As if I'd need an excuse!

Well, 3/25 is Tolkien Reading Day, which should be pretty self-explanatory. A little J.R.R.T. can brighten up most any day, and honoring the man/author by reading his works seems highly appropriate.

Totally inappropriate is the design of the Dodge Caliber, which I had reason to drive as a rental car recently. I don't know if I've driven a car with worse visibility all around as that unfortunate vehicle. Not only was the rear obstructed by thick, opaque structures, but the front pillars also seemed to be perfectly placed to obscure important swaths of view. It also handled awkwardly, and the automatic transmission wasn't smooth at all at low speeds. Anyhow, I survived my brush with lackluster design, and will certainly never subject myself to such a vehicle again if I can at all help it.

I may have encountered another one of those places that I'm going to have to visit sometime in my life. I was reading back issues of a certain magazine (Backpacker), and I read an article about hiking the length of Offa's Dyke that essentially runs the length of the Wales-England border. It was built way back when during more hostile times than these. It looks like a lot of fun, like something that could likely be found in Middle Earth, and has certainly caught in my mind. When I have these sorts of ideas take up residence between my ears I end up doing things like going to Antarctica, sailing to Easter Island, endeavoring to become and astronaut, etc. Life is fun, and I'm thankful for the opportunities I've had.

I'm also thankful I'm not a resident of northern Honshu, or Japan in general right now. Talk about a trio of nastiness to deal with...

Anyhow, this is getting long. I'm still in limbo on the employment front, blah-blah-blah.

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.”
~Aristotle