Motivational speakers.

Life, lessons and coffee.
Recently I read a post about someone who did well at a motivational lecture. Now I have no idea what a motivational lecture is about, on the other hand my brother seems to be quite an expert on the subject as he has a Life Coach and attends motivational lectures. For a number of years I've gotten snippets of this wisdom and what he's learned. For example he says 10 affirmations when he gets up in the morning, positive thoughts about himself and what he's going to accomplish. I get Lectures about how successful he is and that he's the #2 man in the office. From there on, it's on and on, about what I can do to help myself. Then come the lessons on life. How to be a success and make a great deal of money, how to win friends and influence people (Andrew Carnegie wasn't it?). Then I ask him, "Are you prepared for a major earthquake in your front yard?" Considering he lives right on top of a major fault where oil has been pumped out of the ground for over a hundred years there has definitely been a change to the geologic structure of the fault zone where he lives. Come on Bro' WTF you gonna do when the Inglewood Fault rips? His response is the insurance company will take care of it. Puzzled I tried to explain to him that his insurance company isn't going to be there during the quake and asked what was he going to do in the immediate aftermath. I still have no answer. Nonetheless Bro goes on with life lessons that really have no meaning now that he refuses to accept the possibility of a major quake in his living room.
While living in the SF bay area I also met a lot of people who attended these uplifting motivational lectures on life the universe and everything. And like my bro most of them are eager to pass on what they've learned and show off the success it has brought. None of them will accept the fact that an 8ft tsunami entering San Francisco Bay at mean high tide would cover all except the very center of the island they live on.
Living on the San Andreas Fault, playing on the edge in the desert I too have learned life lessons. From the practical I've learned how to make a fire with only the materials at hand and how to extract water from plants (a waste of time). I too have a life coach she is a bit different than my brothers, Mother Nature. She has taught me the most important life lesson of all which is to know what to do when Mother walks up to you and and goes, "Tag! You're it!"

To my brother and those who would give life lessons. You only need one affirmation. "The world is magic." But there is no magic without coffee.

Interesting how a simple post generates interest. While there are no comments, there are emails asking questions. WTF are you doing in San Francisco? How could you leave the desert? Disabled? I didn't know you were disabled.

I shall endeavor to answer these questions although normally I would not.

WTF are you doing in San Francisco?
I'm not in San Francisco. I'm living on an island in SF bay, not Alcatraz. According to local citi-zens at the pub we are essentially "...surrounded by a moat protected by a police department imported from South Africa." Part of the EOCs emergency plans are to raise the drawbridges to isolate the island in case of terrorism and to evacuate or supply the island by sea. I kid you not. Did I say Oakland was on the other side of the drawbridge?

How could you leave the desert?
This link for one. I've been a sailor since the age of ten even in the desert. Owned and raced sailboats from 8-58 ft. That also included racing 16ft Hobie Cats. It will be interesting to see the worlds oldest sporting trophy won by the worlds fastest boats here in the (on the?) bay, in my front yard. Still there is much more to the answer.

There is no work in the desert. An incident covered by the Sun Runner Magazine years ago helped put me there. While "Character Matters" it is reputation that pays the bills and reputations are as fragile as a bubble. Yet like a Phoenix (the bird, not the city) I shall rise again only this time with the assistance of a very clever dog.

Blue Djinn, a border collie I've written about him before and will do so again. Gone through a lot because of and with him. He'll turn three in December and has been trained to work as my service dog; hence the black tie. He has also been trained to chase Canada Geese.

 Very physical work that requires discipline to work in a marsh and wetlands; hence black mud. The place to learn about chasing Canada geese is the SF Bay area where they are an ecological disaster. The East Bay Regional Park District is no longer making an attempt to control the geese mostly due to the  cost and amount of paperwork involved to get permits for goose control and removal. Enter dogs, the only cost effective method to controlling Canada Geese. As far as I've been able to to determine, permits are not required to use dogs as they are the only "safe and humane" method to control Canada Geese. Jin is perfect for this. His sheepdog stare, same as a wolf on the hunt, is normally enough to spook geese without having to send him on the run in.

Disabled? I didn't know you were disabled. 
Does that make a difference?  A few of my old climbing team mates seem to think so and I really didn't have a choice in the matter. Okay so I can't climb Joshua Tree rock or hike the miles and miles to Pine City in empty desert anymore. I can still get out and hike until I get back to the car, belay your overweight ass on the rock as long as the pain killers work and keep you from trouble.  Injuries that would make most people cringe have accrued over a lifetime and finally caught up to me. My advice to those younger than I; if your not willing to pay for it in pain when you get older, don't do it.

What about "DeRanger" Steve?
After years of being called "Ranger" Steve the name was given to me by the Sun Runner magazine after the Joshua Tree park rangers got a bug up their ass over someone else who they couldn't prosecute. So the rangers decided to involve me since I contracted with the Hummer tour guys who they were really after. Like I said reputations are as fragile as a bubble and apparently, character doesn't matter. I shall say a number of years ago Chief Ranger Cheryl and Ranger Sam at San Jacinto State park both said to me that I was the only real ranger left. It was the same day I aided a 12 year old boy in severe heat stress at the Tram's Mountain station where there were no rangers or anyone else to assist. Finally what about "DeRanger" Steve? I'll keep posting here. New articles, same thoughts and you can follow us on Facebook at "The Adventures of Ranger and Jin"(c).

BTW for the national park service and the state or whoever else decides to take issue. That title is copyright 2011 and it is literary. The name "Ranger" is the fictionalized name of a real person and is protected by the 1st amendment.