Monday, December 27th, 2004
Kokology answer key | ***PLEASE DON'T READ THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE QUESTIONS***
Abandoned buildings and underground rooms are highly symbolic of buried memories and old psychological scars. All of us have had an experience we’d rather not recall or a heart-break we thought we’d forgotten. But the memory is not so easily erased, and the things we hoped to forget linger for longer than we’d like to admit. Your responses to this situation show how you deal with painful memories of the past.
1. The number of steps to the bottom of the stairs indicates the impact of the psychological scars you are bearing. People who said there were only a few stairs feel little adverse effect from the past. But those who described a long staircase leading deep into the earth carry correspondingly deep wounds inside.
2. The sounds you heard out of the darkness reveal how you got through bad experiences in your past. Those who said they heard weeping have been comforted by others in times of trouble and recovered with the help they received. The people who took care of you in their kindness have helped you become the person you are today. The tears you cried were not in vain. People who heard wordless moaning went though hard times in their past alone. The moaning you hear in the dark is your own buried pain. Perhaps the time has come to open the door and let the sun shine in. Things won’t look so bleak in the light of day. Those who heard a voice speaking to them wear their old scars like a badge of honor, refusing to think of them as wounds. Nietzsche said “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” And you seem to have taken this philosophy to heart. But be careful not to let this harden you to the feelings of others.
3. Your reaction to the sounds in the darkness shows how you deal with the painful aspects of your own past. If you went out to search for the source of the sound, it’s likely you show the same take-charge attitude in your own life. By facing your problems head on, you’re bound to discover solutions. Those of you who ran straight back upstairs without confronting the sounds have a history of ignoring problems in the hopes that they’ll just go away. That approach may work sometimes, but don’t be surprised when the trouble stays around longer that you anticipated. Sometimes you need to stand and face your fears. If you were frozen in place with fear, it may be that you have unresolved conflicts in your own past that continue to haunt you and keep you from moving ahead with you life.
4. The person who appeared at the top of the stairs calling your name is someone you feel you can rely on in times a trouble. The name you gave is the person you believe will comfort you and help to heal your inner wounds.
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| Saturday, December 11th, 2004
curriculum vitae. | So, I've been thinking about it, and I realized that I've never really shared the complete tale of how I came to be the badass explorer that I am today, I've only mentioned bits and pieces here and there. So here it is, as best I can remember:
Ever since I was little, I've had a natural curiosity to see and explore places that normally aren't viewed by the general public. Some of my earliest memories:
* going with my mom to the local voting facility (a church) and wandering around while she waited in line. I remember finding this little cubby area that looked down unto a music room or something like that.
* wandering the service corridors and peeking into empty rooms at a local convention center many times during various visits.
* poking around unused and neglected areas of my dad's building, and being in awe of the items left over from when it was used for more than just storage.
I continue like this as I grow older, peeking and casually exploring places I shouldn't be, whenever I stumble upon something. I don't actively seek out places, yet. Fast forward to present-ish times. I've moved to Indianapolis and have all but forgotten about the fun and pleasure I got from exploring. Then I meet and briefly date this guy, who tells me about his love of exploring old houses. He shows me some issues of Infiltration and has me read an article about some guys that went draining and ended up in sewage and picked up some nasty bacteria (I apologize, I don't know which issue that was in or who wrote it) I am amazed at the level of dedication these guys had to see "the unseen". The guy and I make plans to explore some houses, but we stop seeing each other, and that plan never happens. But the seed has been re-planted in my head. I begin to pay attention to my new home and start seeing all kinds of places that have been neglected. A few months later, I think of Infiltration and do some searching on the web. I read the various sections and am impressed, and thirsty. I want to see places like the ones on Infiltration. I buy a subscription, and continue searching the web. I find UER and am again amazed. A whole community devoted to exploration of abandoned and disused buildings! I'm impressed at the organization of the site, with tips and tutorials, regional info, ect. My thirst to explore only grows. I start to search the web more actively for closed places, and find an interesting page. It seems that in the Bloomington, Indiana area, there is an abandoned campground. The guy that wrote the page doesn't know much about it, and there is only a few pictures, I see the waterslide, and the main building. This location interests me, but I feel the guy did a poor job of documenting the place. I decide I'm going to UE the shit out of this place, and do a better job. And I do. I take the road less traveled, so to speak, and even find the campground buildings that the other guy made no mention of. My first location: http://www.uer.ca/...ow.asp?locid=21437
I had a blast.
Fast forward again to me writing this. Since then, my desire to find and explore building has only increased, and I haven't stopped with buildings. I've been on rooftops, and in skyscrapers, buildings only a storey or two, houses, basements, steam tunnels, drains, industrial facilities, mental hospitals, abandoned places, and active ones. And I've enjoyed them all. I utilize the family business to equip myself with camo and other exploration gear, and pass on the goodies to UE friends when I can.(you know who you are).Inspired by the online community, and the camaraderie of various city groups, I attempted to bring people together with an Indianapolis group of explorers. Unfortunately, that did not work out. I have not let that dissuade me however. I continue to actively explore and seek out new places to wander though, to the best of my ability. I get my group UE fix by traveling to other cities and exploring with the people I meet, and I've made some great friends by doing that.
As far as the future is concerned, I plan to quit going out and exploring when I can no longer physically do it, and will continue to explore through pictures for a long time after that. That's about all I have to say.
Edit: this morning I realized I forgot to mention my exploration in regards to my family and friends. My family and co-workers know nothing of my hobby, and I don't talk to them about it. The reason being is that they are conservative and wouldn't understand my interest in it. More so with my parents, the knowledge of the places I go alone would cause them undue stress and worry over my safety (they still tell me not to stop for strangers), or take steps to ensure my safety (preventing me in some fashion from exploring). For a long time, I didn't tell my friends about my hobby, until I explored this place, which is very local to them:
http://www.uer.ca/...ow.asp?locid=21726
I don't know how this worked out, but my friends are as conservative as I am non-conservative, very opposite ends. But I ignored that little voice in my head that said no, and shared the location anyway. They were interested, but it was obvious that their fear of the unknown greatly out-weighed their desire to see this place with their own eyes. And I did get the "wow, I can't believe you went there. Aren't you afraid of running into muggers/squatters/thieves/rapists/homeless/crazy madmen/dead bodies/the mafia ect." But they did seem to be fairly impressed, as they started having me tell their co-workers what I do, which I quickly put a stop to, for mine and locations privacy and protection. I still show them new and exciting locations I've posted, and I suppose they enjoy living vicariously through me. I have tried to get them to come along, but they mysteriously stop being interested when push comes to shove. Oh, well.
peace.love.UE. 
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| Wednesday, December 1st, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving from Toronto! | So, Thanksgiving morning I find myself at the airport waiting to board this plane to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Why leave the country, why not spend it with you family, you ask? Well, I have a small family, and we aren't very big on the celebrations, so my options are generally to work or find some sort of amusement. I chose to leave the country and the mad rush of the after Thanksgiving sale.
In flight, unfortunately, I was not on the more scenic (city) side of the plane.
Somewhere in the northwest corner of Indy.
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Flying into over Lake Ontario into Pearson airport, I was also under the wing, and didn't have the best view.
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Roadwolf was kind enough to pick me up and let me stay with him while visiting. After the airport, we stopped at a nearby Wendy's and encountered this:
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We both found that to be highly amusing and odd...then I saw another sign like it earlier today...
Friday, RW and I decide to head here http://www.uer.ca/...ow.asp?locid=20857 for some UE-ing goodness. Unfortunately, after entering the property, we discovered workers in the process of demolishing the buildings. RW trying to get a better view and some pics of the demolition.
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One of the flooded quarries:
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Saturday, the York meet! A very respectable 20 or so showed up. And somehow, all the girls in attendance came with Roadwolf, hm. I think that was planned, lol. After meeting up in a local mall food court, we moved to the parking lot to formulate the exploration plan.
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After a bit of deliberation, and Avatar, Roadwolf, Exkalibur, Gunslinger, and David going to the street to torment some poor woman that just rear-ended another car, the decision is made to go here:
http://www.uer.ca/...ow.asp?locid=20783
A bit of a drive, but everyone is up for it. On a gas and snack pit stop, it was decided that Roadwolf's car was much to dirty, and he was treated to an impromptu car wash via sqeeegees...the next day it was dirty again, lol. We drive on. Of course, the further north, the more snow. The group preparing to make the trek to the location:
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After walking about 3/4 of a mile through snowy, hilly terrain, we reach the fence and 20 of us infiltrate the property. As we near the buildings, a recon team (Roadwolf, Gunslinger, and Jono!) went ahead to assess the security.
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After giving the go ahead, the rest of the team beings to explore the various buildings on the property. We tour a residental building with an observation room (with bubble viewer!). We also find a bar area, a pool, an auditorium, a game room and bowling alley, and a basketball court. As darkness falls, we switch to red lights and continue. After a good five hours, we call it a day, er, night, and exit the property. We head back to the city, giving an almost empty restaurant some much needed business.
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My trip wasn't all UE, though. I got to spend time with friends I hadn't seen in a while. Bring on the random silliness.
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Is it real, or isn't it? You decide...
Unfortunately, all things must come to and end. On my last night in Toronto, I went out for Italian with Avatar, Boffo, and Roadwolf:
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During dinner, Av demonstrated his little known, but highly talented hobby, artisan paper cutting:
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After visiting a bit more, I said my goodbyes to Av and boffo. Roadwolf and I then went and roofed his building, to see the city by night one last time, 23 storeys up. We could even see the hearn stack standing tall among the city lights.
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As with my last visit, I did not get to see anything that was on my "list", but I feel like I still did and saw a ton, and left not feeling disappointed, and looking forward to my next visit, whenever that may be. |
| Sunday, October 17th, 2004
Bitch, Rant, Piss & Moan, Vent, Irritations, et al. | I don't know if this is just an Indiana thing, or if it's a common practice, the revitalization of Union Stations. I've been to the Union Station in South Bend and Indianapolis, both being beautiful and unique buildings.
South Bend Union Station:
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Indianapolis Union Station:
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Though they are small-ish, they were both heavily used at on time. Many people depended on the the railway for transportation. But with the development of autos and these two cities interest in providing ample road for the single driver over a more cost effecient and eco-friendly public transportation, the Union Station gradually became less and less used until they shut down altogether. I don't know how much, if at all, these places fell in to disrepair, but today they appear similar to how they would have looked in the past, only they aren't used daily, and you can't just walk in, at least very easily. They have been turned into banquet halls. Just pay the overpriced fee, and come, eat bad food, and enjoy the historical atmosphere. I am happy that these great buildings have been preseved, but what they've been turned into, I consider a travesty. |
| Monday, August 23rd, 2004
Toronto or bust, part 2 | After 2 days of UE-ing, I take a day to myself to explore the city, in a semi-touristy way. I head to the CN tower, but after waiting 20 minutes to buy a ticket, I'm told there is a 1 to 1 1/2 hour wait to go up. I wasn't going to wait, so this is the closest I got.
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I rode the subway a lot. It was very zippy and great fun.
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As recommended, I went to the Royal Ontarion Museum. I was a bit disapointed. I was expecting an art museum, not a history museum. I was still optimistic though, until I entered and found half the place closed for renovation. The extreme number of taxidermied animals disturbed me. I did get a few really good shots, though.
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I also walked around downtown a lot. Very fun thing to do, and I saw cool, funny, neat, and stupid things. Take your pick.
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I had lunch with Roadwolf a couple times, and he showed me the empty 21st floor, and we roofed his building. I also got a tour of his radio station, very neat.
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On my last night in Toronto, Roadwolf, Chicky, Exka|ibur, and I were going to explore the DV brickworks, but that ended up being a no-go. Roadwolf and Chicky ended up taking me to a house in Richmond Hill.
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After a long drive back (the car ahead of me at the border was from Indianapolis too!) I get to South Bend.
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After a good night sleep, I set out to explore two locations. The first one:
http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=21726
The second, a putt-putt course that I went to a lot as a kid, was a bust. The building and course had been leveled so long ago that I couldn't even tell where anything had been. But at least I got to see the restaurant. After that, I headed back home to Indy.
On Saturday, I went to the state fair in hopes of seeing some animals, and I had never been to the state fair. I saw lots of horses, sheep, pigs, goats, llamas, and alpacas. I didn't see any cows, though I wanted to.
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That was my vacation. Toronto is a big city, and if really is hard to see and do everything in such a short period. I didn't even do anything that I had on my list, but I still feel like I did and saw a ton. I had a blast, and I definitely want to go to Toronto again.
EDIT: clarification |
| Monday, August 23rd, 2004
Toronto or bust, long version. | After much thought, I decided to go to Toronto for vacation. As luck would have it, a Mochi meet was to take place while I was in town, so I was very excited to meet some people I had talked online with.
Friday, August 13. I get off work at 6pm, load up my car and hit the road. I spend the rest of the night driving north, and I cross into Canada at Port Huron at 2am, which is a very good time to go, as there is NO WAIT. The friendly toll attendant directs me to a motel in Sarnia where I can stop for the night. My hotel room:
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The room was very small and un-modern, but what did I care? I only needed a bed for the night. I did find it slightly amusing that I paid more for this rinky-dink motel room ($45, not sure if USD or CAD) than my very nice Toronto hotel ($31 USD). So anyway, I crashed there for the night, and was up bright and early the next day, as I still had a long drive, and I really wanted to make it to the meet in time.
The drive to Toronto is uneventful, though I do look at the landscape quite a bit. The KM's do mess me up a little at first though, but I quickly adjust to the measurements. I arrive in Toronto at 11am-ish and quickly drop off my bags before heading downtown. After some freeway congestion, I make it to the meeting point and park my car. The first UE'rs I meet are WuffyChicky and Boffo. The meet had a special area to ourselves and quite a few people showed, though we still only took up half the space the restaurant had provided (But its better to have too much space than not enough any day) The meet attendees:
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After an enjoyable lunch, I head out with Roadwolf, WuffyChicky, Exka|ibur, Connundrum, Silent Knight, and BCT Chronic to Whitby Psych. After briefly stopping at a Tim Hortons/Wendy's (pay attention to that), we continue to Whitby. We are met there by (I apologize if I miss someone, PM me and I will correct it) Avatar-X, Drie, WuffyFluff, Dagr, Boffo, psxjsv, Guy with hat (PotLan), Jono!, Micro, and someone else whose name I forgot (sorry!) I was little skeptical about so many people infiltrating a location with active roads/buildings nearby, but after a short time, I found this to be needless. We ran into so many non-uer people exploring that, as BCT put it "We should've posted someone at the door and charged $5 a head." Av was very happy to hand out some UER business cards that had been printed up. Whitby is a huge place, and one would be hard pressed to fully explore every building on the property. I did go through about 4 or 5. I will only show my favorite that I took, as the DB already has plenty of pics of this amazing location.
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After that we all head over to Tim Horton's/Wendy's to rest and grab some grub. After some discussion, its decided to head over to WSIB. We infiltrate the grounds, and the main group stays back while 2 people move forward to asses the situation of a guard and accessing the building. This takes a long time, and the main group moves back to a safer spot, being a golf green. So after hanging out on the green for a long time, and passing around the bug spray, WSIB is declared a no-go. We re-group and decide to go to Chairtex for a last UE.
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Chairtex is fun. After some exploration, we decide to play hide and seek. Due to my lack of sleep and tiredness, I'm feeling pretty funky, stomach-wise, so I sit out.
The next day, I'm late getting to the meet, as I decided to use the zen method of navigation, rather than looking at a map. When I get to the location, however, no one is there. I call Exka| to see what's going on, and I'm told the location has changed. Nice to share that info. I get to the right spot and discover that the meet was in fact cancelled, but some people still wanted to explore. Roadwolf, WuffyChicky, Connundrum, Exka|ibur, and I walk the city, and I get a bit of a tour. Near Union station, we meet up with R0sie and another (sorry!) After a bit more walking and food, we decide to head over to Stelco, and we are met there by Silent Knight, Kowalski, and most of the people from the previous days meet. After a potential police alert, most leave, and Roadwolf, Chicky, Exka|, Silent Knight, and I continue to tour the abandoned building. It goes well, but, after hearing other parties inside, we make out way towards the exit. I'm very glad to have gotten a chance to see it, as a few days later there was a fire, and I'm sure the place is now tightly sealed.
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.....continued on part 2.............. |
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