Oh Haro! This is my first full day in Phoenix Arizona. Holy eff it is effing hot in this effing place. Pardon my effing French. Yesterday it was 46 degrees, today it was 44. Ironically, I froze my tush off all day at the training conference I'm here for. Maybe they thought if it was winter inside, it would balance out the heat storm outside?
Anyway, the conference I'm here for is great. I'm learning how to "Master the Art of Selling". I should actually refer to it by it's proper term - bootcamp. I have 22 pages of material to memorize tonight (and I mean word for word) for a test tomorrow. And yes, I have to pass. I have a mean horrible boss back home who threatened me with violence if I fail (Hi, Rick!). So, tonight is packed with studying. But I have a pre-study ritual that I used throughout my high school and college days and that is to climb a mountain. Yup, every night before a test, I trek up a big old beast of a mountain.
That's not true.... but it's what I did tonight. I climbed a big huge brown rock underneath the blistering sun. It was amazing.
I know I'm supposed to be "running around the world" but come on! I can politely jog through rush hour traffic in suburbia or I can drive out a couple miles and climb a fricken mountain in the desert! I loaded on the SPF 30 (which I sweated off in 5 minutes and as a result look Mexican), grabbed a big jug of water (finished at my halfway point) and up the mountain I went. I have to say, it was a humbling experience. Here I think I'm in pretty decent shape but within minutes I was huffing and puffing with 65 year old men passing me on the way up. I even saw a few people RUN up this thing! Actually, one woman ran passed me coming down, then a little while later, she passed me again running back up. Wait...so she ran up, ran down and then up again?? This thing was 1.5 miles and let me tell you, when you're going up a steep rocky incline in desert heat, it feels like 10. Kudos to her!
While I was up there, I took some photos and one video to give an almost panoramic view over the city of Phoenix. As a bonus, the sun was setting so it was really beautiful. I've never posted photos or videos to a blog entry before until now, so hopefully it works and you can look at them now.
I have to say, one of the most enjoyable aspects of this experience, and also surprising, was doing it alone. Normally, I wouldn't do something like this unless I had a friend to join me. Of course it's safer to do this with a friend, and it also helps to have someone beside you, motivating you to move forward. A friend is also a witness to what you accomplished doing such a climb. But doing it by myself was great. I was able to stay completely focused on my surroundings and the mission. Nobody to complain about the heat to. Nobody to talk about my day or gossip with. Nobody asking me about work. It was really peaceful being up there by myself and taking in the whole experience in a pure form. And I'm the only witness I need for the great things I do (as well as everyone who reads this blog...crap!)
Drinking alone: bad. Adventures alone: good. I need to go on more solo adventures. I really suggest you try it :)
And now I have to study for that dang test in the morning.... peace out homies!
-Jerk
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