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[pct-l] Re: pct-l-digest V1 #695



> Items of note:

    I got the most wonderful junk mail today: There's a timeshare scam that offers you four days and
five nights of accomodations for 70 bucks if you listen to their 90 minute sales pitch. The big joke
here is the resort is in Palm Springs, right near the base of Mt. San Jacinto. I thought, "Bam! I'm
there; I'll hang out in the gym for five days!" Unfortunately, I fall outside the minimum age and
salary requirement for the program. If anyone a little older wants to try and scam this offer, try
www.pacificmonarch.com.

Trail Blues: I've been reading "The Last Wilderness" by Peter Browning, the story of a two man team
in the sixties that crossed a big chunk of the Northwest Territories by canoe. The writing is spare,
pedantic, and offers both a healthy dose of realism and an uplifting feeling of escape. Browning's
descriptions of swarms of bugs really make me cringe; I mention the book here because Browning
follows the onset of "Trail Blues" step by step. By reading such and account maybe we can look for
the signs.

A quote: "It was remarkable how my state of mind could change during the course of a day; and even
though I knew it was going to change under certain circumstances, I was powerless to control my
attitudes and emotions....I wanted to blame him [his partner John] for putting gme in such a fix,
although I was fully aware that I had gone on my own volition....I wanted to drop my pack, or lie
down and quit, or make a beeline for the Banana Belt, or anything at all to escape from an
intolerable state of affairs....Sooner or later it would be all over, and within a few minutes of
putting down my last load [of portaging] my feelings were reversed. Once more I appreciated the
beauty around me....In half an hour everything seemed rosy."

Food note: I just had this Fruit and Nut Pemmican bar that has 420 calories, 19 grams of protein, and
costs $1.09. Forget Power Bars, man, this is what you want.

will

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