This too shall pass

I have felt guilty these last few weeks, leaving anyone who was genuinely interested in reading the scribblings I've posted these last months.

My interest and will to publish my adventures has waned lately.  There is a lot to do here in Boulder and although I still burn some time each day in front of a computer screen, I won't force myself to write up and document my life if the will isn't there.

There may be additional posts, but for now, I'm signing off.  Looks like I only made it 78 days.  A lot of my goals have changed.  I've left some projects unfinished and I've begun some new ones.  Met a lot of cool people here and might have begun the foundation for some long term friendships.  Landed a dream job that I start next week.  Maybe most importantly, I finally get to move into the house in an official manner within the next few days.

I'm off to have an adventure.  You should go make your life more interesting too.

Back in Boulder

We drove 23 hours strait a few nights ago, getting back into town right about 10 or 11pm.  The time up in Canada was great but it's nice to be home.  Did some major house cleanup, went and got my Colorado driver's license stuff taken care of, and a got a bit more work done on our Burning Man structure.

My parents got into town Thursday with a trailer loaded down with my things.  Don't really have a place to put it all so it remains stacked against the wall in the basement for now.  Been great spending time with them riding bikes and what-not.  Josh and Dad went to climb the 3rd Flatiron this morning.  I opted out due to the still healing shoulder injury.  Would have been nice to go but I'm trying to take care of myself.

The biggest news of all though is the job interview I'm heading off to today.  I finally got a callback from the family I found on craigslist who was in search of a homeschool teacher for their two gifted children.  I did a phone interview a few days ago and am meeting them today in a few hours for an in person interview.  From what they've told me about the position it seems like a dream job and I'm very excited and very nervous.

I think I'm a perfect candidate for their program.  I have tons of experience doing the type of one on one work that that the job requires.  I'm passionate about math and science and enjoy teaching it.  I'm good at explaining things in alternate ways using language and terms that are accessible.

Toot toot goes my own horn I guess but I really do think that I'm the right person for this position and I hope they feel that way too.

Canada

I've been in Canada for a bit over a week.  On the first day of what is likely going to be a rest week.

Yesterday was awesome.  New highpoint for Trad-Lead with my first 5.10c redpoint.  Climbed most of the day with a guy from Sweden and some people from Southern California climbing at the Smoke Bluffs in Squamish.  Once the day got hot, we threw on some swim gear and headed to a local lake with a 60 food cliff jump into the water.

Turns out that was an excellent way to pull my shoulder back out of socket.  This was the first time it didn't pop back in on it's own, so my new Swedish and Cali friends got to put their first shoulder back into place.  The grinding sound was really disturbing.  Need a few days off now to get back to normal, and probably need to look into some rehabilitation since this makes two times within a few weeks that my shoulder has left the socket.

I'll be back in Colorado by the 21st to meet up with my parents who are coming up to visit.  Looking forward to having family around and getting to ride bikes around town with them.

Tower Erection

Burning Man Tower - First Erection from Aaron Merriam on Vimeo.

On the road again.

Josh and I head out today up to the Northwestern US and maybe a bit of Canadia.  Hoping to swing through Seattle and Portland and maybe catch up with a few of my friends in that neck of the woods.  Probably stop back through Index and have another go at the routes that shut me down last time.

And, I don't think I've ever actually been to Canadia.

The test run of our tower for Burning Man can be measured as nothing but a success.  Went up without too much fuss and overall was a pretty awesome day.  Video to come shortly.

This view sucks

The sunsets here in Colorado suck.

Burning Man Tower

Josh and I have begin construction on our shade structure for Burning Man.  The idea spawned from one of those tripod camp chairs.

The design is elegantly simple, yet provides a sturdy platform on the top and ample room under the upper platform and in the lower pyramid as well.

Using poles from an old tent, we've constructed a 1/6th scale model of our plans.  You can see the upper and lower platforms here, though in our final product, both platforms will likely resemble the lower one in this picture.  The upper will be a sort of crow's nest/observation deck type area with a solid wooden deck to stand on.  We've thought about making the lower one a sort of cargo netting hammock type area.

Josh has put together a 3D drawing using Sketch-Up and you can see likely see the scale of the final product much more clearly.  Current plans put the upper platform at about 25 feet off the ground which should provide an excellent view of the tent metropolis that will be surrounding us.

We did a lot of scouting around for proper materials to make this out of.  We ended up settling on the top rails for chainlink fence.  They come in 10 foot lengths with a 1 5/16 inch outer diameter.  We've filled each pole with concrete to add compression strength.  They're currently laying in the front yard while the concrete sets.

Plans at the time of this posting are to set it up in the field near our house this Saturday.  Will definitely post pictures of that.