PlingTalk

The next morning Champagne woke us up around 7 am. Being the lazy asses that we are we slept in till 8 and didn’t get to the Skaha parking lot till 10. We hiked for an hour to get to the furthest crags from the parking lot. I tried a few 5.10a climbs and decided I was too sleepy & tired to do any more climbing. So I took a long nap under the sun. Around 4 pm we packed it up and decided to explore the Skaha cave. To get into the cave we had to squeeze our bodies through a small odd shaped hole in an uncomfortable downward sideway twisting manner. Piotr was worried that he wouldn’t be able to squeeze himself in as his body was half way in and his legs were sticking out upsidedown. Luckily I had no such difficulties. I guess I’m still thin enough haha. The cave was narrow, pitch black, and cold! We scrambled using all our body parts, trying our hardest not to fall into the 10-15 metre holes in the ground, or knocking lose rocks onto each other. We even had to rappel off one section (thank god for bringing a rope with us!). The best part of the cave was the “photocopier.” It was exactly like what the name suggests - you had to squeeze through two “sheets” of rock and then get spit out the other side. I was glad that I invested $60 into a helmet for this trip! Everyone tried wiggling, squeezing, pushing, pulling, and doing whatever they can to move themselves out of the photocopier. Needless to say we got very dirty.

Hiking in the park
Evan on top of a sketchy 5.10a climb (which he fell while climbing), Piotr seconding it
Me taking a napInside the cave
Piotr going through a section
Champagne scrambling downward
Piotr going through the photocopier
Me climbing
Me rappelling
So I got back from Chicago late Saturday night and am ready for the weekened already….
Keeping with the pattern then, we have finally arrived at Step 7.

At least 38 people were killed and more than 100 injured when two or three bombs concealed on parked cycles went off near a mosque in Malegaon when people were streaming out after Friday afternoon prayers.

The well-planned explosions in the Muslim-dominated town 300 km from Mumbai, where terror attacks on trains only two months ago killed nearly 200 people, sending shock waves across India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for peace and communal harmony.

And so, the vicious cycle continues. Investigation is still underway but it isn’t too difficult to figure out who could have been behind the incident. Terrorist attacks in India are always either politically or religiously motivated, and in this case the location of the attack seems to point towards the latter.

It is the first time since urban terrorism began to take roots in this country that terrorists have targeted an area populated by Muslims, that too on a day of Shahe-e-Barat, when Muslims pray for the dead.

The bombs, placed near an old mosque, went off around 2 pm. The loud bangs reverberated in the town, sparking panic and a made run for safety as the mostly male audience began to run. The resultant stampede killed many children who were playing near the steps leading to the mosque.

This area has seen its share of sectarian violence, so it’s not too difficult to infer the motives of the terrorists. They could have been either Jihadists backed by Pakistan, or local goons supported by Hindu fundamentalists. The objective, in either case, was to incite communal tensions. Same old, same old.

On a different note, let’s look at the response of the American media to the attack. If such attacks had taken place in Europe, Israel, or Western embassies, the news would have received top headlines.
I couldn’t get out of there quick enough. Every morning when I woke up I seriously was saying only 5 days left, 4, 3, 2, etc…. It was brutal, and I didn’t know what to say to her. I was struggling to make conversation. The sad part is that I don’t think she thought anything was wrong, but come on 7 days and no sex?!? A red flag needs to go off in her head. I mean I didn’t even try at all!!! Who knows what she was thinking?!? Hopefully Christmas won’t be as bad. I am already trying to think of an excuse to get out of New Years….

On Sunday I went Christmas shopping with a very good friend. Sometimes I think me and her could have something together, but then I close my eyes and can see it would never work out. I think there is a tremendous physical attraction but that alone is not enough.

You could say that is what separates me from my younger self. In college and a year or two after I would basically hook-up with any semi-decent girl and now it is 100% the opposite. I feel like when I go out I can basically get any girl I want, but for some reason I am just not all about the hook-ups anymore. It really is a scary thought. I mean if I looked the way I do now 4 years ago, I would have been on fire….
On Monday we got a few hours of climbing. It was so nice and hot so all the guys decided to go climbing topless. I forgot to cut my nails before the trip. By this time my toes were taking a beating from a combination of wearing one size smaller climbing shoes and having long toenails. It was painful to climb but I sucked it up and did a couple climbs via top roping. We packed it in around 2 pm, hiked back to the car, and headed home. Yet another awesome climbing trip!

PS I tested my new -10 Merlin sleeping bag. It’s so nice & warm!

Going climbing at Lighthouse Park again tomorrow night! Then Squamish Sat. Should be lots fun.

Having a bit of phone tag with this girl… we’ll see how that goes. Wish me luck!