Attempting to better myself goes..predictably

I am not going wall climbing in Preston tonight.

I've never gone wall climbing in Preston, so why is it noteworthy that I am not doing so right now?

I have a relatively-local mastodon friend who said she's doing this today, as part of a group organized by Galloways, the local blind society. She said she had done it before, at 12 or 13, but not since. I commented on the uncanny coincidence; I'd also loved wall climbing at 12 and 13, when I did it as part of summer camp -- for blind kids, as it happened. And I also hadn't done it since.

I didn't think much else of it, until D said "You could go wall climbing on Monday." I'd assumed it'd be during work hours, my own local society's events always had been and that's why I haven't done any since I started uni in 2017. But he said this one was on Monday night -- and he was even willing to drive me, bless him. I don't know Preston at all so going on my own the first time would not have been at all feasible, unless someone was willing to meet me from the train (the station is the only part of Preston I do know, and boy do I know it; I've spent many chilly hours there waiting for connecting trains!).

Anyway. D said the website details for this event just say "Contact James for details," but with no email or phone number, or even a last name for James.

I had to go back to my acquaintance to ask her how to get in touch with them about this; she said she'd just gotten in touch via the form on the website, after finding out about it in a Facebook group.

So I did that.

And while I was bemoaning this situation, it reminded me that I used to be very vaguely involved in Manchester's own local society, Henshaws, back in like 2015. They had activity-based groups too; I went on a few "hikes" around Greater Manchester, and joined the Museums and Galleries group for a live audio-described tour of an exhibit at Manchester Art Gallery. But all that stuff had been on weekdays, during the day, so I hadn't considered it a possibility now that I'm working full time.

I looked at their website and it was similarly directed at sighted people. The list of groups again was light on detail. I did see that the museum/gallery group was on Thursday afternoons. But it was only once a month, maybe I could take the half-day off for it... I sighed and got in touch the only way I could: via webform. It feels like such an inelegant solution.

A day or two later, both had gotten back to me.

James (who now had a last name and an e-mail address!) said

Thanks for your email
Yes we have a session on Monday evening from 7 till 9
At prestonwall
Please let me know if you are attending
You will also need to pre register with the climbing centre [and here he gave the link]
Thanks

It's fine, but I guess I'd been expecting something a little more informative.

I had a look at the climbing centre's website. They reasonably enough need to make sure everyone is safe. Registration involves reading the Conditions of Use and Rules, and something about supervising Novices. I thought I was more likely to be a novice than to be allowed to supervise them. Next you have to watch a video, "bouldering induction." I don't know what bouldering is. I didn't feel like I was going to learn from watching a video. Then you have to register...as either a Novice, Boulderer, Boulderer + Auto Belay, or Full Registration. Novice sounded about right for me, but that category is "for 18+ years on instructed sessions or being supervised by experienced climber." "Experienced climber" was a link of its own; this is a term with a specific technical definition here.

Would the blind group be an instructed session?? Or supervised by experienced climbers? Surely we couldn't be considered "boulderers," the criteria for which was you had to watch the video I'd already ruled out. But I wasn't sure how to register, and I was looking at this in a break from work, and it was already Friday, and I wouldn't expect to get answers over the weekend, and Preston is a long way away for when there's work in the morning, and so I determined pretty quickly that it wasn't going to happen this time. The mere possibility quickly overwhelmed me.

As for Henshaws, I mentioned the walking group and the museums/galleries group, and they said the walking group (which is still listed on the website but with no details) is "currently on hold at the moment. Unfortunately, I am unable to give a timeframe of how long this will be for." I seem to remember hearing that the guy who ran it (who of course also had a million other jobs) was leaving; maybe the group disappeared with him.

About the other group, this e-mail went on to say

If you are happy for me to do so, I can give you a call and register your details with Henshaws. I would then be able to pass these over to the Group Leader of the Arts, Galleries and Museums Group.

I could ask the Group Leader to share details of the group with dates, times, and venue of the next meet up.

Please call the office on: [number] or let me know when works for you, and I will give you a call.

Such a faff! I appreciate they have to keep track of numbers and things for these groups, but having to register just to wander along seems a bit overkill. Annoyingly, I know I am registered with Henshaws too, but under a different name and different address... it's easier to just be a new person.

And I know they do this as phone calls because most of the blindies they deal with will prefer that as if nothing else they tend to be old people, but gah why isn't there an option to do this via e-mail or the website too; I'd be long done with it already! It's another way that local blind societies are not set up for working people, because this person e-mailing me will want to call me during their working hours, but those are mine too! I can make some time for this but it's still frustrating. And not everyone can block out time in their work schedule as easily as I can for nonsense like this.

This is what I get for trying to work on my resolution of meeting new people and doing more stuff, ha. This is what attempts to better myself get me!

Catching up on entries I haven't been writing...

As part of "360 degree feedback," I've been asked what it's like working with my manager, and it's fucking amazing and I adore him, so I hope he's embarrassed af by all the good things I've sent in this email reply (which goes to him and his manager!).

Feels good to just throw compliments all over someone who really deserves it.