Friday evening I went to Eden at New Hall. Unfortunately for covertmusic, they cancelled Inferno at fairly short notice; fortunately for me and others, they attempted to compensate him with "as many guest tickets as you want". I assume that at some point they'll refund my largeish cheque, but will give them until after May Week to get out of headless chicken mode.

lusercop came up Friday afternoon and after a bit of faffing at mine, we wandered over, arriving around 5:30 or so. Almost the first person we saw was my old NatSci DoS, and we had a pleasant conversation with him. There were strawberries and cream, and Pimms, and lots of non-alcoholic drinks, and burgers and hotdogs and icecream and candyfloss. There was some timeless period when I sat on the grass listening to live music, watching Matthew devilstick and enjoying the glitter of light and the patterns of movement, and it was good.

mobbsy and pjc50 turned up in due course, and we had more pleasant conversation, while lusercop gave impromptu lessons to random passersby. Later still, acronym arrived just as I was attempting a guided tour of my old College and its artwork for Pete, and we returned from that to find j4 & addedentry. Because Inferno had been cancelled, Eden was extended until 10pm, after which Janet and Owen went home and Matthew, Andrew, Andrew and Pete came back to mine, where we hung out and gossiped. I eventually gave in and got some sleep, and left Matthew as temporary house occupant to continue being hostly.

Saturday dawned gorgeously. We sat and gossiped for a bit, and then I attempted to deal with the piles of to-do list. We had a lazy lunch, which I serendipitously started cooking just as jdc39 emerged blinking into the day after Robinson Ball. After this I did some working from home, fixing the problems I hadn't had time to fix before leaving on Friday. Most of it was the kind of fiddly, repetitive, careful work that gets immensely tedious but can't be automated. We listened to CUR1350's coverage of the Bumps, after which there was Dr Who and a very pleasant meal at the Thanh Binh. Sunday I spent rather more of the day working, interspersed with conversation with Matthew and Jonny. I finished bang on 5:30 when I really had to stop, so that fanf & I could go to the CUMC Centenary Dinner. This turned out to be excellent fun despite the heat, with a huge turnout of past members, some impressive beards and a fine after-dinner speech. It was fun showing Tony off introducing Tony to my climbing friends, and especially pleasant to see Andy B (and finally meet his girlfriend) back from Durham for the event. Lots of people I knew had been on the club week-long meet in Cornwall, which I missed due to having lots of work and a wedding to plan. Tony and I will go next year, if at all possible.

I slept very badly last night, but did get into work reasonably early. I migrated my package of fixes for testing by mid-morning ... and got back a shorter list of new bugs by lunchtime. Sigh. Must code better. I then took an extra-long lunch in order to pick up fripperies for the wedding, and was really a bit too hot by the time I got back to the office. It took quite a while and a lot of water before I felt able to think straight again. When I got home this evening, all good intentions to do useful things vanished in the face of being hot and tired, so I read a book instead. I probably should go to bed, but the upper floor is uninvitingly hot. I suppose I could read another book.

... and I haven't even been doing politics.
( The week in Rachel's world )

I'm going climbing tomorrow, and the forecast for tomorrow is good. Hurrah.

For the climbing, I have of course hired a car. Due to a limited supply of cars at the hire place I have a very nice shiny blue Mercedes with leather seats, automatic gears and odd foothandbrake arrangement. It's extremely pleasant to drive. Seems almost a sin to clutter it up with muddy climbers, though I probably won't let that stop me. This car is not allowed to get stuck on anything.

The wedding dress arrived. The colour in the photographs was pretty accurate, and it looks gorgeous on, as well as rustling in a satisfying manner. My head only just fits through the neckline (the inner project planner points out the inherent dependency between putting on dress and having hair done). The top is a snug fit but looks great as it is; however if I can manage to shift a few kilos between now and July it will look even better. If I lose more than that (ho ho ho), there are laces at the back to tighten it. The skirt has an elasticated waist and loads of room for size change. So, it's a gorgeous outfit, in the right colour, with flexible sizing. One happy buyer here.

Quite where this epic starts, I'm not sure. From the time the climbing meet was announced and I fixed it in my diary. Or from the Tuesday where I booked the car through Enterprise. Or perhaps the Thursday evening is the best place to start, when I took a post-migrainous taxi into town for the weekly Teas, to meet my promised backup driver and take his licence. I've told some people some of the tale, but I want to remember it all for the future in one place. The short version goes: forgot my sleeping bag, taught an American how to drive around roundabouts, needed rescue by the AA after a car jack broke, found spring on Anglesey, climbed very badly and lost all my confidence, ripped the seat out of my climbing trousers (and repaired them with gaffer tape), nearly ran out of petrol in Bangor, hiked around a lake instead of climbing and finally took an injured climber to A&E in Cambridge.

The long version is behind the cut. It really is long.
( Read more... )

On Sunday I went climbing in the Peaks - to a lovely little crag called Windgather, near Whaley Bridge. It was one of those near-perfect days: good conditions, good climbing and good company. The temperature was barely above freezing, but the rock was dry as a bone and the crag full of easy routes and a few hard ones. Fingers went numb on the rock but warmed in the sunshine, and there was always the option of clomping through snow in between climbs. The club group was a pleasant mix of skills and personalities and the day generally was a joy. I only decided on Wednesday to book a hire car and go, and it's going to rank as one of my better impulse decisions.
( Read more... )
Yay first lead.

More bruises than ever, mostly on my knees and shins. Some new, hopefully lasting, friendships. Fears conquered and new fears found, along with new determination. Two routes climbed, just under 400 miles driven, a pile of photographs and the extraordinary sense of peace that comes from a weekend spent mostly outdoors.
( Read more... )
I've a long way to go, but I've a growing determination to do this more and more: to grow the skill and strength in body to climb better, the judgement and strength of mind to choose appropriate routes, to learn to judge between simple fear and a rational judgement that I cannot do something safely. The only way to improve is to do it more, and to accept that I'll learn at my own rate, not on anyone else's schedule.