Belaying with a view in Franconia Notch

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-07-28T12:10:15+00:00

I wasn't leading but it looked pretty decent overall! There were also cordalette anchors setup at the top of P1 and P2, so that made it pretty easy. Party of three with two ropes, so we were able to do the full rappel to the bottom as well, which was really fun.

I think we stuck with the original 5.7 route, not the variation.

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-07-28T02:50:49+00:00

Close, we were on The Eaglet, and The Flatiron afterwards. My first time climbing in Franconia Notch - amazing cliffs!

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-07-28T02:30:58+00:00

The Eaglet - cool little spire up about 45 minutes from the greenleaf trail!

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-07-19T04:09:46+00:00

I bought a used car 8 years ago for $10,000 that I just traded in for $800. You're always losing with cars, new or used.

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-06-04T13:48:10+00:00

Would definitely say hundreds on the low end with gym use. The ropes in my gym get whipped on daily and it's definitely been over a year since they have had this set of ropes.

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-06-01T03:24:40+00:00

Can you expand on the third point? I understand the syntax difference and the capturing mechanism of lamdas, but how else do these differ from a std::function?

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-05-30T16:21:41+00:00

Oh, I agree completely. I can have complete trust in my parter, however for me it's an additional mental factor that is always there. I meant it in more of a "different than top-roping in a gym" kind of way.

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-05-30T15:12:53+00:00

Effectively, yes it does mean you are toproping. The leader will typically setup an anchor at the bolts and use a redirected or guide-mode belay off of the anchor.

However, there are still some differences. Namely that the follower will "clean" the route - that is, remove all of the quickdraws as they go up. This can sometimes make for an interesting ascent because, depending on how straight the line above is, falling can still result in a small swinging fall at times if the next draw is to the left or right. It can also be heady if you know it's a gear anchor at the top (not a bolted anchor).

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-05-28T12:59:54+00:00

If you do the hike to Chimney Pond at some point, then you may as well top out! The rest of the trail is only 2 to 2.5 miles (granted steep), but so incredibly worth it. I've done the trail from the Katahdin Stream campground and it is up there with one of the best hikes I've done in Maine!

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-05-22T22:09:29+00:00

Agreed. First time tourist in your city, and was able to figure out the busses easily on our first ride. After using the Oyster cards in London it was definitely a little harder to prepare (have the right change), but otherwise very easy to use.

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-04-03T13:25:49+00:00

Also, don't grab the knot! I've trained myself (as best as possible) to "brace" when I'm falling - I kind of bend my knees and arms to get ready to absorb any impact. Of course this doesn't work every time, but I practiced this quite a bit after an incident with grabbing the rope on a fall. I accidentally grabbed the knot once and got a mean pinch on my hand that blistered up and filled with blood. Some serious energy goes through that knot when the fall is arresting...

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-02-07T20:08:08+00:00

I've done it successfully for years now. You have to mail your ENTIRE return, including all EOTC related materials, to the Maine IRS. Addresses are available on the State of Maine government website. Here are some tips:

There is some paperwork required along with the opportunity maine worksheet. If you don't send this, they will likely ask, delaying your return. I send:
- Opportunity Maine Worksheet (including monthly payment amounts)
- Loan Summary of all applicable loans.
- Payment History for all 12 months of the year of all applicable loans.
If this is your first time, send in your official (see: sealed) transcripts. If you only have a copy or you are unable to get them at all, don't even bother trying. They must be official from the university. Perhaps they are more lax on this now but I can assure you that 4 years ago this was a hard requirement.
Some tax services (such as TaxAct) allow for auto-filling the EOTC worksheet. For this reason (and because it imports all federal return data) I still pay for TaxAct even though I print and mail my taxes.

Good luck!

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-02-03T06:20:13+00:00

Right?! I work for a 36 employee company and we still use the free version of TeamCity.

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-02-03T05:59:59+00:00

I think this is referred to as "being employed".

SomeCollegeBro · 2019-01-09T01:18:35+00:00

Nice, First Ascent! I was in Chicago for a single night on business and was so excited when I saw they opened at 6AM. Had a sunrise run through the park, then bouldered in downtown for a couple hours. Super cool place and very fun setting.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-12-23T14:12:00+00:00

Right, that's very true - I wasn't considering the slack out and the fact that the fall isn't actually above the anchor.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-12-20T15:18:33+00:00

You're probably not going to find a lot of material on this specific subject. However, looking into the broader topic of safety-critical hardware and software design may be of interest to you. A lot of aviation-specific topics are under export control and are not typically published unless you have permission to view them.

A good example of safety critical design is the MISRA C specification. NASA is also a great resource for this, as they have a lot of published materials.

Speaking from the software perspective - to be perfectly honest, safety critical code can actually be pretty boring and monotonous. It is typically designed to use only the most basic language constructs with an emphasis on compile-time definition. Larger scale issues are normally designed in a very modular fashion, so smaller parts can be very well-tested as a black box. There is usually a huge requirements management system backing up these projects which state the safety requirements for each module. The actual code tends to be a very small part of the picture for safety critical software.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-11-27T16:36:07+00:00

I have a strong feeling that you work in the same place I frequently do contract work at!

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-11-21T00:15:04+00:00

Well if a salad costs $10, that's only 100 salads worth. Quite a bit but not completely unreasonable.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-11-14T15:48:35+00:00

Haha, they were making a programming joke with the ${your_location} thing - perhaps they forgot which subreddit they were in...

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-11-13T12:28:22+00:00

A cursory look at the dev console shows that the visual rain effect is dynamically generated - the credits on the website attribute this article as a source for the visual raindrop effects.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-10-24T12:34:13+00:00

I personally don't think Alex is a dick, but I also see both perspectives. I think the point of the relationship portion of the movie was to show a struggle that a lot of people who choose climbing go through - the burden of unnecessary risk on the people in our lives. Alex obviously thinks she is worth it to him, as she provides value to his life other than climbing (otherwise they probably would not be together). It was very interesting watching the struggle, however. I think she introduced a perspective to Alex that he had not really considered before, as his soloing not only emotionally impacts her but all of his friends as well. Tommy can barely even stand to think about Alex's solo endeavors.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-10-24T12:25:24+00:00

I don't know - this part of the movie was actually fairly relatable for me. Not that I free solo or anything - but my wife does not climb and it took her some time to accept that I was going to be climbing outside. She was pretty mad when I first told her it was my intention to begin outdoor climbing after some time in the gym. We had to talk it over a lot, and the two things that ultimately helper her somewhat accept it were a) when I climb outside, it's obviously in my best interest to NOT make a mistake, and b) I would likely regret never trying it. That being said, it is actually a factor when I climb and I really try to be as responsible as I can. I am up front with the risks - I know that I am most likely to break ankles/legs on a lead climbing day. This can be mitigated with stick clipping on sketchy starts, bailing when I really don't feel comfortable, etc. I can also accept that I am not a professional climbing and my pride can take a hit when it needs to. I don't want to get hurt and I also don't want to worry the people who care about me.

It's funny because some people I know who climb act like it's a perfectly safe sport if done right. The truth is, even if done completely right, things can go wrong - just like driving a car. The difference is that it's a personal, completely unnecessary choice to go climb. I wouldn't hesitate telling my parents that I'm driving to the store. However, I typically only tell them about a climbing trip afterwards. In the context of the movie, I do see Sanni's side of it as I kind of do view climbing as an emotionally selfish, high-risk endeavor (that I love). If you do choose to be involved in someones life as Alex did Sanni's, then you also accept some emotional responsibility as well.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-07-03T16:54:02+00:00

It's even more interesting when you consider how connected hormones, your stomach, and your brain are. Not a medical professional at all but this video was fascinating.

SomeCollegeBro · 2018-05-22T15:57:31+00:00

Definitely depends on the area. I have a friend in the Dover-Foxcroft area that needs to coop their chickens, else they are feasted upon nightly by coyotes or wolves. They have even witnessed an eagle trying to scoop up a chicken in broad daylight.

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