I was at the Spokane International Airport last month trying to get a hold of the person picking me up. I don’t own a cell phone, so I decided to use a payphone. I should have known better not to insert my credit card into the machine, but I didn’t have any coins with me to pay for the call. I was pretty sure that the phone said it would charge 50 cents per minute for a long distance call. It is possible I read the sign wrong, I am sure it was meant to be confusing.
I couldn’t reach the person I needed to, and didn’t have any alternate numbers for them. After a while, I began to get worried that maybe they forgot and that no one was coming to pick me up. So I decided to call the only numbers that I knew by heart, my home which was on the other side of the country. I hoped that they would be able to help me find a number that I needed. No one answered, so I was out of luck there also. I tried several other numbers, all with no answer. I think I made 10 calls total.
Eventually I was picked up and made it back to the camp I am working at. However, after looking at my credit card statement I saw I had been charged an arm and leg for all the calls I made. Even from the same payphone, I had charged totaling $180 from two different companies. These companies were NCIC and Qwest. Each charge was no less than $15 even for a call that lasted less than 2 minutes. The highest charge was for $19.72 for a call that lasted less than 4 minutes. This is very different than the rates posted on the machine.
I called up the numbers on my credit card, 877-7937728 and 800-5959694 to ask for a refund. One of the companies, NCIC, actually refunded almost all of their charges. They gave me $50 back from their total of $55 charges. It only took one call and they were very nice about it. Qwest, however, was a different story.
I have called Qwest a total of 3 times and have not gotten any of the charges rescinded. The person I talked to told me that they would submit a ticket to another department and let me know within 30 days what their decision was. Now I guess I have to play a waiting game to see what they end up doing. I certainly hope that Qwest doesn’t rip me off of that much money. They have ridiculously high phone charges for pay phone usage.
Life Lessons:
Never put your credit card into a pay phone.
Get backup numbers for people you need to reach via phone.
One of the reasons I came back to the second year of Explore was to improve my outdoor skills. One of the skills I wanted to work on, which actually was not part of any class in Explore 2, was tracking. However, throughout the year I had the chance to work on my ability to track both in the back yard of Camp Bighorn, and also on the various trips we took.
In particular, our 21 day backpacking trip in central Oregon provided some really good opportunities to practice tracking. One day, I was in the position of pace setter. This meant I walked in front of the group and controlled the hiking pace. The only people in front of me were the scouts, who provided the practical navigation. My job was to follow the scouts at a decent pace. Everyone else just followed me.
The ground was slightly wet that day, which made for really good tracking. The terrain was fairly rugged. The grass was pretty high and there were tons of bushes and some trees scattered around. These provided just enough of a challenge for my skill level in tracking.
So I decided to track the scouts. I could still see them, which helped me travel in the correct general direction. I would walk for a ways with my eyes glued to the ground watching for footprints. Then I would glance up and make sure I knew where the scouts were. I was having a lot of fun.
I was having fun, that is, until one time when I glanced up and the scouts were no longer in sight. My heart skipped a beat as I realized I had no idea where they had gone. My duty as pace setter was to follow the scouts, and now that just got a lot harder. I didn’t know where they were. Everyone was trusting me to lead them in the path of the scouts. I didn’t like the way this situation was shaping up.
At this point, I decided I had to go on, and the only way to do that was to continue tracking them. However, now it wasn’t just for fun. I had to track for real. Still, because the tracking conditions were very favorable, I was able to follow the scouts’ trail fairly well. Eventually, we caught up to the scouts and successfully finished our hike. It ended up being a very valuable learning experience and increased my confidence and skill level.
Today we had our first big sim. I was a rescuer. I felt like I completely botched the whole thing though. Originally I was given control of the radio, but was a “secondary” rescuer. Val was kind of designated as IC, but not really. Somewhere in the middle of the hour long rescue, I switched from being a secondary to the IC, but not really. More clearly defined roles in the beginning would have helped. Tomorrow we do another sim, and maybe I will be a rescuer again. Hopefully I will do a better job. Some day it might be real.
I once asked a friend how to harness inspiration. I have tons of inspiration now, I just need to find a way to store and save it for when I begin to be distracted. I recently came up with a picture of what I want to be, as far as a person. Yol Bolsun.
Tomorrow we start our WFR class. Wilderness First Responder. After that we have two class of Group Facilitation class. Then comes four days off. Then the next 3 weeks will be spent in Murder Creek Wilderness, Oregon.
Greetings Camp Bighorn Family,
It is now close to the end of first semester. I and most others feel
as if it has gone by so quickly. I am excited for what will be coming
next semester, yet at the same time I don’t really want this one to
end. Granted, it has been hard. There have been many academic
challenges. There have been challenges within our team, and also
within the Prairie community as a whole. One thing that has been an
issue this semester is learning how to balance our time between
homework and friends. Sometimes it feels as if we have to choose just
one or the other. But for the most part, I think we have done a good
job in learning to balance the two.
Through these challenges I have seen growth in my own life, as well as
in the lives of my Sherpa teammates. It has been cool to see everyone
willing to engage even the hard things. It has also been neat to see
our different leadership abilities come to light throughout this
semester in the various circumstances we have found ourselves in.
At the beginning of the year, we were a little nervous about having to
spend an entire semester on Prairie campus. Our experience last year
taught us that Explore and the rest of the students had a hard time
relating to each other. However, all of us have enjoyed being on
campus this year. Most of the team has said that our stay on campus is
a highlight of the year. Here are some of the activities we have done
to incorporate into the Prairie community:
Slacklining – We would set up slacklines every day the weather was
nice and it became a cool community event. It created a nice
icebreaker to get to know some of the PBC students.
Meals – Especially before the 1st years came back to Prairie, we had
no choice but to blend into the main Prairie body during meals. This
also helped to break the ice and some of the awkwardness between
Explore and the rest of the school. After the 1st years came back, we
also served a little bit as a bridge between them and everyone else.
Rock Wall – Emily, Jesse, Abe, and I all worked at the rock wall on
campus this year. This was another way to get involved in what was
going on at Prairie.
Classes – We had classes with the rest of the college this year, which
helped create a common bond between us. We weren’t doing something
completely separate and different as we did last year.
Sports – There were various intramural sports this year on campus
which we participated in
These were a few of the main things, but there were also many other
smaller activities we each were involved in here on campus. We got to
know the Prairie community better, and they got to know us.
Throughout the semester we have had team and individual discussions
about what the weight of Glory means. Last night, during our weekly
Impact Group meeting, we took time to reflect again what it means to
carry the weight of Glory. Of course, each of us had a little
different take on it, but two common themes that I saw were that we
cannot carry it in our own strength, and that a big purpose of
carrying it is for the benefit of others.
Many things have happened in my own life this semester, and I am still processing through them. One of the things I have appreciated the most is all the conversations I have had with various people, including interns and directors. Many people have been willing to listen to me, to ask questions, to challenge me, encourage me, and walk with me this year. I am excited that we will soon be down at camp and I will be able to step back into fellowship with y’all. I have really begun to realize the immense value of relationships this year. On another note, the food at Prairie has improved since last year, but I know we are all still very much looking forward to eating Dave and Jen’s cooking 
God bless and have a Merry Christmas!
Garrett Boon, on behalf of Team Sherpa
I sold my first toque yesterday!
Kikkert bought it for $10. I feel happy. I also beat Tanton in ping pong yesterday. Here comes the Boon.
The other day I had a record of records day for my other website, www.garrettsbridges.com. I had over 5100 unique visitors in one day. That is more than double my previous record. Over 13000 pageloads across the site. I was pretty stoked. I made more through Adsense that day than I had any other day, despite the CTR being low. I also saved $200 by paying for school now through the nice exchange rate. That paid for my ticket home. I am also way ahead on my homework, at least for now.
I had a sweet talk with Dustin last night. He introduced me to a “steamer,” which is basically heated and frothed flavored milk drink. It was pretty good. I would buy one again.
Most merciful God, we confess we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed. By what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole hearts, we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us. That we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your name. Amen.
From the Book of Alternate Services
What is hard for me
Dying
Dying to myself
For a greater cause
I don’t have to face
Danger
Danger because my faith
Is not popular
What is hard for me
Giving
Giving up my wants
To help another
I may have to face
Rejection
Rejection of friends
They don’t understand
What is hard for me
Loss
Loss of what could be
For a greater cause
I don’t want to face
Confusion
Confusion of ideals
I don’t understand
What is hard for me
Focus
Focus on the goal
To honor the Lord
Give me the strength to face
Life
Life brought by my death
Your death on a cross
