Kili No Mo

Today I found out that one of the six team members of this summer's Kili climb is unable to make the trip. Uncle John, as my daughter calls him, not in a prostitute sort of way, let us know that his boss wont give him the time off.  He will only be one month shy of the end of his project and the word came today that he is going to serve every last day of his duty.

Its very telling that while we've been planning for three years for this trip, one person can stand in the way of your dream.  Its a good lesson; most of us think we're in control of our lives, but its clear that most of us are naive to think that.

So then there were five.  Five knuckleheads traipsing across the earth to get together and have a beer at the end of their most prolific trip of their lives.  Paying for the Skype upgrade to have multiple users would have been easier.  But you can see the desperation in voices as we try and share our training regimes with each other to try and get an edge on the pain that we're about to inflict on ourselves.  In any case, we're in; flights made, deposits are nonrefundable, clothing purchased, satellite phone ordered, climbing advice received and estate planning is being secured.  We're off to see the....