Two Days of Ridiculousness

The last couple days have been something on the insane side...

Over the weekend, we had lots of guests. On the fourth day of rain, I saw that the basement sliding glass door frame was wet again. So, the Girl and I got an estimate today to replace our sliding glass doors, since (I have previously confirmed) they are the source of the problem. I hate spending money.

This follows yesterday, which was to be the day I returned to climbing, but instead became the day I (shock) spent money. I had been considering joining Earth Treks ROAD class, which is a general cross-training climber's program. It's only drawback is that it costs money, but hey, that's kind of necessary for getting in shape, I suppose. I hope I can do it. I'm mildly concerned. If I don't die, I should be pretty ripped in eight weeks. I like ripped. It's been awhile.

Props to EMS

Prior to Sandie's XXth birthday, the girl and I decided to take a leisurely drive down to Annapolis and visit the newly re-situated Eastern Mountain Sports to use the 20%/15% coupon going on these days. My specific purpose was to get a new pair of climbing shoes, since I've been going through mine relatively quickly of late.

So, we arrived, I checked out the shoes, and saw (to my shock and amazement) that the La Sportiva Miura's were on sale for 15% off! I asked the guy whether that was on top of the 20% for the coupon, and, rather than saying "Oh, that's a mistake. Sorry!" he said, "Yes, it is." Woo hoo! 35% off of new Miura's, which is nothing to shake a stick at! (Where the hell does that saying come from, anyway?) So, I found the shoes, took them to the register, and was not surprised to discover that the 15% didn't register, though the 20% did. I asked about it, and the manager confirmed that it was a mistake, but honored the 15% anyway.

EMS, you're awesome! Thanks! I got a $155 for $105! I'm happy, too, because (as I stated before) these are the best shoes ever! Once I kill the resole I have on my eVolv Defy shoes (also a good pair), I'll jump right into these!

Insanity Ensues

It's been two days of pure hilarity and insanity. As always, a few tears mixed in, but they've been the norm recently. The hilarity and insanity have not.

Yesterday was Sunday. The plan was, beginning at Amanda's house, to bottle beer, eat lunch, go for a walk, and brew beer. We got to her place, went to Safeway for supplies, and came back to prepare a tasty lunch of quesadillas.

Halfway through sauteing veggies, Amanda realized that we forgot to purchase one of the things necessary for quesadillas; black beans. So, back to the store. We then, after purchasing all sorts of ingredients, forgot to use half of them. Just forgot they were there. Avocado? Forgot it. Enchilada sauce? Forgot that too. Black beans in the first place? Forgot them? Wow.

We then bottled beer. Bottling sugar, you ask? Nope, I forgot to add it. Fortunately, Amanda caught it early enough that it wasn't a problem?

Walk time. We went to an arboretum in Columbia. It began with the Girl and Amanda saying something like, "Hey! Go run quickly down that hill!" I did, and proceeded to roll my ankle pretty badly no more than thirty seconds into our walk. Fortunately, it sorted itself out and only two of my toes are black and blue. No long term damage, I think.

Later on, I got to climb a few trees. That's a dying art, I think. Not nearly enough people climb trees these days. They're meant to be climbed.

Notice at this point that all that has happened and it's only about 4:00 on Sunday.

We had Chinese food at what might as well be called "Super Awesome Chinese Food Place" in Columbia, and then we went back to Amanda's and began brewing a wheat beer. That went relatively smoothly, and so we'll have the tastiness sometime around the end of April.

At some point that evening, something like this happened:

G: What are you doing?
J: Sitting in the bedroom that's not a bedroom. Because it has a window that's not a window!

This was in reference to the cat room.

We then watched a flick and went to bed. After all, it was a work night.

Even before the next day happened, weirdness hit. We were awoken at 4 AM by a police chase in Columbia. I'm pretty sure it was a police chase because I heard a siren, and I also heard an engine that couldn't have had more the four or six cylinders rev up prior to the peak point of the Doppler effect of the police siren.

A few hours later, I got up, got infused, and hit work for about an hour. I came back with lunch for the Girl and myself, and then we proceeded to fall asleep again (which sounds nice right about now). Amanda came home, and the true business began...

See, the reason we stayed over at Amanda's to begin with was that I didn't want to drive all over creation prior to taking the children of the Alleys climbing. So, we got to Earth Treks, took Lindsay and Lori climbing, and generally had a nice time. Afterward, the Alleys and we (the Girl and I) went to dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, where everything that could be thrown or spilled was thrown or spilled. Everybody enjoyed though.

At that point, we had to turn around and go back to Amanda's to get the Girl's purse. On the way back, we learned that the other missing item, Amanda's digital camera, had turned up... in her refrigerator?!?!? Not somewhere I usually put electronics, or anything other than food really.

Tomorrow, normalcy should ensue. It was a nice diversion from some of the rougher points in life recently, however, and it is yet another reminder among many that we are surrounded by wonderful people in our lives.

Climbing Shoes Review

OK, so I'm a little crazy. I suddenly feel like reviewing my rock climbing shoes. I've had several pairs, and I just received a new pair yesterday. I'm excited about the new pair. In the meantime, see what I have to say about 5.10 Ascent, 5.10 Galileo, La Sportive Miura, Evolv Defy, and 5.10 Spire. Then, when they're good and worn in, I'll review my brand new pair of Montrail Wasabi.

I got into climbing in October 2003. That was when I purchased my fateful first pair. I'm sure most people commit the same feau pax, and so did I. I bought them way too big, thinking they should be sized similar to street shoes; way wrong.

My first pair of shoes was a pair of 5.10 Spires. They're the famous purple lace-ups from 5.10. I recall that this was a good pair to learn on, but they suffered from two problems, one of which was my fault. They were too big, so I could used my toes very well. I didn't realize that was a problem until I got a bit better and actually needed my toes for something. The second problem is that they're shaped a bit more like a street shoe. Instead of having a really well-pointed toe, they curve up a bit in the front to be comfortable to wear. That also limits the use of their toes. I recall the rubber being really good, though, since they lasted me a long time and then I still got to give them to a friend to use even longer.

My second pair was a pair of velcro 5.10 Ascent. They have some little suction cup-looking things on the heels, although a recent redesign has changed that. I got these shoes a bit closer to the right size, but they were still a little big. These shoes have almost everything going for them, and one problem. The problem is that they may have been a little wide for my feet, so my feet moved inside them a little. However, that may have been because they were a little big for me. On the good side, the rubber is really good. They have velcro, so they're quick to get in and out of. They're really comfortable. The rubber is also really sticky, so they smear well. All in all, I was very happy with these shoes.

My third pair have been the best pair; La Sportive Miuras. They have quick laces, so they're easy enough to get in and out of. They have a super pointy toe, so I can get my toes into just about anything. The rubber is really sticky and pretty durable, so the first sole lasted a long time, and they helped me climb really well. They aren't the most comfortable, but I bought them really small, over-compensating for my two previous purchases. I love these shoes. I resoled them, and I still use them, though the resoles now have a hole, so they're not long for the world. They also cost a bit ($130), but you get major quality out of this price. They're technical, durable shoes.

I have really conflicting feelings about my fourth pair; Evolv Defys. Of the shoes, they are the most comfortable and are really fantastic for technical climbing. They have really pointy toes and really sticky rubber. They have velcro, so I can get in and out of them quickly. I love these shoes. The drawback to them, which is pretty significant, is that the rubber just doesn't last very long. The rubber wore out really quickly. I have developed holes in both toes after about 5 months. If I could put La Sportiva rubber on these shoes, they would be the best. I intend to do that when I get them resoled. On the bright side, they're cheap. At $75, they are a really good pair of shoes.

Then we have my current pair; 5.10 Galileos. I think I like these shoes the least of all of my shoes. Initially, the rubber is not sticky at all. Once they're worn in a bit, they're decently sticky. The rubber wears out a bit quickly, too. The bonus is that they're also velcro shoes, so they'll go on and come off quickly. But, they cost way too much for that to be the main selling point. Steer clear of these.

Stay tuned for my review of the Montrail Wasabis...
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The Peanut Gallery Speaks

What began as a well-formed plan for a meal degraded quickly into a hasty, thrown-together piece of wonder I can only describe as ... tasty. Dinner was originally meant to be of rice, veggies, and fried. Also known as sushi (maki specifically) and tempura. By the time climbing ended, however, we feared we would waste away to nothing. So our well-laid plans of cooking a meal in following climbing quickly degraded to hastily rushing to the grocery store and absconding (post-cash) with the makings for peanut butter and jelly.

So, to the ingredients. "Not just peanut butter, jelly, and bread?" you ask. Of course not! So what else was there? Gnutella, bananas, fluff, and more bread; all on one sammich! Moo ha. Yum. Ice cream yet to come... Oh, and of course there was pineapple. This is a nice way to end infusion day.

The list of attendees: the girl, Amanda, Ken, and me of course.

Fun-filled Fourth and More

This has been an eventful weekend. First, the fourth of July. It began, as many of my days recently have, at around 4:45 AM. Somehow, I felt ridiculously functional, and decided to make my computer more useful. So, I installed Apache, MySQL, MediaWiki, and LXR. There's more to come on that.

When the rest of the world woke up, people came over and we kayaked. 'We' being the girl, Amanda, Ken, and I. It were fun. Check out our route. Afterward, we cooked enough food to choke a small family of elephants, and somehow did not meet our demise. 'We,' in this case, additionally included Tim and Samantha. We ended up watching the Wedding Singer, and lapsing into restful (I hope) comas following.

Sometime during the day or night, we decided to start rating beers, and needed a place to store the ratings. Fortunately, I installed a wiki on my computer earlier. Some DNS magic later, my friends have access, and we now have a wiki with beer, wine, recipes, and other random junk.

Breakfast came and went the next morning at a nearby diner in Pasadena. I had some tasty french toast. Amanda and Ken left, and Jessie and I then learned that our basement had a stomach ache. Our sump pump was making some seriously sickening gurgling noises. Several trips to Lowes ensued, and we now have a new sump pump. Later, we went to Sandrew's house to begin an enjoyable eve.

At Sandrew's place, we began by taking a tour of the neighborhood on Drew's refurbished electric scooter. Good stuff. I never thought the thing could have been so fun. A bunch more food, enough to choke the former elephant family's giant mutant offspring's family, and then Katie and Jon came over. The girl also jumped in the pool, fully clothed, to rescue a drowning Corona bottle. Because of her hard work, we'll have one more Corona bottle in the world, saved from being one of the many of the horrible statistic of Corona bottles that have drowned in pools.

Sunday: Climbing day! Ken, Amanda, the girl, and I went to Rockville! I love that gym. I wish I lived a bit closer. I'm still sore from climbing. We ate dinner at the Mongolian Barbeque, went back, and waited out the storm at Amanda's place, with ice cream! Thanks Amanda!

More Adventures

Climbed outdoors for the first time ever today. Strange, considering I've been climbing now for 4 years. It was beautiful out at Carderock. We were right next to the river, and the temperature was close to perfect (although a few degrees too warm).

It's amazing how much pieces of EarthTreks prepared me for climbing outdoors, and how much pieces of it didn't. In the gym, you are given a route, and you must solve it. The routes are marked with colored tape, so you always know where to go. Outside, you are given a rock wall, and you must pray to the callous gods that your fingers and toes can take the abuse, and that you can find pieces of rock face that aren't just rounded, unfeatured slab.

In any case, it was enjoyable, and I discovered that I apparently have a keen eye for discovering turtles. Everybody else seems to miss them. Today was my second turtle sighting. The first was while kayaking. Of course, it's hard to miss something when you hit it. Don't worry, the first turtle is perfectly fine. It was a baby snapping turtle. Today's, I can't identify yet, though fear not! I'll unmask it like Scooby Doo and the gang unmasking some old guy! VW buses are cool...

Misadventures in Water-soaked Climbing Gear

Took to the great outdoors today to learn about setting up toprope systems.  For the sake of reference, here's the summary of what we learned.

• Bowline knot
• Single bowline
• Bowline on a bight, which can be used to make an extra safety knot
• BFK (Big Fat Knot), which is effectively just a figure 8 on a bight on a bight.  
• BFK placement 
• Carabiner placement:
•  Opposing gates
• Don't put them on a rock edge
  
• Anchoring
• Placing angles:  Less than 90 required.  Less than 45 ideal.
• Where to anchor:  to live trees, rocks with good features, etc.
• Tying two ropes together using a Flemish knot or a fisherman's knot

The big thing, though, is SREANE.  Solid (where to tie anchors), Redundant (at least 2 anchors, BFK, 2 biners), Equalized (so the force is minimized on each anchor piece), Angle (above), No Extension (if one piece of the system fails, then the other won't go very far).

OK, that was boring for the non-climbers.  It was probably boring for the climbers, too, but I'm excited and I needed to write it down somewhere.  Just after lunch, the skies opened up and poured down rain in bucky-wuckets.  That was fun, or at least as much fun as swimming along walking trails can be.  

The girl took pictures and started a picasa page, in case you'd like a brief look at the excitement.