Trapped at Berkeley

I went to Indian Rock yesterday with a few friends and saw that someone had setup top-ropes on the back side. After checking out the anchor configuration and the condition of the rope, I stupidly decided that it’d be fun to prusik up one of the ropes. I normally don’t bring my climbing harness with me to Indian Rock, but since I did have a few slings and carabiners, I decided to try using my belt as a harness.

Bad idea. I was jugging up the rope and decided to rest on my upper prusik. My belt broke almost instantly, and I took a short little fall onto my crash pad. You can see the aftermath of my experiment in the picture above. Maybe next time I’ll be wearing a stronger belt…

This winter and New Year has been more turbulent than usual, and I’ve lost contact with a lot of friends and possibly upset some others. Work has also been keeping me on my toes, so I haven’t been able to keep up with all my contacts and volunteer work.

It seems that things are finally beginning to settle down, so I’m going to try to move forward and mend fences: check up on the people I care about, re-establish friendships, devote some time to helping others, and get back into my cycle of rock climbing and exercise.

I’ve decided to withdraw from the University of California, Berkeley, for a couple semesters. I need some time to do things other than school and to work some issues out. Check here for regular updates on my (temporary) escape from Berkeley.

It’s what rock climbers do when bored…

I’ll probably be hosting slacklining sessions every few weekends. Contact me if you’re interested; I’ll probably be setting up a slackline near the south-side entrance to the VLSB or near the Campanile. If you want to purchase your own slackline, Slackline Express is a good place to check.

I led a small group up to Indian Rock on Saturday morning. It was the first outdoor rock climbing experience for almost everyone in the group, and we had a great time. We started out with some simple slab climbs and worked our way up to some more difficult traverses. We’re planning on going back every Saturday; we meet at 9:30 AM at Sather Gate. If you’re interested in coming, please leave a comment.

Unfortunately, I took a fall practicing some parkour near Sather Gate that morning, so my ankle is currently busted, and I’m on crutches. Thankfully, I didn’t break any bones, so I should be back to my climbing self soon enough (hopefully by Saturday).

Lastly, my prayers go out to someone who was injured in a car accident on Friday. May she recover fully!

My fifth semester at UC Berkeley is drawing to an end. I have finals on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Monday — two materials science courses and one each of chemistry and chemical engineering.

I’ve spent the past few days alternating between sleep and studying, but once Wednesday hits, I’m going to be able to count the hours of sleep I get until the end of this madness using my fingers.

Let’s see how this goes…

UPDATE: It seems my performance on finals has a positive derivative. I’m hoping it holds out until Monday.

I’ve uploaded pictures taken by CalLUG (UC Berkeley GNU/Linux Users Group) staff during the Richard M. Stallman and Chris DiBona speeches. Please click on either of the following thumbnails to browse the complete album.

Richard M. Stallman Speech

Chris DiBona Speech

The UC Berkeley Linux Users Group will be hosting a speech by Chris DiBona, Open Source Program Manager for Google and a former editor of Slashdot, on October 17 from 6-8 PM at 306 Soda. As with all CalLUG events, the speech is open to the public and there will be no cost to attend.

If you’re interested in Linux and learning about the latest Google technology, be sure to come!

I’m thinking about taking the following courses next semester:

Chem Eng 150A
Chem Eng 142
EE 40
CS 61B
Math 55

For some reason, this reminds me of myself two years ago…

UPDATE: Due to a rescheduling of Chem Eng 142 lectures, I’ve decided to take MCB 102 instead of Math 55. However, I do plan on attending Math 55 lectures and learning the material in hopes that I’ll be able to waive completion of the course as a requirement for CS 170.

I’m going to be inundated with midterms and projects in the coming weeks:

09/26 MSE 120 Midterm
10/04 ESPM 167 Project
10/06 Chem 104A Midterm
10/06 MSE 102 Midterm
10/10 Chem Eng 141 Midterm
10/18 ESPM 167 Midterm

I really wish the university would establish rules for the staggering of midterms. Wish me luck!