Man what do I start with. Girl or climbing.

Girl?

Girl!

Last Tuesday a friend of mine had a little party/social by renting out part of one of the local breweries to celebrate her finishing her residency. She's now on a road trip for a wedding, climbing trip (she's so excited to be able to climb regularly again) and other stuff with her boyfriend. So happy for her!

She invited a handful of people, maybe 10, from one of the running groups out here, which is the group I met her in! I spent some amount of time hanging out with a few friends and drinking free beer, and shuffling around talking to some of the people from the running club who I didn't know very well.

One girl was there who I ended up really, really hitting it off with. We ended up spending probably half the night together getting to know each other and I got her phone number. We went out on a first date Thursday night, that went great, and a mini-date Sunday night after I got back from a long run and she got back from Mount Hood. Stayed the night at my place both times, and Sunday night she even brought her dog over.

Very smart, she's getting her phd, we're the same age, she's big into running, not at all into climbing, has a very similar taste in music, and i've felt so, so conversationally and intellectually stimulated and engaged around her and talking with her. she's also very attractive...she has said she doesn't want to rush into anything, and neither do i! yet here we are, texting each other daily, and her sending me a photo of her new tattoo while she's back home on the east coast...she also gave me (to borrow), unsolicited, her copy of ocean vuongs latest book of poetry.

The catches are: she had been in an on again-off again relationship for 3 years with the person who started the prior mentioned run club...and i have no idea what she's looking for and don't really want to have that conversation anytime soon.

either way, i'm happy, and she invited me to her birthday run weekend that's in two weekends!

CLIMBING:

another friend of mine had to get helicoptered off a mountain because of a bad fall he took, probably a 50ft fall. fractured his facial bones, and a bunch of other stuff. is in a neck brace, and has some other moderate injuries. no surgeries needed it sounds like. but we're up to 2 friends who have had to be rescued and walked out on their own, and 2 friends who have been helicoptered off of a mountain, and it's only late June. Really has me wondering how much alpine climbing i want to be doing this year, it's got me a bit spooked...

They're making a documentary on it and are interviewing me for it.

I'm sorry, what?

I pretty much have to let the people on team who have kid(s) work whatever hours and do whatever because if I didn't, they would probably think real hard and long and leaving because of childcare issues. Instead, I have arguably less productive, but more engaged, happier people to work with, who aren't thinking about leaving.

climbing climbing climbing. climbing trip was AMAZING, learning how to make decisions that put myself first which included booking a separate flight a day earlier than the rest of that group. which paid off as I was able to reconnect with a friend down in Las Vegas that extra day. The original flight day, which everyone else planned on, ended up being delayed 6 hours so they basically lost a full day of climbing.

meanwhile i'm supposed to be climbing mount rainier later this month, and i realized i'm really only it to please the rest of the group. i don't really want to climb that mountain on the route we're planning this year...not sure what to do, as dropping out i think will piss them off a bit and impact friendships...but i am really trying to be less of a people pleaser and to keep making decisions that prioritize me (and community).

vaguely interested in a couple of girls. they’re both climbing, mountain biking, healthcare workers. so nothing new on that front past figuring out if I want to ask either of them out on a date and if that’s a good idea in the first place.

Woo-hoo! I got into the mountaineering program I was super excited for and am now taking an unpaid week off to spend a week ice climbing in Canmore, Alberta with a cohort and meeting, learning from, and gaining experiencing from a host of professional guides and pro/semi-pro climbers. Took yesterday off in the midst of this crazy beautiful weather we've been having to go back to some splitter granite nearby. Hadn't been there since early September and was thinking it wouldn't happen again until April-ish, so such a nice bonus. Here's a pic of the snow-y 22.5 mile trail I did this past weekend...

It's Pubski day! I've had a rough couple of weeks mental health wise. Just a lot of doubts about my climbing, my relationships, my work. Currently very, very unguided and I keep asking for what the company needs me and my team to be working on since I've been told "no" on multiple business cases for projects right now. The response has unilaterally been to wait until company strategy is released in the upcoming weeks. So I'm kind of checked out until that happens. The plus side is I'm getting some learning done on the side related to SQL and data engineering, and lots of running and climbing time.

Dating sucks. That's been confirmed. My luck with dating is exclusively with people who do not live in Seattle, strangely enough. Seem to be the less flaky, more likely to actually go out and see what happens. Talking to friends, this seems to be a common theme across genders. Not quite sure what it is about Seattle on this one.

Doing the math on housing and need housing prices to fall another $100k ish out here before it makes sense to pull the trigger on a purchase when considering the changes in interest rates. Not sure when that will happen but gives me the opportunity to build up more of a down payment, and worst case, I have more cash on hand. Yay.

Having a bit of a crisis of faith.

I’m sure it’s fine.

Put together my big scary goal sheet for climbing for next year but also up to 5 years out (lol, like that won't change). But I'm feeling better and better about what I'm hoping to do next year, so long as I can make the time and find the partners. The longer term goals will require a radical shift in how I am living though, as we're talking about 15 to 30 day long trips, potentially.

Meanwhile, I'm learning that at least on these dating apps that the people I am interested in and the people who seem interested in me have a high degree of instability? Most of these people/dates are the one 7 hours away going back to school, multiple other dates with RNs, a date with a postdoc who's moving to Europe, and a date with a mountain guide. Nothing "stable" about any of that. I am not sure what to make of this yet.

Well I’m continuing to talk to and will be seeing girl who lives far away. Going on a date, hopefully, with another girl who’s a guide for a local/very well known mountain guiding company. So there’s some people out there for me.

I’ve been feeling like I numbed a lot of parts of my personality towards the end of my last relationship. I’m finding myself making more of each day, listening to music louder, staying up later, burning the candle more. We’ll see how long I can do this, but I am feeling more extreme highs and lows which is something I’ve gravitated towards over the last 10 years of my life. I wouldn’t say in a bi polar way, but I also wouldn’t say it’s a normal, necessarily healthy thing.

I am having a weird week and almost had a bit of a cry session in my car today when KEXP played this song.

Kansas!!!

Realizing that one of the wettest, coldest years on record does have an impact on my mental health. We are at the point where me working on my balcony for 3 hours in the morning gives me a sunburn, that is how much direct sunlight I've been getting. It's getting ridiculous, and really becoming a drag. Not even for the mountains perspective, so much as just seeing the sun and blue sky more than once every other week. I've been complaining a lot about it lately, I think it's starting to drive people crazy, but it's driving me crazy and it's kind of shocking just how different the weather is here than where I was living last year. Which is only 40 minutes southwest...but also right on the Puget Sound.

Also I'm thinking about maybe putting together a demo and a request to one of the local radio stations who are looking for DJs.

This week is exhausting. Turmoil in some of the admin parts of putting on a mountaineering course, where everyone has different opinions on technical details, and people not always attending instructor review sessions, impacting the efficacy of the course we're trying to put on. Meanwhile, have a new team member at work next week which I know will take up a lot of my time, and just barreling into the spring/summer when my team is mostly out...I was thinking about, and it's so diverse for how small we are. Team will be 5 effective next week. 60% of the team has masters degrees, 60% female to male ratio, 5 languages spoken at a professional level or higher. I think that could work very well in our data and analytics space.

Running a 50k this Saturday. It's going to be wet as shit, and muddy as shit, so this should be an experience...at least there's free coffee and apple crisp at the finish line!

Leo Nocentelli of The Meters, basically the proto-funk band, put out a folk album at one point. I had no idea! He even covered Elton John and it’s a beautiful cover. thenewgreen you might like this.

I would so watch a youtube series of the band members from Asia partaking in hobby tunnelling.

Scroll to the bottom of this article for the three-page response from Bros. Amazing.

https://www.today.com/food/brutal-review-michelin-starred-restaurant-bros-goes-viral-t242696

lil, every time I've had a chance to hear you speak there is nothing short of a joy for life that comes from your tone and an apparent warmth. Wishing you all the best, seconding katakowsj, let us know how you're doing. I have no top of the field, very Canadian, doctors to offer, the best I have is letting you know that you'll be in my mind on Thanksgiving 2021.

What if I bought land and figured out how to build a house!?!?!?

Lots of changes happening at work. One team member leaving at the end of this week, another transitioning to part-time, and a new person started on Monday of this week. We talk about a lot about de-risking but not a lot about how to do it, how to bring innovation forward in a small way. So that's going to be one of my biggest pushes in a week or so.

Maybe my lack of sociability lately/through the pandemic, but thinking maybe approaching a situation which should be tread lightly. Climbed with an acquaintance from social media whom I've talked to at least virtually on climbing/running before, and then went to a group run she's been organizing. 15ish people in shit weather and running trails in the dark was super fun and was surprised to see that many people given conditions. But then got a message almost right after asking about climbing again and with a smilely face. She has a boyfriend + I have a girlfriend but still, gotta keep the right intent and make sure lines don't get blurred.

People management is people management is people management. I saw three black bears on my trail run yesterday. One of them stood up on it's hind legs and that was when I got the hell out of there. Exciting, but a little uncomfortable when you're by yourself on trails less used.

I might make an Ask Hubski for this. We don't really do Ask Hubski as much anymore. I recently watched an incredible film about Marc-Andre Leclerc, one of the stars who burned brightest and flamed out quickest, in the alpinist community. If you have a chance to watch The Alpinist, I highly, highly recommend it. A deeply personal look at somebody who never had interest being on camera, who died at 25 having solo'd high-alpine routes which nobody had done before, and he left an impression on people he met and didn't meet.

One of the biggest questions I have been asking myself coming out of the film is something asked towards the end of the film: "What is that you could do if you could overcome the things you see as limitations? Or that things that you're afraid of? What would you do?".

...I might go do some mild soloing on 4th class terrain this weekend. Wouldn't be the first time, wont the last time.

Maintain good relationships with (some) of your old co-workers, yo...might be applying + interviewing for a job elsewhere which could be a major promotion all because of a LinkedIn conversation with somebody I used to work with...

The Biden administration is partnering with top dating apps

This is a sentence fragment I will get some mileage out of by using out of context.

i'd have to leave early too if i forgot to open the pub!

I cannot wait for a world post Facebook.

One advantage to working nights is I get to Pubski while you all are asleep. I'm feeling like this is the winter that wasn't. La Nina was so hyped up, and instead we've just got a silly amount of rain and temps that are 5ish degrees higher than they should be.

wait but i shared

Now the dems need to get as much as possible and more done in the next two years and keep the democratic bases they gained in places like Georgia galvanized. No small task considering the monumental arrogance of the national DNC.

But it’s about how I feel, duh (see also - service animal post)

Have had a couple people recently tell me that perfectionist tendencies are being destructive to myself and that I need to get out of my own way. So that’s real neat and nice.