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Day 1
9 March 2009, 3:28 pm

Well I have decided to start a blog to mainly assist myself getting strong and hopefully amuse any poor soul who chooses to read my ramblings.

Off to the wall with the Jigga man tonight feeling positive and renewed about resurecting my climbing career. I had a lovely day at St. Bees with a non climbing friend who wanted to try the sport we all live for.

(Also managed to get the pull-up bar back up so beasting myself on that everytime I walk past it)

I am going to attempt to keep this blog going as I am determined to get back to the standard of climbing I used to operate at. Fingers crossed anyway.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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9 March 2009, 10:26 pm

Well I had a pretty decent session at the wall tonight.

Managed to do two full length and two half length traverses of the main wall which is a big improvement from where I was a few weeks back. I could only manage half the distance then so very pleased with progress. I have decided that Mondays will be stamina training which was always my weak point. I will dedicate Thursdays to doing a variety of stuff, mainly trying to keep up with Ry which is going to be very hard. The boy is flying and was burning people off the other night.

I have also managed to keep off the beer tonight! This is a very good step, I know its only one night but its a start. Most of my evening after the wall has been spent trying to get my new wireless router from Sky to work. The biggest problem is my laptop though, it is fooked. Thankfully I have a cousin who is very handy with all things computer related so will get him to sort it.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Day off today
10 March 2009, 10:38 pm

Well I have decided to just chill tonight and watch the football. Feeling a bit drained after a shitty day at the office. Spent some time trying to sort my laptop out and put some tunes in my phone, job done.

Think I'm gonna nail the pull up bar tomorrow night now I have had a break. Only one more day in the shit pit and then two off so hoping to get out somewhere, maybe St. Bees again as it was great.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Whats going on?!
9 August 2009, 7:47 pm

Well it has been well over a month since my last visit to my blog....

....And what a crapy month or so it has been. First problem was being drafted in to provide managerial cover in Barrow. This meant driving down 3 times a week, doing 130 odd miles per day for the benefit of Mr Orange. What a waste of my life. I had zero psyche due to the life being sucked out of my by the travelling, it was horrendous.

On the upside though, I have now finished work for Orange, FOREVER!!!

I start my new job tomorrow and can't wait. I will be commuting to Carlisle for a while but after that I will be mainly working from home under my own speed. Combine that fact with a nice VW Passat company car and a fuel card and I am happy! The other major, major bonus is I now have every weekend, bank holiday and Christmas off. Happy bloody times. I should now be able to get into a good routine where climbing and biking are involved which simply must happen.

The last month has been rubbish in terms of exercise. I was going well on the bike until the Barrow saga began. I have not managed any climbing really at all. I was at St. Bees yesterday but was SO weak its unthinkable. I have managed to kick the smokes though, 2 months since I last had one. I said I was going to give up when I got my bike, and I have done this. I had something to aim for. I'm gonna do the same now I am starting a new job.

Fingers crossed I can do what I hope to do. We'll see.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Hello!
13 November 2009, 12:14 pm

Wow. 3 months of silence from my good self. Its been a varied few months, with the biggest variant being how shit things have been ranging from pretty shit to totally shit.

First thing was the new job. Well I was well and truly shafted here. I quit after a month as I had basically been employed to do telesales for the wankers. I had not sold anything in a month and everything I had been told about the job was a load of balls. It was the first time I have ever quit a job and felt I had no other choice. I was being performance managed out of the job after only 4 weeks so I beat them to it. It felt quite liberating at the time and I have had a great time with the kids but the financial burden is just too great now. I have had to yield and start work for the anti-Christ on Monday i.e Phones4U! I will be commuting to Carlisle again probably via train or bus and its a job which is a start. I am starting out as a basic sales consultant so have nbow worries apart from selling which I know I can do so I am quite looking forward to it. I have had tonnes of interviews for other jobs but have had no luck at all which had also been a bit demoralising but at least I am on the way now.

Second thing has been my health which has been pretty poor of late. The GP thinks I may have Crohns disease or something similar but I am not thinking about it. The biggest accelerant is booze so I am off it full stop at present. Very strange!!! I am struggling with tiredness at the moment but this could be down to not being at work as all the days seem to blend into one currently. I am also having to eat small portions more often instead of pigging out on large meals. This I can handle so again I'm not overly bothered.

Third thing is climbing and biking or the lack of to be more precise. I ha vent been climbing in well over month and ha vent been on the bike in about 3 weeks. This has been down to feeling ill, so ill I didn't want to do anything. I am hoping that as time goes by I will start to feel better and the lack of booze has got to be helping, surely! I have made the decision to run the Keswick half marathon next year so I am starting training for that as soon as I feel better. Not sure how I am going to get on as my leg suffers with impact after the car crash of 2001. I am hoping that starting gently and building up will make it bearable.

The only up shot from the last few months has been the time I have been spending with the kids which has been great! That and the fact the beastmaker is finally up and ready. Not all doom and gloom but the last few months have not been the most enjoyable of my life.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Back from the wilderness......
9 June 2010, 9:58 pm

It has been a long, long time since I visited my own blog. 7 months to be precise.

A lot has happened in 7 months. Career wise I have been on some wild rampage going from job to job seemingly unstoppable. It has been a mentally taxing time and I dare say I came very close to losing it all together. Thankfully, I didn't and things are now some what more stable. Kinda.

At the time of my last post, I was setting off into a career with Phones4u. A truly horrendous proposition. I had always said I would never work for them as my other half did at the time and I knew what they were like. Needs must though and we were struggling for money so I had to suck up my pride, and start working from the bottom of the pile again. I was sitting on a bus for 3 hours a day to get to Carlisle to con nice people out of their money and take orders from a jumped up little prick who turned out to be only 2 years older than me. I have never worked with such a pure wanker in all my days. The weird thing was though, out of work he was a decent bloke. As a manager though, horrific. He came very close to getting a right hook on more than one occasion. Condescending little bastard. I stuck this job out until March of 2010, when I landed a job as assistant manager at Cotswold in Carlisle. I was working for an old friend and colleague and was out of the mobile phone industry at last. Bliss.

This career move was short lived though. I had applied for another job back in February whilst still at Phones4uevenifyoudontwantone. It had been ages, I had heard nothing so was very surprised to get a call off my now current employer. The worst thing was I was I was loving being back at Cotswold, it had been 5 years since I worked for them and a lot had changed. I fitted in well with the team and was happy. The new job was at first a bit of a gamble. I was leaving a secure and thriving national firm to go and work for an independent climbing wall manufacturer. I had left Orange all those months ago to go to a independent mobile phone retailer and look where that got me. I went and spoke to the MD and decided to accept the job, It was closer to home, 8-5 Monday through Friday, more money, bank hols and Xmas etc off, a normal job. It was a good gamble as well as it has turned out to be a great job, dare I say it, the best job I have ever had? Yes, I think so. 2 months down the line and I still love it. Every day is different. Driving forklifts one day, testing mobile towers another. Ordering a load of holds for a wall one day, working on a new build the next. Totally varied and totally brilliant. I work with great people and more importantly I work with a great guy who is a strong climber who wants to get out. Winner. At last I am settled and with a new climbing partner I am getting out more and more. I am training, I even put a harness on the other day and did some routes at the wall!! Superb. Then there is my health......

....Which is finally getting under control. Three little letters in the end: IBS. After months of illness and feeling so bad I did actually think I could be facing death, I have emerged ok. I went to see a little old lady in a health shop who really helped. I am on a super restricted diet but I don't care. I feel alive again, better on all fronts. I don't feel so wretched that I could barely get up in the morning. I have energy again, blood in my veins. It feels good to be alive. I am not in the dark anymore, I know how to make myself feel better, or feel worse! I pay the price if I stray from my diet but some times I do. You learn to take the rough with the smooth sometimes. On the whole, it is manageable, easily. You just have to be committed.

The last 12 months have been mostly difficult. Being closer to home was a major perk in my new job for more than just transportation costs and travel time. My other half was diagnosed with depression and severe stress so I had to be closer to home. She was left in charge of our little girl on a now full time basis and this worried me terribly. It was not good for either of them. Depression is a difficult thing for me to comprehend. My other half, brother, uncle, Auntie, cousin, another uncle and at least 4 friends are all depressed and off work. I cant seem to quantify it. I have suffered some awful things in my life, enough to potentially make anyone depressed but I'm not. I can understand how hard things are sometimes but I cant understand the point when you go from being ok, to depressed. I am of the same train of thought as my dad, these people should be smacked round the head and told to pull themselves together. If only it was that simple. Living with a depressed person is hard work, really hard. It is hard to describe, it is like trying to juggle I think. You have to make sure so many things are happening at once and so many things are getting looked after that sometimes something inevitably drops and when it drops it drops big style. My other half has been off for 3 months now and wont be going balc to work for Phones4u. It breeds negative feelings in people, it spawns bad things. It really should be avoided at all costs.

So to summarise, I am climbing again, I am healthier, I am still off the smokes, don't work for Phones4u EVER, take gambles on jobs, enjoy your children. Live by these rules and you will be ok. Probably.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Boooo. Injured.
14 June 2010, 2:22 pm

What a total twat! After getting back into the groove and actually putting on a harness for the first time in about 7 years, I have gone and injured myself.

Had a good little run last week, wall on Tuesday doing routes, wall on Wednesday bouldering, Bowderstone Thursday. Foolishly didn't warm up enough and leaped onto Hot Air with Ash. Was managing some crazy drop knee with my dodgy leg and felt OK then the pain started in my left hand ring finger. Dull ache to be more precise. Stopped immediately and rested it. IT still fells tweaky so gonna try some easy routes somewhere tomorrow with Ash. Bloody typical!

Otherwise I was feeling ok, hopefully this will pass without too much bother. Non-climbing wise had a good weekend. Went to 2 different parties, didn't drink a massive amount as was driving but ate a lot of buffet food which caused havoc with my IBS. Over that now though so worth the sacrifice for the quiche.

I love quiche!

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Sport climbing!! Me?? Outside?? On proper bolts  with clips and stuff??
16 June 2010, 8:41 am

Yes that's correct, last night I was proper sport climbing and everything. Check my bad self. I was at a recently bolted local venue that shall remain a closely guarded secret for now. I managed to get to about 8-9m up a F6Bish route, on top rope! Sounds pathetic really but considering this is the second time in about 7 years that I have actually roped up and my first time ever sport climbing outside, I think I did OK. I got proper disco leg, got hit with some loose rock whilst belaying Ash and got bitten by midges. I think I am now a fully qualified sport climber am I not?

I did notice a fine looking line on a detached boulder/bloc that has tumbled down the hillside from above so I can still sneak off there with my pads and work it out. Should be good fun, its a right to left rising line that needs a brush. I will no doubt get abuse from the other activists but hey, who gives a rat's ass?!

Finger is still tweaky, not good news. Gives me a chance to scope out a little hidden craglet that's pretty close to my work as well.......

The plot thickens!!

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Injury and gardening
20 June 2010, 7:35 am

I am still injured I think. Haven't done any climbing since the fabled sport climbing escapades of last week. I have been quite literally shovelling shit this weekend instead. By shit I mean aggregate/hardcore stuff for my ongoing garden project. I estimate I moved about 1-2 tonnes on my lonesome yesterday and I am royally fooked today. I take my hat off to all the labourers of the world, they must be super fit to do that every day. I am not sure all this manual labour has helped my tweaked finger at all though. My hand feels very weak on the left side of it now  and my grip was so poor yesterday I dropped the wheelbarrow a few times. I have promised an old mate I would get out with him at some point this week now I am embracing the ropes again. We Will have to wait and see if how things hold up. My STG of doing powerpinch will have to become a LTG if things don't improve soon. Gutted.

Upshots of the last week have been selling the Wii which was a very expensive ornament. Bought it for the Mrs in a bid to make her do some exercise but she never really got into it. So it will be winging its way to Sheffield on Monday to a new home. I also managed to acquire some CD decks, result! So psyched for these, can not wait to get them and get spinning. My recovery time will not be so boring now as I can blast the neighbours with some prog and start knocking a few mixes out, watch this space.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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A good day, mainly
20 June 2010, 9:08 pm

Well today was quite good in honesty. Went to Honister boulders with the family and had a good time. Bumped into some old friends, made some new ones and climbed up rock. My finger is still a bit whack but I think today helped a bit, sort of stretched it out and worked it a bit. Sarah got up a few problems which was good as well and the offspring also had a blast playing about.

Only downside was getting a flat tyre on the motor due to avoiding a tool in a 4x4. Managed to sort it roadside and off we went so managable in the end.

CD decks arrive soon, YES!!!!!!

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Whats a Gri-gri?
24 June 2010, 9:28 pm

Tonight I learned how to use a Gri-gri, having basically known what one was but never having laid my hands on one. Me and Ash had a wee walk up to Shepherds to find this overhanging, ideally situated for top roping wall of justice. Having inspected the guide book and talked with a few others, we decided it could be god fun. Ash got the top rope fired up as I don't have a clue what the hell is required. He jumped on a route which I think was called Devils Alternative weighing in at E6 6B or F7a+. HE did it cleanly on his 3rd go on top rope and then proceeded to do it again whilst checking out the gear for a potential lead. He decided not to lead today! I had a quick go but my finger hurt loads. I managed the lower moves but getting the big incut hold hurt like fuck so sacked it off. Really need to do something about this finger issue, but unsure what exactly. Bummer. May get out at the weekend, possibly Sunday after the football or early doors beforehand. Maybe a cobble session on Monday with GCW but may well be me pointing at stuff and spotting.

Source: Get strong or die trying

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Still injured
21 July 2010, 8:30 am

Yes my finger is royally fucked. Its my ring finger on my left hand, the most common to injure I believe? Pain in the first joint type area, basically where a ring would be if I was wearing one (Wedding, that it). Doesn't hurt too much during normal office hours but when I attempt to climb it hurts like hell. I have tried just doing easy routes at the wall but it still hurts. So I think I am facing a long layoff at present, at least 6 months. What a shitter. It may give me chance to dust the bike off and get back on that. That's presuming I don't have to sell it! I have parted company with my other half after months and months off it being on the cards. Tyring to sort out the intricate details of splitting the house and belongings up. I am hoping to take the House on myself, could be difficult though. Fuck it, its over and I am now happy. Typical that I get injured when I no longer need permission to get out climbing!

Source: Get strong or die trying