see as i saw

Despite my appreciation for the 70 degree December day, it's thrown me off-balance.  Pair that with the fact that it's Monday and clearly I was incapable of gaining equilibrium.  That means I have nothing thoughtful or provoking to share, no stories or adventures of substance.  Unless, of course, you're interested in the cilantro-garnished chorizo taco that I ate for lunch.  Highlight of the day.

Actually, I take that back.  Lunch was usurped on its pedestal by the later realization that a business trip next Tuesday will put me within 1,026 AAdvantage miles of the 30,000 needed for the lowest class "free" ticket to Ecuador.  And it just so happens that the timeframe in which I want to go is considered part of the off-peak season (also a necessary caveat to get the flight for 30,000 miles).

Thanks to some site where I was taking surveys for points during my unemployment this summer, I redeemed those points for 500 additional miles.  And a little internet digging tonight may have warranted me a promo code that doubles any miles earned through the end of the year.  That should be me at no more than 526 miles shy and hopefully the double miles pushes me beyond 30,000.

I'm not getting my hopes up that a flight will actually be available, because word on the street (internet) is that these lowest-class tickets are hard to get a grasp on.  Hopefully, since Ecuador isn't a huge destination for the average American, I'll have a fighting chance.

As if my travel list of "must go" destinations isn't long enough, and my current means just aren't enough, I let myself do things like follow travel-related Twitter accounts and click on travel sections within blogs.  Today those two actions alone have left my heart with anticipatory palpitations over the prospect of going on a South African safari, feeling insignificant in the powerful presence of Iguazú Falls, and camping at the base of yet another waterfall in Iceland.

Maybe I dream big about my future travels as a distraction from spending so much time in the same 550 square feet or the same three-mile radius.  It's no secret that I've enjoyed my sabbatical, but I'm beyond ready to return to an occupied life (which, consequently, can reinstate the means for feeding my wanderlust).

There's a promise that I have made to myself, but now I'm going to put it in writing.  It increases the odds that someone will hold me accountable for following through, just in case I start to over-think instead of act.  As soon as I secure regular income again, it's time to invest in a dSLR.  I want to transition myself from phone-tographer to photographer.

Just over a week ago, I decided to give my eardrums a break.  My comfortable earbuds crapped out a couple months ago, so I downgraded to the spare set that you always keep but would rather never have to use.  Besides the general discomfort, I actually started experiencing some inner ear pain and ringing on the left side.  That's when I realized just how much I was filling in hours of solitude with my iPod's company.

I imagine that I've been wearing headphones of some variety since the early nineties, and my parents have been admonishing me about going deaf over that same span.  And I only use a moderate volume on my personal music devices.

A little digging turns up a 60/60 rule - keeping your earbud time to 60 minutes a day at no higher than 60% max volume.  I guarantee I was breaking at least half of that rule nearly every day.  But, I'm rather averse to permanent hearing damage.  Supposedly the first thing to go is the middle ranges, those required to hear conversations in noisy restaurants.  There's nothing but noisy restaurants in Chicago and who wants to be that girl on a date?  "Huh? What?"