McKinley Training - Week 12 of 26
Wow. Almost half way there. My climbing cohorts are on a cruise in the Caribbean, probably getting fat and lazy instead of studiously training.
I did seven training sessions this past week: two on the stairs (one running, one climbing), and five trips to the gym. I doubt I'll be able to maintain that in the weeks to come. If I can manage five a week, I'll be very content with that.
I made all of the final arrangements for the trip - including our deposit with the Denali park service, our flight out to the glacier and back, and our hotel stay in Talkeetna. Now we just have to sort out the food situation. We have to do meal planning. And then we have to actually buy all of the food. I'm not sure how we're going to do that.
And with all of this going on, I nearly forgot that a couple weeks after I get back I'm going to have to head over to Washington for another climb, so, I have to finish my preparations for that before I leave for Alaska. Uggh. And a friend of mine started talking about climbing Mt. Whitney (in California) in late June. That's when I'll be moving down to Atlanta, tentatively. I'd _really_ like to work that climb in somehow, but I think that might be too much. Also, they use a raffle system to decide who gets to climb the mountain each year, so, we might not even get the option.
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My brother Kevin is recently engaged. He called me today to ask if I wanted to be the best man. Of course I do. I've never been the best man before. Ideas for the bachelor party are already coalescing in my head. And with eighteen months to plan, it should be good.
Aimee dropped by for a few days a couple weeks ago. It was at this time that I realized that having just a single chair is inadequate. She mentioned the possibility of dropping by again this week, so I ordered a second chair. Then things didn't work out for her return trip, so now I have twice as many chairs as I could possibly use.
No, those aren't actually the chairs.
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The Wall Street Journal and I have finally parted ways after six months - which isn't bad for being a twelve week contract. The final conversation (on the phone) with the manager went something like this:
Me: I've got some books at my desk. Do you mind if I swing by this evening to pick them up?
Jar: I'd like you to drop by tomorrow. We need to be sensitive to Kahn's feelings.
Me: I'm not sure I understand, but, okay. Anyway, do you mind if I swing by this evening to pick up some books?
Jar: Well, I'd like you to drop by tomorrow, so Kahn will be there so that you can talk to him.
Me: Okay. I don't mind dropping by tomorrow. Do you mind if I swing by this evening to pick up some books?
Jar: I think it's important that you see Kahn tomorrow, so that we can be sensitive to his feelings.
Me: I'm not sure I understand why it's important that I see Kahn, but, okay. I'm fine with that. I'll make time to drop by tomorrow. Back to my question though: do you mind if I pick up some of my books this evening? Or are you saying that you _only_ want me to drop by tomorrow?
Jar: Yes, I only want you to drop by tomorrow.
Me: Okay. Thank you.
Moving on will not be very hard for me to do....