June 25th - Roll With The Punches

I guess this is what quitting smoking feels like; compare my bank account to a smoker’s lungs. Millions of years of evolution have made the human respiratory system an incredibly remarkable apparatus, capable of withstanding even the worst of what humanity has cooked up and inhaled for one purpose or another. While it didn’t take millions of years for my bank account to grow as much as it has, it certainly felt as long. I’ve been extremely blessed by family and well-wishers who, before this journey, padded my account with a donation here and there though in the grand scheme of things it has largely been by the sweat of my brow (drumming at Guitar Hero does make one rather sweaty) that I was able to amass the respectable amount I departed with. As the smoker is able to enjoy the occasional cigarette and not expect instantaneous death, I was able to be frivolous from time to time and not risk putting the long term life of my trip in jeopardy. Flash forward two months and while I’m no longer throwing away cash as fast as a chain-smoker relights, I am still unemployed yet responsible for the everyday expenses it takes to keep someone like me alive and stimulated. To be fair, even still I have more than enough money left to keep me alive and kicking until well after the Rugby World Cup but as I struggle to find employment, in spite of my credentials, the idea of going back to school becomes that much more appealing, and school doesn’t come cheap. There will come a time, potentially very soon, that I have to decide whether it’s in my best interest to continue waiting around for someone to hire me while my bank account dwindles or to take action, cut my losses and start conjuring some new plan, whatever it may be. Busking suddenly doesn’t seem like such a strange way to make a living anymore and I’ve seen countless guys out on the street who are infinitely worse than I am at the guitar. I took out the songbook for the Beatles album ‘1’ from the library yesterday; perhaps I should commit the entire thing to memory and tour the country as a one man tribute act. One way or another, my trip may take a dramatic turn in the next few weeks. More to come on that soon…