As mentioned, I went rock climbing yesterday. What an awesome time! I haven’t been in almost 4 years now and I’ve never climbed outside, at least not with the proper gear. The place we went was called Exit 38 and instead of the rock I posted yesterday, we climbed Gritscone on the Far Side. There are more routes than they show in the picture on that link, but here’s a pic of me climbing Pete’s Possum Palace: wa_exit38/IMGP2503

For those of you not familiar with the 5.x rating system, take a look at the Yosemite Decimal System. I attempted a 5.9 as well and got about halfway up, but there was a slight overhang I couldn’t get past. Bummer…maybe next time. That’s what’s great about this climbing area, though, is that it’s only a half-hour outside of Seattle. So if I wake up and feel like climbing a rock, it’s no problem at all to just hop on the highway and head out into the woods. Not too bad, Pacific Northwest - you have taken my challenge and you are sidling up to the plate with ease. :)

Today, I need to hit up REI to get some new boots and other random gear. And if you clicked that link, yes folks this Seattle Flagship store is so big, it is actually denoted on Google Maps. It’s so big that it’s the second largest tourist attraction in Seattle, second only to the Market. It’s so big, it receives more visitors per year than the Space Needle. This, folks…is the Mother of all REI’s.

Exit 38 - Write-Off Rock == Where I’ll be in an hour or so.

On rock…

As I’ve moved across the country in life, every area has had it’s comfort food that I yearned for when I left and wherever I move never seems to have it. When I left upstate NY, it was Papa John’s Pizza. There was one in Chicago, but it was 5 miles North of the city and took the dedication of a 45-minute drive to go retrieve. But it was worth it the few times I did that. Fortunately, Papa John’s is out here in the Northwest!

Now that I’ve been out of Chicago for a short while, I’m already starting to miss the classic “Chicago Dog” - yes, those lovely culinary creations with green relish, hot peppers, pickles, onions, and tomato that you can never eat without making an absolute mess of yourself. Just try to find one of those suckers out here in the Northwest, I challenge you! I thought I had gotten lucky when I saw Matt’s Famous Chili Dogs, but alas the location near me was torn down recently to make room for a high-rise. Argh! I’ll have to make a special trip to one of their other locations to satisfy my craving, it seems.

Matt’s Classic Chicago Dog… … … … … … … . . $2.99 A gourmet hot dog served with mustard, diced white onions, sweet relish, tomatoes, Kosher dill pickle, sport (hot) pepper and celery salt.

Now that’s what I’m talking about…

What’s your comfort food that you miss?

Update: I forgot to mention - I also miss Buffalo wings, from both places. I tried to find a good place out here, but eventually had to settle on Rock Bottom. I know where I’m going the next time I’m back in Chi-town!

As I slipped on my old Copa Mundial soccer shoes this morning and pulled the laces tight, one of them snapped. I knew it was a sign…a sign that I need some new cleats! I’ve had these copa’s for a long time…probably since high school. I just read the date on them (05/95) and that assumption is correct! Wow, new cleats are a long time coming. My copa’s are pretty beat up to the point where I burned the ends of the laces together since the plastic fell off a long time ago.

I’m subbing in for some people that can’t play due to Easter tomorrow, so I headed out to grab some new cleats. I was tempted to go with the old standy, copa’s…but instead I picked up some Diadora’s. I can’t wait to get back out on the field! wa_apartment/IMGP2488

I also signed up for another soccer league that plays on turf field so I figured the new cleats would be good for that. Soccer shoes have changed a little bit since the last time I bought them, but I’m happy to see that the classic copa’s are still around!

Time to hit up the town!

Song of the day: “Faster Kill Pussycat” by Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittany Murphy

By the way, Chicagoans, if you haven’t seen the bean before (or especially if you have) now is a good time as it was recently finished. I took a walk Sunday morning before I headed out of town and happened to end up at Millenium Park and it’s looking pretty good.

24:28

‘nuff said

I just registered for Seattle Mind Camp. Too bad I didn’t have room to pack my sleeping bag, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out!

See you there.

Apparently, one of the perks of corporate housing is maid service. I arrived home this evening to find a freshly made bed, a sparkling bathroom, and a freshly vacuumed floor. This isn’t too bad, I thought…I could begin to live with this.

However, it wasn’t until after dinner when I went to open the dishwasher that I found that they had been thoughtful enough to start it up and clean my dirty dishes while I was away. Oh, that’s nice. That’s reeeeeal nice. I may have trouble going back to my apartment that needs to be dusted every two days… I enjoy doing the manual labor associated with cleaning, but the perks of having maid service may prove to be too irresitible!

Yes, Mom…I know cleaning probably builds character! ;-)

I’ve pretty much been in high-gear since Thursday night. I checked out that pool hall and didn’t get home until late. Then I got up and flew back to Chicago (that 4-hour flight always wipes me out) and went out on the town with a few friends since I won’t be around for a while. That was, of course, a late night. Then Saturday was a wonderful Champagne tasting where the party went late into the night again. Combine that with the fact that I’ve been magically rising around 6:30am every morning and my batteries are running low. I flew into Seattle last night (again…that 4-hour flight is an ouch) and got into my apartment around 11pm. I unzipped my two suitcases but didn’t make it much past that as I took care of some things on my computer and laid down on the couch to rest for a bit while watching some non-descript movie. Next thing I knew it was 5am and my eyes were crusted shut (gross, I know…but it’s true!). I stumbled into the bedroom, crawled into my comfy bed and after an hour-and-a-half of sleep felt good and rested and ready to go stare at source code all day! Even though it was tiring, I had a great weekend back in Chi-town which is good since I won’t be back for a while. See ya then!

Don’t lose your confidence if you slip Be grateful for a pleasant trip And pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again