Climbing the Walls on a Friday Night

     I was so frustrated today. I never get a Friday night off from work (but this is not the reason I was frustrated). Weekends are the busiest days for a server and, in this season, they are basically the ONLY days to work and make money. However, I was very happy to have a Friday off because my friends and family are aways doing something on Friday nights. Christy's house to play cards, Sheri wants to go out to dinner with the girls, band is playing at the local pub... every other Friday night EXCEPT tonight.

     Tonight, I was sitting in front of my Facebook page, trolling for excitement and feeling abandoned. My daughter had been bugging me since 2 p.m. to go to the climbing gym, but I was having a little pity party for myself and I kept shooting her down. It was quarter of seven when I finally relented. "What the hell... they're open to 10:30 p.m. and I'm not doing anything worthwhile here at home," I said.
     We left for Kingston at 7 p.m. and got to The Boiler Room climbing gym at just after 8 p.m. The 401 was pretty quiet and the radio was playing some really good tunes for my drive. It took a few minutes (17 to be exact >@) to sign in because four people arrived before us and expediency is not their forte at the BR. (No offense intended: This attitude was leftover from my pity party.)
     Every time I go to climb the walls, I forget how much I enjoy it. My daughter has to practically drag me kicking and screaming, but when I'm finally there it's such a rush. You have to take at least one other person with you to do the belaying (operating the safety ropes) while you climb. Whether you are using the handholds/footholds to climb to the ceiling (about 30 feet) or working the ropes for your partner, you are bound to feel the burn the next day. There's also a climbing cave, where you can hang upside down from the ceiling if you have the strength, and the 100 foot chimney climb for the over-achievers, like my daughter <beams>.

     She didn't do the chimney tonight, but she did spend a muscle-destroying 15-20 minutes trying to conquer a route with a sustained overhang. At one point she declared she was going to kill everyone in the (bleeping) room as she dangled 15 feet over my head, having lost her grip on the wall. This made me laugh hysterically. I could see the headlines - Girl Loses Mind Climbing the Walls, 7 Dead.

     I prefer the easiest climbs that I can quickly scale, touch the roof and rappel back down so I can remove my harness wedgie. We each climbed about 4 times and it took about an hour and a half. Now, I'm 5'4" and 189 pounds (on a good day), so that's enough of a workout for me. Cost me $25 for shoes, harness and access, which is about how much money I spend at the bar on a Friday night.