joel's space

well, with the new year brings a many changes.  and i promise one of these days i may make this blog page somewhat easier to navigate and more functional but until school ends i don't know when i'll get the chance.  next week is not going to be a fun one with midterms on my front door.  i've got a lot of studying to do, let us just put it at that.  on the otherhand things are really looking up.  i'm happy to have someone in my life, i've got a stellar job at the radio station, the weather is somewhat beginning to warm up, i have break next week, my good friend has theirs the following week, i don't have school this summer, i have been offered a swim coach position, and it looks like i may be able to finally finish my two boat projects once and for all this summer since i don't have clinicals and class.....ok, more like 4 boat projects, but 2 that i need to finish lol  i am really looking forward to the next few months and where they take me.  now if only i had a cheoy lee.....o well, there is always ebay.  thanks everybody.

dream big, sail far.   peace.

that can pretty much explain how the past few weeks have been.  to sum it up i had christmas break, passed all my finals, went to kentucky with family, got a lot done on my rhodes 19, started school, went to montana for the weekend, came back to school, was going to go to the chicago strictly sail,  got 8 inches of snow, stayed home and plowed snow, turned 21, lived through multiple bad storms up here and now i am going through another one.  plus i have had tons of homework, but no algebra class!  it gets interesting trying to write papers when it starts blowing around.  my boat is lighter than quite a few up here so it tends to bob and rock around a lot more.  all in all everything is well though.  sitting here right now i can't imagine what alex dorsey and others thought when they rode out hurricanes on their boat, while anchored!  no place to run, just you and your vessel battling nature.  as much as i think the experience would be good to have,  i hope to never be in a similar situation...knock on wood.    and my 70 degree weather just turned into 50.  oh well, i got alot done outside today so i shouldn't complain.  mainly getting water out of the back of the boat that was collecting from the snow and rain we got.  with this storm i will probably be doing the same thing again.  but i check the batteries and filled them with water.  it was mainly nice getting the chance just to relax and do something other than homework.  i really like working outside and on boats no matter how dirty you might get.  and i really hate lulls in storms like the one outside is doing.  it just freaks me out!  i definitely need to get my old digital camera going again so i can take images to put on here. 

here is a picture from Montana. it was absolutely amazing.  i met up with my bestfriend who goes to school at MSU Bozeman. we checked out Yellowstone, and the surrounding area.  i am really glad i spontaneously went, just like i always go somewhere.  and i got plane tickets for really cheap!  thank you student universe!  now i am looking into my summer employment and i think i am probably going to be lifeguarding, coaching, and giving swim lessons, plus maybe do a few shifts down here at the radio station.  ok the lull is gone now!  that was fast.  it is not just the wind and everything that freaks me out, it is the fact that these docks have come apart multiple times before and i really don't feel like being the first to discover it which unfortunately i would be.

the spring season is almost here and this 70 degree day to mess with my mind isn't helping much.  i can't wait to go sailing!  i have so much to do to the sanjuan and working here on the weekends isn't helping much, but it will get in the water soon enough.  lat summer kept me busy with clinicals everyday and then work afterwards.  i'm hoping to do more sailing and working on boats this summer.  i feel that gaining more knowledge about boats and sailing is more important in my life than working to make tons of money, at least at this point in my life.  sure i'll have a job and all, but i'll still have time to get my projects done!!!! that and i feel like i will be helping alot of people helping out as a swim coach.  always do what you can to help another because you never know when you may need to get out of a bind.  that kind of sums up today....working on boats, trucks stuck, and thank god for tractors and 4 wheel drive.  the same as always my friends.  "be good and you will be lonesome"   and it still works for me.  thanks everyone.        -joel

finals are clogging up my brain right now but after about 12:30 on tuesday i will have plenty of time to write on here and elsewhere.  i'm just hoping for the best on my tuesday final.  this weather is helping with the whole bright and cheery mood i'm in(sarcastic).  come on tuesday!!!!!!

ya it says it all.  right now it is a close 60 degrees outside and i am not complaining.  i actually went sailing on the siuc club boat.  overall nice day.  condensation is still the enemy, but i'm sure that will change when i run the heaters more frequently.  a recent event has truly changed what i see in my future, what i see in myself, and others as well.  but that is another story to itself.  all i can ask is for everyone to keep their prayers open for my friend mike.  i'm learning so much here.  school is one of those things that is definitely important.  don't get me wrong, otherwise i wouldn't be here right now.  but i do think that it is overrated.  and the whole maturing and growing up part happens when you are in college.  nothing against anyone but i truly do not see how one can learn from doing the same thing; go to class, go to a meal hall with already made food, go to class, come back, get on the internet, maybe a study hall, eat, sleep, and then accomplish near nothing over the weekend except find out how much alcohol one can take.  maybe it's just me, but the way i see it this world is becoming a sad place.  no wonder there is so much "normal society living".  i've seen a few things over the past few days that make me re evaluate what i am doing with my life.  it just makes me think.  and once we are dragged into this peer perception of what life is about, and when parents and others only push the same thing, but in reality that is not the case.  one problem with our society is taking things for granted.  many of those haven't taken a stroll through a children's hospital lately,  or stood back and looked at some of their own actions, words, and behavior.  i see alot of this and it just doesn't make sense to me.  regardless this world is a fucked up place. no doubt about that.  and it is only getting worse.  not only the governments, and controlling forces, but the people living on  the land as well.  i just wish more people would open their eyes and see the big picture that what one person does effects another whether they believe it or not.  we tend not to put ourselves in others shoes which i think is what many of us need from time to time.  i'm good at blabbering,  and i've got 10 sheets of stainless balancing on the edge of my deck i must attend to.  everyone be safe, live well, and treat others the way you want to.  peace, love, and mmmmm strawberries.   joel

temperature sure seems to be playing mind games on me.  for being november i am definitely not complaining.  i now have propane heat which helps   alot!!  electric is expensive here, and propane lasts for a long time.  i will have to see how it works when the temperatures get colder.  the water is officially shut off here on the docks so any water to fill my tanks i have to haul in.  as you may guess i am going to try to make it last.  the sailing season is still going strong assuming i can get to carlyle sometime.  the sailboat will be in it's slip until after thanksgiving and my schools club boat will be in year round as well.  popsicles anyone?  i have a lot of the stuff covered up and stowed away for the winter.  now it is just a matter of meeting face to face with jack frost.  but with the temperature being about 65 right now, i'm not too worried.  i'll save that for january.   peace.