The Adventures of Vitas Povilaitis
December 1995
New Year's Camping trip
A group of friends went to Allegheny State Park in south-western New York
state. It's a beautiful park, with rolling hills, trees, and a large lake.
We rented two cabins. The group consisted of myself, Adam, Carole, Chris
& Lisa, Greg, Gregg, Jackie, James, Joe, Kerstin, Kevin, Leigh, Pete
& Sonja, and Stephanie. Because of the mild winter, the weather was
nice during the day, and raining in the evening. We hiked, played games,
sang, danced, and spent time in silence together to reflect on world peace
and what's important to us. It actually snowed the last day, so we even
got some sledding in! I couldn't imagine a better group of people to spend
time with.
Bethlehem trip
I'm fascinated by old things, and I was excited to discover that my cousin,
Gracie, lives next to the old Bethlehem Steel factory, and that there's
a bicycle trail next to it. So, I took my bicycle there and travelled on
the trail, through woods, along rail roads, and past the factory (parts
of which are still busy making steel from ore), and beyond to the hilly
countryside. It's very beautiful, and I was struck by the contrast of the
crowded city, and the sparse countryside being so close to each other.
This trip also gave me a chance to visit my friend, John, in New Jersey,
who has his own video game company. He gave me a demonstration of Too Many
Gekos which is a puzzle game in which you match up geko shapes on pyramids.
He's also working on a networked martial arts game, and a dungeon exploration
game on the World Wide Web.
Summer Trip to Allegheny State Park
Many of us went back to Allegheny State Park in the summer. The group consisted
of myself, Carole, Greg, Gregg & David, Mark & Michelle, Sarah
& Jose, Sonja & two of her husband's nieces, and Stephanie. This
time, we slept in tents. This was a first for me, and I was very nervous
about whether I could handle it. (Everyone laughed at me wearing pajamas
at night; it's a quaint thing to do on a camping trip. :-) But Carole and
Stephanie knew what they were doing and helped the less experienced of
us. I wanted to ride my bicycle this time and brought one with me. It was
fun to ride past all the beautiful woods, and tiring to go up the hills.
Cedar Point Park
A group of friends went to Cedar Point Park in Ohio. This is a large amusement
park with ten roller coasters (including one among the tallest, among the
longest, of both the wooden and steel varieties.) The group consisted of
myself, Carole, Shawn & Doug. I enjoyed it, because I love amusement
parks and try to share the fun every chance I get. We rode every roller
coaster the weekend we went. We went on the water slides as well. One was
a small round raft that held all of us, and went down the water slide twisting
and turning. It stands out for me because at one point Doug, who was sitting
across from me, had a surprised look on his face, and behind him I saw
water splashing and open air. Doug later told me that he was surprised
because he could see the bottom of the water slide where we should've been!
Very thrilling.
Niagra Falls
A group of friends went to Niagra Falls for an overnight trip. The group
was myself, Carole, Aaron, Bill, Pat & Stephanie, Gregg, James, Greg
and Frank. I couldn't ask for a more positive and upbeat group of people
with whom to spend time at such a beautiful, yet familiar place. We observed
the Falls from the Canadian and American sides, and stopped at a wax museum
featuring criminals (including a recent Rochestarian murderer.)
Austin trip
I promised my friend, Heather, that I'd visit her and her husband, Mark,
when her child was born. Her son, Ryan, was born in May, and I visited
in July. I also got to visit my friends Sarah and Keith. Sarah takes care
of children during the day. She loves to be with children and takes care
of them well. Ryan is a cute baby, and was fascinated with the color green.
He would cry, and when I held him while I wore my green T-shirt, he would
stop and stare in fascination. We went to Six Flags Astro World, where
they had some thrilling roller coasters to ride, Schlitterbahn, where there
were many water rides, and I got to play some games with Heather's gaming
group. It was a memorable and fun trip.
Irene Visits From Lithuania
My cousin, Irene, from Lithuania visited my family. I was pleased to see
her, but didn't get to spend much time with her because of my busy schedule,
and because she didn't think we'd have fun together because of our age
difference.
Alina and Tadeusz Visit From Poland
My cousin, Alina, and her husband visited my family. I didn't get to spend
much time with them, because of my busy schedule. However, we did go to
Canada's Wonderland together with my mother. We tried to ride all the roller
coasters. It was a thrill for them because they don't have amusement parks
like ours in Poland.
Poughkeepsie Trip
Carole and I visited my friends, Paul and Jennifer, in Poughkeepsie. Carole
and Jennifer went off to do whatever it is women do together, while Paul
and I engaged in manly competition of video games, war games, and (I introduced
him to it) Magic: the Gathering. He now plays the card game with Jennifer
and his young relatives who think they're better at it than Paul.
Canada's Wonderland
A group of friends and I returned to Canada's Wonderland. It'd been many
years since the last time I went to an amusement park, so I wanted to spend
this year going as many times as I could. The group consisted of myself,
Carole, and Mark & Michelle. This time we caught some attractions Carole
and I missed previously. We saw a sea lion show, and we went to the Days
of Thunder attraction. I'm surprised I missed the Days of Thunder attraction
last time because it was so much fun! We sat in a theatre with pairs of
seats that had seat belts and handles. They displayed a driver's view an
exciting car race on the screen, and our seats shook with the rumble of
the engines, tilted back with the acceleration, and leaned with the turns.
Changes
I made some major changes in my life recently. I had moved back with my
parents at the beginning of the year, but because of incidents at my parent's
house, I've moved in with a friend of mine who's renting a room to me in
his house. I now have comfort and space of my own. As always, you can reach
me through my parents.
I also have a new job at Questra Consulting. This job will let me use
my real skills and will have the diversity I'm looking for. They also helped
me buy a new lap-top computer, so I'm excited to play with the new toy!
I'm also going to start saving for my retirement. This will take a chunk
of money from me now, and I won't have as much to spend on all the fun
things as before.
I expect to delay buying my own house, and working on the Lithuania/Poland
video and the narrative video until next year.
Computer Information [Updated April 12, 2000]
My electronic mail address is:
vitas@GracefulBoot.com
I have a world wide web home page on the Internet at:
http://www.GracefulBoot.com
Season's Greetings
Happy holidays and best wishes for the upcoming year!
Contents by Vitas Povilaitis
email to vitas@GracefulBoot.com