Once again there has been a break in the posting for a while. I can only apologise, its mostly because ive done feck all really, getting out climbing only 3 times in the last month which is more than a little distressing for me. It all comes down to the now shitty british weather. Continuous rain or high winds have put to bed any ideas of rock or winter climbing so instead a slow slide into mild depression. However after becoming a shell of my former self my boss saw I needed a break so suggested I go to Sheffield . So that I did, once again no climbing was done but ive discovered a type of adventure I can do in cities even when its raining.
Urban exploration. Now this is highly illegal and will get classed as attempted burglary or trespass if one is caught. Part of the thrill I guess- real and tangible consequences, something that isn’t easily experienced in normal everyday life…unless you crash your car. So on Saturday we did a little research on the interweb finding some buildings around Sheffield we could go and visit, and try to get some good pictures of. All in all a success was had. I found out that my love of climbing and mountaineering is based on my interaction with people, friends and the discovery of my own limitations mentally (its pretty intimidating trying to get into an abandoned building) and also my interactions with other people. These are pretty much the same reasons I go climbing, obviously im not going to stop climbing in favour of this but have found a way of stopping myself getting so down in these autumnal monsoons I always seem to encounter when I most need to get out climbing.
Silhouetted figure with Sheffield lit up like a circuit board
Also whilst in Sheffield I did a fair but of drinking tea and chatting to old uni mates who have subsequently gone onto masters or other education forms. Its odd I do miss uni a fair bit, the most flexible work time im ever going to have, and loads of good interesting people around me all the time. Naww bit sad really, but everyone has to move on and the place im in now and the plans for the future I have (well next 3 years) im super keen for. I definitely needed to get out of the cott for a little bit and interact with humans again, not just read and talk to myself, that’s how people go loopy.
On an aside I watched ‘Black Mirror’ by Charlie Brooker last night, that guy is fucked up. The drama documentary show revolved around a plot which culminated in the fictional prime-minister fucking a live pig on national TV, pretty messed up. But the ideas behind it, that anyone can blackmail famous people if they have enough leverage (a princess and youtube in this example) and a fucked up mind, although far fetched is quite disturbing. The effect of a computer game generation I guess.
A wet and windy Higgar Tor
A chat about the social interactions between people and how- as the internet/ facebook/ texting has taken off massively- people have forgotten what it means to stick to their word, a simple sorry cant make it text sufficing now. This can only be a bad thing as people forget social graces and begin to talk in para-phrases, you can see it daily if you talk to teenagers/older kids. The interconnection online between people is forcing the normal social interaction between people to become electronic and so the physical voice on the phone or person sat across a café table is being lost, well to many it is. Now im off to put the kettle on for a brew.
