Pre-Launch

Its time for business now. I'm in Tampa, waiting for Danny, Aimee and Alan to arrive from seattle, so we can go out to Cape Canaveral to watch the shuttle launch on friday (hopefully). But in the past couple days, I've had a few little adventures.
After going through Miami and Palm Beach, I went west to Lake Okeechobee, and spent a night on the banks there. The next morning I went to the beach again, to Fort Pierce, and ended up spending some time there. I felt like I was moving around too much, and I had time to kill, so I just stayed put for two days. I surfed with a little kid, fished a little bit with some old men, and had a nice afternoon in a park talking to two college age kids who were traveling by bicycle around the country.

Then, today, I worked my way northward up from Fort Pierce to Cape Canaveral, and into the territory of government control. And then I got myself into trouble.

So the shuttle is off a long ways away from view, but I wanted to get a view of it, so I drove around a little bit trying to find a spot I could see her sitting on the pad. Unfortunately, there are no hills, so I can't see very far, so I decided to climb a light post to see.
And then the cops came out of the woodwork. I get down from the post, and sit in my car for about two minutes, and up pulls one, then two, then FOUR federal police officers to tell me what a bad person I am, and how "normal" people wouldn't do that. Well, I think climbing things isn't illegal.
I was impressed, however, that they did not try to make me powerless. The sherriff from a while ago was a big asshole, intent on making me feel like I had no rights, but these guys didn't seem to need to make me feel that way. They did write down a bunch of information on me, though, so I wonder if finding a job will be tough later on, or if I'll be wiretapped or put on some federal list. Hopefully it won't interfere with international travel.
The whole thing reenforces the idea in my mind that if I want to do anything not "normal" I need to do it secretly, or unseen by the public. Don't climb a tree or lamppost if people can see you. don't camp if people can see.
Personally, I think that is the wrong way to live. I feel like I don't want to have any secrets. I don't want to have things hidden away, because if someone finds out it changes their view of me, because living in the public view keeps me ethical, and I hate lies.