While studying for the ENCOR has its fair share of technical information and labbing that needs to be done to fully grasp the technical details of how networks work, there are also conceptual ideas that can be really difficult to keep straight.

One of the early things that trips me up are differentiating some of the early hardware and software switching mechanisms from the names to tables and other vocabulary. This can be tough because of the amount of 3 Letter Acronyms and similarity between names and concepts.

I think when it comes to this, it makes more sense to start with what the MAC Address table and TCAM are.

The MAC Address Table is stored in what’s called the CAM, or Content Addressable Memory. It’s used for very fast lookups, and is called Content Addressable because you search by the content itself. The MAC Address Table maps Interfaces and VLANs with MAC Addresses. One limitation is that CAM lookups can only match based on exact matches. The CAM Table is populated by examining the source MAC address of frames it receives on its interfaces.

The TCAM is the Ternary Content Addressable Memory.  Ternary by definition means three, so matches can be made based on 0 (true), 1 (false) and X is do not care. Items in the TCAM tables are stored in a VMR format for Value, Mask and Result. Because masks are heavily used in IP routing, Quality of Service and ACLs, TCAMs are heavily relied on.

The Routing Information Base (RIB) is essentially the routing table and is built from routing protocols and directly connected routes.

So after vocabulary, you get into the actual processes themselves.

Process Switching is the process by which a router makes a forwarding decision, calculates the cyclic redundancy check and rewrites the header of each frame before sending it off, which can be taxing to the CPU.

Fast Switching only interrupts the CPU for the first packet it receives, but then creates a cache in hardware that can be used by all subsequent frames.

Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) is another (proprietary of course) switching mode that’s supposed to be even faster, and is differentiated also by building two other tables (and in turn two other vocabulary terms to remember):

• Forwarding Information Base (FIB) - Built from the Routing Table (RIB) and has the next-hop IP address for each destination in the network.
• Adjacency Table - Built using the ARP Table, and has each directly connected next-hop IP address and their next-hop IP address.

Remembering the FIB and Adjacency table as subitems to Cisco Express Forwarding helps keep them separate from all of the other items in my mind.

So to map it out, it would look like this:

To say that we all rely heavily on YouTube for entertainment is probably an understatement. Doing a quick Google search for "Top YouTube Videos by View Count" yields results that put the top videos in the billions of views. I personally don't even watch traditional TV or streaming services, but I do have a YouTube Premium account that I use daily.

YouTube is great for fresh content and even for staying up to date on industry news. Usually I'll watch tech videos, and I follow some niche personal finance and economics channels fairly regularly.

But, one niche I've never followed is skating. I am not a skateboarder, nor have I ever taken any interest in the hobby. I still don't.

But ten years ago, a video was released that to this day I still consider my favorite.

Set to Patrick Wilson's "Adventures In Your Own Backyard", Kilian Martin: Altered Route is as much a short film or a music video as it is a skating montage. And that's what makes the video fascinating.

The entirely of the video is filmed in the abandoned Lake Dolores Waterpark off I-15 in California. For a short form video, it quickly gives great context via a car ride on a dirt road with an actual, vintage commercial playing on the radio telling us where we are and what to expect.

As the radio fades and the melancholic music starts playing, we are shown some incredible establishing shots of an abandoned park with many theme park staples still around, down to the red and white checkered food trays on the ground. From here, the rest of the video is a skating performance that's more akin to a ballet than it is to "Tony Hawk Pro Skater." It's a unique and creative style that suits the accompanying music, setting and cinematography perfectly.

One call out that has to be made are the past-day/current-day transitions that show the park as it once was, compared to what it is now. These are fascinating in their own right, and really elevate the video as a whole.

As the music winds down and the sun sets, we're left to wonder if the video might even be worth a second viewing. It's an incredibly well made short film that was created with a clear vision in mind, was well storyboarded and executed perfectly. We may also wonder what happened to the water park and want more information.

On one of my road trips, I hadn't even actually planned to visit Lake Dolores. As it turns out, trekking from San Bernardino to the Grand Canyon, I noticed that my route took me fairly close to the Mojave National Preserve.

Remembering the into to the video, I wondered how close I would come to where the park was located, and if it would be feasible to stop by. Also as it turns out, stopping by the park would only be about an hour and a half delay. Having always wanted to see the park in person, it was an easy choice to make.

As stated in the intro of the video, even in the present day, the park is located in the middle of nowhere. Located just off the highway, it's small and unassuming enough that if you're not paying attention, you'll pass it up.

The park itself isn't difficult to get into. At the time of visiting, there wasn't a fence blocking the entrance, just some sizable rocks that are easy to climb over. The park itself is still fairly walkable. Since the filming of the YouTube video, there's a noticeable increase in graffiti which as much as I typically dislike it, it does add some character to the place.

After doing a bit of walking around, I decided to get my drone in the air to take a few aerial photos of the park.

I'm always really worried about being in isolated places (especially abandoned ones) by myself so I didn't get too bold with my walking around. I regret not checking out some of the slide areas and getting some shots of some of the iconic spots in the Kilian Martin video.

It was a pretty awesome and unexpected place to visit. Had it not been for the introductory sound clip used in the video, I probably would have never thought to see if it was nearby.

Up until this year, I had been fairly regular with publicly posting an annual review of the year before, along with some forward-looking statements for what I'd like to accomplish in the coming year. While this exercise can feel a bit naive and, for lack of a better term, basic, it was more borne out of wanting to keep myself honest. I always thought that if I stated something publicly, I was much more likely to hold myself to actually making it happen.

And I'm not sure if it was because of this practice, but I feel like I've had a really successful run the last several years.

• In 2018, I ran a full marathon, something I never would have thought I would do.
• In 2019, I got my A+, and left my job of 15 years to pursue a new career.
• In 2020, I got my CCNA, Sec+, and in reaction to the pandemic (and a few other things), I picked up a second job at Walmart. I also started school again.
• In 2021, I got a new job and I graduated with a Bachelors degree.

It's really hard to think about the last year and to try and pick out a singular major win. While the prior several years felt like there was one peak accomplishment that I could point to, this last year felt more of a continuation of the years before.

Professionally, there was a lot to be proud of this year. Coming into this year, I had spent 6 of the 7 months at my new job on the overnight shift. In January I was able to hit the ground running when I was back on day-shift by getting involved in several projects, and I felt like I was really able to continue to grow while contributing to the team. In May, I was able to obtain my AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification (which was something I was studying as a bit of an extracurricular to take a break from networking) and by October, I was able to get a promotion to Support Engineer. This was something I would have never thought possible when I took the leap into this new career a few years prior, and it seemed incredibly far away when I started this job a year and a half ago. To say I'm grateful for the opportunities I was given would be an understatement.

From a personal standpoint, I don't think there was much exciting this year. There wasn't a non-work trip to write home about, nor any major accomplishment. I did unfortunately need to say bye to the Honda Civic, but that is more of a detriment because I was hoping to make more strides in paying off debt. In some ways, there was actually a bit of regression on a few fronts. If anything, I think this year was more about being a pet parent.

So, what does that mean going forward?

There are lots of opportunities. I think my roadmap can be broken down by the following.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

• Reduce overall debt by 10%
• Achieve the CCNP Enterprise Certification
• Be in a dedicated Network Engineer type role by EOY

Fuzzy Goals

• Be in the same type of shape athletically as 2018.
• Build more of a work-life balance.
• Revive my yard.
• Make at least one trip.
• Stop looking to the past.
• Be more intentional.

The overall direction of this year should be to not push for any major individual accomplishments, rather to synthesize habits from the years before and put them into practice.

I have tendency to beat myself up over mistakes from years' past, and I think this years theme really needs to be to focus forward and appreciating the now.

While I do have career goals (as everybody should), I think if I end this year with a feeling of peace and optimism, that will be a big win.

In most places around the world, seeing a lake on the map can bring many things to mind. Lakes are often used for recreation such as swimming, boating, jet-skiing, fishing, and other similar activities. Lakes can also be a great place to enjoy a nice view and relax.

The South Eastern portion of California is notoriously dry, something that a California outsider like myself did not expect. I was surprised to see some of the giant sand dunes along Interstate-8, so much so that I even took a bit of time to check out the North Algodones dunes out of curiosity. Those frankly turned out to be pretty amazing, it was like stepping into a scene from Star Wars or Lawrence of Arabia.

Per recommendation from a friend, after leaving the dunes I went to go check out Salvation Mountain which in itself was an interesting visit, but after feeling like I had been in one dry area after another, taking in the sights at a lake sounded like just the change of scenery I was looking for.

If you look at the Southern California area in Google Maps, it's apparent that the Salton Sea is an oddity out of place. Surrounded by desert, there's no other body of water anywhere close to it. No rivers, no other lakes, it stands alone. The only stream of greenery nearby flows from the south of the sea, likely from using the lake as a source of water.

Driving through Niland was the first sign that something was amiss. What should have been a thriving lake town felt aged, deserted, and wilted. It had a similar feeling to the dusty abandoned West Texas towns that were forgotten in time. There were signs that the town was once thriving. There were husks of diners and shop fronts, but all had been essentially destroyed. You can see this even now just by taking Google Street View and perusing Main St. What I didn't know at the time was that on the other side of Salvation Mountain exists Slab City, an unincorporated colony of nomads, which in itself interesting. I'd probably never visit it myself (nor would I recommend it) but it's worth the quick Google Search to learn a bit about its existence.

Driving up the dry 111,  it's increasingly clear that this isn't your ordinary body of water. Docks that have been closed for decades, abandoned camping areas, and closed and abandoned businesses litter the roadside. There is clearly a story here, the hints of a once-thriving area that's been lost and forgotten. Eventually, just off the road there was a sign, "Bombay Beach."  This seemed about as good as a spot to turn in as I would find so I made the left turn down the unkempt road.

What I was greeted with was one of the biggest surprises yet. Dilapidated houses, some still sadly occupied, next to others that had been destroyed. Crumbling roads just slightly better than dirt roads. I had visited a lot of places on my trips, but Bombay Beach was probably the one place that though I didn't sense imminent danger, I felt the least safe.

As I drove to the back of the (for lack of a better word) development, the destruction of property has become increasingly more prominent, until you reach a road that borders a long-running levee. After finding a gap in the levee, you can then reach the other side.

On a hot summer day, you can expect hundreds of lake-goers participating in all kinds of activities but on the other side of that levee, there wasn't another soul in sight. Even taking a moment to scan the feature image of this page which was taken by drone on my visit, there isn't a single person out on the lake. What instead greets you when you walk out of the vehicle -  one of the worst stenches I've ever come across.

I'm generally not somebody with a weak stomach; it's one of the few times I've gagged at the smell of anything. It's hard to describe what the smell was, people have described rotting eggs or a strong sulfur smell, but this was much worse.  Walking around, the sand had a distinctive crunch to it. One of the other immediate observations is the shoreline is unusually far from the road, the waterline is a few hundred feet out. The receding waterline can also be seen from the feature image on this page.

Because most of my trip was logged in a continuous Snapchat story for my friends, I decided to make a quick landscape pan to post to my feed. Upon checking the filters, there was actually a custom overlay for this area - the words "Salton Sea" over a picture of fish bones. Putting two and two together, I realized that the crunchy sand I was walking on wasn't actually sand.

The area was disgusting, and I was actually ready to leave as soon as I got there. Before heading out, I decided I would do my due diligence and get my drone in the sky for a quick flight for some video, and then head out.

Driving out of Bombay Beach, I noticed that at one intersection two, rough, appearing residents seemed like they were sizing up my vehicle as I was approaching. To be honest, I didn't even stop at that intersection, I just drove out. The roads were so rough my car actually bottomed out, but at that point, I was just trying to leave without incident.

I continued on my way up the 111, passing large farms and actual greenery along the way. I eventually stopped at a Del Taco in Mecca to grab some food and regroup. I couldn't process everything I had seen, it didn't make any sense. How can there be such a large body of water that smelled so awful? This area had clearly once been a tourist destination what happened to cause this area to deteriorate so much? It was a mystery that needed some deep diving.

To summarize a long and fascinating history, the area lies within the Salton Trough, which is a tectonic basin with the lowest point being referred to as the Salton Sink which is the second-lowest elevation in North America.

The entire region (not just the current Salton Sea but even the nearby towns) was once the home of an ancient prehistoric lake, Lake Cahuilla. This lake has had a history of forming, and drying up, with the most recent drying period being around the 1500s. The lake was formed through runoff from the Colorado River, as its course would sometimes change from earthquakes and other tectonic activity.

The current iteration of the Salton Sea was actually formed from a man-made accident in the early 1900s, where again, the Colorado River was altered to flow into the Salton Sink. From here the Sea has had a troubled history. It was maintained by runoff from the river to be used as irrigation for crops and had even become a tourist destination in the 1950s. Numerous developments had even sprung up in the area as it had become sort of an oasis in the desert.

In the 1970s, a series of storms had damaged the area considerably, which included washing out a large number of pesticides from some of the nearby farms into the lake.  The salinity and harsh makeup of the lake also means that tilapia are a few of the only fish hardy enough to thrive, sometimes a bit too much. Due to the lack of predators (outside of birds), the tilapia explode in population, and because the lake is standing with without inflow or outflow, the lack of oxygen in the summer heat can result in massive annual dieoffs that contribute to the awful stench.

As I continued on, I found myself listening to the audio of a few YouTube documentaries on the subject to learn more about the area and its history. There's a really interesting (albeit somewhat dry) documentary embedded above that I watched (or listened to) in its entirety as I drove that evening.

The area is an ecological disaster without a feasible solution. I've kept up with updates on the area here and there since visiting, there's been a few proposals but not much has come to fruition. I would eventually like to return if only to satisfy my morbid curiosity to see if it has decayed further.

If you ever find yourself interested in it, dig down the rabbit hole yourself. I had no idea someplace like this even existed.

There's a feeling I think we have all experienced at one point or another.  

We undertake a project for any variety of reasons. Something doesn't work and we have the desire to attempt to fix it, we decide that we want to remodel and change something, or maybe we are searching to build something new entirely.

The process always plays out the same. We recognize a problem, in our heads we roadmap a process with a loose idea of what the end looks like, and then we dig in. We start to dismantle the pieces, tear into the drywall, drill holes, and ultimately make a mess.

Then there's always this phenomenon that occurs right in the middle... As we look around, pieces around us, a startling feeling starts to creep in.

... I'm in way over my head.

Depending on the stakes, this feeling can directly lead straight into mild panic. For some, it's at this point that help may be called, somebody is looked for to solve the problem for us.

Maybe for those oriented as problem solvers, this is when the situation is analyzed. The objectives are revisited, problems are inventoried, and we begin to draw out a modified path forward.

And for some, this might be a window of opportunity to build something new. The challenge of improving and building better; creating something that looks different than what came before it.

Mistakes may have been made a long the way.

With the hindsight, there were things we likely would have done differently.

But at that moment surrounded by the drywall, debris, and scraps of something once standing, nothing looks like it did when you started this endeavor.

That's the challenge you wanted; to have the chance to put it back together better than before.

Optimistic likely isn't the word that people who know me would use to describe my personality, but even then, I'm not somebody who believes in bad days.  For all of the talk of 2020 being a "bad year" I wouldn't personally describe it as such.

I don't write much (and not nearly as much as I wish I did.) As I've reflected on how I've pivoted and changed major portions of my life these past few years, I've felt that I've also equipped myself with the ability to adapt and overcome challenges along the way.

And sure, we have all experienced difficulties and hardships this past year. There isn’t anything unique in my experience that is honestly worth telling. I recognize that many were worse off. Many lost jobs, loved ones and battled major health problems, and I’m grateful to have not experienced any of those issues this year.

But in keeping to my own traditions of self-accountability and reflection, I think it’s important to continue that practice if only to continue to provide a vehicle for growth.

The first challenge of which came mid-February when on the way to a morning run, I collided with a deer at around 6 in the morning (or to be more specific it collided with my car by darting in front of it.) On its own, this isn’t a major event. For most, something like this would barely be an inconvenience. Call the insurance, get a rental for a while, be done with it. What I didn’t know at the time was that this would begin a chain reaction of events that would alter the trajectory of my year.

Mid-February was about the time that the pandemic began to pick up steam. If you followed any sort of international news, this was the time period that Italy was witnessing a wide-array of panic buying due to their imminent COVID lockdowns. Realizing it was only a matter of time before the unrest they were seeing worked its way this way, I encouraged friends and family to get what they needed in anticipation of supply-chain issues.

What transpired in the following weeks is likely to be the most fascinating events I think we will ever experience. I vividly remember visiting Costco three weeks in a row.

Week One: I made a Costco run to do a larger version of my normal shopping routine in anticipation of avoiding stores for awhile. At this point, stores felt normal, but you could notice that a small number of people were buying water, grains, and dog food.

Week Two: As the overseas situation had worsened, I again made my way to Costco to stock up on items that I felt would be hard to get once people started to react. I bought bulk rice, water, canned goods, and yes, one bulk pack of toilet paper. At this point, it was the last week in February and probably one out of every five shoppers had full carts of water and non-perishables. I had strongly encouraged my parents to get what they needed.

Week Three: At this point, panic buying had arrived. I had neither the desire nor the need to make any additional purchases, put curiosity again brought me to Costco to see the public reaction. The atmosphere had changed drastically. The store was packed to capacity, but despite the increase in shoppers, the store was quiet and filled with tension. Everybody had full carts and a very small minority of people were wearing gloves, which at the time seemed like an overreaction.  Before leaving, I went to the Food Court and ordered two large slices of Costco Pizza. The first weekend in March would be the last time I'd be able to do that.

March 6th was an important day for a variety of reasons. This was the day that I would receive my car back from the shop after the (first) incident. This was also the last day I would be able to enjoy post-work happy hour with co-workers. Most importantly though, this was the last workday before Spring Break, making it the last "normal" day of the year.

Spring Break would be another pivotal week, both publicly and personally. March 11th would see Tom Hanks announcing his positive COVID test. Not too long after, school districts would announce the suspension of "on-campus" learning for the remainder of the school year.

The evening before bars and restaurants were to close, I went to wander downtown, which would become another running theme for the year. It was absolutely fascinating to see how empty the streets were. This was before "social distancing", "limited-capacities" and permanent closures. At the time, I thought this would be the only time I would see my city in a different light. While Spring Break typically meant that the Riverwalk would be busy with tourists, at this moment it was absolutely vacant.

I figured it would be the last time for awhile I would be able to visit one of my favorite bars, Jet-Setter. Before leaving downtown, I went to grab a quick drink. As with the Riverwalk, this bar was also vacant. Not a single person other than myself at the bar.

Not too long after this evening, I would again cause a significant amount of damage to my car.  I remember exactly what I was doing. I was within two miles of my house, checking the COVID case counts on the Worldometers webpage, when I strayed a bit too far out of my lane.  I hit the curb where the drainage area was, and caused a significant amount of damage to the wheel support area under the car. Frankly, it was the dumbest things I've probably ever done, and writing this here is one of the first times I've been open about this publicly.

Being that this was the second time in as many months, I didn't want to create another insurance claim. I would later find out that the damage, while not initially bad aesthetically, totaled to about $4,000 in under-the-hood damage. This would prove to be quite the problem and was a perfect storm of issues.  To be frank, my new career path didn't leave me with any sort of income to deal with an unexpected expense that high. The "quarantine" phase of the pandemic had just started and there was a huge amount of uncertainty about job stability for months to come.

While that problem was manifesting, my workload at my job had changed drastically. While we had always been there to troubleshoot and support educators, the pandemic had created a seismic shift in what our role was. With in-person learning paused, education was starting to shift into a virtual learning model. This meant that tens of thousands of learning devices needed to be put into the hands of students across the district. With a single days notice, we reported to work with the direction to round up any device on campus, inventory it, stage it, and have it ready to distribute.

Those devices were then transported to hub campuses where we then teamed up with our peers across the district, and began the herculean effort to coordinate and deploy devices to students in need. This was foundational to the transition to virtual learning, and playing a part in this effort during a pandemic was one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my career.

As that effort wound down, we slowly transitioned to a "work-from-home" model of supporting educators and students via alternative means. The school year was also winding down, and I still had the issue of a car repair bill, and an overall cash flow problem. I was burning through my 401k  much faster than I had anticipated. The job market took a major hit, unemployment was at an all-time high and there were talks of cuts in every public sector of employment. This was about the time that grocery stores were continuing to see a huge amount of sales volume. Places like HEB, Lowe's, and Walmart announced that they had ramped up hiring efforts to bring in additional support that was needed due to the pandemic.

Seeing the opportunity present itself, I took a second job at a grocery store. In hindsight, this may have been the best course of action I could have taken.  I submitted a job application the first week of April, was called for a phone interview a week later, and two days later I was sent out to operate a register after only witnessing two transactions.

In a strange way, my previous work history had set me up for a high level of success between balancing both jobs. Working a salaried management job, I was accustomed to changing priorities and the sporadic long weeks. Having worked primarily retail my entire life, I was mostly able to pick up from where I had left off at SeaWorld. My days from April onward consisted of logging into one job during the day, and then in the evening logging off, eating dinner, and then heading into Walmart.

Seeing the ebbs and flows of the occasional supply shortages between toilet-paper, cleaning supplies, meat, and even coins from the perspective of a grocery store was a unique experience. I've been able to work not only as a cashier, but I monitored store traffic and taken counts at the doors, sanitized carts, pushed carts, and eventually settled into working at the Service Desk. I've been able to witness fights between shoppers, shady customers, and people become irate over $0.03 in change. It's been an experience that has furthered my perspective while being incredibly rewarding in numerous ways.

As it turns out, Walmart also had an excellent tuition assistance program for permanent employees. The only issue was that I had been hired as a temporary associate at the start of the pandemic, which typically were on a 6-month term. Through my initial first few months, I had felt that I had shown value by bringing experience and reliability to the front-end team, particularly during an unusual period. I thought I had learned quick enough to make myself worth keeping on as a permanent employee, and I had expressed interest in staying on indefinitely to take advantage of the program. Shortly after expressing that interest, I found that I had been converted and became eligible.

The ship had sailed on attending in-person school for a variety of reasons. One being that I now have a full-time career, and even more so now that I'm working a part-time job. Southern New Hampshire University had an online Information Technology Bachelors of Science Program that seemed like a great fit. They transferred over most of my credits from my previous course work, the school operates on 8-week terms, and they had a brick-and-mortar campus to lend itself to legitimacy. By late-June, I had enrolled in two classes, an Introduction to Scripting course and IT Fundamentals. By the end of the year, I would have completed 7 courses with a GPA of 3.904, with an anticipated graduation date of 10/2021.

This wasn't without its drawbacks. As my primary job transitioned back to a regular on-site schedule, I opted to maintain my usual work schedule that I had during the work-from-home period and summer break. This meant that I would be on-site for one job, and then have an hour in between heading to the other job that I would be working for 20-32 hours a week. From August until the end of the year, free-time would be non-existent. Between a full-time job, a part-time job and coursework, time-management and self-discipline were absolutely critical. "Free-time" outside of my 60-72 hour work weeks now consisted of studying, cleaning, and sleeping.

There's so much that happened this year. That doesn't even touch on the rioting that took place in and around the country this year around May.  The morning following one of the more eventful nights, I walked downtown to see an interesting juxtaposition. There was a heavy amount of damage; broken windows, vandalism and spray paint. But on the other end, the community had come together to start to pick up the pieces and clean the damage. Even San Antonio Spur Lonnie Walker IV was out there handing out water and talking to normal people. I had even witnessed him take part in a prayer with a downtown business owner.

I don't think there's ever been a point in time where I worked harder, yet received so much in return. I've never felt so appreciated and thankful for the opportunities that I have. If last year was about learning, then this year was about executing through uncertainty and finding a way to make it work.

I'm not sure what the next 12 months will bring. None of the societal root causes of any of our issues have been addressed. A more contagious variant of COVID making its rounds, we are sitting at record high case counts and there is likely to be more political instability on the way. Half of the country seems to deny a problem exists while also denying the vaccine that promises to solve it.

My biggest takeaway is a lesson that I should have learned a long time ago. I had a VP that used to say that when things got difficult, to "control what you can control." While I may have heard that mantra, it wasn't always one that I was the best at practicing until now. In a year where I felt like I came in with a good plan, a lot outside of my control happened.  Instead of throwing out the plan in frustration, I adjusted, course-corrected, and can say that I'm exiting this year much better positioned than when I entered it.

Regardless of what happens moving forward, I'm confident that by assessing the situation, figuring out what I can control, and executing on that, I'll be poised to figure a way to make it through whatever challenges I face this year.

Accountability can come in a lot of different forms. For some people, it could strictly be a professional concept where somebody else holds them to account through disciplinary measures. Others can have their own methods of motivation, using metrics such as weights, calories, or even time.

For all of its pitfalls, I've realized that social media can be a strong motivator for me personally. If there's something that is critical for me to work towards, I'll post about it through Facebook or Snapchat. As the end of the year has approached, for as little as I've utilized this particular platform, I've found myself dedicating a lot of mental energy thinking about what I would say about this year. The fact that I've done this for two other years has helped motivate me to make sure to continue that practice for a third year straight.

Granted a lot of what I've written in the past has been deleted (either through technical accidents or intentional purging) but this process has been instrumental in creating sort of a roadmap for the following year. In that spirit, instead of organizing this year's post by accomplishments, I feel as though it would be better organized by what I learned.

Learning to Roadmap

Interestingly, this iteration of the blog started with an impromptu, unplanned midnight trip to California. Absolutely nothing had been planned, not even the trip itself. As the next two years went on, I learned to not only set goals, but to follow through on them. Last year's big goal was that I wanted to finish a full marathon, but I had also had shorter goals of getting back to a goal weight, which required sticking to a diet.

This year, I knew what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to Begin a New Career in IT. Building on prior learnings, this goal would require a thorough plan.

SeaWorld had been an amazing place for me. It helped me grow in numerous different ways, and was absolutely formative to who I am today. I met a lot of outstanding people, many of whom I hope stay in touch. If I'm honest with myself though, after 15 years, I had burnt myself out. At the stage of life I found myself, the annual grind of a theme-park season, as well as the weekends and holidays spent working, while fun, were no longer appealing.  In choosing to do something different, I had to ask myself what I wanted to do for the remaining 30 years of my career. Because I had always had a strong skillset when it came to working with technology, setting a goal of getting into IT was an obvious choice. But at 31 (now 32), with only SeaWorld on my resume, it would be tough to find an entry-level role.

To find a job, I knew I'd have to appeal to recruiters and hiring-managers.  To do this, I decided to Pursue IT Career Certifications to make that transition possible. I began in March by studying for what's called a CompTIA A+ Certification, which required passing two exams that had to be taken at testing centers.

Learning to Be Disciplined

One thing I've never been good (but I had improved vastly on) is being disciplined. When you are self studying to pass exams, with no set date, and no penalties for not trying, it can be understandably hard to motivate yourself to study. To push myself, I followed the common knowledge approach to achieving goals: beginning with the end in mind.

For each test I've passed this year I researched the average time it took for most to pass the exam, put a test date on the calendar based on that time, and I created a spreadsheet accounting for each day leading up to the exam. I then take any learning materials, divide out the number of chapters (or videos) by day, and fill out the spreadsheet accordingly. To hold myself to account, each day I would check the sheet, and mark off the number of days left. As I completed each video, and read every chapter, I would then do the same. Using this method, I Passed 3 Exams; the 220-901 in March, 220-902 in April, and the ICND1 in November.

Learning to Take Risks

Armed with a stronger resume, I began the job-seeking process, putting my name in the hat for numerous IT positions. Understanding that I had zero experience in that field, I knew that I would be looking at entry-level positions. I also understood that this would likely come with a reduction in pay, which would require me to utilize my 401k to bridge the gap – a risk that can't be understated.

Ultimately I had two interviews, SWBC and NISD. Skipping details, when it was all said and done, I was more than happy to Accept the Technology Support Specialist Position with NISD.

Leaving a job you've had for 15 years is difficult, and even moreso when you're leaving your comfort zone to pursue something completely new. You're giving up familiarity, established relationships, and a knowledge of how things work to put yourself in a position that you know little about.

In the end, I absolutely enjoy what I'm doing. The job itself has such a wide variety as to always be challenging. Besides the usual troubleshooting one would expect, I've been able to coordinate small projects, develop promotional videos, do some minor web-mastering, as well as conduct small-scale training. The people have all been great, and overall this has been a rewarding experience. This job has utilized so many transferrable skills that SeaWorld had helped me develop, and there's no way I would have been successful without my time there.

Looking Forward

Looking to next year, I'm already continuing to roadmap and figure out what my next steps are. I'm currently studying for the ICND2 which I'm hoping to pass late-January.

While my main goals in 2019 were fairly professional in nature, I still was able to have fun. Though I didn't get to travel this year, I Saw Quite a Few Concerts, including John Mayer, Bad Suns and Max Bemis. I may not get to travel in the coming year for some not-so-obvious reasons, but my goals are pretty straight forward.

Obtain a CCNA, Network+ and Security+.

Get back to running and be able to complete a half-marathon.

Write here twice a month.

Oh, and I'd like start learning guitar.

First things first... I realize that I need to post more frequently than my semi-annual updates on what I’m doing. I also realize this post is coming about 27 days late; but bear with me, I’ll get better. I promise.

After going back and reflecting a bit on my post that I did last year to close out 2017, I really wanted to keep the theme of yearly reflections going.  If that year was “The Year I Finally Did Stuff” then I feel like this year could be categorized as simply, “The Good Year.”

The Beto Campaign

I was going to open this paragraph by saying that this deserves a post all on it’s own (and maybe eventually it will get it’s own) but truthfully I’ll feel this way about all of these categories.

The Beto For Senate campaign was a huge part of my year. I don’t remember when I first heard about Beto, but I know that in late 2017 I was watching a lot of his live-streams on Facebook. To me, he was the antithesis to Donald Trump, which was refreshing and comforting at a time when I started to question the sanity of the people around me.

I saw his campaign grow, and in late January, I drove an hour and a half to Austin to hear him speak at a 2 am event. That isn’t an error. Beto had a 24-hour-straight livestream event with events around the clock. Even in the early morning hours, he was still able to pack the restaurant with energetic supporters. Continuing on with my previous years’ theme of just doing things, I decided to get involved. After voting in the primary, I finally registered as a Democrat (fun fact, I considered myself a Republican in High School, and then a moderate after that), attended the county party convention, the state convention, and even volunteered and block walked. I attended events near me, and even tried to do my best to get my friends to vote. Beto didn’t win, and that’s okay.  I met a lot of great people, some of which who came from out of state to help!

The Keto Diet

This is one I actually have written about.
I had steadily gained weight over the last few years, and I found myself coming into 2018 weight 150 pounds on the dot. I had grown fairly complacent with my appearance, and my regiment of exercise wasn’t cutting it. I did Keto for exactly 4 weeks, and hit my goal weight of 135 pounds. Controlling my eating wasn’t something I thought I’d be able to do, especially to follow a diet that gave up carbs and sugar.

Spurs Courtside Seats

I had actually written about this one before as well. Seeing the Spurs play from the first row, center court was something that I had always wanted to do, but really ddin’t think I’d get the chance to.  Low and behold one fateful day, I was browsing Stubhub and found a single ticket, Row 1, directly in the middle of the court. To make a really long story short, it was a pipe dream at first as the ticket started at $1,200, but over the course of the day the ticket continued to fall as nobody was purchasing it. Finally 3 hours before the game, the ticket price fell to $500 and I jumped on it. Quickly l changed my clothes, called some friends to brag, and was on my way. The whole experience was pretty awesome.

The California Adventure 2.0

I’ve actually yet to talk about this one in detail, but I will soon enough. After the catharsis that was the impromptu trip to California I had taken last year, it was guaranteed that another had to be taken. I had felt like there was so much stuff I didn’t do the first time around, so I made sure to plan this one out a little better. Some of the things I made sure to see were SeaWorld San Diego, La Jolla, The Pacific Coast Highway and the Golden Gate Bridge. Amazing trip.

The Full Marathon

This is a story that needs telling. After some setbacks and not believing I’d be able to complete it, I finished a full 26.2 mile marathon. I think it was one of the proudest things I’ve been able to claim. Nothing beats finishing the grueling course to hear your name called out at the end. I’d like to think that I’ll complete another at some point in my life, but there’s some other challenges I’d have to get past first.

Let's just get this out of the way first.

Giving up carbs is hard.

As somebody who eats rice and bread with most of my meals, spending a month following the Keto (or Ketogenic) Diet was no easy feat.

What is the Ketogenic Diet?

When your body runs out of glucose to use as energy, it enters a state of ketosis where your liver begins to metabolize fat into ketones. The Keto Diet is a guidance of macros that allows your body to remain in this state to take advantage of its fat burning mechanism. Typically, the goal is to consume 65% of your total calories from fats, 30% from proteins, and 5% from complex carbs.

Why would I do this to myself?

Over the past few years I had watched myself slowly increase in weight from 135, to 150 around late December. I tried to increase the amount of physical activity I would do on a weekly basis as well as modify how much I ate, but what I found out the hard way was that there's no way to outrun a poor diet.

I had briefly considered Keto before, but quickly dismissed it thinking I could never do without all of the carby foods I was used to eating. My typical lunch at work was a sandwich with chips, for dinner I would often pizza, and if I did cook, usually it would include a hefty side of steamed rice.

On a whim, I was researching online looking for diet tweaks to implement to help myself train for a half-marathon was a month out.  I again came across Keto on a website, and after reading about it a bit, I decided to give it a second thought.  I did a bit of cross-research, found a subreddit (r/keto) to see what experiences people had, and I also found a grocery list and meal plan online. After a bit of reading, it was decided, I would attempt to follow this meal plan for a week to see what happens because, why not.

The Trial Week

I can't say that the first week was super difficult and caused a lot of suffering because that simply wasn't true. The meal plan actually starts out with a "Keto Stir Fry" on the Sunday night before the diet actually starts, kind of as a warm up. This is most likely because the meal plan is set up in a way to where your breakfast is usually some variation of eggs and the lunch is the dinner from the night before. On this diet, you will be eating  a ton of eggs. The meal plan I was following prescribes a couple of eggs for breakfast every single morning.

There wasn't much change the first two days, and for the most part I kept it under wraps that I was trying something different.  I was even going home during my lunch hour as I wanted to avoid any question as to why I was all of a sudden bring a lunch now.

By midweek, I was dropping a lot of water weight. One of the most surprising side effects though was that through was that I never felt hungry. This is more than likely because fat helps you feel satiated, and being that this diet is pretty high in fat means that your meals feel more satisfying.

I didn't really experience what most could call the Keto Flu. As your body transitions away from running on glucose, many people experience almost flu like fatigue that can last for a few days.  There were some events I came home tired, but that was the extent of my experience with it.

In the first week, I ended up dropping a total of 5.8 pounds and actually decided I kind of liked the results I was seeing.

Some early learnings:

• My body wasn't really retraining much water. When I would carry around my usual water bottle, I would need to use the restroom pretty frequently.
• I was having some difficulty finding a source of electrolytes. Gatorade (and the like) were out of the question as they are loaded with sugar.
• My skin looked great.
• My anaerobic exercise performance suffered pretty significantly. When working out, I felt like I was running on 'E.'
• I wasn't running much since I did feel a bit tired after working. I chalked this up to being on an adjustment period.
• My social life also kind of took a hit since I wasn't able to go out for dinner/drinks/lunch as I was typically able to.
• I was doing A LOT of dishes from all of the cooking I was doing at home.

Weeks 2-4

In the subsequent weeks, I sort of hit a groove which is why they are easy to group together. Rather than follow the meal plan onward into week 2, I found a rotation of 5 meals that I enjoyed that were easy to remember how to cook. I actually began to intermittently fast, where I would skip breakfast, eat lunch around 11, have dinner about 7, and then not eat again under dinner the next day.

While I did stay away from traditional sugars and sweets, I did come across 'Halo Top' ice cream as well as the Atkins line of low sugar low carb desserts.  I would allow myself an allotment of each a week basically as sort of a reward for sticking with the program.

I still found myself eating a lot of eggs, and I was taking a daily vitamin to try and get some of the nutrients I couldn't have been missing out of on a strict diet. I was difficult to not cheat at times, and even my parents were really questioning (and to an extent I was as well) whether or not what I was doing was actually healthy. The main thing really keeping me from cheating on the diet is that there really isn't room for error. Having a carb-filled meal could kick me out of ketosis, and I'd have to start the two-day initial process over again.

I began get back into my normal workout routine. The jogging was fairly easy and I found that I had enough energy to easily finish my usual runs. The weight lifting is what suffered. I dropped my usual weight-load and my in-between set recovery time seemed a bit more labored. The goal at this point wasn't really to get stronger, but more to maintain the level I was at previously.

The Verdict

I think that this diet worked out fantastic for me. After the adjustment period, it was really easy to get into a groove and really understand what I could and could not eat. The fact that this diet also relies on consistency and adherence builds in an anti-cheat mechanism. Basically, I knew if I ate a meal that didn't follow the guidance, I would do days of damage rather than messing up a single meal.

I ran well, I slept well, and I felt great. I also saved money by not eating out at all. I would recommend this to anybody trying to lose weight, and tone up. I would not recommend it to somebody trying to gain strength.  I found it possible to maintain what I had, but building muscle while on keto, while possible, would be quite difficult.

When somebody hears "NBA Courtside Seats", they immediately think of two things; celebrities and rich people.  Sitting at mid-court, directly on the floor itself isn't something that the layman ever really gets to experience. That's why despite really wanting to, I didn't share this on social media until I had a chance to write about it to fully describe what really happened and how I stumbled upon this opportunity.  I figured this might be one of those things that I'd always want to do, but never get the chance.

I grew up watching the Spurs religiously. My dad was a huge fan, and one of my best memories as a kid were the occasional evenings he would come home from work with tickets for that's night's game. That was back when they were still playing at the Alamodome. I remember being a huge David Robinson, Sean Elliott and Vinny Del Negro fan. As soon as I was able to spring for season tickets, I did, and I've consistently had them since 2011.  (The sole exception being the 2013 playoffs through the 2014 regular season, though I was lucky enough to be able to get them again for the 2014 playoffs.)

If I'm completely honest, I can't say I've been 100% invested as of late though. With all of the iconic Spurs slowly retiring, the team's shift to a iso-heavy offense and their lackluster performance, one of the few things keeping me watching is to enjoy what could be the last games of Manu Ginobili. Content to watch on TV, I didn't renew my season tickets for next year, meaning that I would have to forgo my seats for this years playoffs as well.

This meant that if I wanted to go to a game, I was now at the mercy of the second hand market. Down 0-2 to the Golden State Warriors, and potentially one of the last games to see Manu in person, I checked Stubhub around noon to see what the going prices are for seats to that nights game. Immediately I was struck by what was listed as the Best Value ticket.

A single, center-court, courtside ticket for $1,250. My mind wandered at how awesome it would be to watch the game from that seat. I took a screenshot of the listing to send to some friends. Ultimately that was still too-high a price though. $1,250 for a 3-4 hour experience? There's no way to reasonably justify that, even if tickets like that START at about $3,000.

But even at that price, I kept trying to rationalize it in my head.

"It could be one of Manu's last games."

"What if it turns out to be a great game, and I miss it?"

"When would a single-ticket, in the playoffs, at that place and price be available again?"

Ultimately I balked. I checked back a few hours later and that same ticket was still available, though this time for $1,000. I ran through that entire exercise in my head again, ultimately reaching the same conclusion. That price for a short experience? Tempting, but no.

I got home that work that evening about 5:15, and with that single seat still on my mind I again checked Stubhub.

Still available. $795.  It was almost as if that seat was designated for me. At this point I texted another of my friends.

"Is it weird to go to a game alone if I ball out and get nice tickets???

"Not at all. I bet it would be nice. Relaxing. Therapeutic."

At this point I was still on the fence, that's still a lot of money to drop on a game, but it was much more feasible than the original $1,250 price, and far far more feasible than $3,000.

I checked again one last time. $500.

At this point I couldn't click 'Go to checkout' fast enough. I ran to get my card, and then rushed to enter in all of my information. Even when I had the confirmation e-mail, I was still in disbelief. I couldn't believe I had spent $500 on a single ticket, because admittedly, that's still a lot. At the same time, I couldn't believe that I had bought a courtside, playoff game, center court ticket for $500. Something had to be up. It had to be fake. Even after the tickets were e-mailed a few minutes later, I wouldn't believe it until I was in the stadium and in my seat.

At this point I called numerous people. I called a couple of friends, even asking simple things like "What do I wear??" I called my mom and my dad. I gave my brother, who's also a huge Manu fan, a call to tell him. I had not been this excited for something in a very long time. Within minutes, I had showered, and was out the door. With an 8:30pm start time, I didn't have much time to waste and I wanted to get there as early as possible to experience everything I could.

On the drive over there were a lot of scenarios playing through my head.

"What am I going to do if the tickets are fake?"

"Knowing my luck, somethings going to happen on the way to the game..."

But ultimately I got to the game without issue, I walked up to the designated special entrance on the side of the stadium for charter level seat members, and was able to enter in the stadium much earlier than is usually opened to the public.

Checking out my seat had to be the first thing I did to make sure this was all real. Walking the hallways down in the 'Saddle's & Spurs' it felt like Spurs nirvana. The walls are decorated with artwork commemorating pivotal moments of franchise history, along with team photos of the championship teams, each with unique and color added to them to give them a vibrant feel. After passing through 4 different points where an usher politely checked my ticket, I finally made it to my seat. Here an usher explained that my tickets got me into an exclusive lounge with an inclusive dinner buffet, and drinks.

And sure, I wanted to check out the "Dahill Courtside Club", but I really just wanted to take a moment and take in the spectacle of it all. I've been to probably over a hundred games, but I've rarely gotten to be in the area for the actual pre-game shootaround. Sure, the players run out of the tunnel right before the game starts for "warm-ups," but the casual shootaround that takes place right before has a different feel. It's odd sitting at a chair, without any boundary to the court and just watching these guys shoot around, talk, joke, and even check their phones like normal people.

After a bit of watching, it was time to check out the Courtside Club to get something to eat. I had rushed out the door in excitement without getting dinner so at this point i was pretty hungry. At the entrance, I had my ticket scanned one more time, I was given a shiny green wristband that grants me subsequent access without hassle, and was again explained at the door that the food is a buffet, and drinks (non-cocktail) at the bar were complimentary. The buffet had an assortment of charcuterie meats, salad, an assortment of specialty tacos (the playoff theme was dueling tacos) and roast beef. It was way more delicious than stadium food really deserved to be. The biggest oddity of this lounge though? A large glass floor to ceiling wall that stands between this lounge, and the hallway just outside the Spurs' locker room.  I actually didn't know that's actually what it was until I looked up from eating and saw Manu Ginobili walk by to go into the locker room. I ended up spending a bit of time after eating trying to catch the players walking back out onto the court. Some were more jaded about it than others; Tony and LaMarcus walked by without facing the direction of the glass pane. Danny Green jokingly made it look like he was looking through a reflection to fix his hair (though maybe it actually is reflective on the other side). Pau Gasol sprinted by quickly, and Manu sprinted by, but gave the fans a wave on his way back out onto the court.

There's an odd difference to witnessing all of the before tipoff events from the court than from the upper deck. During the anthem, I couldn't help but be distracted by the fact that I wasn't watching it from the jumbotron screen, and how hard it was to actually find the person singing the anthem. From any other angle, a spotlight and zoomed in video tells you exactly where to look. On the floor, all you see is bright lights shining down on you so it's easy to get lost in it all. During the player introductions, because you're watching from a lower vantage point, you just see a crowd of players high-fiving each other, but it's hard to distinguish what's actually going on. I found myself oddly distracted by the guy waving the giant Spurs banner, thinking about how much concentration it must take to try and keep waving the flag without messing up, and how tired I would be after the entire ordeal.

Eventually the court clears out, leaving only 13 people standing. All of the lights, bells, whistles and distractions fade and the game starts.

It's hard to sum up what it's like watching a game this close. I've heard it described as watching a pickup game, where you have next but you're not going to get to play. I don't really think that statement does it justice.

I would say it's like watching a pickup game between otherworldly giants, who have super speed, strength and agility. You aren't going to get to play, nor do you even want to play because of how outmatched you are. Even the smallest person on the court is still way bigger, and immeasurably quicker and stronger than you.

Mike Leach, and I'm paraphrasing here because I can't find the real quote, once described one of his favorite things to watch on the football field was the lineman between each team battle each other, because of the hits and overall violence would occur between large people. That's how I would describe watching the game up close. If watching from the upper balcony makes a game look like a track meet, then watching the game up close makes everything on the court is a battle. Players running off screens to get free for a pass, battling one another in the post, diving for loose balls, cutting in the lane; everything that looks slow on TV is much much quicker and more physical up close.

Sitting this close, the game is very easy to follow and goes by quickly. The only point of distraction is the "blink and you miss it" speed of the game itself. It's anecdotal, but I would put each play this way. On TV, it seems like a 24 second shot clock is plenty of time. A long possession is one where you start seeing the shot clock count appear on TV, at which point it feels like an eternity that one of the teams has had the ball without taking a shot. I found myself surprised almost each time the clock started to run out and somebody had to put up a quick shot to beat the clock.

At the end of the day, the Spurs lost, which to be honest was the expected outcome. Manu didn't play well and the last 4 minutes of the game devolved into garbage time with both benches battling it out. Overall, I'm still really glad I jumped at the opportunity to sit this close. What really made the experience was way more than just the game itself, but from the moment you arrive, the level of service you receive is unparalleled.

Upon quick glance, the current going price for a courtside seat in Oakland? $13,469.

Ouch.

For the last  19 years of my life, I've never lived further than 15 minutes away from Government Canyon. Though I've passed the entrance along Galm Rd countless times, I've never really had more than a fleeting curiosity as to what the park contained. Being that I had recently been to both Enchanted Rock, Lost Maples, the Grand Canyon and Monahans State Park, I figured it was time to change that.

On a warm late-November day, I armed myself with an drawstring backpack, three bottles of water, a banana, a drone (I didn't use it, I know the rules), a new gimbal to test out, and I set out for the Canyon.

This wasn't the first time I had set out to go hike, I had actually attempted to go the weekend prior. On the way, I checked their twitter feed at a stoplight and noticed that they had closed off the area to capacity, so I went to my parents instead. This time I went on a weekday when I was sure I wouldn't have an issue getting in.

Upon arriving I seemed to have bet right, no line of cars at the entrance, and maybe only 3 vehicles in the parking lot. I also arrived later in the day, just before 12:00 or so. In November the sun sets fairly early, so arriving for a noon hike shouldn't be an issue since I was only planning to hike one of the smaller trails. I went to the gift shop to pay my admission, get a map, and being that this is something I want to do more often, I also made sure to purchase the State Parks pass.

So right at 12:00 I set the GPS app on my phone to record, and set out for the trails. Seeing the map had a couple of overlook spots, my initial plan was to see one, and then start a short trek back to the starting point. This would be a hike of about 3-4 miles round-trip, an easy enough day to start with, or so I kind of thought.

I made it to the Canyon overlook about an hour and a half into the hike, which admittedly was a very nice view. It kind of sneaks up on you since you aren't really expecting to see anything at that point. Thinking I was making good time, I thought I would press on further... and further.

About four miles in, I hit the border of the protected wildlife habitat area. While this would have been a neat hike, it was already 2:30, and I had about 3 hours left of sunlight. I decided to take the longer route back to the trailhead, as this would pass both of the remaining overlook areas I had yet to see. So after stopping to snack on a banana, I set off again.

Eventually after two more overlook areas, and another 4 miles, it became pretty clear I was running out of daylight. I had about maybe 45 minutes of daylight to work with, and 2 miles to trek back to the trailhead. This wasn't difficult at all as I had to basically make sure to limit my stops.

I ended up spending a lot more time recording video on my phone than I thought I would have. What I thought would be a quick in-and-out trip for a couple of hours ended up being a five hour, 10-mile excursion in the park.

I'm not sure why I had written off Government Canyon before, as it's a very nice place to hike. Sure, it doesn't have some of the views of Lost Maples, I found the trails to be much more accessible. Lost Maples is also a two-hour drive from San Antonio so in theory you can get a quick walk in and back before lunch, whereas somewhere further becomes an all day endeavor.

I'm glad I got the parks pass as I plan to be back more often. It would be a neat achievement to be able to have explored the entirety of the park, which would need to be done between September-February since that's when the habitat area is open.

For now I need to debate which Texas Park to visit next. Any recommendations?

I feel like I had a pretty good year.

And generally I'm not somebody who makes resolutions or talks about my life in terms of years, but I feel like after this past year in particular, I have a lot to build on moving forward both personally and professionally. After being somebody who would WANT to do things but always found a way out, I finally started to actually DO things. I wanted to take a brief moment to categorize and talk through some of the highlights.

LitConcepts

I've always wanted to own a business and ultimately support myself with said business, and the first few steps were taken in March. I officially filed for an LLC in the state of Texas, acquired a Tax ID, and started doing a lot of research into media and web development.  A company website is currently being built, and I'm currently working on the first project. There's a few different directions that this could currently branch out into, and there may be a bit of foray into each one to see where it leads.

Marathons

I had never really thought about doing a half-marathon before, and to be honest it actually originated from a bet that was placed a year before. My brother and the rest of my family had run one in December 2016, and I jokingly had said that I would sign up and run it faster. I then ran my first half-marathon in March 2017, finishing with a mediocre time of 2:22 and giving myself a stress fracture in my right foot. Though it was a couple of months before I could run again, I was absolutely determined to run another, and signed up for a second half-marathon in December. Running through the rain in the middle of a crowd was not something I had seen myself doing a year before, but I'm glad I did. What initially started as a bet turned out to be a positive addiction, and has helped me set goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Travel

I've written about this pretty thoroughly (though most of my posts were lost transitioning web hosts) but I think that the 5 day odyssey through the western United States was easily the highlight of my year. Wanting to do something, deciding on going for it and leaving for a drive across the country at midnight felt like a game-changer as far as what I perceived I could do. In a sense, that freedom was liberating, and I can't wait to do something else like it. I feel as though I learned more about our country from this trip than I had at any point in any class I've taken. Being able to drone and share my impromptu adventure on social media meant that I was never bored despite taking the trip alone.

Outdoors

Lastly I had never really thought myself a hiker, or somebody who enjoyed being outdoors. Primarily because of the traveling, as well as what initially started as a trip to Enchanted Rock with friends, I started to spend an increasing amount of time hiking. As it turns out it's something I enjoyed so much that I even got a Texas Parks pass that I hope to use quite a bit once the weather warms up.

Generally a 1200 mile, 17 hour trip requires a heavy amount of planning and forethought. Good travel practices involve booking hotels, jotting down things to see along the way, planning meals, and ultimately setting and fleshing out an overall travel agenda. It requires the coordination of all parties involved so that the trip can be enjoyable and enriching for everybody. Ultimately in the end it also requires a lot of compromise.

Not following any conventional logic, last night I made the executive decision at 11:00 pm to embark to California.

I scavenged my house and packed all the necessary clothes, toiletries, and of course, my drone, and set a course for San Diego. I was on the road by midnight.

Any rational person reading this might ask, why? Well…

– I told myself I wanted to travel more. In the last 8 years, the only real trips I’ve taken have been to Las Vegas. Driving from one place to another isn’t only cheaper, but it allows you to see a lot of the country that you miss when you fly directly from one point to another (not to mention it’s cheaper.)

– I have 6 days off from work. Generally my time off ends up being a staycation, where it’s “wasted” on sitting at home, waking up late, watching TV and sleeping.

– I’ve found that stopping periodically while driving open areas and droning to be a fulfilling hobby. When I drove to my brothers graduation in Lubbock, the drive actually becomes enjoyable when you’re looking for interesting sites to take pictures and videos from the air.

– There was also the thought that I might not always have the option to do this. I didn’t want there to be a time where I regretting not taking an open opportunity to drive and explore the country.

It’s been 11 hours since I left my house and I’m sitting having brunch at a Denny’s in Deming, New Mexico; a town I’ve never heard of.

I have yet to sleep, but I don’t feel tired.

You would be hard pressed to find two areas more contrasted than the Algodones Dunes and the Del Mar beaches. I find it even harder to wrap my head around the fact that both can be visited within mere hours each other, and even still, I may have been able to stumble upon an area that may somehow been even more interesting.

After going 37 hours straight the day before and ending it with margaritas, today started early enough at 5:30 am. I really wanted to backtrack up I-8 to get drone footage I missed on the previous day while sprinting to finish the 18 hour drive from San Antonio to San Diego. Today ended up being far more productive and enlightening than I even thought it would be.

– Interstate 8 – The drive to California from the east can be very long and monotonous, as your passing primarily desert in Arizona. This all ends within an hour of the coast as flat desert geography transforms into more interesting hills and mountains. My early goal was to get out and drone some of these areas in the morning, before too many vehicles were passing on the highway. I got some really nice pictures, which I’ll have uploaded once I can get home and debrief a bit.

– Algodones Sand Dunes – This was by far one of the most other worldly landscapes I’ve ever seen. Driving along the interstate along the Arizona-California gives sort of a glimpse, but actually going to North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area truly delivers a unique experience. There isn’t anything that compares to being able to get out of the car and walking onto another planet of giant hills of sand. That may sound a bit tongue-in-cheek, but there’s a reason why films such as Star Wars and Stargate have used this area for filming. The one regret I have was that I wasn’t able to rent an ATV or dirt bike and explore a bit more. Rentals are typically done by the day, and require group transportation to and from the dunes.

– Salvation Mountain – Created by a resident named Leonard Knight, Salvation Mountain is a hill that was used as a canvas for an expression of faith. The vibrant colors make it stand out in comparison to the bland desert and local town that surround it. It was hard to believe that one person was able to create such a large and intricate monument. It’s now maintained by a broader group, but it was humbling to see what one person’s faith inspired them to create.

– The Salton Sea – Probably one of the more interesting things I’ve seen in my lifetime and something definitely worth knowing the story behind. Leaving Salvation Mountain, I decided to stop and check out the large body of water nearby and found a place called Bombay Beach. To my surprise, the area was totally dilapidated despite being a state recreation area. When I got to the beach, the smell was so horrible I wasn’t able to stand being within 200 feet of the waters edge. I was literally the only person on the entire shore. Long story short, the Salton Sea was created on accident in the early 1900’s, became a HUGE tourist destination as a lake in the desert, and eventually became inhospitable to marine life due to the washoff of pesticides from nearby farms (as well as the increasing salinity of the water.) The area now smells of rot, most beach areas were closed and the area was ultimately abandoned except for a few nearby residents. I can’t help but think that stories such as this one will become increasingly more common in the near future.

Tonight I decided to stay in Encinitas, which has a strip of stores and restaurants that reminds me a bit of The Strand in Galveston. In fact, this post was written at the Roxy Bar. Tomorrow I’ll be off to Los Angeles via I-5, which should offer some great views.