Vacation post 3: Enter the Unexpected

"When I acknowledge that my own action isn't the most powerful force in my life, all is right with the world."

The words I wrote yesterday were a surprising premonition. All I have to say about that is, "...wow". As it turns out, there really WAS some higher power at work yesterday, or at leave forces beyond my control. What started out as a day of casual sight-seeing ended up not happening, and most of the afternoon was spent at the local hospital. Now, I don't need people to start worrying; the hospital stay was more of a precautionary act than anything else, and everyone is just fine now. There are definitely those moments of uncertainty when you don't know what's going on, however.

Aside from the more transcendental aspects of being at the shore (I stood at the water's edge again yesterday, this time to watch the sunset, instead of watching the moon rise. It was amazing), the vacation way of things has been an interesting adjustment to have to make. For one thing, the site we're staying at (an older beach home that's only a few dunes away from the ocean itself!) has no Internet connection, wired or wireless. Normally the 'Net plays a HUGE role in my daily life, probably taking up the second greatest amount of my time, after work (I'm not sure how school factors into that equation, because it DOES take up a good deal of my time when classes are in session, but I do most of my coursework on-line). I may venture out to a coffee shop later today. If I do, I'll be posting this entry from there, and it will be the first time I've connected to the world wide web in three days. Interestingly enough, my phone activity has plummeted as well. My own participation in that is pretty apparent - if the past few posts haven't given any indication, I have a strong tendency toward introspection, and when I'm in that state of mind I'm far less likely to initiate contact with people. Aside from a handful of short phonecalls to my dad, though, and periodic updates from Twitter (I linked Twitter to my mobile back when I was only following 3-4 people. I think it may be time to reevaluate that decision [laugh]), I've been in a state of relative isolation. It's been interesting to re-center myself, even for a couple of days, in a way that isn't buzzing with activity from social networks, and networking websites. I have to say I think the only thing I don't care too much for is that I'd hoped to continue working on some job applications whilst I was on vacation, and I haven't had a chance to do that because I've lacked an Internet connection. Hopefully I'll be able to submit one or two by the end of the week, depending on circumstances!

This vacation has sort of become symbolic to me. I'm starting to view it less as a getaway, and more of a time of transition. After this, I'm not going to be satisfied to settle for what I've had in the past. A new semester at school will be starting (my first on-campus class is scheduled for the Wednesday after I get back to town!), and I see no reason why I shouldn't be starting a new direction for my work as well. Without going into frustrating and boring details, the place I work at has undergone some drastic revision of work policies "in order to absorb the cost of the minimum wage increase". In my own personal opinion, with the direction the store has been going for the past several months, I think the Spartan employee benefits we actually recieve were the LAST things that needed to be revised...but who am I to argue that it won't save money if I'm not allowed to see the numbers? I'd been a little leery for some time about the work environment of my current job, but things all got put into perspective for me a few weeks ago. I took some time off to work at a three-week summer school/camp being hosted at a high school in a nearby city. The school I was working at was low-performing (some have cynically suggested that the the school being approved as an IB school was a ploy to get high-achieving students into the school and raise average test scores), had high levels of poverty, and a serious gang presence. In addition, I was having to commute almost an hour every day (instead of my usual 15 minutes). But in spite of all that, I was still MUCH happier working at that school than I had been at my current job for a very, very long time. That's not the way things are supposed to be, I decided, and it was my responsibility to change them. It's been a disheartening journey so far - many of the jobs I was most excited about I found out I didn't meet the minimum requirements for, and the ones I felt most qualified for have rejected me so far. I'm not particularly fond of being told "no" when it comes to something I really want, but I'm trying to take a long-term view of things: a good job is like a good relationship - it's not something you'll hate waking up for every morning, and you'll know it when the right one comes along. Two things in life to look forward to. ;)

On a less somber note, I unexpectedly ran into a friend yesterday whilst in Southport! After the bulk of the hospital adventure had ended, mum suggested we ought to go get something to eat (it was late afternoon by that point, and we hadn't really had anything aside from breakfast cereal all day), and lil sis suggested a place called Trolley Stop, a tiny little place a few blocks back from the Intracoastal Waterway (I STILL want to call it a sound, but apparently that's incorrect...). The Trolley Stop is famous for its hot dogs. Now, normally I don't like hot dogs (I know, right? I'm SO un-American.), but lil sis insisted that they were delicious there, and recommended I get a veggie dog since "they make you feel less gross" when you eat them. They were both good suggestions - I really enjoyed my Chicago-style veggie dog (although for some reason, I think that "Chicago-style" negates the "veggie" ;-P )! Whilst I was standing in line trying to figure out what I was going to eat, a heard a voice from further back in the line. "...Alan?" I looked back, and it was my friend Britt! Britt was a counselor at the same camp I worked at this summer, but she worked at a different site (each year, this camp operates at 3 different sites). I had NO expectations to run into anyone I knew, let alone someone I'd worked with so recently! She was there with some of her family. A bit later on her little brother caught me aside and basically gave me the 3rd degree about how I knew his sister. It was hilarious but also really heart-warming to see that kind of familial concern from someone so much younger than me.

So far I've spent every morning writing whilst looking out at the ocean. I think this is what life is supposed to be like.