Nereid Day & Because it's there.
After a few weeks working at home on the Boeing project, I flew myself to Denver to catch up with the rest of my small consulting team for "Nereid Day".
There was lots of catching up with people that I've worked with 5 years ago, and tons of fun with the newcomers. Of about 10 full-timers, 7 of us were together back in the day. Its great being back with people you like, and seeing them just as witty and sharp. We had a suite at Coors field to see the Rockies lose to the Cardinals, then some indoor sky diving. The skydiving was a rush. It really was a fantastic feeling of freefall, and a thrilling challenge to try to control how you maneuvered in the tunnel. Each of us had a couple of minutes of freefall, and there was a dvd made, so there will have ot be a little youtube clip at some point. Dinner was back at the boss's house in downtown Denver, and went well into the night, although I bailed at around midnight.
Today I'm doing billable work for Boeing still, just in Denver.
The other reason for being in Denver is to do my first big hike in the Rockies, in preparation for the Nepal trip later in the year. I've borrowed a lot of 'go lite' gear from my next door neighbor, gotten some boots from REI, and will try to take on Long's Peak.
The hike round trip will be about 15 miles, and goes up about 5,000 feet in elevation from the Ranger Station at 9,200 feet. One of my Nereid colleagues, Marco, is the instigator of this. He had tried to get more of the Nereidians to go on the hike, but one by one they backed out until I'm the last one with him. We're going to start the hike at 3am on Saturday morning, so that we're off the peak before any storms roll in after noon. I'm a bit nervous only about the 'scramble' near the top of the mountain to get to the summit. While i'm in pretty good shape, climbing with a pack using both hands as well as feet is not anything I've been able to train for. Sometimes I just hate not being able to say no to a challenge.
After the hike on Saturday, I fly Sunday to Boston for some training and recovery.
All I can say is:
(realaudio)
Have a great hike!