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13 days was just beyond panic with only 5 more days of work left panic is setting in. I have a lot to do before I go to Scotland. I really need to ensure I have everything packed and ready to go well in advance so that I can just sit back and relax before picking up my bags and leaving for ten months. I’ve been quite busy the last few months but I can’t help but feel under prepared. I haven’t had potentially - depends what I end up doing with myself - 10 months off well ever… the closest I come is probably the 3 month trip I did to europe/uk after graduating.

I am prepared to hemmorage money for a while but it conflicts with my over fiscal cautiousness and my desire to always live below my means. I also do not want to just sit back and let my skills go rusty while I am away. Ali recently reminded me of the movie “About a boy” where Hugh Grant organizes his time into units. What I need to do is figure out how many units I have in a day and how I should spend them. There are a bunch of things that I’ve always thought about doing though I am not sure how many are within my reach.

Write a book

- but let’s face it, it would probably be terrible so I think I’ll settle with reading some books. I’ve been trying to knock off all the top sci-fi/fantasy books in the last few years. I like to average a book a month though recently I spent too much of my time reading construction and renovation materials to have time for sci fi.

Design my own house

- there are great software programs out there now and I think this goal is achieveable. I am thinking of picking up an autocad book and starting there. Punch design studio and cheif architect also look like they might be worth investing some of my time in. Figuring out the Vancouver bylaws will probably take a while and optimizing the design to fit the laws will require some good planning as well. Too many houses are under-designed with no thoughts to future wiring, location of the sun, future use of spaces, etc. I plan to over design mine.

Visit a bunch more countries

- We have a couple trips coming up; Poland and South Afrika. I’ve done a fair amount of traveling and I think I am all the better for it. I am eager to see new places, experiences different ideas and places and be culture shocked. I think we’ll plan for a 5 week trip to India in 2007.

Volunteer on a dig

When I was little I always wanted to be an archeologist. I think that was more about scuba diving for a lost galleon and finding gold coins and treasure, the reality is a lot less appealing. Not sure if I’d prefer volunteering on a dig or putting up a house with habitat for humanity. Both would likely be pretty cool.