{"id":621,"date":"2013-05-17T23:42:30","date_gmt":"2013-05-18T06:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fourchinnigan.com\/blog\/?p=621"},"modified":"2013-09-08T13:50:07","modified_gmt":"2013-09-08T20:50:07","slug":"initiate-update-first-quarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fourchinnigan.com\/blog\/?p=621","title":{"rendered":"Initiate Update – First Third"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It feels like all I have been doing this year is working. To a certain degree that is true, but when I look through my calendar and photos from this first third of 2013, I see the truth isn’t so glum. The year started out well. I was canyoneering several times a month, lead my first trad routes<\/a>, hit the gym hard and regularly, and was balancing my workload well. Lately, though, work has been eating into everything. I did still manage to make it out to the Red Rock Rendezvous<\/a> (best year yet) and backpacked through Surprise Canyon again (last time<\/a> was over 3 years ago). I’m thankful for all the work, but hopefully outdoor time will start wedging its way back in. Currently Half Dome<\/a>, Zion, and the Grand Canyon are on the calendar. Maybe they’ll help me get my balance back.<\/p>\n

On a semi-tangent, back in February, I faced my first burrowing tick. I’ve had ticks crawling across my skin many times, but this was the first time one managed to dig into my flesh. I returned home after running Bailey Canyon under a full moon and found a big monstrosity protruding from my hip. After a struggle I managed to yank it out and its disgusting buried head. I’ve almost healed emotionally from the feelings of violation. Regardless, ticks have become my sworn enemies alongside cockroaches. Seriously, avoid those fuckers. And by avoid, I mean kill with extreme prejudice. We are talking tick genocide.<\/p>\n

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Being self-employed is always worrisome. I constantly expect the work to suddenly dry up and everything to fall apart. So far I have been lucky and work continues to flow in. We shall see if I can maintain it. Below are a few of the highlights from many projects that have seen completion so far this year: (There are some cool things I can’t share yet also.)<\/p>\n