2011: Not the Year of the Despot.

Woke up this morning to the news that North Korean Dictator, Kim Jun Il, died of a heart attack at age 69.

By my own account, that makes three major players in the world of terrorism/despotism/just plain evil that bit the dust this year.

Osama Bin Ladin was killed during a covert U.S Navy SEALS/CIA operation May 2nd, 2011.

After months of protests, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed.  He was captured by members of the Lybian National Liberation Army after his convoy was attacked by NATO warplanes.  He was beaten to death.  He was infamously known as being complicit, if not wholly endorsing, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which resulted in the deaths of 270 people.

The CNN coverage North Korean citizen's reactions to Kim Jung Il's death is interesting.

"Our leader endured all the hardships," one mourner told state-run Korean Central News Agency in a televised interview. "I can't believe it. Our leader, he's still with us."
 
"He has loved us so much. We weren't able to repay him," one mourner said.  Another said, "It's too much! It's too much! Leader, please come back. ... You cannot leave us. We will always wait for you, leader."

Is it really surprising?  The Kims controlled all media, police, and military.  Information did not flow freely in or out of the country.  Their entire way of life, how they do things, what they believe, are manipulated and controlled by the Kims.  In a way, the man known as "dear leader" was, essentially, God to them.

Even the announcement of his death to the populace was a controlled event, designed to further his legacy after his passing.  The announcement on North Korean national news service a full 48 hours after he died was the following:

"The network said Kim died of "overwork" while "dedicating his life to the people." And the official news agency KCNA said Kim suffered "great mental and physical strain" while on a train." (source: CNN December 19 2011).

He is to be succeeded by his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, dubbed the "great successor".

The control of power shown by the Kim's over the North Korean people reminds me a lot of a cult.

Except this cult has nuclear capabilities.

Food for thought.

December Rain.

Well, I found out that people I thought were my "friends" weren't so after all.  I discovered that a group of people that I normally cache with went out without me on  the 26th and made a beeline on a boatload of caches in the Moncton/Memramcook/Sackville area, and didn't include me.  I cached with each one of them individually way before we started caching as a group.  Lately, however, I've been feeling like a fifth wheel.  Two of them are married to each other, and the other two recently started dating, so now it is more like two couples going out and I am just a tag along.  I have never, ever, excluded anyone from the group anytime I ever suggested or planned a trip; sadly, that has not been reciprocated to me.  In fact, there were a few times this past year when I actually had to invite myself along.  I chalked it up at the time to just an oversight on their part, but I'm now thinking that was not the case.

The 26th was the night of the city's Christmas parade, so I likely wouldn't have gone with them.  It was the fact that they never even bothered to ask.  Being invited somewhere, it shows that someone is thinking of you, likes your company, thinks you're fun to be around, and wants to hang out with you.  For someone with low self esteem like me, the invite means a lot.

Not one of them has been in contact with me in the three weeks since the dust up I had with another geocacher that I wrote about in my second blog ever.  Not one of them has responded to PMs.  I guess I should take that as a sign.

I decided to unfriend them on Facebook, as it was bothering me seeing their posts, comments, etc.  That was last Wednesday.  Not one of them has sent an email or PM asking "what's up?'.  So I guess I have my answer.

I thought that I had made some real, true friends through geocaching.   Maybe I am being to harsh on them.  I don't know.

At any rate, I am enjoying the peace and solitude of caching solo once again.  It is nice to be in the woods on the trails, alone with my thoughts.  I've put a fair bit of kilometres on both my car and my hiking boots in the past two weeks, which isn't good for my wallet right now as I'm still off work.

I managed to find my 2500th cache on December 2nd.  I am really proud of that fact, considering that I have been caching for only a little over 4 years, and have significant responsibilities at home.  Credit goes to my wife, for putting up with my caching on every trip we take out of town, and allowing me the opportunity to just go for a hike when I can squeeze it in during the week.

No real amount of snow on the ground just yet.  I'm looking forward to geocaching this winter, as I bought a new pair of 36" snowshoes from L.L. Bean, complete with poles and a bag.  For the past few years, I have been using 30" snowshoes, rated only up to 225 lbs, 250 max.  I weigh 280.   I always thought that "this year is the year I will lose the weight".  That has not been the case, and, being tired of always falling through the snow and constantly struggling, I decided to break the bank and get a pair of snowshoes that worked for me.  And I'm glad.

When I bought my snowshoes, L.L. Bean had a really good price on kid size snowshoes, so my wife and I decided to pick up pairs for our two oldest girls and give them to them Christmas morning.  I can't wait to see the look on their faces.  I am really excited about taking them out on winter hikes with me.

I guess I had a lot more to talk about today than I first thought.  I am enjoying blogging, it has given me an opportunity to vent about things that are bothering me.  I've been keeping my comments and opinions in check when I'm in public and in online forums, as I don't want to come off as sounding bitter anymore.  So I am glad for the release that this blog is giving me.

I may not be popular, but I am me.