Are you sherpa?

I’ve been watching a show on Netflix that has been driving me a bit crazy. I alternate between being amazed at the strength of these people and their stupidity. The series is called “EVEREST”. I guess it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what this show is about, but there are plenty of things in the show that might also amaze you. Here are some things I did not know.

 

- There are traffic jams of teams and people climbing the mountain at times. The window of opportunity to climb is so small because of the weather that everyone tries to do it at once and it gets to the point that it’s like waiting in line at the DMV.

- It’s a crap shoot whether you can make it or not. Example…amputee guy makes the summit, but healthy Danish kid doesn’t. There are plenty of ways not to make it. I guess the amputee didn’t have to worry about frostbite.

- They send these sherpas up ahead to string safety rope. These native Tibetans climb Mt. Everest all day long setting up the rich guys to come along and get their picture taken.

Anyhow..climbing Mt. Everest has about every single barrier in the world for me to get past. You have to be in incredible shape. You have to be able to endure extreme weather conditions. You should have an affinity to Yak meat. Last but not least? You have to have some weird compelling desire to risk your life to do something that probably won’t even get you a free beer if you tell people about it…unless they’ve seen the show. Think about it. What would you say to a guy at a party that happens to mention that he climbed Mt. Everest? “Wow…cool” What else? Some other guy would come along and tell a story about a fish and everyone would forget Everest guy. No thanks.

 

When I get older, losing my hair…sing along

Miss me?

I always hated it when I would read a blog regularly and then suddenly the person decided to stop updating it. I don’t know if there, are or were “regular” readers out there, but I’m still here and sorry for the lack of activity.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking while I’ve been away, so I think I have plenty to write about. We’ll see how that goes. The 50 ideas I have to share usually turn into 2 or 3 semi-amusing pieces about the grocery store or someone’s bad driving. I did tease about some possible upcoming Carroll family adventures and there is a definite plan forming for the summer. Here’s a hint. (Click here) More on that later.

Also…remember the huge successes in the bike riding arena? (Previous post of uber bike riding) My goal for 2010 was 500 miles. Today I finished up at mile 411. Today is also the 114th day of the year. You do the math. I’m kicking ass. Disclaimer: For any of you that ride bikes regularly I know 411 miles isn’t that impressive, but give me a break I only accomplished 365 miles last year.

What else? One of the other reasons I have returned to writing this blog is that I lost my Uncle Ray a bit ago. I wasn’t super close to my Uncle over the last bunch of years, but I remember many times with him and his family fondly. I’m pretty sure he kept up with my antics and my father’s progress through this blog on occasion and wanted to post something that said, “Thanks for being a part of my life Ray. We will all miss you. You still can’t keep score for the card games because it was always a point of contention, but I’ll play cards with you still when we meet again. Love Jon”

That’s all for now. I have made promises to write more, write every day, write better and with better punctuation and grammar…sorry for that. I simply promise to check in and keep things alive here. Check in soon.

Jon