Circular Logic

Fight or Flight

How many times have we heard the adage: "It's the journey, not the destination that matters." It might be true in an Obi-Wan universal wisdom kind of way, but when you're stuck in the Portland airport due to flight delays, it's the destination. Pure and simple.

I travel quite a bit for work, and like most travelers I've had my share of unexpected delays. Each time it happens I've noticed that people fall into predictable patterns of behavior:

• Stare blankly into space (this is the most common reaction)
• Look at watches and complain to traveling partners while shaking heads
• Storm the gates, demanding special attention and some apology or justification from irritated gate agents.
• Execute a flanking maneuver, quickly getting on a cell phone or jumping to a different airline's counter to book a different flight.

In this case, a live-for-the-moment philosophy would suggest relaxing and letting life take its course -- "we'll get there eventually!" True, but I think life has more to offer than crowded airports and cramped airline seats.

Sometimes, what matters is the destination.

Holding Pattern

On vacation, posting to a blog is quite a challenge. Expect minimal updates here for the next few weeks as we complete our cross country adventure. Storing up plenty of circular logic topics along the way.

Hot and Cold

I've always found that hot climates slow my thinking, dull my senses, and generally make me lazy. This is odd when you consider that heat, from a physics perspective, makes molecules move faster.

Perhaps it is my fondness for my college days in Minnesota, but I've always preferred cold to heat. Cold weather makes you move quickly, sharpens the senses, and generally inspires productivity. Again, this strikes me as odd because colder temperatures slow down the activity of molecules.

Maybe this is the universe's way of demonstrating that if you're big enough, the laws just don't apply. Then again, we could simply look to Washington, D.C., for that lesson, I suppose.

Be that as it may, Karen and I are embarking on a cross-country drive during the next month. It will be hot, which she loves, and it will be a total departure from our normal routine. We aim to post regular blog entries on a separate site, although I'll try to keep up the posting here as well.