bigger lead

Did a bigger lead on Sunday up in Clear Creek. It was only 2 pitches so I took the hard lines, basically right where the rope is hanging in the picture. The first pitch was about 100 ft, followed by a short scramble to a short curtain above. From the description at moutainproject.com I'm guessing we did Coors Lite. I set an anchor at the top of this and we just did laps. Winter's great; all he wants to do is belay. I get three sprints for every one of his and he could care less. The guy drives, let's me climb as much as I want, and brings beer; could there be a better climbing partner? Some longer runners would've been nice so I'll need to hit the gear store and grab a few more runners before this weekend. Winter says I'm ready for some bigger ice up at Mount Lincoln. It's a great place for leading since you can take a hard line for as long as you want and then if you're getting pumped just step off onto something easier.

No word on the truck yet. Took it over to the body shop and ironically they were already working on a tacoma that'd been rear ended and I got to see exactly what they were going to do to my truck. The guy pointed out the clunking I was hearing before was just the bent up exhaust banging against the suspension. Thinking the truck was much safer to drive I decided to drive over to the topper place to have them estimate the damages. On the highway the truck started to shudder and when I got off the E-brake inadvertently engaged. Yeah, that was fun. Every stoplight thereafter I'd have to fight the E until it finally popped loose. The next time I drive the truck will be to the shop, in a couple weeks.

ice cream

Oh yes! The Samoan Girl Scout Cookie ice cream is back in the stores! Stock up, it won't stay around forever. BEST ever.

Incidentally, I may be saying good bye to my truck. On the way to yoga Weds. I got rear ended by some high schooler. At first it just looked like the bumper got bent down. On closer inspection the hinge on the shell door was practically sheared off, the trunk and side panel were dented pretty good and the headlight jammed between my rear axle and the frame was not a good sign. I drove it home, but the skittish ride, tilting hood, and clunking makes me pretty sure the axle took most of the blow. I'm hoping the tilting hood is a product of only a bent axle and not a bent frame. Wish me luck.

Back to school day

Today it's back to school. Ol' calc 2 one more time. I aced Calc I last semester in trying to get ready for a PhD. I think I'm still a few classes away from being ready to officially start and should be ready to start seriously I'm thinking Spring of 2009. I was going to take a Java class this semester, but really need to bone up on my knowledge of water resources in Washington.

Had a great weekend. Spent all day Saturday reading a book about ice and mixed climbing and went to the gym. Got up Sunday at about 4:30 to meet Winter for some morning climbing. We went back to Silverplume and I did my first lead on ice. In the pic from a previous post on the left there's a swath of brown ice and some rock showing at the top. I lead the white ice that ends on the right side of the rock. Some easy WI3 stuff, but it was a lead. Got home and watched some playoff football. The Patriot game went as expected. Those Packers, on the otherhand, really disappointed. What was up with those penalties and I really expected Eli to do his turnover thing and not Brett. I'm definitely rooting for the Patriot's now. Got monday off and went skiing at Breck with Bock. The long boards were fun in the trees and it was cold enough that we had runs to ourselves pretty much all day. You know it's a good weekend when you wake up for work tired and sore. I can't wait for Yoga today.

Ouray Ice Festival

Nope, didn't go, but it made it nice for getting on some usually well travelled ice. Old Man Winter and I went up to Silverplume for more easy ice on Sunday. That's not me in the pic, incidentally and dude is about 20 yards from the ice. It was a little longer than the top-roping in Clear Creek and I'd guess I did about 30 laps over 2-3 hours. I'd roughly guess the height at 50-60 feet. If Winter can blow off his cough I'll do a little leading on Thursday. I'll have to do some filing and hammering between now and then; my left land is worthless after a couple laps and it doesn't help to have dull picks.

Sports. Saw my second hockey game Sat. night. Awesome sport. These guys could be the most coordinated athletes I've ever seen. I wish I knew the rules and how to skate. Was very happy to see Dallas lose and very surprised to see Eli blow up. There's no way New York should keep Coughlin regardless of how they're playing in the post-season. I really hope the Packers slaughter the Giants. I don't see the Chargers beating New England.

It's a sad day

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to summit Mount Everest (May 29, 1953), died today in his home country of New Zealand. Although his climbing endeavors are well accounted what's less touted and more influential is his effect on the people of Nepal and India. Although he served as an ambassador for the United Kingdom his philanthropy assuredly did more for the Himalayan people. After his summit, a growing number of capitalists sought to exploit the Himalayn people and Hillary ensured revenue was gained by the locals and that the money was used to improve their living conditions. I remember seeing a show talking about his life after Everest; keep your eyes open over the next few days, it'll have to be on.

Hit the ice again before work yesterday. Did the first climb by headlamp, set an anchor, and got 4 more laps in before we ran out of time. Course thinking about climbing and tacoma pretty much made for an unproductive work day. The little I did was spent on a proposal for 2009! I don't think I'll be here, but I've pretty much been assured I'll get funded.

Over the weekend Bob, some of his friends from work, and I went to the Art musuem to check out an exhibit inwhich they brought a bunch of stuff over from the Louvre. The highlights for me were an oak table every inch of which had some very detailed carvings and another table with these little (~4X6 in.) inlaid landscapes made entirely of semi-precious stones. The craftsmanship was pretty amazing. Afterwards we went to a Pint's Pub which I'd been meaning to go to. I'd been meaning to so long I forgot why I wanted to go. When we walked in I realized it was because someone had told me they had the best selection of scotch in the city. It was impressive. I'm not into scotch, but am always enticed by a homebrew. Unlucky for me they produced absolutely the worst microbrews I've ever had. I couldn't finish the first so ordered a second and it was so bad I had to use the first to rinse the taste out! It's obvious why they needed to have good scotch around.

Other than that I've been playing a lot of Mass Effect. It's only alright. Developers seem to have this thing for spending a lot of time making sure the game caters to the gamer and not so much in making a good game. In this game you can have all kinds of weapons, appearances, abilities, but in the end it's pretty much your standard 3rd person shooter. I think of an RPG as kind of a story the gamer writes as he plays; this game is pretty linear. There's a couple off-shoot things, but they're pretty lame. It's basically a prettier version of KOTR, without as many side stories.

Ice climbing and Tacoma

Got out on the ice yesterday for the first time in a couple years. Oldman Winter said he'd be more than willing to belay me as much as I wanted. The day was pretty much the opposite of last time; no wind, no spindrift, and 40-45 degrees. We went up Clear Creek Canyon and top-roped a waterfall that was no more than 40 feet. For those who haven't done ice, it can be a bit intimidating as you don't quite know if what you're climbing is going to stay where it is. As a result the first lap up I flailed hard and fast. Settled down the next, did an overhang the third, and finally remembered I had feet! Physically, I think ice climbing is much easier than rock. Oldman Winter was true to his word and only went up twice while I did about 15 laps total. With the new tools I didn't smack my knuckles once and with the weather was so nice I just wore liner gloves. Pretty sweet day. We'll head out to Silverplume this weekend for something different.

Tacoma. The Tacoma office flew another job opening and this time they're paying for the move. From the job description I think I'm a shoe-in. Given the time lag between closing, selection, inteviews, etc I would expect to be back in the Northwest by mid-summer, if selected. My confidence is pretty high, but the're plenty of superstars out there who'd like to work for the Survey and live in the Northwest. I'm in it to win it now and will definitely have the A-game ready come interview time.