30 Day blog challenge: Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy

*checks watch*

it's definitely day 24, right?

right

sooo...  how about the dfferent types of climbing?  there's a bit of a visual glossary at the bottom, if all the equipment confuses you.  ...it still confuses the hell out of me, sometimes... there are several other types of climbing, but these are, i think, the three main types...

Trad

traditional, obviously.  this is the type of climbing you're most likely to be familliar with.  it's the type that requires all sorts of curious and arcane equipment, such as nuts, friends or cams, quickdraws, rope, karabiners or krabs, straps, tape, harness, rock shoes, chalk bags, hexes, helmets, belay (pronounced bee-lay) devices, and about a million other curious and exciting-looking bits and bobs.  doing it properly costs a bleedin' fortune, mate.  it's done on rock that has cracks, fissures and pockets in which to lodge your cams, hexes and nuts...
*pause for juvenile sniggering*
...and is tricky.  you put your safety equipment in as you go, and this takes practice and experience.  if you cock up the placement of a nut, for example...
*pauses for more juvenile sniggering*
...when your second comes up and puts strain on it, it can pop out of the rock and whack you painfully in the head, or other parts.  same goes for hexes (which are really more like giant nuts than anything else) and cams.  also, if you fall, you want to be goddamned sure that shit's in there nice and tight.  a fall is terrifying enough, believe me, without "unzipping" your nuts (yeah, yeah yeah - when you've finished.....jeez - how old are you?) all the way down the rockface.

Sport

this requires much, much less equipment than trad.  simply rope, harness, quickdraws, rock shoes, belay device, chalk bag, and a helmet, if you've got any sense.  this type of climbing is done on much smoother rock walls with few or no places to put safety equipment.  on a sport climb, you clip a quickdraw to the eyebolts already drilled into the rock (by your friendly local or national climbing or mountaineering organisation), and then run your rope through the other end of the quickdraw as you go.  it will have an extra-strong loop or clip at the top, called a lower-off point. (and if you've seen the movie 127 hours - awesome, BTW - this is the piece of metal he kisses towards the end) when you reach that, you clip the rope through it, and then get lowered down, collecting your quickdraws alng the way (or leaving them in place for your second to collect when they climb up).

Free

this, as far as i'm concerned, is the preserve of nutters.

using no equipment other than a chalkbag and some rock shoes, you climb your chosen route with nothing to arrest your fall, should you slip. *shudder*

some people like to do it naked, too.

Glossary

 

 rock shoes.  these have a soft upper, sticky, smooth rubber soles, and generally a pointed toe (to allow you to get easier putchase in those tiny, tricky cracks

 

 on the left are cams or "friends" - these can be squeezed to close the head, and then inserted into the crack where the head expands and (hopefully) grips the rock.  top right are karabiners, or "krabs".  these are hugely useful things which clip the various parts of your climbing rig together.  bottom right are nuts.  these are carefully shaped nuggets of metal which can be inserted into cracks and then, by virtue of their odd shape, wedged tight.  the wire on the end allows you to clip a krab to it, and then run your rope through the krab.  bottom middle is a nut key.  one of my best friends on a trad climb (since i'm usually the second - hubby being a better climber).  this marvellous and wonderful little device allows you to lever a nut out from a crack if it has become wedged.  absolutely invaluable!

 

 quickdraws.  these allow for quick and (relatively) easy clipping on to various bits of kit.

 

 belay devices come in many weird and wonderful shapes.  this is the bit that the second uses to hold the rope taut without getting rope burn should the climber fall.  it's a sort of friction lock, working on the pulley principle.  i can hold hubby's weight with three fingers using one of these.

 

the chalk bag.  this hangs from the harness, or a belt.  it can hold loose chalk or, as in the picture, a chalk ball.  this is loose chalk held inside a mesh which is released when you squeeze the ball.  generally insisted on by indoor climbing walls as, if you fall, the chalk doesn't explode everywhere.

And Finally...

i urge you to watch this video.  it will blow your mind.  takes a while to load, but it's worth it...

about as intellectual as i get

there's been a thought washing around in my head this week, and it's this:  i wonder if those ancient greek dudes were really on to something...?  believe it or not, this was prompted by my having my lip pierced.

look, in Squeaky's World, this makes perfect sense, i promise.

it was Plato (....um...i think...) who came up with the "Theory of Form", which basically, as far as my limited brain can understand it (following a distant reading of Sophie's World and a quick reference to Wikipedia), states that everything we experience through our senses is an echo of a perfect form that exists on some other plane somewhere. ....or something along those lines...

and i have begun to wonder, in an idle sort of way, if we are not all shadows on the wall.

bear with me on this.

so - at the age of sixteen, the embryonic Squeaky had her nose pierced. and she was so very proud of this. she loooooved her nose piercing. it gave her a little bubble of joy every time she looked into the mirror. it just felt so right - like it was meant to be. and she still loves her pierced nose, seventeen years later. (omg - i had my nose pierced more than half of my life ago! *momentarily feels old*)

then, a couple of years ago, having had blonde hair to her waist for most of he life, she had it all cut off, and dyed it purple. again - bubbles of joy nearly every time she looked into the mirror. like it was meant to be.

a week ago yesterday, she had her lip pierced. and she loves it.

now, the day after she had her lip pierced, she went to see her parents, who live on a boat near Hull, wondering what their response would be. her father, she was sure, would hate it, but that's just Dad. he hated the nose ring, too but, being Dad, said little or nothing about that, since he's so laid back, he's practically horizontal, and tends not to get aerated about things he realises he can do nothing about. her mother, she was not sure about. she had, after all, encouraged and paid for the nose-piercing (and the moment it went in, with Mum looking on proudly, is still a surprisingly vivid memory, by the way).

so she waited for their reaction to her new adornment.

and waited, and waited.

in the end, wondering if they were just being polite in not mentioning it, as they both hated it, she asked what they thought.

they looked mildly surprised when attention was drawn to a new piece of metal in their daughter's face and, individually, their reaction was much he same: "Well, i thought it was new, but i wasn't sure, as it seems like the sort of thing that you'd do, anyway"

....er....ok....

i'm 33. most people, i think, tend to get this sort of thing done when they're in their teens, or early twenties. but maybe that's just my prejudices showing. in western society, putting bits of metal into your face, or any part of your body other than your ears, has always struck me as a mildly rebellious act, since it's not really in our culture.

...um...i would like to stress, at this point, neither the nose or the lip were a consciously rebellious act on my part - more in the nature of decoration (though i must admit that it has been tremendous fun winding up a colleague who thinks that tattos and piercings are a revolting perversion)

anyway - back to the point.

i had very much the same reaction from colleagues. these are people i see every day, in an environment where facial piercings are pretty uncommon, though certainly not villified (except for by the colleague i mentioned earlier). and nobody noticed! not a single one! when it was pointed out, they said they hadn't really noticed, but that they thought it was very "me".

....hang on, a minute...

very "me"? what does that mean? now, i choose to believe that they think it suits me. but more than that, and here's where those ancient greek dudes come in. it almost seems like the nose, and the hair, and the lip, and various other things, were things that were always there in potentia, as it were. that Squeaky, as a person, exists in her whole and complete form somewhere beyond Plato's Cave, and she's coming into focus in the sensual world bit by bit. and that applies to her mind, too. and that's why every time i become aware of that thing that's changed, it feels right. because, somehow, that's how it was meant to be...

or i could, in fact, be talking complete bollocks, as usual. *grin*

***

in other news:

 we have a new addition to our family of vehicles.

because the adorable Talulah is such an expensive old girl to run, we have acquired a tiny little Fiesta van, who has been named Little V. (little van - geddit? :D)  and she, too, though battered, is adorable!  dirt cheap to run and lovely to drive, she's taking the pressure off poor old Talulah, and will save quite a bit of money in running and maintenence costs.  and we have found somewhere off the road to park Talulah - so she's not subject to the indignities of passing traffic hurling stones and road shit at her beautiful paintwork.

yesterday, we went climbing, for the first time in months.  it wasn't long - just a couple of hours, but it was good!  we went indoors, to our local climbing centre, Alter-Rock.  it was good to be back.  since we were last there (in January!), they have added a large fin in the middle of the area, with loads of new climbs and textures/techniques.  as well as a traverse wall.  And. It. Rocks!  there was soooo much to do, and all very interesting.  loads of corners and aretes and overhangs and roofs to tackle.  great fun, and i did really well - having not climbed for months, i actually managed a couple of 6A rated climbs! and i even screwed up my courage to lead a 4!!! *pride*

.

warm rock (and a video!)

so i was going to say that anyone who's been on twitter in the last few days will have noticed my unusual taciturnity and general miserable grumpiness when i was on.  but why would you, right? *blushes at own presumption*  but for anyone who was worried (bless you!) the tide of hormones has now retreated and i'm much more my usual chirpily irritating self. ;o)
so friday it was on the retreat, and i managed to drag my lazy arse out of the house to go climbing at Alter-Rock with hubby.  this was, frankly, a pathetic session.  i barely lasted two hours, climbed nothing above a 5+, and my hands weren't even sore when we came away.  bloody hell, my forearms were, though! (twanging tendons!).  headed to a pub in derby afterwards for dinner with some colleagues (remember the night out i forgot to go to? this was the rematch).  my mood took a total nosedive on the way there, though, as i had learned that my shiny new bike wouldn't be ready to pick up until maaaaybe monday, but probably tuesday, and various other little things had all crashed down at once.  however, once i got to the pub (i was early), liberal application of vodka, O...Saya by A R Rahman (from the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire), half an hour to myself, and sunshine had an astonishingly positive effect.  had a great night - even if it was two months late. ;o)
yesterday, the weather was beeeautiful, and hubby, astonishingly, managed to persuade me to go climbing outside for the first time in probably six months.  look, i am a*total* wuss when it comes to the cold.  i hate being out in it, and i hate climbing in it with a passion.  but i was persuaded that we should go here:

Harborough Rocks

it's a beautiful limestone outcrop near Wirksworth in Derbyshire.  it's very popular with climbers, and is particularly good for practicing trad climbing techniques, since the faces aren't huge, the terrain is friendly and easily accessible, and it's a particular kind of limestone that's pocked with lots of holes and pockets - easy handholds on lots of the routes.  it's used by a lot of groups - scouts, guides, etc.  there was a group there from Stafford yesterday.

it was so lovely.  the sun was warm, the breeze wasn't too cold, and the outcrop faces south, so it gets the sun virtually all day.  gods - i have missed the feel of warm rock far more than i realised.  maybe we should move to Spain?... 

we took all of the gear to climb trad, but ended up soloing instead (climbing without safety equipment - just shoes and a chalkbag). it was great for me.  i have virtually no confidence left after not climbing outside for so long, so i took baby steps soloing the easier routes with lots of juggy (big, easy-to-grip) holds, whilst hubby did the harder stuff.  the only trouble with Harborough is that it's so popular (also, people have been climbing there since the 1800's), many of the holds have been polished to glassy smoothness.  friction?  what's that?  had to be sooo careful!

and as we were soloing, we could please ourselves what we did.  so when i decided that i'd had enough, i just lay in the sun, or wrote a little more of my book, or wandered around on the hillside enjoying the gorgeous day.

i also spent some time admiring the perfectly blue sky - not a thing in it except for the local corvids (thank you, unpronounceable Icelandic volcano). utter, utter bliss!  i even caught the sun across my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose!  not quite enough to bring my freckles out, though - not quite yet.

but getting there... ^_^

.

why does it feel like i've been away for ages?...

...because it really does.

business first:

I tried to blog on thursday morning, but did it from my phone, cocked it up, and blogger ate the post.
this is probably a good thing, actually. i had insomnia on wed night, and i was in the foulest mood you could possibly imagine. no - worse than that, honestly. i was ready to up sticks and move to Mongolia or something. i'd REALLY had enough.
Thursday was A Bad Day.
however, through the intervention of The World's Most Wonderful Woman (what i did to deserve my best friend, i shall never know!), with tea and sympathy, i suddenly felt reborn, energised and fresh as a daisy. This is a woman who has more common sense and wisdom than i could aquire in ten centenarian lifetimes. she is a transcendent, shining star.
friday had me bouncing off the walls with joy and sunshine, my emotional armour fully repaired and gleaming. *beams*
so saturday, i actually felt ready, for the first time in aaaages to go climbing. was a total whimp having been away from it for over three months, but it was still good. managed a couple of hours, and i even think i managed a Grade 5+ (though it may only have been a 5. ah, who cares? the actually getting to alter-rock and doing it was the important bit! anyway...)
(an aside - can anyone tell me how to add hyperlinks to this effing thing?! 0.o)

today, we made the list of faults with isobel, our poor misused camper van. she went in last november for a paint job and came out with, well, a travesty. she was supposed to have been stripped right down to the bare metal, welded, knackered panels replaced, and painted a black cherry purple. however... this Did Not Happen. boy, were we furious!
garage bloke was very embarrassed when we showed him, and told us to make a list of all that was wrong. and so, we did:

Front
Rust @bottom corner of driver’s side windscreen
Washer jets and wipers not removed – only taped around (old paint can be seen)
Bottom radiator grill fell off – not been screwed on properly / screws missing
End cap on passenger side of bumper not secured. Falls off when knocked
Overspray on headlights
Driver’s side – front
Rust coming through on wheel arch
Step rusty and not under sealed
Rust in L. corner door sill
Door handles not removed, only taped
Roof gully - silicone
Driver’s side – middle
Rusty all the way along the bottom
White can be seen around water fill cap
Driver’s side – back panel
Rust coming out both ends of slider gully
No rubber seal for slider gully cover
Back
Can see original paintwork around window seal
Overspray on to back window seal
Rust patches all along bottom edge of back door
White paint can be seen around lock
Rear door does not close easily or correctly
Passenger side rear
Sliding gully completely rotten
No rubber seal on sliding gully cover
Wheel arch not under sealed
End cap on passenger side of bumper not secured. Falls off when knocked
Sliding door
Bearings on door slider mechanism need replacement (this occasionally makes the door fall off)
Sliding window should be in driver’s side (middle)
Roof gully rusty all the way along
Rust all along the bottom of this part
Rust and old paint still present around the window aperture
Passenger side - front
Rust around door handle
Rust in R corner of door sill
Rust coming through on wheel arch
Step rusty and no underseal
General
Patchy paintwork and poor finish throughout – needs stripping back to bare metal and painying, as originally agreed.
Inside
Seals around all windows / sliding door missing
Door locks not connected to locking buttons

i think this will give them plenty to go at - don't you?...

now: pleasure ^_^

two main pleasures today (aside from the little ones like tea and cigarettes, and hubby unexpectedly presenting me with chocolate :)

pleasure #1 was read in a blog called "Moments of Genius"
...it appears i've been given a blogging award (already! :-O ), by the lovely, lovely Grace Onorato, who really is one of the sweetest people i've ever come across. it's a Sunshine Award, and is for

"...blog writers and commenters whose words bring joy to their readers and those whose blogs they comment on."

Grace, thankyou from the bottom of my warm fuzzied heart. you are a joy to know, my dear, and i am privileged beyond words. ^_^
XXX

now, there are instructions on her blog on what i need to do next, but i'm such a pathetic noob i can't follow them (sorry, honey), coz i cannot make the interwebz dance to my tune. ...YET... (more on that in a moment). however, here they are, along with her awardees (hope this works):

Here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within the post.
2. Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let the nominees know they have received the award by posting on their blogs.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

And the winners of my Sunshine Awards are (in no particular order):
1. William: William's Poetry Blog
2. Dorkvader: The Dork Side
3. Sqeaky: an earthbound misfit
4. Shelly: Shell's Musings
5. Lynda 'n Kara: She Wears Heels While Exercising
6. Kevin: 12k on Black
7. Badgerpendous: Badgerpendous Is
9. Sushi: Sushimustwrite
10. Journalwriter: Journalwriter
11. Bethany: Shooting Stars
12. Mackleen: Left-Handed People Cry Too

hmmm...ok, that *seems* to have worked...
...but i don't know HOW to follow any of the rules! i can't even cut and paste in the damn picture! :o(

but am still thrilled to receive the award, so thankyou once again, lovely Grace. :o)

pleasure #2 comes from the fact that i actually appear to be able to write a decent story.

i have sent (with much trepidation and general trembling) my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel to a good twitterfriend named Jens Khun. i've only known him a few weeks, but because i loved HIS book ("Gunboat Number 14 - check it out - i dare you not to adore the lovely Anna, and will fight you if you don't...), and he appeared to like a short story i had written a while ago (based on the book "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" by Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman - undoubtedly the two most loved-up people on the planet right now...), i sent him my novel "Minatour", to see if he liked it. and (judging by his tweets) he's genuinely enjoying it! this fills me with more warm fuzzies.

Today is A Very Happy Day. ^_^