What I learned on High Adventure

I just got back from high adventure, a week long camping/kayaking trip with some of the greatest people I know. I figured that the best way to thank everyone for the experience was to tell them what I learned. So here goes nothing.

1. Kayaking is a lot of hard work.

2. Communication is key to getting where you want to go.

3. Making up swear words like "Skag it!" is quite fun.

4. Frisbee can be played inside a tent. Who would have guessed?

5. The key to getting somewhere is to look at your goal and to keep pushing until you get there. If your goal or purpose is unclear, you'll just get whisked away in the tide.

6. It is possible to get a cramp in your calf from kayaking.

7. Dolphins can live as far north as Washington. I always pictured them as tropical creatures.

8. Everything tastes better when you're tired.

9. Everything tastes better when Alec Johnson is in charge of food.

10. Walking into a rest stop is much more fun when you're wearing a helmet.

11. Some of the best examples can be found in your own priesthood quorum and in the youth leaders.

12. The things that make successful, happy men are love, obedience, and a strong work ethic.

13. True friendship comes from years of living the gospel together as brothers.

14. Sleeping in a tent can be more comfortable than sleeping at home, depending on how tired you are.

15. The only thing more gratifying than a long hot shower is a short warm shower that you're paying by the minute for.

16. Service=happiness. And algebraically, we can change that to happiness=service.

17. There isn't a single boy or leader in the hazeldale young men's program that I wouldn't trust with my life.

18. Having a group of girls camping right next to a bunch of boys camping isn't the best idea. The shouting contest was fun though.

19. Ghost stories don't have to be scary. Or fiction.

20. I can make it from a tuesday to a friday without a phone. That's about my limit though.

The Grid

I have gotten very mixed responses on this so far, and I want everyone's honest opinions.
I am working on a project that I call The Grid. It is essentially a simulator for a political environment. There will be about 500 "cells" that represent families in a country. Each has a series of equations that takes the actions of their neighbors and input from government and media and comes up with a series of reactions. Whoever is operating The Grid adjusts what the government says and how much power it has. The idea is that you could try out any political reform on the simulator before actually applying it to a community.
For now, it's all on paper. This summer I will be moving it to either Excel or some other program that can perform these types of equations.
Some of the variables I've come up with so far are political views (liberal-conservative),respect towards authority, care for neighbors/society, Income level, total currency savings, happiness level, health, productivity, resource usage (represents food, etc), and currency usage (represents tax dollars for things like school, etc.).
Anything else I should add? Or do you think I'm a lunatic for trying something this complex?