I find myself with several more leads to once again begin this week with.  So God has been good in keeping me positive, and in seeing fit to use circumstances and my fellow Christians to guide my search thus far.

Not a whole lot going on at work lately – the A Ganar program is off the ground, and appears to be running smoothly so far.  I was informed by my contact at the Beach Allen Primary School that I wouldn't be needed for the next several weeks, as the students begin their first wave of testing on Tuesday, and then Easter break takes them through to the 23rd of April.  So I have a little extra time to get caught up on secondary projects that have been on the back burner so far this year, like finalizing and publishing the Math Games booklet for distribution on-island.  Also, job searching.

Also, a happy birthday shout-out to Jonathan.  As it turns out, 23 is quite a versatile prime number.