Ken's Vacation

Ken when on vacation to Europe for two weeks and the day he left the country went to shit. I had two weeks of pure hell. It was so bad that I seriously thought about quitting. I was here with no support on the ground, I was running easily 20 hours a day. One day I was up for 37 hours straight working a problem and then got 3 hours of sleep before I was dragged out of bed to fix another emergency that had me up for 12 hours. On top of that I had to move from one city to another which meant a shitload of travel. It was an awful, awful, experience. I couldn't wait for Ken to get back so I could just breathe again.

While he was out here he missed his 25th anniversery with his wife. To make it up to her they went to Europe on a two week gypsy tour of sorts. They bought some train passes and just traveled the countryside of Europe. No plans, no reservations, no anything. They just went where ever the wind carried them and laid their heads when they got there.

To me that was one of the most romantic things I could think of. Just going with no plan, no schedule, just feeling it out and running by the seat of your pants. You can do that and it is all when you are with the one you love. When you have love like that you don't have to worry, I think. To me that is real power that kind of love is what this life thing is about. I mean being with that one person that motivates you to make yourself better. That person you get out of bed for and that person you can't wait to go to bed with. I wish that we would spend more time lauding people like the Obis of this world. These are people that believe in the sacrifice to make it work better for everyone around them. Not everyday was easy but everyday they found a way to keep going, good, bad, and ugly. People like them make you stand up and say that's what I want for me. But, to want that you have to realize it's earned and not given.

At anyrate, I'm feeling pretty damn low by the time he gets back. I'm burned out, I'm sick, I'm tired, I'm sick of being tired, I'm tired of being sick. I'm very angry at this point and I just needed to slow down and catch my breath. When he comes in this guy just lights up the room. You can tell he is refreshed and rejuvinated. He had this positive energy that was infectious. Well after I ranted for a bit about the state of affairs, he asked if I wanted to see some pictures from his European tour. I was like sure, I needed to relax a bit. Well he and his wife take thousands of picuters he goes through them and with each picutre there was a story. I mean as he was describing the pictures I felt as if I was there. His trip made me more relaxed. Because of his trip I know that I can make it out of this hellhole, if you would have asked me a week and a half ago, I wasn't so sure.

The one thing I realized about the pictures was the color! My God in the real world everything is so bright and colorful. I had not realized how dullened my senses had become being out here for so long. Everything looked so vibrant and alive. As he took me through these picuters I got to realize how large the world is and how little I had seen of it. I decided right then and there I'm going to spend the rest of my life traveling the world. There is so much to see, and do and learn, and once I've seen all that I can see. I'm going to settle down in a villa in Marseilles on the coast of the Mediterranean. I remember when I first got here Toker had a screen saver or a picture of forrest. I mean it was nothing special and he said to me one day you are going to long for that forrest. I was like probably not, I'm from Phoenix and Iraq looks just like it. Six months later I now know exactly what he was talking about.


Ken has allowed me to host a few of his pictures from his trip on the site for which I am very greatful. I want you all to get just a sample of what I had an opportunity to see.

- Thanks alot Ken!