2013 Chicago Skyrise – Willis Tower Climb

The day started with the Rocky III theme, “Eye of the Tiger” blaring through my brain. I bounced to the train to keep my date with some stairs up the Willis Tower. CUT! My neck knotted up!  Are you kidding me?  I spent the majority of the train ride manipulating my neck so I could at least turn it.  As I got off the train, an older gentleman stepped on the back of my shoe, nearly thrwarting my ambition even before I reached my destination.  Then, when I got to the Tower, a cart full of food almost took me out.  But, despite the obstacles that tried to vanquish me, I was still standing. It’s game time and

Oopsie – Better Curb That Egregiousness

This past weekend, while on a promotional surge for a volunteer project that had me floating in social media euphoria, I was suddenly sidelined.  

I had to reinstate a suspended social media account.  Mortifying, yet not surprising given how people have responded to my eagerness lately.  I felt like I was in a social media pokey. My research assured me that other perplexed and perky quipsters had been squashed, too.  Many users have no clue what they did wrong but get suspended, while the spamsters get a free pass.  I read that one account took over 10 days to get restored.

A few years ago, I worked on another reunion project and Facebook said to the effect, SLOW DOWN, SISTER – YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE DOWN OUR SERVER WITH YOUR POSITIVE ENERGY AND ENTHUSIASM! Everything ended up working out beautifully and to this day, Facebook is the reunion saviour as far as I am concerned.

This other social media platform is much more intense with their hand slapping.  Enthusiastic Rule Breaker – that’s the new me of 2013!

“Nothing great was achieved without enthusiasm” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Per their rules: enthusiasm equals “egregious”.

I must say, I was shocked! I know, curb the puns.

Redemption option: Click through to a link and confirm that I will “alter my behavior”/talk about the cup of soup I had for lunch and then type in that code that has cryptic looking letters to prove I am not a computer.  

 All of my experience of dealing with beyond messy handwriting and being a puzzle solving aficionado should equate to tackling this task with relative ease! I was mistaken, I kept failing!

The simple things become difficult when we are stressed out. Right?

It’s really quite simple to prove your humanity, just follow the prompts!

I tried listening to the distorted audio and it sounded like it was recorded on a busy highway and various vehicles were crushing the letters and random numbers that were blurted throughout.  Seriously, is that option just to further tease us?

I went back to the

2109 Steps Up the Willis Tower

And that’s taking the stairs, not the elevator!

Getting back into the stair climb state of mind

Last year I climbed 2,109 stairs/103 flights to the skydeck of the Willis Tower in Chicago. I had five weeks to train and I made it up all of the steps with a collection of fabulous firemen waiting to be in photos with me. Could be worse!  Exhilarating! Exhausting! Here’s a flashback to last year’s climb.

Revving the engine to get to the top

It’s hard to believe that it’s time for me to start thinking about this climb again. Especially since I feel like I JUST caught my breath.  This year, I have a little less than three months to train.  Not quite as much pressure but I obviously want to beat last year’s time and raise more money for Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

This climb’s going into overdrive!