MrFreefall383

Cats are my fave, always been a cat person. Some damn smart creatures, and I like that. Other favorites are reptiles of various kind, and of course arachnids. Can't go wrong with creepy crawly things. And of course who wouldn't love an alien as a pet. Makes for some interesting visits by friends. "Holy shit, is that an alien???" "What, you've never seen one domesticated? What rock have you been living under?" "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I despise rude neighbors who move next door to a family that has been in the same house for 22 years, and expect that veteran of the neighborhood to bend over backwards for the new family. Just mind your own business and feel lucky if nobody's tried to burn your house down just to get you out of the neighborhood. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

That depends, what techniques of personal defense do you know? Can you kill a man with your pinky finger? Can you kill a man with nothing but a Q-tip and a roll of duct tape? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

PSD? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

That's fucked up. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

It's perfectly fine if you say everywhere. I want to go everywhere as well. Thailand and Bali must have been a blast. India is really interesting. Kind of depressing though, how stark the difference is between those who have money, and those who don't. It's like you're in Germany or France one block, and the next block you're in Somalia. Nasty. But informative and educational, even enlightening. So I see you're near or in the Atlanta area? I've got a best friend down there who also wants to join me if I do some South American or other travel, as long as it won't make him more broke than he already is. Wanna talk more about potential trips and connecting flights through Hartsfield? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I love travel buddies, you could definitely go with me! Where in S. America and SE Asia would you want to go? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Good information on visiting Japan, thanks a bunch. I'll be sure to make it count when I finally get to Japan sometime in the next few years. Just right now I don't have enough money to go much of anywhere. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

popsjumper, good points every single one. Luckily for me when I went to Italy with school a number of years ago I was at least passable in Italian, could keep my head above water in most conversations. As for other languages, I can vaguely understand French and Spanish because they're so similar to Italian and because my mom's family is French, so I grew up with it. I'm trying to slowly pick up Arabic, but it's not working well enough. Hopefully I can find a course in the language, jumpstart it a little bit. As for exploring the culture, you can't expect to explore any culture without first being interested in it. You tell yourself they're inferior, or that the language isn't worth learning a few words of, or that the local area is uncivilized and dangerous, you won't learn anything. An example was when I was in London. It's said you can't teach an old dog new tricks. With my parents, that is absolutely true. My mom kept calling the Underground the "subway", and justified to herself that nobody would really care. She then proceeded to ask a cabbie when we got a little lost to take us to a certain "subway" station, and the guy looked at her like she had two heads. I corrected it by saying, "She meant the Hampstead tube, can ya get us there quick?" Guy promptly said, "Sure, will do." He hauled ass to the station, and we were there in a couple minutes. It helps when you try to take in the local language and customs, especially when you get in over your head. I'll probably end up buying a language conversion book for each area I travel to, so if I get into trouble, I might be able to get myself out of trouble just as quickly. Oh, and one other thing you forgot. Don't be an idiot and go out breaking the local rules just to have a good time. For example, Muslim culture abhors alcohol, considers consumption a sin, so don't drink except in your hotel in a predominantly Muslim country. There are other examples, but that's the best I can think of. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Doesn't that fly in the face of the whole evolution thing? Evolution is the process of adaptation. Organisim most suitably adapted will survive, we are building a world where stupid is an attribute, so no it's not against evolution What is it they say about the stupid breeding while the smart get on with their careers Thank you, glad to see my logic isn't totally lost on everyone. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Congrats bitch. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Stupidity has been on the rise since we stopped walking on all fours. Evolution implies nothing with regards to intelligence. Human beings are stupid creatures, and the progression of civilization has only meant that people have become dumber and dumber. Sad but true. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

You'll have to tell me what Qatar and the UAE are like, I really want to go there. And to Squeak, what was N. Vietnam like as a backpacker? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Yeah, I've seen that the border towns can be dangerous. As for other areas, what would you suggest to get a cultural understanding without having to learn Spanish on the fly? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Yeah, it definitely awakens you to other thoughts and beliefs. And I agree you find out who you really are, how open-minded you really are. And to iluvtofly, you'll have to let me know how Japan is. I really want to go to Tokyo and other cities. To Squeak, impressive resume, Vietnam sounds like fun, as does Indonesia. I'd love to do some deep woodland hiking in the Vietnamese countryside. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Title should be self-explanatory. I realized how much I love travel after just getting back from a week in London. Now I'm planning on saving some dough and arranging trips to Mexico City, other locations in South America, Munich and Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, Dubai, Amman, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Tokyo, Singapore, you name it. Anyone else love going other places and learning about different cultures? "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Yeah, reset works well enough. It's all fixed. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

My iPod makes me a little pissed off too. At least today it does. I just bought a new CD, uploaded it to iTunes, and I can't get it on my iPod because it is not being recognized by my computer as being plugged in. Probably more the computer than anything else, but the iPod is part of the process, so it's just as guilty. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Damn straight. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

That's fucking badass. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

That is one of the best quotes ever!! You're awesome. Hmmm, yeah, I'll have to remember that one too. Not that I would, despite being a fairly romantic gentleman. That seems just a little too corny and cliché. It's like signing a contract to enlist in the military on Independence Day. I mean hey, to each his own, but that just strikes me as really silly. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I would sure as hell hope I don't have kids. Anyway, if you're buying the colored M&M's just to go with your holiday decorations, something about that seems a little strange to me. Decorations are decorations. Those, in a general sense, are at least semi-traditional. Most ornaments for Christmas, for example, can probably be traced back at least a few hundred years, if not a couple thousand. The candy is just an extraneous way of trying to get more money out of us. Candy, chocolate, those were never a part of the celebration of Christ's birth. Again, using this as a firm example. Did one of the wisemen bring chocolate and I didn't know it all this time? Well holy ****, that just screws everything up. But we're getting off topic here, so let's stay there. Valentine's Day is not about giving people gifts, that's social materialism acting out again, nothing more. Nobody ever said Valentine's Day was supposed to be celebrated by going out and buying a bunch of stuff for someone to show your affection. There are other ways of showing affection, just that everyone sees the holiday one way, and as such the belief is that V-day is supposed to be marked by gift-giving. Whether the corporations started that or not, they profit off it bigtime. I see no reason to spend extra money on things just for a holiday. If I'm buying something for someone, it's because it makes sense to buy it at that particular time, not because some social superstition dictates that I should. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

As for the corporate pawn statement, if the holiday isn't spent as the origin of the holiday would suggest it be spent, then it has turned into a corporate holiday, a marketing holiday. Companies line up all their ducks just to make a killing on days like Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, Valentine's Day, Hanukkah, etc. The fact that people buy into it says to me that not many people really believe in the traditions, just the opportunity to buy shit from companies looking to sell it. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

I'm glad I don't typically eat any candy. Kind of a fitness geek, so candy is like munching on pure sugared death. I had a donut the other day because a colleague at work brought them in for everyone. Actually, I should correct that. I stared at it for 5 minutes weighing out 'free donuts' and 'early death', only to slowly eat it all with a distinct feeling of guilt in every bite as if I was literally putting my body in the frying pan. Anyway, Valentine's Day is never an excuse to buy more candy, whether on the day or just prior at higher price, or just after the day at half price. It's just another day, just like every other, where candy will lead me to grave just a little sooner. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

Sure you're buying into corporate greed. You have any idea how much extra money candy and chocolate companies make during the Valentine's Day production cycle? It's kind of like buying an SUV and saying, "Well I'm not contributing to global warming, it's just one SUV." Corporate greed is corporate greed, undeterred by moderation, only to be stopped by those who don't buy anyone a damn thing on Valentine's Day. "If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche