Ascent (& descent) In Arroyo Seco

Today i went through probably the most harrowing experience of my 24 years. Except maybe childbirth, i bet that was scary for me too. Anyhow i was working in Arroyo Seco on one of my parents' properties. For those of you who don't know Arroyo Seco is about 20 miles south of Salinas on 101 and probably 10 miles west of 101. It's this beautiful scrub brush landscape with a (sometimes) dry river at the bottom of a, no exaggeration, 500 foot gorge.
So i had the pleasure today of climbing down a sheer cliff face to the bottom of that gorge in order to repair the pump in the well at the bottom. It was terrifying. I love stuff like this, cliff jumping in particular has always been a hell of a thrill for me, but something about knowing one false step might be the last i take increases the pucker factor of something immensely(so much so for my father that he didn't even go down there with me). For those of you who don't know the pucker factor is how much your b-hole tightens and your balls shrivel up when doing something. Anyway i made it down there and got a new pump on the motor so we should be good to go from here, but even if we aren't, i will never be climbing down there again.
That wasn't even the most wonderful part of my day though. When i was on my way down there my father and i stopped at home depot to get some of the stuff we'd need for the day. I've never been more impressed with the quality of absolute moron that home depot finds. We found the world's least concerned Building materials supervisor and the world's most inefficient checker in the same store. I pulled the Charles Meng patented move of putting my two hands together in the shape of a gun and miming blowing my brains out the back of my head while this nut job was scanning away. Oh well, other than that it was a fabulous Saturday and truly an absolutely amazing, wonderful, unforgettable experience. That i will never ever do again.