Jason Lancaster

Last Saturday I began a project I’ve been planning on doing for a long time: I started building a home rock climbing wall.

My original plan was for an almost horizontal roof in the basement rafters but they have been unreachable due to the fact that I need a large workshop (for renovations) and the amount of crap Emily and I are storing in the basement. Saturdays are for brainstorming and working on house projects, so as I was organizing some stuff downstairs I realized I had a perfect start for the climbing wall under my stairwell due to my recent stair replacement project.

I started on the easiest to reach stair by cutting a piece of plywood and reinforcing it to the stair frame. Then, I attached a second plywood piece two stairs up. I opened my box of climbing holds [Thanks, Dave!] and decided on the optimum placement for each. Then I tested and played around until my hands lost most of their skin and I could no longer do a pull-up. Continue Reading

Life has been very fast paced and I’ve been swimming deep in renovation projects since the first week of January. I’ll begin floor installation this weekend and the plumbing was finished yesterday. Most of the tile work and messy projects are behind us, which means fun finishing stuff is coming my way. The plan is to move in on March 1st so don’t expect to hear much from me until after. I will, however, continue to take pictures as soon as I find my camera. It seems to have disappeared during my camping trip last weekend.

One of the most exciting things about renovating the house has been the time Emily and I have spent choosing the final “finishing” products. Picking the granite, wall, and tile colors; coordinating things, etc. Of them all, I think the most thrilling is the EcoTimber Orchard Walnut wood floors we chose. We did a lot of research and ended up concluding that FSC certified hardwoods are the only way to go if you want to make sure the wood you’re purchasing is legitimate. This floor is a pretty special floor with a really cool story and can only be purchased at certain times as the source is sensitive:

The wood used in this flooring is sourced from commercial Walnut orchards located in the Central Valley of California. Here, approximately 200,000 acres of perpetual Walnut orchards, maintained by hundreds of small growers, produce 98% of the U.S. nut production. When the Walnut orchards age, (approximately forty years), they lose nutting productivity. They are then cut down and replanted to start the orchard cycle again, with the first nuts produced in only four years.

The floors aren’t installed yet and this process won’t begin for another two weeks, as the floors need time to acclimate to my houses humidity and temperature. But I have a manufacturers picture that is absolutely beautiful. Enjoy, and look for some installation pictures soon!

I was a little spoiled this year by being privileged to not only have Christmas with my family but to have it with Emily’s as well. “Christmas” to me is both a holiday for family and leeway into a new year, meaning I tend to think of Christmas-time as that time between December 23rd and January 2nd (or about).

After an ordeal getting to Shreveport on the 26th, I actually ended up in Shreveport on the 27th, choosing to spend my night in Baltimore instead of the Houston airport. We spent time with Emily’s parents, grandparents, and friends before leaving for Nashville to spend New Years Eve with her sister and fiancé.

Unfortunately, we had to come home which meant traveling on New Years Day — driving the normally 11 hour but instead 13 hour snow, ice, and accident filled drive back to Baltimore. Arriving at about 4:30am, we made it safe but many others weren’t as fortunate.

I really enjoyed the fact that I made a goals list the start of last year. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that before. It was a wonderful reference point into my mindset and thinking at the start of last year. Now I can look back and see where I focused my time and energy and how it differed from what I thought it would be. My goals from last year:

1. Purchase house
2. Renovate and move into house *
3. Come up with a new idea for a web application and execute it for Fusion Bay
4. Launch Gift List It a little before Thanksgiving 2007
5. Successfully climb a 5.11 rated climb
6. Begin 5.12 climbing
7. Successfully climb a V7 boulder problem
8. Do some bouldering outdoors (which I have yet to ever do)
9. Go backpacking at least twice **
10. Try snowboarding

* The renovation process was much more extensive than originally planned. I’m nearing the end but this has actually become a 2008 goal
** While I only backpacked once, I had some other great vacations!

Now that I’m back and things are resuming their normal pace. Like many others, I’m expecting a fresh start on things. One that I’m looking most forward to is a new MacBook Pro which I’m set to receive any day now. I’ll finally be able to run iMovie and create some cool videos. My old computer was too slow to run iMovie so it wouldn’t even install! Stay on the lookout for my year 2008 goals list.