Google tag

Filling in the gaps: Badger’s Appalachian Trail Omissions (part 1)

Filling in the Gaps

For those who’ve followed my Appalachian Trail journey from the beginning, you may have noticed a couple of gaps in the story.  This has been confirmed by many of the questions I’ve received via Facebook and e-mail.

As I’m currently in the process of writing a pretty kick ass Appalachian Trail book for you all (subscribe to the Badger Book list for more info), I have been reaching into the depths of my honesty bank to best portray some of the mental challenges I dealt with during my journey.  I am doing this in hopes of offering learning lessons to help future thru-hikers successfully complete the AT.  The learning lessons themselves will be in the book, not the posts.

The following are re-worked excerpts from the (currently unnamed) book.   They should serve to bridge a couple of the biggest gaps in my story.

1) Google Giveth, Google Taketh Away

(a follow up from the post: “From Mountain Views to Mountain View“)

Two weeks before leaving for the AT, I had managed to score a phone interview with a company I had dreamt of working for over the better part of the last decade, Google.

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From Mountain Views to Mountain View

I took a quick detour from the trail last week.

This past Wednesday, I had a 2nd interview with Google (for those who know me, working for them has been a life long dream). Apparently they’re expressing interest in acquiring the Good Badger. I suppose due the sheer size, technically it would be considered more of a merger. The Google Badger.

But in all honesty, I have no choice but to keep my expectations realistically low. By the time you’re done reading this sentence, Google has received approximately 56 more resumes. Apparently when you have 20 complimentary gourmet cafeterias on your campus- people want to work for you. They have no choice but to be ultra-selective. My competition is Harvard grads. I went into the interview with a huge mountain man beard and a borrowed button up shirt and slacks a size and a half too big (Brandon- you’re too tall damnit). I already looked like a homeless guy, the sheer excitement in my eyes to be part of civilization only compounded this impression. Either way, I’m fortunate to have options available to me on the other end of the trail- one of which is being a professional bum (my current vocation).

20110502-043826.jpghomeless man face

Regardless of the outcome, I am finishing the trail. I set out to do something. Damnit- I’m going to do it.

Because arranging the flight to San Francisco required a good amount of guess work in terms of pacing and ability to get to an airport- my current situation looks a tad different than before I left. I arrived into Damascus, VA Sunday- and didn’t get back onto the trail until Thursday afternoon. In other words, Whoop and the rest of the gang are long gone. Badger is flying solo.

Oddly enough, my first two days on the trail after losing the group, I didn’t encounter another human being. That’s the first time I can say that so far. A bit strange, but also strangely awesome. That 36 hour span felt a tad like Man vs. Wild (except I was equipped with 11lbs of Clif Bars and Snickers, and didn’t drink any urine). I have since found other people- but my time in wilderness without fellow human interaction has aroused irreversible animal instincts (I stopped wiping).

This update is brief not due to a lack of information to convey to you but because AT&T grants me 39 seconds of connectivity a week. 37 of those seconds are spent convincing my mom that I’m not dead. More to come later.

Life is good.

Google Predicts the Future

It was recently announced that Google can now predict the future….

While filling out your Google Profile, one question asks to suggest something that you might not be able to find on Google.  Mistakenly, I figured this was either a trick question, or an attempt at some subtle humor.  Little did I know, Google uses this as their suggestion box.

See for yourself:

(click to enlarge)

Google Fiber to Madison, Wisconsin

Watch this video, then meet me down below.

See why I spend so much time loving Google?  1 GB/second Internet connections?  Lady Gaga on ChatRoullette never looked so good. 

Selfishly, I would campaign for San Diego, but a) we’re over the 500,000 person limit and b) I missed the deadline (3.26). 

If timing is everything, this post is nothing.

But I would like to point out a great pitch made from my former home, Madison, WI, as the lucky recipient of the magical Google Fiber.  The pitch can be found at the Powered Green Blog, home of the green laptop.  If high transfer speeds can remedy intolerable winters, I might be moving back… 

Good luck.

Redefining Community

As a business, if you don’t seem as if you’re giving back to your local community, your customers will find a competitor that does.  I say “seem” because, as it should come to no surprise, companies are much more interested in what their public image is rather than a strong sense of compassion on behalf of the company’s owner(s).  You don’t believe me?  Try Googling “company community involvement”.  The result will be an infinite list of companies detailing each specific instance they’ve ever contributed to their community.  We come to expect this as common knowledge…If they give back to the community, they’re more compassionate, less of a wall street centered/soul sucking sort of company (alliteration really drives a point home).  But when Kathleen donates her time to The Childrens’ Hospital fund raiser, she doesn’t make a webpage detailing how many smiles she put on the faces of the less fortunate.  Sure, she might add it to a resume; more likely she’s already volunteered more times than you could fit on resume paper.  Well, why then, must a company demand some sort of public recognition for each dollar or hour donated?

I’m being somewhat sarcastically critical.  Of course a business is going to advertise their goodwill.  It would be an extreme sense of ineptitude if they didn’t.  This business is still, after all, a business… Read more →