Make a New Years Resolution

Are you going to make a New Year's resolution? You may have some ideas already, perhaps to lose weight or to quit smoking. Perhaps you want to be more cultured and plan on listening to Wagner's Ring cycle.

One resolution you could make is to stop wearing shoes in your house and to ask family and friends to do the same.

Adopting a shoes-off rule might not be a great moral transformation, but it is a simple thing that will have a definite practical benefit.

Perhaps tomorrow you will be hosting a New Year's Eve party and the guests will damage the floor in their spike heels. Personally, I would recommend you to ask for shoes-off, but perhaps seeing the damage on New Years' day will add force to your resolution to go shoes-free.

If you adopt this resolution, your carpet will last longer and you can spend less money on carpet cleaning.

Perhaps you are expecting to have a baby in the next year. If so, having a shoes-off policy will create a safer and healthier environment for your family.

Life is full of small and simple decisions and this is one decision that could improve the quality of your life. Make that resolution.

A Plethora of Christmas Goodness

In lieu of stringing together some otherwise coherent words to make witty sentences I've decided to just post some pictures from this past week spent in Seattle with my family and one new addition.























Life and Death.


ACHILLES!!

A Really Daft Comment

If you don't want shoe-wearing people in your house, then why invite them to a party at your house to begin with?

This person is evidently under the impression that shoes are an integral part of the wearer's body.

Some Very Reasonable Thoughts

The Domestic Empress: Hospitality is not the same as Customer Service

A very nicely balanced post on the etiquette of the shoes-off rule. Good title too.

The Empress argues that while it is rude to demand that guests remove their shoes if they do not fee comfortable removing them, there is nothing inherently rude about asking guests politely to take off their shoes:

I was raised to know that when you are a guest in someone’s home you are to be on your very best behavior. People invite you into their home as a treat. It is a privilege to be asked into someone’s home and be treated as a guest – not a right. Of course you should make yourself comfortable, but that means relax and have fun being polite – not to walk all over them and expect to bend house rules just because you’re a guest. After all, this is someone’s home, it’s not a hotel. It is polite for them to make you feel comfortable, but it is not their job.

So if I am asked to someone else’s home and they politely request that I take my shoes off before I come inside then by all means I am going to take my shoes off. Most of the time I will leave my shoes at the door without being asked, just out of courtesy, especially if I walk in and see a pile of shoes by the door.

I don’t think it’s even a little bit rude to ask your guests to take their shoes off before they come in. After all, odds are high you’ve just cleaned the house and would like to keep it that way. Depending on the number of guests you’re having, there may be serious consequences for your floor if everyone keeps their shoes on – especially in this dismal winter weather.

Readers of this blog may disagree with the Empress when she rejects shoes-off signs and insists on allowing in refuseniks, but it is nice to see somebody recognising that a simpe request is perfectly reasonabe.

A Rather Extreme Reaction

Things I want to punch in the Face: Shoeless Households

Sidebar Comments Box

I am afraid I had to remove the sidebar comments box.

Somebody used some bad language and I could not see a way to delete the comment.

I hate to delete comments, but I do want this to be a family-friendly page.

Please feel free to leave comments on the posts; I do not mind if they are a little off-topic. However, please refrain from using bad language. This blog is all about showing respect.

Boxing Day

My parents had some relatives visit today; a couple with small children. They removed their shoes without being asked (though they did prompt their children to remove theirs) and came in with socks or bare feet.

For once, my parents did not urge them to keep their shoes on.

Christmas Day

I have driven down to Hastings to see my family. I have openned lots of presents, had a few drinks and we are all having a good time.

Perhaps you are having family visiting at Christmas and the New Year. It is not wrong to think about your carpet or floor. The weather outside probably is not likely to be brilliant.

It is Christmas. Everybody will be relaxed and wanting to unwind. Your guests will not be offended if you ask them to slip their shoes off.

Seeing this blog in Romanian

Somebody from Romania came onto this blog on a Google search. The Google page offered a translation of the blog into Romanian. It was kind of weird to see my stuff translated into another language. Of course, I can't vouch for the accuracy of an electronic translation.

Stewardship

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I believe there is an issue of stewardship here.

All that we have is a gift from God. We may enjoy our posessions, but we do need to give account to the Lord of how we have used them.

Carpet cleaning services are necessary to keep homes really clean, but they are very expensive. Replacing carpets costs even more. Having a shoes-off policy considerably reduces the need for maintaining carpets and other kinds of flooring. Therefore, as stewards of God's gifts, I would suggest that Christians ought to strongly consider the benefits of having a shoes-off policy in their homes.

Clean homes can also be more effectively used in the service of the Kingdom. Homes can be put to so many uses; entertaining visiting speakers, providing shelter for those who need it, hosting fellowship meetings (I think a good case can be made for holding all church meetings in homes) and Church lunches. Keeping homes shoe-free means that larger numbers of people can be accomdated at the home with minimal impact. It also makes the floor a safer place for small children and babies.

Getting Attention

This blog got a mention in an article in the Boston Herald website, written by Lauren Beckham Falcone. Its from the pro-shoes-on perspective:

Bostonherald.com: Party hosts’ shoes-off policy should be booted to the curb

7 Gen Blog: The Big Shoe-Down

7 Gen Blog: The Big Shoe-Down

Twincities.com: Shoes on ... or off? What kind of holiday party host are you?

Twincities.com: Shoes on ... or off? What kind of holiday party host are you?

Fictional People (Stereotypes?) Part 4

Pekka

Pekka is an hydraulic engineer from Finland, but he lives and works in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is single and rents an apartment in Aberdeen.

Pekka has lived in the UK for two years and finds it an interesting place. He finds the Scots rather noisy and a little odd, but is proud to demonstrate that Finns can drink more than any Scotsman.

Like many in his country, Pekka is very fond of heavy metal, and being patriotic loves Finnish bands like Finntroll and Turisas. Pekka also loves ice hockey, the Finnish national game and is baffled by the British preference for soccer, a game he finds rather dull.

Pekka has a no-shoes rule in his apartment.

All his life, Pekka had removed his shoes when entering homes. That was until he came to Britain. He was shocked when he discovered that Scots and English often keep their shoes on in homes. He had imagined that in other countries people took their shoes off, just like in Finland. He had seen people in American sitcoms wear shoes in homes, but had just thought this was just a convention.

When a few visitors came into his apartment with their shoes on, he was strongly tempted to try out some hand-to-hand combat techniques he had picked up during his military service, but thought better of it. Now he just asks for shoes-off in short, sweet, Finnish style.


Martha

Martha is the mother of four children and lives in Hampshire, England, with her husband, who is a doctor.

Martha and her husband are devout evangelical Christians. They left their previous Baptist church, believing it to be too worldly and now host a small fellowship of Christians in their home. They feel that the intimacy of a church meeting in a home is much deeper than the usual experience of a congregation.

Martha does not work, but has taken on the responsiblity of home schooling her four children. She believes that much of the teaching in the public school system is built on an evolutionary and humanistic philosophy. She wants her children to learn biblical ways of thinking.

Martha has a shoes-off policy in her home. She wants to protect her children from the dirt and filth outside the home. Just as she would not allow horror films or rock music into the home, she would not allow anybody to defile it with dirt from their shoes.

Martha make considerable use of their house. Four families worship their at the house church meeting and sometimes a few others attend. The tiny congregation appreciate the hospitality of Martha and her husband in openning up their home for church meetings and are happy to respect their wish for shoes-off at the door.

Martha also offers tuition in maths and science for other home-schoolers and naturally asks her pupils and their parents to remove their shoes when attending.

Martha seeks to use her home for the service of God and feels that by looking after the carpets and floors, she is making it last longer and better able to accomodate guests.

Wrap It Up (or Laugh it up)

The final week of my core and elective programs have come to a close. One major portion of this academic journey is over and yet another begins. I feel like I'm walking to the Druids all over again. It's cold. I find myself in the same injury boat as last year, what the fuck!!!?? Maybe it is the cold, it prevents blood from fully circulating throughout my body so a) I either make the same mistakes because of a lack of oxygenated blood getting to my brain or b) I just need to stop climbing, by a pedo-van and live down by the river. I can see the latter happening only if I go crazy from trying to write this massive document called my thesis. I have posted a few photos of some of the artwork that was inspired by various lectures, presentations, and workshops that have taken place over the past year and half in my graduate program. Plus a couple of panoramas from Nisqaully from last week. Enjoy.

Egyptian Gods

And we must not forget that the gods of ancient Egypt were always portrayed barefoot.

The ancient Egyptians were so enlightened that they saw nothing odd about Pharaohs, queens or noblemen being shoeless in public. Contrary to any movies you might have seen, even if they do star Charlton Heston.

Elegantly Bare Foot

I want to challenge the notion that being bare foot should be associated with informality, poverty, tackiness or 'rednecks.'

The great artists of the past loved to paint the human form and they welcomed the challenge of painting the naked human foot. They have left us with many images of people who are barefoot, yet still posessing grace and elegance.

This blog's header image, The Golden Stairs, by Edward Burne Jones is a good example of this, but here are some more:

A great comment

I found this comment on this thread, Fodorite Lounge Forum: Shoes off in my house! Does this bug you?

"Good Morning America" did a story on the underside of people's shoes -- they said that 9 out of 10 shoes were contaminated with coliform (bacteria from fecal matter) that was most likely picked up from the floor of public restrooms or animal waste. The level of bacteria was 1,000 times higher than the level found on most toilet seats.

They cited university studies that found other forms of bacteria as well, which cause intestinal infections, eye infections, and even lung infections. The bacteria was easily transfered from the shoes onto both carpet and tile flooring. The bacteria apparently live longer on shoes than on other surfaces because as we walk around, the constant addition of new germs feeds the growing bacteria population.

Maybe it's just me, but I prefer my home -- where my grandchildren play on the floor and put their hands in their mouths afterwards -- to be cleaner than a public toilet seat, not 1,000 times filthier. If that makes me a poor host, so be it. (But I like to think that I'm doing my guests a favor, even if they don't realize or appreciate it -- I'm providing them with a clean environment to relax in, one that won't make them ill, and probably cleaner than their own home).

BennyB

Lead

You might think that with cars having catalytic converters, lead on the ground would not be much of a risk. However, cars had been belting out leaded petrol for years.

Lead does not biodegrage, decay or dissipate. Furthermore it gets absorbed by soil. It is not just cars that have introduced lead into our environment, lead paint, debris from demolished and various industrial activities have deposited lead onto the ground in urban locations.

Lead can be introduced into homes on peoples' shoes through soil and dust. This creates a serious risk of exposure, particularly for children. Potential risks of lead exposure include brain damage, behaviour changes, slowed growth, poor mental and educational development and hearing problems and seizures.

Having a shoe-free home can considerably reduce the risk of lead exposure.

Sole Truth About Those Soles

Strange Bedfellow

Being rather sceptical about environmental concerns, I am naturally a bit smug about the 'Climategate' emails.

It is weird because most of the blogs and websites that advocate removing shoes in homes revolve around environmentalism and green living.

But as I have said before, what I like about championing this issue is that it is something that can cut across differences over politics and religion.

How to Enforce the "No Shoes" Policy Inside Your Home

How to Enforce the "No Shoes" Policy Inside Your Home

Bishop, the return

Finally sat down and pieced together a little video of the latest trip to Bishop. If you read this blog than the slide show at the end will only have a few photos you haven't already seen before. Here is a link to the vid:

video

Recipricocity

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You may not have a baby at crawling age
But if you ask visitors to your home to remove their shoes, you send a message that it is acceptable to keep your home shoe-free. That makes life easier for those who do have crawling babies.

You may not have a new carpet
You may have an old carpet that needs replacing or a wooden
floor that is covered in scratch marks. But if you have a shoes-off policy, it will make it easier for those who do have a new carpet to do the same.

You may not live in an area where there is pesticide on the ground
But if you have a no-shoes rule in your house, it will make thos

A very British Thanksgiving a.k.a. Surrounded by Blokes, Lads, Punters, Tossers, and Knobheads

Campsite, and the Duchess.

I won’t bore you with the harrowing tales of travel that accompanied Dom and I to and from Bishop. Instead, let’s just pretend that none of it happened and we suddenly materialized at the Looney Bean on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Which we did. Our friend George was there to greet us with open arms and an unkempt appearance that screamed Mad Rock factory tour. He led us to the Get Carter boulder where we were drenched with beta and told to send it. NOW! We had our way with Seven Spanish Angels which is essentially one hard move that involves some commitment, but is located on a perfect wall and was an excellent recommendation. It was a great way to start the trip. We waded through clouds of weed smoke, dogs, baby strollers, back packs, and miscellaneous odds and ends before ending up at the Buttermilks main area where Dom proceeded to handle the Cave Route and I proceeded to bitch about my leg which felt as if someone was stabbing me with a hot iron.


Seven Spanish Angels. The best.


Dom sending a V.1 right out of the car.

After a night’s sleep and a good campfire where we met an extraordinarily nice guy from Washington who was currently transplanted in San Fran I awoke to meet the rest of the ‘bad boys from Brittania’. Dave, a tallish fellow with dark red/brown hair and a rather nice video camera was there making a film, while Ben, also a tallish fellow with curly blonde hair was there for adventure? Love? Glory? Food? Maybe the latter. Both were friendly guys who made Dom and I feel welcome and I tried to fit in by not sounding like the stereotypical ignorant American, failing several times to meet their expectations at this point. Oh well. The second day on found us at the outer lying Buttermilk areas where we warmed up on a crimpy V.4 and I managed a V.6 mantle problem that was pretty good. I’m still not sure why I didn’t attempt the V.9 link up? Just another reason to come back. We made the obligatory stop at the Checkerboard boulder. A lot harder than I anticipated and a lot taller. I never tried the problem from the proper start seeing as how it started on a ramp that swept away from the boulder and lead any failed attempt back to the bottom of the ravine. The moves I did try were great but very fingery and I never managed more than 3 attempts. Yet another problem to come back for. The last stop of the day was the Solitaire boulder at the very far reaches of the outer lying area. A sweet walk through a deserted feeling plain lead straight to this beautiful chunk of granite. One of the most inspiring lines I saw this trip, not to mention one of the many extremely photogenic boulder problems located in Bishop. It consisted of two big hard moves to two big crimp rails. Pretty straight forward. I feel like I did a good job of unlocking the problem from the stand start but the first move felt big and I never managed to quite latch it. I’m psyched nonetheless, to, well, you guessed it, come back for this problem. I’ll probably say that about a lot of problems to come.


Dave, give us a scary face please. That's it.


The Checkerboard lounge.


Dave beasting on the Checkerboard.


First move on Solitaire.


Second move on Solitaire.

The skin felt thin that night after a full day of large grained granite grippin’. So the third day we hauled ass to the Happy’s. I was excited because last time we were there I came really close on two V.7’s and I couldn’t wait to get back on them. We started at another one of George’s suggestions the Clapper. George said it was ‘piss easy’ but Dom and I were getting spanked. I like the pinch, the pocket, and all the moves until you had to make a long reach to an unseen hold. The rest of the crew showed up and we all ended up running a train on the problem. The testosterone was running high and that always spikes the pride levels and makes everyone man up just that little bit more that is needed to grab tiny crimps, or latch the next sloper. I watched as everyone plowed through Rene, I’m still not sure how they were able to bone down on such a small crimp? I was clueless and let it go. It was fun to check out Toxic Avenger and realize that this was also a lot harder than it looked on YouTube. Don’t believe the hype!!
We finally landed at the Rave. I was psyched because of my progress on it two years ago, but sadly my enthusiasm went limp as I couldn’t even pull the first move. Fuck it. I walked around the corner and sent Jug Start to Acid Wash Right instead which definitely felt, for lack of a better phrase, ‘piss easy’ this time. It was my first Bishop V.7 nonetheless so I was excited. The rest of the time at the Happy’s was spent watching this young lanky dude crush Acid Wash two times in a row, we all sent Solarium, and then got shut down on Action Figure. The day ended under yet another jewel hung night sky.


Topping out at the Happy's.


Alan on The Clapper(V.6).


Dom at the campfire. Toasty.

Day four we rose to perfect weather and a short drive to the Owen’s River Gorge where our posse was waiting for us at the Dilithium Crystals Wall. To go on with this story it is necessary to introduce a key character, Alan Carne. Nearly 50, 5 foot nothing, and 8 stone(oohhh don’t I sound cultured). Alan proved to be a classy gentleman who is as chatty and friendly as you could possibly be. We met him on the first day and from watching him boulder I could tell he was way more comfortable on the rope. Even though he crushed just as hard as we did on the boulders. The Owen’s River Gorge was vast and far reaching and filled with sweet looking lines, none of which were shorter than seventy feet. I crushed the warm up 5.10c but took a back seat to all the crushing that was going on around me. Dom nearly onsighted a stiff looking 5.12b that climbed out of a roof and ended on a 30ft slab. His efforts were matched by Alan who had just warmed up on a 7a onsight and both got the 7b second go. Owens River Gorge is amazing and only sweetens the deal for returning to Bishop as soon as possible. That night we nearly gouged our eyes out with dull dirty finger nails as we calmly swallowed sadness by witnessing the utter catastrophic invention of Men Who Stare At Goats. I won’t say anymore.


The huge roof sector at the ORG.


Dom on Enterprise(5.12b)


Alan gets famous on Enterprise(5.12b)


Alan on 7b.


Alan on 7b.


Ben gets up an .11c.


Allan goes for a typical Alan move on a .12c at the gorge.


ORG. Allan and George.


Water, trees, rocks. ORG.


The fifth day on found us marching silently up the steep approach trail to the Druids that seemed to never end. I was weighted down by a Mondo crash pad and a gallon of water as well as my back pack. Is someone crying for me somewhere please? To put it simply the Druids are amazing. The setting is nothing short of magically aesthetic and the views span for miles and miles. The boulder problems climb as if they were forged in the depths of climbing heaven, or hell. Sharp and hard, but brilliantly matched by exquisite movement and four star features. I don’t think I got on a problem that was less than three stars in rating. The one problem that stuck with me was Cayla. Ooohhh, I just shiver at the sheer genius of this problem. It will be worth the walk back up next year. Other problems of worthy note were Thunder, Kredulf, and Skye Dance, possibly the best problems I did all trip. The team ascent of Skye Dance will forever go down in bouldering history as nothing short of epic. I only wish I had seen Alan intermediate crimp his way to victory. At the end of the session we had to say farewell to Alan, the man, the legend, the mystery! Oh Alan, Alan C!!!!!!!!


This guys got the right idea.


Alan on Skyedance.


Dave on Skyedance.


Dom on a V.3 at the Druids.


Team group jump, at the Druids.

We met the sixth day head on. The pollen grains it was, with Jedi Mind Tricks in the sights. We also had new blood joining us, Kallum(excuse the misspelling if indeed it is misspelled) was a crusher from Brittania as well but had sacked it from L.A. to join us at the milks(see! I used some slang there, can I join the club now?). Jedi Mind Tricks is stunning. Glowing white hot in the sun I managed to get to the mid point on my first go but fell off. Dom flashed it quite easily and then I finally highstepped to victory. I’m not going to lie though, it was high and hard. You know what I mean. After the warm up we sent a sweet V.7 named Cindy Swank, that dirty whore let us up her face faster than a drunk first cousin at a family reunion. Dom and I both sent and were so pleased that we didn’t climb at all at the last stop in the Pollen Grains, the Secrets of the Beehive boulder. Kallum crushed the problem and topped it out. I’m currently working on piecing together the footage. Look for a link soon.


Dom on Jedi Mind Tricks.


Strong Dom, proud.


Kallum on SBH.


George at the crux.


George on the starting sequence of SBH.


George slaps for the sloping hueco on SBH.


Kallum on the top of the Secrets of the Beeehive boulder.


To end the day we set up camp in front of High Plains Drifter. One word, BRILLIANT! Two words, SO CLOSE!!! Probably one of my most loved problems of the trip, High Plains Drifter is one of those problems that you don’t mind losing skin on even if you’ve done it before. I got all the way to the top and in George’s words, ‘took a look at the jugs at the top and didn’t like what I saw’. As I tagged the jug with two fingers and fell to the pads I kind of new I wasn’t going to get back to that high point, but I’m okay with that. Just trying the problem was a reward in itself. Another team ascent of the Birth Simulator problem took place and we bathed in the glow of the moon. We also bathed in the glow of the television later that night as we decided to spend the last night in a ‘comfortable’ spot.


Surprise, its Dave.


George High Plains Driftin' away into the night.


Dom top outs the birth simulator as our last evening at the Milks sets in.

On our way out, about thirty miles north of Bishop, we stopped at Rock Creek boulders where I proceeded to get spanked on everything and Dom and George cleaned house with a V.3 and V.2. The area is sweet and photogenic, but the problems require guile and underhandedness. We vandalized the duchess, that dirty girl, and were on our way. George, never change. Dave, you’re like a big bear with a camera. Ben, thanks for not breaking everything I own, just most of it. Alan, you are truly the MAN. And Dom, well, what can I say? See you tomorrow?


Dom reaches for the incut on a Rock Creek V.2.


The top out.


Celebration time.

Now that I’m back I can’t wait to go back. Time stops on a trip like that. The hardest decisions you have to make are literally about what you want to eat that night, and where you want to climb that afternoon. Being surrounded by so much beauty is really easy to get used to but extremely hard to let go of. After this trip I have a profound respect for Bishop bouldering, and I hope to make a tradition of going back each year.