#conlfict

[peanuts-space]

I’m just scrolling through tumblr and I keep seeing things about Gaza- and honestly- NEITHER SIDE IS IN THE RIGHT! Im Jewish, so im a tad more supportive of Israel, but seriously- ARENT BOTH SIDES KILLING CHILDREN??? I literally have RELATIVES in Israel that have died due to this conflict, and to see people just blaming Israel for it is a bit hurtful. Now, I don’t know the whole story, so I won’t make accusations, this is just my opinion on the matter.

[tremendouscoffeeharmony-blog]

Conflict

Conflict is not between you and me

It is between my thoughts & my emotions

Conflict is not between the world and me

It is between my perceptions & my beliefs

Conflict happens within me,deep inside

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[khasiboke]

I speak of the disappeared. 107,000 people have been disappeared in Colombia’s 51 year old internal conflict.

[derekinthesouth-blog]

Growing

So we have been in West Virginia for just a hair over one week now. Before I give my thoughts on how I think the next 7 will turn out, let me recap the days since my last update.

Monday was the first day of our first full work week, and everyone was ecstatic for it, after the work we did on Friday. Nature, however, had other plans. Plenty of fresh snowfall the night before, and more continuing that morning created the dreaded "inclement weather" clause in the contract (so-to-speak) where if the weather is bad enough to not be able to do our scheduled work, we have a "rainy day" project that we do instead. So, to as not have to work outside, we painted the inside of the two bath houses down in the campgrounds. The day went by fairly quick, but inhaling paint for 5 hours doesn't exactly make me a happy camper. I had to take a few breaks and go outside for a couple minutes during it just because it was too much and I'd start getting a headache. Beyond that though, the thing that everyone was most worried about as the day progressed was getting paint on their clothes. And it happened. To everyone. I kind of knew that at some point in the 9 months, we would be painting, and it was going to happen, but I didn't think I'd destroy my favorite pair of pants on the first week (they're my favorite because the second pair I was issued back in cti was lost/stolen/whathaveyou so I had to get an old used pair instead, blegh). So now, many nice fleeces, vests, and sweatshirts already have battle scars. Plus I still have paint on my hands that won't wash off, but I kind of like that actually.

Tuesday we got back on the trail and finished up Bear Pen, the trail we started on Friday. Since we knocked the rest of the trail out before lunch, afterwards we helped clear some of the fallen trees and brush that lined the road through the park so it didn't get blown into the path of cars, and also so the park could have some more firewood for the cabins. Our PT that afternoon (step-aerobics again, and from now on every tues/thurs) was plagued with our first conflict. 4 members of the team weren't at the van at the specified time to go to the NRAO for the PT, and well, they were left at the house. They ended up walking and getting to the class half way through it, but a few of them were quite furious at being left, despite them being late. The TL then said that since they walked over and did half the class, an exception would be made if they did 15 min of the insanity workout (that's just the name of the program) after the step-aerobics class, and that would count as their "make-up" PT, since if you miss a PT you obviously have to make it up. Two of them basically stormed out, and unfortunately for them, the half hour walk and half hour of the class they did is now nullified and they have to do another 45 minute session to make up. The 3 of us plus the TL did the 15 min insanity workout with the two others and it was pretty fun actually, but nothing easy at all. When we all got back to the house, the two that didn't do the 15 min insanity workout were talked to and they calmed down a bit, and as of now everything seems to be all good again.

Wednesday was a new trail, at the arboretum in the state park. But arboretum is used in a very loose sense, as it's really just a few miles of trails that go in a loop, and every so often there's a sign identifying a type of tree next to the trail. It was still awesome though, and for a decent part of it there wasn't anything to clear so we got to hike it for a good 15-20 min without chopping up branches and shrubs. The weather was cold but beautiful. All of the pics in the last photoset that I put up were taken then, and it felt like I had my phone out taking pictures as much as I was using my loppers. I so far have 135 pics just from the past week. A lot of them are doubles because I tend to take more than one pic of an object, but I'm interested to see how big my NCCC pics folder is by the end of my time here.

Today was another inclement weather day, or should I say half day, since after we finished up the bathrooms we worked on Monday, we took our lunch and by then the weather had calmed so we got to work on the trail from yesterday for a couple hours. Everybody made it to PT today, and we even heard some talk of people from the NRAO playing basketball on Sundays, although they call it "geezer-ball" because it's all the older folks that used to play in high school. Even with that though, this could work into our 3rd PT of the week if we're lucky. The only thing is that Saturdays and Sundays are the only days we have time to do any ISPs, so we'll have to figure it out. Speaking of which, we've been slacking on finding them and got a little talk about it by the TL, but it was necessary to give everyone the kick in the pants that they needed.

So with all that out of the way, let me share my thoughts on what's been going on and what will come in the future. The PT debacle on Tuesday was the biggest conflict that we, as a team, have encountered thus far, and it was kind of a glimpse or insight into a few people. What I have extracted from that day was that we have a pretty young team. Not even necessarily age-wise, although that plays a role. Half the team are all 22 years old, the other half are 19-20. Of the 22 year olds, only me and the TL have actually finished college, one has 2 years under his belt, and the last never went, opting for Job Corps which is more for trade skills. The younger ones though, have quite a bit of maturing to do. I almost lump in the 2 cm's that are my age, because I see a bit of immaturity in their actions as well. Now I'm not saying that I act in an adult manner 24/7 or that I never slip up, but in the PT session, I witnessed people storm out, throw sarcastic remarks (at me specifically for whatever reason), and arguing with the TL. The thing that I think a lot of CMs need to realize (and I mean this corps wide, not just my team) is that the TL is our boss, essentially. As in, what they say goes, and no amount of fighting or bickering will make you the victor in the end. It was quite an interesting and eye opening experience, and kind of bums me even more that the ATL is a temporary position, which I will have to relinquish at the end of this round so someone else on the team can have it next round. We'll see how that plays out in time though. The bit of hope that I do have is how everything got resolved. That very night, a few hours after it all happened, we were all eating dinner together, joking and laughing as a team, which was great to see. On a happier note, I loved the short hiking portion we did on the trail yesterday. It made me miss hiking, and particularly backpacking with dad quite a bit, and for a second I got really down when I remembered I wouldn't get to do our yearly backpacking trip in the Sierras this year. But we'll get to trade pics of each of our adventures so it'll be okay, and there's always next year of course. 

I know already that the next 9 months will be filled with challenges, more conflict, resolutions to said conflicts, happiness and sadness, and more. But in the end, whatever is going on, be it about the project or about the team, is all about learning and growing.

[benhuffingrass]

A call to action

I know its been said before, much more eloquently perhaps, but when one looks at photographs from our deep space telescopes looking back at only the tiniest glimpse of earth consider this: All life (as we know it), every bird, every fish, every reptile (don't forget the dinosaurs), every amphibian, every invertebrate, every insect, every plant, every fungi, every bacteria, every microbe, every mammal, every human, every civilization, everything that was ever once written down, every religion, every government, every war, every dispute, all music, all art, all poetry, all literature, all film, all education, all science, all sports, all food, all technology, all money, all culture, every single profession, all language (sign or spoken), every thought ever conceived by humankind, every utterance ever spoken, every argument, every compromise, every joke, every speech, every hero, every villain, every friend, every enemy, all love, all hate and every seemingly meaningless interaction we have with each other every day, as far as we know them, have existed on just a tiny dot in the billions of cosmos in the Universe. Everything that has happened on that tiny dot is also a mere bi-product of stardust and star formation. Some of this information may sound overwhelming and ultimately depressing. To me, it is so much more than that. It is inspiration. This idea that our world, with our ever-changing and interesting history, is just one of millions or possibly billions of other worlds out there, with histories and perhaps cultures of their own. This perspective is not a new one; it simply lacks the army-like support revolutionary perspectives have needed in the past to take root. This inspiration of the enormity and complexity of our known Universe must serve to trivialize all human conflict as we know it on planet earth. If only everyone in our lifetime had the opportunity to see earth from the moon. From up there, every human problem seems small and benign. This is a call to action, not solely to the scientific world for the advancement of our space exploration and understanding, but rather a call to action to the entire world to accept the answer to the ultimate question as to how we are here and come together by breaking down ethnic barriers, ending religious conflict, and putting aside our cultural differences so that we as a species (humankind), or maybe as a world (earthlings), can embark together on the exploration of the final frontier where we may find life out there on another pale blue dot, or maybe, just maybe, find out why we are here. 

[deathawaitsmehere]

I just want to be loved...

But how am I supposed to let someone when I don't even love myself?