Die Hard Three

It’s still not entirely clear to me exactly what a bucket list is, but yesterday here in Los Angeles I completed an “action” item that’ve had for almost 27 years.

“Taking procrastination to a new level, Jason?”

Not exactly. It’s more a case of fourteen-year-old me not knowing the commonly understood definition the term “action item”. From Wikipedia:

In management, an action item is a documented event, task, activity, or action that needs to take place. Action items are discrete units that can be handled by a single person.

This thing I did yesterday was not part of any management. It was not documented anywhere (save my brain) and the “need” for it to take place, well – it was more a desire than a need.

Anyway, whatever you want to call it, it’s nice to finally have this one thing out of the way. Thanks to Shaheen for driving – getting there by bus would have been an ordeal of epic proportions. Here’s the photographic evidence showing that I’ve completed another one of my outstanding “action” items from 1988 – only six more to go!

Me (finally) visiting Nakatomi Plaza

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As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of trying new things. But unlike the extreme sports enthusiast who subsists on a daily diet of varied experiences, my preference is to schedule the new things I try at a rate of one per week. Some people think I should be doing new things more frequently than just once every seven days. When this comes up in conversation I usually have to remind Sarah of my family’s motto “Routine is good. Change is bad.” I credit my strict adherence to this maxim as the main reason I have yet to lose a pet after almost two dozen hours dog and cat sitting.

The thing is, trying something new takes a lot of planning and preparation. One can’t just wake up one morning and say, “Hey I’m going to try this new type of food I’ve never eaten before” (especially if that food is peanut butter – you have to consult your physician first). With that in mind, you’re probably quite excited to read about which “adventure” I’ve got lined up for this trip to the desert.

Will I attempt a Goldeneye-style bungee jump from the top of the Hoover Dam? Will I audition for a non-speaking role in an upcoming episode of CSI: Las Vegas? Maybe I’ll jump off the diving board into the deep end of the hotel pool.

Well, the truth is, for this week, my plan is to not plan anything new. I want to be spontaneous so right now I don’t know what my new thing will be.

Or maybe, wait a second, let me think about this. Maybe my not planning my new thing, this is the new thing I’m going to try. It is something I haven’t done before.

Yes, I think this qualifies. There, checkbox that action item done!

Staying at a new hotel does not count as a new experience.

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gets reported on my blog!

Yes, hello everyone. I’m back on the road again (actually in the air) traveling across the country to a place I’ve only ever read about in online movie reviews. This time the GF and I are heading to Las Vegas (aka the Sinful Apple, aka DryDock One, aka the Thirsty Cactus, aka Gamblor’s Lair, aka l’Affront du Nature) for a few days of conferencing (for Sarah) and total-body sunblock application (for me).

Right now we’re about an hour into the flight from YUL to LAS and the cabin crew is trying to find out if there’s a doctor on board. One of the passengers (a fifteen-year-old boy) is hyperventilating or something and the only medical professional they can find is a dentist. She’s back there with him now.

As an Engineer I very much enjoy problem solving, but I’m more than happy to sit this one out. I like working on non-living projects (like the gas lines I’m running for the new fireplace) where if I make a mistake it won’t result in someones death. Pipe fitting is so much more straightforward than trying to reattach a severed foot.

Anyway, I hope he’s going to be okay. I just saw a flight attendant carrying a large bottle of compressed gas (I assume oxygen) to the back of the plane. We land in a couple of hours.