I entertained a few questions from an old friend on the cell the other day. We were talking yet again about those old days. He and I had done this work up around Redding for an entire summer and we could see both Lassen and Shasta. It was a body beautiful but it ended in this crappy hotel’s bar every night where they had the coldest, cheapest beer ever. People tell me not to lessen myself by drinking cheap beer; but let me tell ya. When you been doing archeology for a day and some; the actual cost of the beer does not matter. What really matter is that you have some. Some could mean this or that many. When I worked in Needles for a few months, the pipeliners would drink that many and I would not. If you’ve never seen a natural gas pipeline project, its an amazing feat. Long green pipeline snaking across a right-of-way. The pipeline segments are first welded together in long groups and then the crew lowers each section down and the welders start yet again. At the end of these days, the pipeliners all gather and drink and drink and gather and then drink.
We always wondered. Why do you…? And they would smile and tell us that they only worked 4 months of each year and the rest of the time they stayed mostly drunk on beautiful homes out in the southwest. Oh yeah! I could see why they did…
But we were talking about changing actually. My friend said “but why did you…” I thought for awhile about the question and the answer. The answer to “why did I” is a mysterious blend of events, facts, and fictions. But someone else asked if I just grew out of it. No! You never grow out of archeology. Its a total mistress. Anthropology runs the life and the thoughts and the dreams. You cannot just go to technology and expect not to engage. Technology became another mistress to me that meant more stability; actually some money in the pocket. And then Linuxcare came along and then 2001.
Geez. Who woulda figured? Then my friend asked “Why do you… Blog?” Well, that one gets me. Why do I? Is it to be authoritative or to have comments or to find an exclusive blogging club where i work or to be known? No. Do I visit a lot of sites that tell me how popular my blog is, how authoritative it is? No. So Why do I?
I do it because I have to and I want to and it brings relief. Sometimes the pressure suits up and I know there is a need to release that flood. Why do you all blog? Wanna find some good readers? Want to say a thing or two? Or just want to find a place and a way to make your own statement?
Line it up and then ask someone else why they… I bet they all have reasons.
