Up, up and away
Today, I climbed up a 20 feet pole and dangled on a ladder thats about 30 feet high. Yep.. I went up and made it down in one piece! I thought I couldnt do it. Just the thought of having to climb up a ladder that high was enough to make me nauseous. But climbing up AND having to wear all those heavy belt straps and my 3 pound Dr. Marten's steel toe industrial boots were not as terrifying as I thought it was. Was I scared? Yes and No. Climbing up the ladder while it was leaning against a pole was not scary at all. Seriously. I even looked down and had a smile on my face the entire time. Even when we were instructed to "trust the belt" and "fly like an eagle," I didnt get scared. Oh and by the way, what "flying like an eagle" means is that we had to let go of the ladder once we reach the top and LEAN BACK and wave our arms to show the instructors that we are indeed strapped on tight. Uhm..yea. Good thing I was securely strapped...gah!! I dont want to think about it now! Anyway... so that part was not so bad. It was actually a pretty cool view up there.
The second task I had to do was set up and climb up the ladder that was leaning against nothing but a couple of cable wires. The ladder had these two clamps that hooked on to the wire to prevent it from slipping down. And the wire was about 30 feet high. Way higher than what I had to climb the first time. So there I was. I made sure my ladder was straight and pray it doesnt slip side ways because there is nothing that can keep it from sliding if that were to happen. I took a deep breath, did my fireman's stance to check my distance from the ladder, put the belt strap on my shoulder and up I went. I was thinking, the first climb was not so hard, so this second time is going to be a cinch.
Well, the first couple of steps were scary as hell. It was very windy this afternoon, so I had the wind blowing against my face the whole time as I climbed up. To make matters worse, the ladder kept bouncing up and down the wire as I ascended. I had to keep reminding myself that I can do it. I literally talked and encouraged myself as I went up. All along that darn thing kept wobbling and bouncing around. I finally reached the top and as scared as I was I cant help feeling proud that I did it. But that was just half the battle, I still need to secure myself to the ladder with my belt and do all these different knots with the strap thats in my backpocket. As I reached for my backpocket, I looked up and saw nothing! I realized going up the pole was not as bad partly because the pole obstructed my view. But with nothing but that dangling ladder supporting your entire weight as it leans on nothing but a wire, it was a different story.
I could have given up, or yelled I couldnt do it, but I didnt. I had to remind myself what an accomplishment it already was being up there that all I needed to do was to finish the job. So I calmed myself and believe it or not, I started feeling pretty comfortable. As much as I didnt want to I look down for fear of scaring myself to death, I still did (and I myself dont know why I did that. I think I tend to scare myself sometimes! ). But after I did, I realized - s***t! I'm NOT scared of heights at all! All this time, my fear was just in my head.
The view up there was exhilarating...ok maybe not the view since I saw nothing but the roof of the building and the few parked AT&T trucks and the road. But I guess the feeling of being high up there was pretty incredible. So I did all the required tasks and did all the fancy knots and once again did the "flying eagle." And all that time, the wind was blowing really hard and the ladder was bouncing up and down. Finally, I was told to go down. On my descent, I remember smirking and when I finally had both my feet planted firmly on the ground, I did a little dance to celebrate. Hellz, yea! I did it! :D
So yup! That's how I spent my day today. How did you spend yours?
The second task I had to do was set up and climb up the ladder that was leaning against nothing but a couple of cable wires. The ladder had these two clamps that hooked on to the wire to prevent it from slipping down. And the wire was about 30 feet high. Way higher than what I had to climb the first time. So there I was. I made sure my ladder was straight and pray it doesnt slip side ways because there is nothing that can keep it from sliding if that were to happen. I took a deep breath, did my fireman's stance to check my distance from the ladder, put the belt strap on my shoulder and up I went. I was thinking, the first climb was not so hard, so this second time is going to be a cinch.
Well, the first couple of steps were scary as hell. It was very windy this afternoon, so I had the wind blowing against my face the whole time as I climbed up. To make matters worse, the ladder kept bouncing up and down the wire as I ascended. I had to keep reminding myself that I can do it. I literally talked and encouraged myself as I went up. All along that darn thing kept wobbling and bouncing around. I finally reached the top and as scared as I was I cant help feeling proud that I did it. But that was just half the battle, I still need to secure myself to the ladder with my belt and do all these different knots with the strap thats in my backpocket. As I reached for my backpocket, I looked up and saw nothing! I realized going up the pole was not as bad partly because the pole obstructed my view. But with nothing but that dangling ladder supporting your entire weight as it leans on nothing but a wire, it was a different story.
I could have given up, or yelled I couldnt do it, but I didnt. I had to remind myself what an accomplishment it already was being up there that all I needed to do was to finish the job. So I calmed myself and believe it or not, I started feeling pretty comfortable. As much as I didnt want to I look down for fear of scaring myself to death, I still did (and I myself dont know why I did that. I think I tend to scare myself sometimes! ). But after I did, I realized - s***t! I'm NOT scared of heights at all! All this time, my fear was just in my head.
The view up there was exhilarating...ok maybe not the view since I saw nothing but the roof of the building and the few parked AT&T trucks and the road. But I guess the feeling of being high up there was pretty incredible. So I did all the required tasks and did all the fancy knots and once again did the "flying eagle." And all that time, the wind was blowing really hard and the ladder was bouncing up and down. Finally, I was told to go down. On my descent, I remember smirking and when I finally had both my feet planted firmly on the ground, I did a little dance to celebrate. Hellz, yea! I did it! :D
So yup! That's how I spent my day today. How did you spend yours?