tha' ONP!

A Collection of Shoes

The apartment opposite mine had a collection of shoes in different shapes and sizes outside its door yesterday. I think they had visitors and with all the drizzle, had left their shoes on the landing.

Plenty of people will disagree, but I think an assortment of different shoes is a rather charming sight.

Visiting Hoddesdon Police Station

I was shadowing my colleague again. Today we visited Hoddesdon Police Station's cells.

This police station follows the same policy that Sandro recommended for hotels- the guests must leave their shoes (including shoes without laces) outside their rooms.



(The picture is not Hoddesdon police station)

Toxoplasmosis

Those of you with cats will know about Toxoplasmosis. Its a nasty parasitic infection that our feline friends get from eating bad meat.

Toxoplasmosis can survive in soil over a year. That means that being careful not to step on cats' mess is not going to make a difference; you cannot see the stuff in the soil.

Toxoplasmosis that is brought into the house and onto your floor can infect small children. This can lead to fever, pneumonia and damaged vision.

Just insist on all shoes being removed at your door. Its not rocket science.

Little si Today, Olympics Tomorrow.

Just wanted to drop a short line about the beauty of the day today. Not a cloud in the freakin' sky. The blue shades reached as far as the horizon would allow your gaze to wander and my friend Dom as well as myself were wrapped in conversation. The drive time was an afterthought. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Rainy Day Women, soaked with my own sweat(read previous post for more details). Shedding my button up short sleeve, donning my flowery chalk bag, and blowing the dust off of my quick draws I hesitantly made my way up this inconsistent route; stopping only to grasp the back of my neck to infuse some warmth into my extremities. Pleased with the warm up-we both were-yet shaken by the lack of precision in beta remembrance, we both headed to the looming(read:chossy) wall of False Idol, Jealous God, Graven Image, and a number of link ups that I won't bore you with yet fill my scorecard so as to inflate and derail the importance of the scoring system involved within.
I walked False Idol, a relatively 'easy' or 'soft' 7a, then re-figured out the beta to the crux of Graven Image. V.3?
Dom repeated my former process and I tried to make an ascent of the neighboring and adjoining line I dubbed Godly Image, which in my opinion is a 3 star line(hehehe). Despite all of the hairline fractures and seemingly degradable rock. I tried the line for the first time completely shaking myself off the crux from over(?) enthusiasm. Then re-re-leanred my beta, Dom had another go(same result), and then I managed to fire my link up(yay!), followed shortly by Dom who sent Graven Image(bigger yay!).
The day was a wonderful success and noone had gone into hypothermia, yet. In fact, it was turning out to be perfect temps, on top of the entire wall being dry!!!??
Perfect.
We manned up for an ascent of Psychosomatic, which turned into a gut wrenching, worst time ever(!!!!), worst climbing experience ever(maybe), ascent of the lesser part Psychowussy. Followed by an encore skecthmaster ascent of Aborigine, which I subsequently fell on. It was a foot slip!!! Besides, Dom took 15 minutes to send, so there. It was a sad end to our glorious and victorious day/return to 'real rock' climbing.
I just wanted to say how awesome it was to get back to World Wall after a 4 month hiatus. It felt sooooooooooo good to get on a rope, and go up. Way up. This weather is 'awesome', despite what's causing it(stupid global climate change). Hope to get back out there sometime soon before the Spokane trip.

The Huffington Post: Shoes Off at the Door? New Reasons Why

The Huffington Post: Shoes Off at the Door? New Reasons Why

by Annie B. Bond

The author does not like taking her shoes off when visiting people, but she admits there are some good reasons to do so. For instance;

"In a new study, and the largest ever conducted, 22 pesticides were commonly found in the dust of homes in Salinas, California. Salinas is an agricultural community, but not all the pesticides found were agricultural pesticides. The Environmental Protection Agency and National Institute of Environmental Health have found that low level chronic pesticide exposure as found in these homes can cause numerous health problems, especially for fetuses and young children. The study was by the California state Department of Public Health and researchers with the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) with the University of California, Berkeley. Protection Agency."

San Carlos First Time Buyer's Tip: Kick Off Your Shoes

San Carlos First Time Buyer's Tip: Kick Off Your Shoes

This post suggests that when viewing homes, removing shoes is in the interest of the buyer as well as the seller.