Well, I guess the weather look _alright_ for our trip: "10-day forecast for Bishop, CA":http://www.weather.com/weather/local/USCA0103
After today, posts will be sporadic until I get back; I know there's Internet access out there, just not sure how much I'll be using it. Man, I need to get a laptop with WiFi.
One week until the whole "Janaszek/Hemphill clan":http://ankle-biter.net/ and I leave this cursed place for sunny "Bishop, CA":http://www.fishproducts.com/powerandrubber/areas.html. We're going for a week this time, as opposed to the piddly 3 days on "the last trip":http://feralboy.com/matt/climb/bishop/. I think being there for a week will give me a lot more time to settle in, feel comfortable with the rock, and climb some good hard stuff. I'm probably bouldering about as hard as I ever have, although my experience at the comp in the "new bouldering area(Ankle-biter.net: This and That)":http://www.ankle-biter.net/log/archives/2003_10.html#000271 over the weekend tells me my endurance is not all it could be. I've "got(Atari Arete)":http://www.patitucciphoto.com/bouldering/02CL-bd99.jpg "a(Ruckus)":http://www.0friction.com/image.php?image_id=2138 "few(Saigon)":http://www.rockfax.com/bishop/butter_photos/photo_12.html "things(Gleaner)":http://ankle-biter.net/images/bishop/j_gleaner.jpg "picked(The Cave Problem)":http://ankle-biter.net/images/bishop/mb_cave.jpg "out(High Plains Drifter)":http://ankle-biter.net/images/bishop/b_drifter.jpg that I would really like to do while I'm out there, but I'm going to soak up the whole experience. The desert was so beautiful last time... just on the drive from Vegas I remember being struck at how gorgeous the desert was; how huge the sky looked. I'll have "my good digital camera":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000192/ with me, so expect lots of photos when I get back (although I don't think I'll be able to upload any from out there, my camera can't quite function as a USB device, which, as far as I can tell, is its only downfall).
"Ben(Ben getting ready for his one climb at Coopers)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010025.jpg, a friend of "Brian(Father and son. How cute, right?)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010028.jpg and "Jen(Jen loves having her picture taken)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010027.jpg was coming through town on his way to see his wife down at Quantico, so I did some creative schedule juggling at work and took yesterday off to go down and climb at Coopers Rock with them. Only problem is that we no sooner got down there and got through one "warmup climb(Brian readjusts)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010026.jpg when the heavens opened, and we got washed out. Undaunted, we headed back to the 'burgh, and then went to the Co-op for a few hours so we could at least say we "pulled down":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010032.jpg a "little bit":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010033.jpg. Ben was a machine and climbed for like 4 hours straight, and then we all had some delicious "homemade pizza":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030925_coopers_rock/P1010038.jpg, and I had a bit too much wine. I would say I can't drink like I used to, but I never really used to drink, so 4 glasses was a bit over the top, and a slight headache today is my reward.
"All pictures from yesterday":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/?folder=20030925_coopers_rock
Had a great time down in WV with my "sister":http://www.livejournal.com/users/fuzzyfruit/. We went to Summersville on Saturday, where I was "ropegun" for most of the day, and then to Bubba City on Sunday, where I've never been before. I got on "Michelin Man":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030914_new_river_gorge/IMG_0212.JPG, which was very cool, and had a piss-hard thin crux section. My sister also seemed to have a great time. She led almost everything, including "putting up":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030914_new_river_gorge/IMG_0153.JPG (and cleaning) a long 5.9. All of my friends were duly impressed by how strong she was. She didn't have quite as much stuff to get on on Sunday, but that just means she'll need to come back soon.
Sunday was also the day of near-misses. First just while in the parking lot, "Jason":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030914_new_river_gorge/IMG_0168.JPG backed his car into a small ditch, so some of us went behind his car to help push him out. As he was pulling free, a baseball-sized rock came whizzing out from under the tires, missing my head by about 6 inches. Oops. Later on while we all climbing, Jason (again!) was on a climb, and pulled out a chunk of rock about as big as his torso, nearly killing his belayer. Luckily, they were both alert and nobody got hurt, but we were all around a corner when it happened, heard Jason yell "Oh shit!", and then a huge smash, and thought for sure he had decked. He hadn't, and everyone was alright, albiet a little shaky.
All photos from the weekend "are here":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/?folder=20030914_new_river_gorge.
Haven't really posted in awhile; but that's because there hasn't been much going on. Ryan was in town this weekend, which was awesome, and we raged a little bit. Even thought it was a long weekend, it feels like he went back to Philly too soon. Also did lots more work on my "BlogShares Client app":http://feralboy.com/bsclient/. I added some simple charting of your net worth last night, and some other nice things. It's amazing still how fun this little project has been, even with all the frustration.
Weather generally sucked all weekend, although I did manage to get a bike ride in Sunday. I'll need to do more of that, because I stepped on the scale last night, and it was a bad scene. I don't weigh any more than usual, but my body fat ticked up a percent... just the opposite of what I want. Today will start a slightly more rigorous program of diet and exercise; _especially_ more time climbing. I feel like I've let biking get in the way of that a little, so tonight I plan to go in and have a serious workout. I want to hurt when I leave, and then I'm going to do it again tomorrow night, too. I've felt weak climbing lately, and I don't like feeling that. Time to start working hard at it again, as it's the only way I'll push through this plateau I'm on now.
Best two quotes from the weekend: _[While checking in at the campground with the creepy campground manager guy]_ CCMG(Creepy Campground Manager Guy): What kind of car are you driving? Friend: A silver Honda CRV. CCMG: Gray. You're in "West Virginia(FeralBlog - WV Shootings)":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000407/.
_[At a Mexican restuarant on our way home]_ Kid: _(looking at woman's large and, IMHO(In My Humble Opinion), ugly tribal tattoo on her back)_ Why do you have a tattoo there? Woman: Well, why do you have arms?
Back at the Cathedral Cafe... got a little bit of a later start, and we have 3 extra people with us today, so we had to wait a little while longer for our table. They actually wound up giving us a large round table that had been reserved for another party, but I guess they didn't make it here in time. I have french toast coming... mmmm... Climbing yesterday went OK; I was right about not really having any endurance. I only did 5 routes, but a few were things I hadn't done before, and they were fun. At the end of the day I went to go do an easy 11a that I've never quite sent. I think I had psyched myself into thinking it was going to be super-easy, so I had a horrible time on it first go. I was cursing and yelling and completely annoyed with myself, which never happens to me on routes; I usually just don't care that much. I finally fought to the top, came down, and April went. She had a bad time as well, and forgot her sequence for one part, so she actually wound up bailing, which meant that I needed to go up and get my draws off. In a Hollywood story, I would have gone up and pissed all over it. It didn't quite happen that way, but it was close. I was one move from sending, and forgot about one key hold that I hadn't seen last time, either. It wasn't the best ending to the day, but it made me feel a lot better.
Today we're going to a different area, and there is a 12a and an 11d right next to each other with my name on them.
At the Cathedral Cafe in Fayetteville right now, finishing up breakfast, checking the weather, and getting ready to go climb all day long. We got down around 11 or so last night, set up our tents, and passed out. I love coming down on Friday nights, because then you just get up and go Saturday a.m., and then when you get back, your stuff is already all set up. We're meeting up with some other friends today, including "Seth":http://crag-rat.net/, who's finally back from his climbing accident. Fire and beer and hotdogs.. woo! I haven't been climbing routes at all lately, and I have no endurance, so today is gonna be all about 5.11c and 5.11d. I _will_ have to get on Reckless Abandon (5.12b/c) tho, just because it's so gorgeous, and April wants to TR(Top Rope) it.
Oh, man am I tired today. I was basically on the go since last Thursday night, and this weekend was an exceptionally busy one. Went to Byram first Friday night right after work, and had a beer with my high-school buddy Jen. We were at a local bar that's right in the middle of all these cutesy shops, and I was amazed at how busy it was at 10 p.m. on a Friday... all sorts of NY license plates, which means that the city folk now think they've found another lovely "quaint" spot to see natives "in their own environment." Saturday I went and met my younger sister at the NJRG(New Jersey Rock Gym). We climbed for about 3 hours, and had a great time. My sister just started rock climbing not all that long ago, so it was great to get to climb with her for the first time. She really enjoyed leading on the overhanging Eldo walls, and I was content to just boulder. She's remarkably strong for how long she's been climbing, and tenacious, to boot. Once she's on a climb, she's going to finish it... kind of like a rabid pitbull tearing into a cow with Epstein-Barr. The bouldering was really good, and I miss when I was flying to NJ every week to work for my old company, and getting to go to that gym on a regular basis. They set problems that are hard, but use good holds. They also were doing this color-coding thing which was pretty cool... using tape based on how hard the problems were, i.e. all orange problems were around V0/V1, all yellow were V3/V4, etc. Made it easy to wander around and try and do all the problems at a particular level of difficulty.
One other little humorous observation: they were doing some sort of kid's birthday party while we were there; lots of little 6-to-10-year olds running around, and at the same time they have The Crystal Method blaring over the house sound system: "Listen all you motherfuckas!"
Saturday night both of my sisters and I went down to Philly to visit Ryan. We went to the scary bar right across the street from Jane's place, and had a blast. Many shots were done, and my sister discovered that taking Tums makes your puke neon-colored.
Sunday a.m. Kyra and I dragged our asses to my grandmother's in northeast Philly, and took her shopping. We loaded her up with catfood, picked up some bath towels, and then went food shopping. I must admit I went a little crazy, because my grandmother has a pretty set routine as far as food goes, but is always happy to try new things, but doesn't know what to try. I got her Boca burgers and "chicken" patties, some sort of granola/meusli cereal, and some other snackies that seemed to be of interest. I made us Boca burgers when we came back; on toasted english muffins, with swiss chese and a slice of tomato. She really seemed to enjoy them, which was great.
The only bad thing that happened was my sister left her keys at Ryan's place, so I had to hop in the car, drive back down to Center City, and then back up to my grandmother's again, and then hop in the car right away again and start heading home.
The drive home last night was uneventful, but just long. There was an overturned mobile home coming the other way, so I drove past about 10 miles of stopped traffic. Ha! Suckers......
I was so tired this morning that I completely fell back asleep after turning off my alarm, and was about 1/2 hour late for work. I feel pretty good now, tho, so I think I'm all back to normal. Tomorrow the weather should be good, which means I'll be riding in. If I have time tonight I'll even put my new bike tires on.
As Dave noted, the weekend daytrip to Coopers was a complete washout; everything was sopping wet, so nothing to do but turn around and get completely spanked at the gym. There is talk of heading down to the New this weekend and actually getting on a rope, but, judging by the forecast, that's a dicey proposition. I'm definitely ready for this persistant low-pressure system to be on its merry way, so I can actually plan weekend trips. It would also be nice to be able to bike in more than once a week, because while a short-ish ride in the rain can be nice, doing 30 miles in that shit isn't my idea of fun.
I hate to actually do an entry that just whines about the weather, but it seemed to work for Anil.
Three times now, I've bought something in BlogShares to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars, and then the next morning I see it's worthless. Literally worthless. Sucks to have to continually make up that ground. I was up to about $130K yesterday, and now I'm back down to $80K or so. In other news, I had a decent workout at the gym last night, and I'll be heading to the Co-op tonight. I realized that while my 30-mile bike commute is keeping me fit, I'm not nearly as strong as I used to be climbing, so time to fix that. Tonight should be some bouldering, and then a campus session. If everything falls into place (especially with the weather), I'll be able to go bouldering at Cooper's Rock Saturday, and then hit the lead wall at the gym Sunday. Woo!
Went with a few friends and the SLF(Special Lady Friend) to Breakneck Rocks on saturday to introduce her to the wonderful world of climbing outside. There's lots of easy climbs in the 5.5-5.7 range, so a good intro. Nothing too exciting for me to do, but I had a nice time being outside with my girl and my friends, taking some pictures.
The rest of the photos are here.
Looks like ClimbXMedia is taking a dirt nap. Too bad... it was definitely the best resource online for climbing videos and high-quality photo galleries.
Found this neet-o info about a climbing game in development by Chris Hecker. As you can see in the picture, it is an actual picture of an indoor gym wall, and then there's an animated figure that you presumably have to guide up to the finish hold. Of course, this is a game that has a mass market appeal index of approximately zero, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to play it. I was imagining if somehow it could be turned into a competitive online game, with clans and tournaments, etc. Maybe you could combine it with something like this, where your opponent would set a really hard route, and you'd have to climb it, but if you fell off, they would have to do it.. sort of virtual climbing HORSE, as it were.
w00t!my sister has caught the climbing bug!!!
quickies: -yesterday was a most craptacular day at work, and it's not going to get better anytime soon. we have an insane deadline for a project (actually, several projects all rolled into one) that i have no idea how i'm going to hit, and to top it all off i'm going to be spending two and a half glorious days in rhode island doing a lovely dog 'n' pony show for another client that has a deadline 6 months from now.
-i see that tivo is finally going to add one of the features i've been asking them for for awhile; being able to program your tivo through a website. it would be very cool to be away from home, say, on a hellish two day trip to rhode island with your boss, and OH NO!!! you forgot to tivo joe millionaire! so, you log on, put in the instructions to record the show (assuming you don't already watch a ton of reality-tv crap, or at least your tivo thinks you do), and when you get home, it'll be there. that's a nice feature, especially since my cats don't know how to work the remote, and don't even know how to answer the phone when i call.
-more comp stuff: results have been posted from the prg comp, and although they misspelled my name (i emailed them and they're going to correct it next update), i placed 13th out of 56!!! i'm pretty stoked about that, considering how hard everyone there was crankin'. i also emailed jim horton (organizer of hound ears) to get him to put up scores.
so much blogging to catch up on.... have to tell you all about the awesomecomp at the philly rock gym, and various other thanksgiving weekend stuff, but real quick i wanted to post a picture of my boss's cock for you:
the Special Lady Friend came with me last night to the gym. she used to come quite often, but when she switched jobs almost two years ago, she let her membership lapse. so, very nice to have her back and climbing again; and she did quite well considering how much time off she had had. there was one especially interesting part of the evening, tho. there's this guy who climbs at the gym frequently, and is un-affectionately known as "Belay-Me Elmo". always comes in by himself, and finds some unsuspecting new-ish climber to belay him. well, last night he was there, and decided that he wanted to do some lead climbing on the (mainly) toproping walls. the problem with this is that you usually need a bit more room when you are either climbing or belaying lead. BME was trying to do this in the front hallway, which is usually loaded with topropers, and last night was no exception. there is a wall specifically for lead climbing, but it was closed while the gymnasts next door did their thing, and wouldn't open for a little while longer.
during the course of belaying the slf on a few climbs in the hallway, i watched him skip a clip (a big no-no), and ask some woman who was already anchored in and ready to start belaying to unhook and move so he could start the climb he wanted to. waaaaay, waaaaay back in the day when i took the lead course at tcw, the guy giving the course said that he really did prefer that you not lead climb when it was busy on the toprope walls, for exactly that reason. on the next climb i was anchored in to belay near where he was belaying this poor unsuspecting chud. he said something to me about having to move way over, and here's the conversation that ensued:
me: (in a nice conversational tone) you know, that's why they don't like you to lead climb on the toprope walls when it's busy. BME: why are you throwing fucking attitude at me? me: (in an even nicer nice conversational tone) i'm not throwing attitude. i've just seen you kick one girl off a belay after she was anchored in, and now you're asking me to move. it's too busy in here for you to be leading. BME: whatever... don't fucking talk to me. just stay out of my way. me: (stares blankly at him, and then turns attention to the slf) belay on!
didn't want to press the issue because frankly, he looked a little crazy, and i didn't need to be getting into a fistfight. boy obviously has anger-management issues. after that climb was finished, he did move out to an area that was more sparsely populated, which was a good thing. after he had gone, i was telling the story to some friends, and the manager of the place just happend to be there. he said that if he had known that happened, he would have taken away he lead rope "like it was a toy"... so, hopefully that'll happen next time, and maybe i'll even be there to see it! apparently every time he's in and lead climbing he does similar things, and is basically just an all-around arrogant jackass. i hope i'm not ever bouldering over where he's belaying... because heaven forbid i should (begin dr. evil "finger quotes") //slip\\ and //fall\\ and catch him in the //face\\ with my //elbow\\.
climbers rock on wall of lights mmmm... geeky climbing!
