Crack Ain’t So Bad

These days… when most people hear the word crack, they tend to think of negative stuff such as cracked windshield, plumber’s crack, crack cocaine, and others, you get the hint. Crack climbing anyone… What the hell is that you are probably asking, well it tends to consist of a crack in a wall on the side of a mountain, and you essentially have to wedge your hands and feet into the crack and progress your way up. A lot of times it is all about your pain threshold because you have to wedge your feet in awkward angles and hold all your weight in that wedge for certain periods of time.

Anyways, this past weekend I journeyed on down to Enchanted Rock (about an hour and a half West of Austin, Tx) and was able to experience some good ole’ crack climbing for the first time. The trip was great, the weather was awesome, and the crack even better. My hands and feet are pretty torn up after doing a crack called Cave Crack, but before that we did one called Sweet (See photo).

All in all, I learned a lot about crack this weekend and how it can be detrimental to your health. So be careful when you do climb cracks...

It never really happened… right?

What’s your favorite holiday besides Christmas and your birthday…? Mine is Daylight savings (Fall Back only… not Spring Forward). The best thing about this celebration of time is that at 2 am….the clock goes back to 1 am. It’s the one day of the year that an hour of your life is essentially erased, and you are given the chance to relive it. Granted most people are sleeping during this marvelous hour, so they in a way waste the hour of their life that doesn’t really ever take place.

So next year, don’t miss it, do whatever you want from one to two am and then once that clock hits two… you can say everything that past hour never really happened. And then you get to relive that time. Enjoy it, because this only happens once a year.

Unfortunately this year I wasted mine… but next year… it’s on like Donkey Kong.

One week passes, Friday rolls around, no call.

Customer Service is something everyone has dealt with, I am always very polite to them because whatever my problem may be is not really their fault, but it sucks for them that they have to be the customer facing people for the company, yet they probably get paid the least (which doesn’t really seem fair that they have to make the customer happy).

I am currently going through a dispute of a sum of money and have contacted customer service today, and the past two Fridays, for a total of three times (for those that cannot count). The first time, I presented my problem very well… was told he cannot do anything about it, and that he would escalate it to customer service. He provided me a ticket number (which I of course failed to write down assuming it would all get taken care of), and informed me I would be called in the next five business days.

One week passes, Friday rolls around, no call.

So I decide to call back and explain the situation again (keep in mind… it takes about 10 minutes each time for me to explain the problem to them again, and then five minutes for them to agree with me. The lady I was speaking with of course asked me for my ticket number, which I did not have… great. So she submits another ticket, and provides me with the ticket number (this time I write it down where I won’t lose it).

One week passes, Friday rolls around, and no call (brings me to today).

Today I call… and once again go through the same process. Big surprise. Same story, different CS person. All in all, this has consumed at least an hour of my life… 45 minutes of cell phone service (using daytime minutes), and a huge headaches. From my calculations… that equals 1 million dollars that they now owe me. Maybe I should send them an invoice that looks like the following:

My time (1 hour @ $200,000 an hour) = $200,000
Cell phone service (50 minutes @ $100 a minute) = $4,500
3 Headaches (1 Headache @ $265,000 per headache) = $795,000
Total: $1,000,000

Starting Monday, I’m going to call them every day until this is resolved. It’s just really annoying that these types of billing errors happen all the time, and all I really want is for this to get resolved. Now, Discuss amongst yourselves.

Music Makes the World Go Round

Have you ever been in a mood where things just seem extremely down, and then an old favorite song comes on the radio that makes you think that life is going to get better and everything’s going to be alright (great Bob Marley tune btw)? If not, then you have not experienced the power of music and what it can do to you. Some songs can do this, others can’t. What distinguishes the ones that can change feelings depends on the person and there tastes, feelings, life experiences, and many other contributing factors.

So next time you are feeling down, try finding a song you haven’t heard in a while that will trigger an old happy memory. It should make you think of that time, and give you some temporary relief.

Put your head in, put your head out, put your head in…and you shake it all about.

One thing I learned from my business communications class in college is that non verbal communication is a huge indicator and people do notice it. Even the slightest expressions in the face can trigger someone to not believe you, not trust you, or just flat out be confused by you.

Recently I had to work with a guy that would shake his head no, all the time as I was speaking to him (I believe it may have been some kind of nervous movement). I would look to him for some kind of acknowledgement to insure he understood me, and I would watch him shake his head no, while saying yes. This totally threw me for a loop because I was very unsure what he was saying. I didn’t know which to believe. Eventually I was able to figure out what he was doing, so now when he shakes his head no, I completely ignore it.

Moral of the story, pay attention to your body language, and don’t shake your head no when you are saying yes, it’s really just very inconceivable.

Sometimes I wish there were snakes on my plane.

After traveling 2-4 times a week for more then 10 months straight, you begin to realize that there are a lot of things in traveling that can go wrong (along with a shit load of miles). The following are examples of things that really bother me and prefer not to experience on airplanes (in no particular order):

1. The really large person – Obesity is a huge problem all over the world and even more so in America. Our cars, doorways, recliners, and other things are getting bigger only to accommodate fatter people. However, the airline seat size has not changed since the coach class was created (rough estimate… 40 years). If you cannot fit in the seat, buy two, do not lift up the arm rest and force yourself into my personal space. This should b a rule set by the FAA if you ask me.
2. The smelly person – Oh yes, some people may smell because they are running from their last flight… I can live with that. But some people just smell all the time and that just isn’t right. Use cologne, stronger soap… or something. It’s really not fair to make me sit next to a smell person for 2 + hours and have to hold my breath the entire time. If I were training to hold my breath under water for long periods of time, I wouldn’t mind, unfortunately, holding my breath for extended periods is not a goal of mine and never will be.
3. The person that won’t shut up – How else can I make it clear when I’m not talking, only nodding and trying to read my book that I do not want to talk. Sometimes, I don’t mind. But if you are a crazy freak with nothing to say, please just keep your mouth shut.
4. The SGOAP – The flight attendant should be treated like your mother… “yes maam”, “no maam”, and other polite sayings. All in all, do not talk back to the flight attendant. She will kick you off like you deserve. I don’t care who you are and if you are in first class or not, don’t do it. The one time I witnessed this happen right behind me; the guy would not shut up and continued to argue. FOR 45 MINUTES. He would not get off the plane until speaking to the captain. After he spoke to the captain he would not get off because he wanted them to treat him like the king he is and ensure him that he would get on the next flight. All in all, when it was done, the plane was delayed due to SGOAP (Stupid guy on a plane). Thank you sir for making me late to my 9 am meeting and making my 6 am flight in first class terrible, thank you sir. And I hope that they banned you from flying once they kicked you off the plane and searched you, with rubber gloves, KY, and all (you know what I’m talking about).
5. The bag doesn’t fit… honestly – I don’t pack much and I always pack the same small bag that I love (Patagonia MLC is the best travel bag by the way). Some people pack large bags and do not check them. I don’t hate these people, I just like to laugh at their frustration. Watching them try and cram the 16 inch wide back into the 14 inch wide space, is like watching a fat kid try to fit into a size XS shirt.

All in all, don’t be any of the people above. If you find yourself being one of these people, you are a douche, and need to get help soon. Please.