May 01, 2008
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Southeastern Kansas is a bit hilly and so is southern Missouri. I'm finding that once I get off the plains the state roads get a bit slower and more fatiguing to drive, especially with the winds out here the past couple of days.
With the rising gas prices, I've been a bit concerned LD's gas mileage might suffer on the Interstate but that doesn't seem to be the case. At my usual 65 mph I find I'm running just a tad over 9 mpg pretty consistently.
Night camp:
Wal-Mart parking lot, Sullivan, Missouri
Skepticism is Helpful
If you want to notice things that seem wrong, you'll find a degree of skepticism helpful. I take it as an axiom that we're only achieving 1% of what we could. This helps counteract the rule that gets beaten into our heads as children: that things are the way they are because that is how things have to be. For example, everyone I've talked to while writing this essay felt the same about English classes-- that the whole process seemed pointless. But none of us had the balls at the time to hypothesize that it was, in fact, all a mistake. We all thought there was just something we weren't getting.
The Age of the Essay, Paul Graham, September 2004