GPzMike Abroad

Back from MHB2 in Jacmel. Lounged at Hotel Cyvadie and was happy to do so. Ate a lot, slept a lot, read a lot. Watched a few movies in there somewhere, too.

On Wednesday the ocean was particularly calm - calmer than I've seen it on this side of the island - and the visibility underwater was quite good. I got to see many fish including a large school of bright blue fish and a flounder. At least I think it was a flounder. I only spotted it because it was moving. Once it went still it was nearly invisible. It lay on the ocean floor and I could just barely tell that it was not a piece of coral or stone. I did not know what it was and so I surmised that such a cloaking device might be for offense or defense. I stayed around long enough that a school of small fishies came by and were feeding right at the mouth of the larger fish since he didn't spring his trap I'm guessing it's purely defensive in nature. I was really hoping to get to see some 'action'...lol.

I am glad to announce that I was able to video tape the motorcycle trip over the mountain. I used the arm band for the 5th gen iPod Nano, found a larger velcro strap that fit around my chest, strapped it all on and turned on the onboard video camera. It came out pretty damn good! It's a bit jerky here and there, but overall not bad. Unfortunately there were not hair raising moments that got recorded on this trip so all the great stories I've told in the past will just have to be believed on faith. If I have time I'll condense the trip and put up a highlights reel onto youtube.

I've realized that the MHB's are a losing battle. I am not finding them as reinvigorating as the preceding 30 days are draining. It's close, but as time goes on the disparity accumulates. I can really feel that I'm not nearly as refreshed as I was upon returning from say MHB2 on trip 1 down here.

I really see how much I look at things and see what's broken, what's not working, what's negative about a situation. There's always grousing that can be done in most any situation and the more extreme the situation the more opportunity for grousing. The up side is that I also have a tendency to DO something about that which I grouse about. Sometimes it's direct action and sometimes it's a meeting note or just letting a staff member know that there is some matter that needs attention.

But in the end, it is a negative attitude I harbor. Or is it? Is it possible to have a positive attitude and still be able to look at something and see all the possible problems that are or might be happening? Does it take some pessimism and 'glass half empty'-ism to identify those problem areas? Or to get hustling and implement a fix/repair/redirect?