TheLostChinese.org

So after the latest boat incident… Wes and I have decided to put the boat idea on the back-burner for a while.  It’s expensive.  And it’s going to be expensive over and over and over again.  Wes’s boss actually told him “BOAT” stands for “Bring Out Another Thousand”.  So.. After spending $216 to rent a U-Haul to go get a boat and not come back with one, we’re taking a break from yachts.

This doesn’t in any way mean that we won’t have completely outlandish ideas that may or may not work out, or may or may not cost us thousands of dollars, or may or may not get us killed.  We bounced ideas back and forth for a while last night.

We thought about getting an old car to fix up for a while.  Then we realized that to be cool, it’d have to be a classic and that would just be expensive and probably way beyond our skill level.  We talked about building an arcade machine, but that’s too much computer for Wes.  It took us a while, but we figured it out:

Now we’re hunting motorcycles.  I like the old Harley Davidsons like the one in the picture.  They’re really expensive, though, so an older Honda or Suzuki would cure my itch, too.  I’m not entirely sure what Wes wants, but it’ll probably be something similar.  Neither of us are really in to the new sport-bikes like the Kawasaki Ninjas.  They’re not bad bikes, I just don’t see Wes or myself riding one.

Should be a fun endeavor.  I’m supposed to go down to the DMV today to take my permit test, again.  I took it before, but it expired last month, so I have to retake it.  But that way I can tell Wes what was on it and get him a DMV handbook to read through.

So.. Epic Fail.  Rened a U-Haul.  Drove to Charleston.  Waved at each other through the hull.  Decided not to get it.  On the way back now.  On the upside, I have a U-Haul til 3pm tomorrow.

Provided I can find a truck to get it home …
This is the boat Wes and I are getting.  Like I said, I need to find a truck to pull her home with.  But provided I can do that, she’s ours.  I’ll be on my way to Charleston, SC later today with Chris.

This should make for an interesting trip.  We still have yet to see the true condition she’s in.  The guy that’s getting rid of her kept stressing how much work she needs and how we better know what we’re doing.  Hopefully, we can figure out what we’re doing really fast.

I’m really hoping she doesn’t need much (or any) hull work.  Same goes for the engine.  Seems to be ideal for us though as long as we can fix her up.  We’ve already picked out the name (if I haven’t mentioned in past posts):  Money Pit.  We were especially excited to find this one because it comes with a  trailer.

Well, more pictures will be up once we get her home and get a good look at it.  I think we still need to find somewhere to put her though….

So our original road trip to the land of Canadia had to be canceled due to funding… on my part .  But, alas, good news is here!  Wes and I have found our Free Yacht and plan to go pick it up this Tuesday provided the guy follows through.

I somehow managed to work it out so my friend Chris can come along.  This will be a HUGE help since my poor little Dodge Ram won’t be able to pull such a large boat.  He, apparently, has a truck perfectly capable of doing so.

Wes and I do have a few worries about the boat though.  The guy seems to stress that it needs A LOT of work… I wonder what that entails.  He said he doesn’t know the condition of the engine.  Hopefully that means it ran and he just hasn’t put it in the water to start it and it’ll start right up for us.  As unlikely as that is, it would be wonderful.  I really hope the hull is fine.  Between me and Wes, the hull would be the only part we can really think of that neither of us have ANY idea what to do with.

Ideally, it would be in overall condition and just need a new interior.  I know that’s not going to happen, but I can dream.  We’ll find out Tuesday just how much work we think it’ll take .. and then probably plan on doubling that because we’ll find stuff wrong as we go along.

So after much debate, Wes and I have decided to find,fix, and sail upon a yacht ..  provided we can find one for free.  We did find one on Craigslist that was just twenty minutes away, but by the time we got to it someone else had already picked it up. We ended up finding a bunch of sources for free boats, info about boats and how to fix them (I’ll post them when I have time).

We may have one down in Charleston, but we still have some to discuss about it.  Other than that the other ones seem to all be in Massachusetts or Florida.

Over the past few weeks, Wes and I have decided that we are quite possibly the lamest kids in existence.  We’re both nineteen years old, relatively fit, and don’t have any baggage.  Yet, for the fourth week in a row, we’re spending Friday night at Denny’s.  Generally, Saturdays are reserved for Ihop.

Granted, we were planning a trip to Canada most of the time. But a lot of that time was spent doing his Computer Science homework and messing around on Facebook.

One night, we even went as far as to browse Target for a while.  We ended up searching for their generic food brand, Archer Farms, on every isle.  Tonight, We got around to changing his windshield wiper blades on an exciting trip to Wally World.  But that’s pretty uncommon.

Why isn’t there anything to do in Columbia?

At some point I want to be able to do some of this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myJj0mNNe1Y&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]

So I did some searching around. There’s a pretty historic club in Columbia, SC called The Big Apple. Back in the day, it was a pretty hip place to be, and now, once a month, it’s a swing club again. I haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, but their next night is next friday (Feb. 5) so I’ll try to go. Hopefully, there’ll be a live little jazz combo, but even if not, it should be pretty neat. If you want to check it out, its on the Historic Columbia Foundation website (click Here for a direct link).

Other than learning the dance, for the past couple of years I’ve really enjoyed jazz, especially swing. I love playing it, and have become especially fond of the Baritone Sax parts. I’d love to practice up a bit and find a recreational jazz band somewhere and join.

Even with all those connections, I still wonder how this blog gets any traffic.  Granted, this is the first month I’ve gotten over 200 hits in a long time.  Still, 200 hits is a lot considering I have a relatively boring life.
I know I have my page on Facebook, but there’s only about 7 people that are fans of it.  I post updates to twitter.  But again, I think I only have about 20 people following me.

So how does everyone else find the blog?  Comment and let me know.  You won’t win anything, but you’ll settle my curiosity

So after my first semester at the University of South Carolina, it’s official – college is not what I want to be doing right now.  That does not in any way imply, however, that I know what I do want to be doing.  I know I can’t just sit around and do absolutely nothing like I have been.  As much as I may enjoy it, funds run out and lack of productivity tends to make me slobbish to say the least.  Besides, the more useless and hopeless I feel.  I’m not building anything, I’m not learning anything, I’m not doing anything.  So what would let me make money, give me something to do that’ll hold my attention and let me be productive?

That’s when the idea of the military hit me.  I know if I join the military, I sure as hell won’t be bored.  Other than that, I’ll give me training I can use later in life and the discipline I really should have now.  Above all else, it’s a decent job with no experience required and will look good later on my resumé.

Originally, I had planned on joining the Marine Corps if I joined the military.  I think I would enjoy it for a while, but some friends made me realize the Air Force would be much better suited for my lifestyle.  So that’s my plan!  I’m scheduled to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) later this afternoon.  I’ve been studying and prepared a bunch, but I’d still have liked to prepare more without cramming.

I also found out that for my height of sixty-four inches, I have to be under one hundred-sixty pounds.  The other day at the recruiters office, I tipped the scales at one hundred-sixty-one pounds! Hopefully, I can lose five pounds or so by the time I’m supposed to have my physical.  Granted, I did have my shoes and jacket on when he weighed me, but I’d like to have a bit of a buffer zone in there.

I’m not going to say I think it’s a completely a good idea.  I do have somethings I question.  Granted it’s the Air Force, so I probably won’t have to worry about actually using a gun too much, but I still wonder if I could if I had to.  I’ve never been all that patriotic.  I don’t agree with the war in Iraq.  I do support our troops and would like to serve.  But if it came down to it, could I kill for my country?  Could I kill for anything?  I hope I don’t have to find out.

So, a couple weeks ago, I started reading an article online about how some guys got a free yacht.  It made me start wanting one (especially if it were free).

If you want to check out the original article, it’s on Instructables under “Rides” as the Free Yacht Saga.

Anywho,  I started thinking about what it would be like to have a yacht.  While, yes, its out of my price range even if it’s free just due to the running costs, but I still think it would be pretty awesome.  What could be better than spending some time sailing around on a yacht with a couple of friends and some decent music?  Nothing that I can think of.

Wes kept pushing it, too.  His only difference is he plans on somehow obtaining a multi-million-dollar yacht.  Cocaine trafficking maybe?  No, he wouldn’t go that far.  But it does, in a way, give me something to aim for, even if I have no idea what I would do with a yacht if I had one.  By the time I would be able to afford one, if ever, would be the time I’m either too busy or too old to use it.  And that would just be a waste.  So I suppose the yacht idea will go on the back-burner for a while… But just wait until I win the lottery…