It's been a while since I've done one of these. There's definitely been stuff to talk about: Adam's wedding, TechEd, Open House, Ultimate Frisbee, Sarah... It's just that I've 1) been lazy, 2) ...nope I think just the 1 says it all.
Friday
I hit Franks after work. I got there at 5:15 and it looked like the party had come and gone already. Apparently there had been a marketing meeting there...maybe I'm in the wrong department? I had one beer (I know, I know sacrilege) and then we got some people together and headed to Spag's. A whole bunch of people showed up. We had drinks and pizza and told stories. Too many stories...
Andy was determined to go to Funtyme and go mini-golfing or drive go-karts. Pretty much everyone from Spag's eventually made it to Funtyme. I don't think the Funtyme employees were too thrilled to see a bunch of half drunk 20- and 30-somethings roll in about an hour before close. We played mini-golf while some others tried not to kill each other on the go-kart track. Beaver even showed up (slightly disappointed that we weren't at a bar or other similar adult-type place). The mini-golf wasn't so hot, but it was fun to have a whole bunch of people along. Oh, and my mom called with news that my cousin had given birth to the twins. Yay!
After Funtyme, Sarah and I and Beaver and John went to Leo's. Pretty soon more people trickled in. We had a drink and told more stories...these were even worse than the ones at Spag's. Around midnight, everyone was falling asleep at the table so we called it a night.
Saturday
I didn't do a whole lot during the day. I went to Eastwood and got a yellow shirt for Ultimate and picked up a shirt for the night. We had made plans with Andy to catch some fireworks and hit a club in the Detroit area.
Sarah and I met Andy at TSC and we headed down to his friend Roderick's place. Andy drove quite...fast and nearly freaked Sarah right out of her skin. Andy described a ride in his STI as like a roller coaster: "People get in, they scream, then they get out. Some people get back in, and some don't. But at the end of the day, no one dies."
We ended up driving all over picking up Andy's friend Kelly and then going to BFE to watch some fireworks. When we arrived at BFE we got to watch all of 5 minutes of the fireworks. Then we got back in the car and drove to Hamtramck to go to White Star. We got there just after 11:00 (note to self: be sure to get there before 11:00 for cheap drinks and no cover for girls) and it was pretty dead. We decided to have a couple drinks and see if it picked up. Like 3 drinks and a shot later there were people on the dance floor. We danced, we had more drinks, we had fun. Then we went to Qdoba.
Sunday
We got some Lulu's and had some greasy eggs, hash browns, and sausage then went back home. Sarah and I went for a walk at Rose Lake. That place has changed quite a bit. It is a lot more grown up now than it was. I remember a wide path that went from one parking lot to the other in the northern section. The path is much more narrow now with thick poison ivy and undergrowth hemming it in. Not that I'm complaining, it was almost too open in the past. It's just not what I remember.
We drove around a bit and then went back to my place and chilled out for a while. After Sarah left, I did some exciting chores and then pretty much passed out. |
Friday
I went to Franks with the work crew. It was pretty nice out so we sat outside. I left relatively early because of a soccer game. We didn't have 5 million guys show up this week so that was nice. The only thing was that I severely rolled my ankle during Ultimate Frisbee. I've never had a bad a sprain as this. I thought it might have been broken at first. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't but either way it seemed like a good idea to play soccer on it. So, I did. It was a rough game. We were clearly outmatched, though we didn't get beat too bad. I managed to play for quite a bit up until about 8 minutes left. I was defending against a drive and went to kick the ball from the shooter. We both kicked the ball at the same time and my foot went back farther than it was designed to go. This was, of course, the foot that was injured. That was the game for me. It is still huge and painful as I write this. I have ultimate tomorrow, but I'll be damned if I'm going to miss it. Hooray for ibuprofen and Ace bandages. Anyway, after the game I went home and nursed my wounds.
Saturday
I got up early because it was to be a busy day. I did some much needed lawn mowing. I forgot how fast the grass grows in the spring. It's been 2 weeks and it was quite long. So, it took extra time to finish because the mower kept threatening to stall on the savanna-like grass. I got that done and did some trimming. I really need to spend some more time on the lawn, but I my time after work and on the weekends is booked for the next 2 weeks. Oh well. Then I had a whole bunch of errands to run before getting out of town.
I finally got going in the afternoon. Because of Mother's Day the traffic was thicker than normal. It seemed to take forever to make it to Holland. I thought that I deserved a Madhatter so I got off and made my way to downtown. Unfortunately, this was the last day of Tulip Time in Holland. This is their annual festival to snag tourist dollars. It is one giant cluster - especially in downtown - because of the parades and street vendors and general asshattery by the multitudes of people. I noticed a large amount of traffic headed out of downtown and before I realized what was going on I was in the thick of it. I decided that it wasn't worth it and just keep on going and caught US-31 out of town.
I got home and said hi to my mom and went over to the winery. It was almost closing time and since it was another nice day the employees would no doubt be outside enjoying a glass of wine. They were kind enough to invite me out and Dad joined us. The winery is just releasing the first wines of the new vintage so I got to try some. There are some real gems. The Cab Franc Reserve and the Dry Riesling in particular. One thing led to another and I didn't get out of there before 8:00pm. I made my way back home (which is across the street thankfully) and had dinner and that was pretty much it.
Sunday
It was Mother's Day, of course. I went to church with Mom in the morning. Then Dad, Mom and I went to Su Casa for lunch. I wish I could show my friends what Su Casa is all about. They're getting ready to open up a brand new facility. But the current one is a trip and will be missed (though, I doubt the health inspectors will miss it).
After lunch we got the house ready for the family. I went to the winery to buy some wine after sampling it en masse the previous night. 14 bottles! Then I helped Dad in the kitchen. He always makes a huge dinner for Mother's Day. As some of the regular readers of this blog might know, my dad is an excellent cook. If women only knew the kinds of cooking genes I carry within myself, I would be fending them off with a stick.
He made a 5 course gourmet dinner. Highlights included cured and smoked salmon with champagne, ginger orange soup with Pinot Gris, pork tenderloin and kalamata olives and caper sauce (I can't do it justice it was unbelievable) with Pinot Noir, some kind of salad with some kind of special dressing with Tramminet, and glazed oranges in a sweet sauce (no idea what it was) with Edelswicker. It was outstanding and was light enough that you didn't feel like you were going to die from food overdose afterward. I said my goodbyes and left for home soon after.
Comments
I'm reading this book, which I will not mention the name of. The broad gist of it is social interactions. So it got me thinking about how I interact with people. I used to definitely be a "glass half full" guy. Even during the divorce I always managed to look at the bright side. Getting sick took a toll on that mentality. Then recently, the frustrations at work along with frustrations with the opposite sex have pretty much destroyed that outlook. I have noticed myself be more biting and cynical. Also, I have learned to assert myself and stand up to myself more. Unfortunately, this has caused me to come off more and more as a jaded, arrogant jerk. This will not do. Travis reminded me that your mindset internally projects outward. Thanks, Trav, I will work on that. |
Friday
Went to Franks as usual, except this time it was super nice out so we sat outside. Then it was on to soccer. There were too many guys, unfortunately. It was fun, but I didn't play very much. When I did, though, I ran hard. Hey, if anything we could win by attrition. We did end up winning by 2. It was a physical game, though. I think I will get some shin guards for next week.
After the game we tried to go to Leo's, but it was packed. So we went back to Franks. We hung out there for a while and I tried to recruit some gals for the party the next day. No luck. It was pretty late when I finally headed back home.
Saturday
I got up kind of late. It was good. I decided to go for a run. It sure had been a while. I was out for about a half an hour. I have no idea how far I went, but I nearly wore myself out. It's kind of disheartening. I used to run track and cross-country. I was especially good at long distance running. Those days are long gone. I'm slowly fighting my way out of my out of shape ways, though.
I tried one more, but alas, still no go on the gals. Then I ran a bunch of errands. I finally got fitted for my tux for Adam's wedding. It took twice as long as I thought it would. Of course, he got one of the most expensive tuxes they have. When I picked out tuxes for my wedding, I got the average priced ones because they get expensive quick. Oh well. Then I finally got my Tag fixed. It's a pretty sweet watch, but the battery died. I'm not too ashamed to admit that it's been nearly 4 months since it worked (the Suunto filled the gap). I also got a link taken out so it fits perfectly now. Of course that had taken twice as long, too. Now, I had to go all the way to EL to get my bike from Velocipede. More time gone.
So, now I was running late to meet Andy. Fortunately, Andy pulled some strings and found some girls to accompany us (sorta). His friend's band was playing at a house party in Novi. Only this party was themed: Naughty Schoolgirl. Every guy had to bring at least one girl and the girls had to dress up in schoolgirl outfits. Sounds interesting, eh? Well, apparently I got distracted and forgot I had the bike on top of my car as I pulled into the garage. It was bad. The car, house, racks, and bike will never be the same.
Andy had to pick me up because the wreckage was so mangled I couldn't get it cleaned up in time. We drove down to his friend Roderick's place in Walled Lake. Of course, I made us late. So we ended up hanging out for a while at his place. Roderick wasn't there because he was setting up at the house. Eventually, Roderick's girlfriend, Ellen, showed up and we headed off to the party.
It was at a nice house in Novi. The band was downstairs as was most of the people. Yes, there were naughty school "girls" running around. The age range was pretty vast. Anyway, I was feeling out of place without a beer, so I broke from my abstaining and had some beer. Actually I ended up having a lot of beer. Roderick's band was pretty good. They have a killer lead guitarist and drummer. They played a lot of rock covers and a couple of their own songs. It's not really that easy to dance to rock music. I just ended up on the air guitar and head banging a lot. They played for a while and then another band came on. They played similar music, but they went late. We left around 2:00am and they weren't done yet. Oh yeah, there was some hijinks going on. Some boobs and panties flying around. And other...stuff...yeah. I crashed pretty hard when we got back to Roderick's.
Sunday
Ah yes, this is what a hangover feels like. Actually, it wasn't that bad, but still something I hadn't felt for almost a month. What made it worse the was the stiff and sore legs from running the previous day. We hung out at Roderick's for a while and got take out from a place called Lulu's, I think. It was some greasy spoon joint - pretty good. All I could think about was the mess in my garage. So we left before volleyball. I cleaned up the twisted metal as best I could. I need to replace some stuff and I'm not sure what to do about the bike. The headset is grinding and loose. I think a bearing and/or race is broken.
One thing about going to sleep pretty inebriated is that you don't get quality sleep. So I was pretty run down the whole day. I did some work for a few hours and then watched some House. |
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Busy
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May. 3rd, 2007 @ 08:29 pm
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I haven't done a mid-week post in a long time. Crap, I've been busy. Both at work and outside of it.
Work has been absolutely nuts. I do far more talking, meeting, and organizing than coding. I'm supposed to be writing a desktop client for getting files up to Screencast. I've barely started. There just aren't enough hours in the day. It's good that I'm engaged in Screencast and that people respect my opinion and experience enough to ask me my thoughts. I like building things, though, and I have just about no time to actually go about doing it. I've been a bit frustrated at work, too. I have a lot of experience designing software, writing code, and in how the company works. I've been here for almost 6 years. Yet here I am, still in the same position I started in. I've expressed my desire to take on more responsibility, but I feel like all I get is a head nod and lip service.
Outside of work has been pretty full, too. Monday I subbed in for Renu in her bowling league. That was actually pretty fun. It was 3 on 3 for 3 games. I did about average for me. I started playing ultimate frisbee on Tuesdays. It's kind of like soccer, but played with a frisbee. It is a hell of a work out, but a lot of fun. The first time I played I could taste blood and could barely move the next day. This week was better. We had more people and I was in better shape. I also started playing soccer. This is indoor right now, but soon the outdoor season will start. I pretty much suck right now. Valhalla Park is right down the street from me. I want to grab a few friends and kick the soccer ball around for a bit to get some practice. What else? Oh yeah, biking. I love riding trails. It looks like we're going to start riding on a weekly basis at Burchfield.
I took a pretty good spill today while riding. There are large logs across the trails with pieces of 2x6 nailed to them to act as ramps. I went up one side and almost got to the apex when my front tire slipped off the left side of the ramp. This caused the tire to ram into the log itself. I went over the handle bars, tucked my head, landed on my right shoulder, and flipped over the log so I ended up on my butt on the other side of log from my bike. I only sustained minor scrapes and a bruised shoulder (which happens to be my bowling shoulder and the shoulder I landed pretty hard on during ultimate this week).
I've also cut out Myspace and Facebook. Too much drama.
Enough blogging - I have some code to write. |
Friday
I went to Franks as usual on Fridays. I sent some pissy emails to Travis (sorry Trav). I got convinced to play soccer later that night. After some grab ass, I ended up at Leo's for a quick bite to eat and then on to Soccer Zone.
I haven't played organized soccer since I was in middle school. Also, I am out of shape. So, I was a little apprehensive about it. But John convinced me that it wasn't a big deal. He basically said to just try not to score a goal for the other team.
There were a lot of TechSmith people there. I felt kind of bad taking up spots that the "regulars" could use. The gist of my experience was that cardio-pulmonary fitness is key and that the intervening 15 years has left me out of practice. It was fun, though. We lost rather badly, but I am too old to be super competitive anymore. I am not sure about playing indoor soccer for the mini-season that they have going on right now. Mainly because there are lots of people available to play, so they don't need me. I do want to play outdoor soccer this summer. That is what I played back in the day and it will be a good way to get some exercise. Anyway, after the game we all just went home.
Saturday
I put off mowing the grass last weekend, so I had to do it today. I cleaned, oiled, and gassed up the mower and generally got it back into working order. It was a nice day, so it was good to be outside at least. It took longer than usual because the backyard was pretty thick. It even stalled out once. The front yard is still thin, though. I am going to bite the bullet and call TrueGreen. I had them come out and do an estimate. It wasn't as much as I had feared. Also, I have no idea what to do next, so hopefully they can take care of it for me.
Once the yard was done, I went to go see Jenn P. She was in town for something called the Science Olympiad. I used to do something similar when I was going through school called Odyssey of the Mind. Jenn was a coach and some of her kids had made it to the state finals, which happened to be at MSU. I hung around for a while and watched some events that her kids were in. After all the events were done, we went to Panchero's in EL. Jenn and I used to go to Panchero's every Tuesday when she worked at TechSmith. As a side note, I still haven't found someone to do a weekly lunch outing with at TSC...*grumble* I've tried but people are too busy with WoW or shown no interest in hanging out.
Anyway, two things of note happened while we were there. The first was a car accident that happened right outside. There were 3 cars involved and we got a nice view of the rear and middle cars colliding. No one was seriously hurt since they were all out on the sidewalk giving statements to the cops. The guy in the back was in a mid-sized truck and the guy in the middle was in a full-sized truck. The full-sized truck had a trailer hitch, which punched a hole in the radiator of the mid-sized truck. That truck wasn't going anywhere. The fire department came out and had to sprinkle absorbents on the leaked anti-freeze. The second point of note is that we got panhandled. The last time I was panhandled was in that same Panchero's. As soon as he came over, I knew we were in trouble. He told us a cracked out story about his dad crashing a plane into a hanger. He wandered around asking everyone for money.
It was good to see Jenn. The last time I saw her was when I helped her move back in January. We used to hang out a lot before I got sick. On Friday nights we would often get some people together and head to various bars. That, of course, prompted some rumors to fly. We always used to get a laugh out of those. I do get out still, but there's something about going out with a woman that doesn't make you look like a tool.
I said goodbye to Jenn and then went to the mall to get some soccer cleats. I have started playing ultimate frisbee on Tuesdays with some coworkers. Last week we had 6 people show up. We played on a small field, but man that was a work out. I was constantly running back and forth. There was lots of running and diving for the disc. I ended up on the ground quite a bit. One fall in particular was rough on my left knee. It's still bothering me. I also ended up in the splits. Right then I decided to invest in some cleats for next time. Since I want to play soccer, too, soccer cleats seemed like a good investment. Stupidly I wore flip flops, though. So, I tried on the shoes with those little nylon footie things. The problem is that you don't get an accurate fit because you typically play in socks. So, of course I ended up with shoes that were too big, but I didn't find that out until I got home. I also got some new shades while I was at the mall. I got some sweet polarized lenses for driving. Unfortunately, they're too big to fit in the sunglass compartment in the overhead console in my Jeep. I guess I need to carry around the hard case everywhere.
After the mall I went home and chilled out for a bit. Then I got lonely and bored and lamented that fact to Andy. Somehow he pulled together a trip to a club in Hamtramack called Whitestar. Dave and his girlfriend, Courtney, came along. So, remember what I said above about looking like a tool - yeah, we weren't off to a good start. It was rather late (we left Okemos at 11:00pm) and had to bust ass to get there. We met some of Andy's friends there. Roderick, Ellen, and Reggie - the same 3 we went out with the last time we came over to the Detroit area to go to a club. Andy talked up Whitestar as a real techno club. Well, it might be on some nights, but this particular night happened to be Latin night. They played a lot of Latin inspired dance music. The real clue, though, was when the 3 dudes came out on stage and started singing in Spanish. At first I wasn't sure if they were for real or not, but I saw a poster on the wall advertising them. We stood around and watched them sing for a while with confused looks on our faces. No way you could dance to the songs they were singing. Whitestar has two levels, so we retreated to the bottom level. It was considerably less busy and they were playing your typical canned dance music. We lounged around and laughed at the situation then went back up. The trio had left the stage and the DJ had taken over again. We danced for a while. And soon enough the lights came up and some other dudes did some kind of award for some contest (again, in Spanish). Shortly after we left. It was almost 2:00am anyway.
On the way back we kept stopping. We stopped at Comet Burger so Andy could go pee (Comet Burger is no where near the expressway). Then about 20 minutes later we had to stop again so Andy could pee again. We got gas, Dave and Andy went to Meijer, and we got Taco Bell. When we pulled up to the place where you order in the drive thru the dude informed us that all they had was beans and spicy chicken. Odd. So, we got our bean and spicy chicken burritos and finally got going. I didn't get home until after 4:00am. All the craziness made it a fun night, though. One of these days, I want to do it up right. Like not leave at 10 or 11 at night and maybe spend the night over there.
Sunday
Needless to say, I was tired when I woke up. It was a gorgeous day and I decided to go for a bike ride. I opted for Burchfield because it is more interesting than a road trip and I haven't refined my road route to avoid a certain awkwardness that happened last weekend (I have it mapped out for the distance and haven't had time to find an alternate route). I took a couple trails that I normally don't take. One was called "Swamp Thing" and started out by going through a couple puddles. It dried out further on down the trail, though. I found some interesting terrain on that trail. Namely, the 2x4-and-OSB bridges (not much wider than the handlebars) over a few large creeks. I thought for sure I was going to end up in the drink. The rest of the trail mainly followed the Grand River and wasn't too bad. The other trail I normally don't take was called "Red Route 1". It started out in a wooded and hilly area. There were a lot of obstacles that you could bypass. I took a couple and skipped the rest. It ended again along the river and joined up with the trail that has the rock fields (I can't remember which one it is). I rode hard the entire time and pretty much wore myself out. I had my MP3 player rockin' for the ride, too.
After the ride I went to Dick's in Eastwood to look for soccer shoes that actually fit. I met a couple dudes who asked me what team I played for. I ended up getting a soccer ball and a tire pump (finally!).
On the way back home I decided that I wanted to test out my new soccer ball and cleats. Andy was down so I met him at Valhalla Park and we kicked around the soccer ball and threw a frisbee for a while. I’d like to do that more often to get in some practice for soccer.
On the way home I picked up some chicken and salad fixings. I cooked up the stuff when I got home and watched a couple episodes of House. I like House, despite it being a medical drama and hence depressing at times. It reminds me a lot of what I went through.
There tends to be an expectation that if you get sick you go to the doctor, they run a couple tests, and then tell you what you have. That is not what always happens. I’ve been told by my doctors (and heard it on House) that “when you hear hoof beats you think of horses rather than zebras.” So, they test you for common problems first. Because uncommon diseases are not seen very often by front line medical personnel (family doctors, ER doctors, etc) and they often present with common symptoms, they are often missed. Actually, that is the worst case scenario. The patient is also often passed on to a specialist who has more knowledge on complex or rarer problems in a specific area. But still, tests take time or can be inconclusive. Symptoms can present in a non-standard manner. Doctors often come up with a theory of what is happening and then recommend treatment. This either works (which indicates an accurate diagnosis) or doesn’t (indicating an inaccurate diagnosis or another problem). If the treatment doesn’t work the doctors use that information and try again, often running more complex, invasive, and expensive tests.
This is exactly what Dr. House on the TV show deals with. This is exactly what happened to me, too. Yeah, it’s eerie at times and I probably know more than I should when they start talking about liver problems. Of course, there’s a lot of drama on the show and usually it doesn’t bother me. So far, the drama only got to me once because it hit a little too close to home. Also, I like the fact that he is just a bitter and overly sarcastic person. It reminds me of me – bitter and cynical. No wonder women are put off by me. |
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Friday
We did an impromptu 2beer. There wasn't the usual email sent out on Fridays. Apparently, some people complained. So, just the hardcore people showed. I wanted to head down to Webberville to see Renu and Chris perform. So, I managed to convince most people at Franks to make the trip with me. I wasn't drinking because I have some bug that I want to get rid of, so I drove Andy and myself down there.
We met everyone at the bar down there, Tugby's. It was a dive plain and simple - pretty nasty. A whole bunch of TechSmith people showed up. It was fun hanging out with everyone. Renu and Chris did a great job. Andy got absolutely blown out. He ended up at the bar and things didn't end well. Good thing I drove. Around 11:00pm, the performers packed up and we headed home. I dropped Andy off at his place...
Saturday
I got ready to go biking. Brian and I had made plans to hit up Burchfield for the first ride of the season. The previous night, Andy indicated that he wanted to go along, but I was unsure of his status. His phone was off. So, I put the bike racks on the car and left. I was almost to Delhi St. NE when I saw some dude on a bike flagging me down. It was Andy and he looked terrible. His phone was out of batteries and he had no way of charging it since his charger was in his car. The car was, of course, at Franks. So, I threw his bike on top of my Jeep and we drove to Burchfield. Of course, we had to stop once for Andy...yeah.
Brian and I had a good old time riding around. The trails were mostly dry. They had blocked off one part that was soupy yet. Andy...well, he managed. After the ride I dropped off Andy at his car and went home.
I didn't do much the rest of the day. I cleaned up around the house and contemplated mowing the lawn. I decided it wasn't that bad yet and just left it. We had talked about going out to see Andy's friend play in his band. I apparently missed the phone call. That was OK, though, I kind of felt like laying low anyway.
Sunday
I went for a bike ride in the morning. This one was on my normal route just around the subdivisions near my house. I meandered up to Sandhill Road and back. It was a gorgeous day and I took my time.
After the ride, I got cleaned up and decided to head out to get a new book since I finished Augustus. I went to the mall and bought a bunch of stuff. It seems I always need shirts. Short-sleeve in this case since the weather is finally getting nice. Oh, I did get a book. It is Alexander the Great by Paul Cartledge. It was either that or one about Thermopylae. Maybe later, but I had already seen 300 twice and I wanted to switch topics.
When I got home I did something that I haven't done in years. I called Erin out of the blue. Well, not exactly - it was her 30th birthday. I remember when she turned 21. I'm not sure how I feel about that right now. I just know that she was surprised. So, was the guy who answered her cell phone.
My Tivo caught an episode of House and I watched it last week. I enjoyed his sarcastic and dark outlook on life, so I bought season 1 on DVD. Having gone through what I did with my liver, I have a pointed interest in the medical field. Watching medical dramas like that always bring out weird emotions and strange memories from that time. Sometimes I think that it's therapeutic and sometimes I think it's just...I don't know...uncomfortable. However, I usually enjoy them and empathize with the patients, so we'll see if this is a good idea or not. Any show with a theme song by Massive Attack can't be all bad.
I'm feeling more social than usual and also more active. It is like I'm waking up from a long sleep. I decided that I am tired of being fat and lazy. I decided to get myself involved in social activities more. There are a couple of sports-related activities that happen at work. One is the soccer team. The company sponsors a soccer team at the local SoccerZone. I used to play soccer way, way back when I was in middle school. I played for a good 5 or 6 years and I liked it. I think I will give it a shot during the summer. The second thing is a sports email list at work. There are aspirations of doing all sorts of activities on a more-or-less impromptu basis. We are going to try ultimate frisbee for the first week. Brian also mentioned putting together a weekly bike riding session, but that looks like it might be rolled into the sports email list.
Ann told me about classes through MSU for alumni. These are night and weekend classes that deal with a myriad of topics. I found the website and was amazed. They offered tons of things all right on campus. Of course, they are in the spring semester right now so there are no classes starting up for a while, but it is something to think about.
Then there's the house. So much to do... Landscaping the side of the garage, redoing/revamping the front landscaping, putting in the deck, and fixing the front yard. Those will get done this season! I'm tired of the outside of the house looking terrible.
Apr. 23rd, 2007 @ 01:49 pm
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Friday
Went to 2beer Friday at Franks. We decided to go out to Dublin Square for dinner. We also decided to take a cab. So, Andy and I met up at Flash's. On the way, my sister and I had a good conversation about a certain female on the phone. It turned out that Dublin Square had a 2 hour wait. So, we changed plans and decided on Spagnola's instead. Big Daddy picked us up and away we went. Jim and Molly were there with some of their friends. We had a wait at Spags, too, but we ended up pushing a bunch of tables together in the bar area. So, this meant that Abby was our server. Jim and Molly took Flash and I home - Andy stayed with Abby.
I hung out at Flash's for a while. Brian's friend Mark was spending the night there. He and a friend were doing some kind of adventure race. Of course, we rolled in and were loud as hell. We drank a few beers, then got yelled at, and I left.
Saturday
I laid low for pretty much the entire day after the previous night. I played Oblivion and took a nap mostly.
Andy and I had made plans to go to Royal Oak to a club. I met him at work. He had a car full of girls and we drove to his friend's house in Walled Lake. We had an incident on the way. Andy got pulled over for having expired tags on his license plate. He told the officer that he had sent in the form, but hadn't received the new tags yet. The officer said that they had been having trouble with that and told us to have a good night.
We picked up Andy's friend, Roderick, and another friend, Reggie, and went on to a club called Eden in Ferndale. It was a swanky place. Lots of fancy people and fancy drinks (the Purple Rain there is tasty). We had a few drinks and danced a lot. They had a pretty good DJ. The one song that sticks out in my mind was part of a remix of GnR's Sweet Child O' Mine. One of the bartenders had a largest boobs I've ever seen. Around 1:30 we left because Abby had to get up early in the morning. I gave her friend, Megan, a piggy back ride in the parking lot. We stopped for gas and delicious Taco Bell on the way home. I didn't get home until quarter after 3:00...another late night.
Sunday
The dancing wore off most of the alcohol, so I was just tired in the morning. For some reason I couldn't sleep in. I played some Oblivion again, exercised, and watched Borat. Then I went over to Jim and Molly's for a good ol' fashioned turkey fry. Flash, Ann, Andy, Beaver, and some of Jim and Molly's friends and family were there. It was fun and the food turned out to be really good. We also fried some french fries in the turkey oil, which made turkey fries. They were ridiculously good, too.
Not wanting to stay and watch The Sopranos, I left. I finished Augustus finally. Not that it was a boring book, but I just didn't devote the time to it. It was actually a very good book - if you like history. Augustus was a fabulous personality. He led a full life and had many interesting adventures. The author did a good job telling his tale, making it interesting, and relating ancient Roman life to modern day life.
Apr. 16th, 2007 @ 08:40 am
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| » Weekend Update |
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Friday
Went to Franks for 2 Beer Friday. Then I went to Spagnola's for dinner. Flash, Ann, Andy, and Jim & Molly were there. Had some fun conversations with Molly. She wants to fry a turkey next weekend. We'll see if she remembers this. After dinner, I went back to Flash's with him and Ann. We hung out for a bit and then I went home around midnight.
Saturday
I went to the post office in the morning to pick up my cargo vest that had been sitting there for nearly a week. When I got it home, I found that it might be too big. I probably should have got a medium. Other than that, it's pretty cool, though.
Then I went to Best Buy and the mall. I wanted to get an SD card for my new phone. They didn't have any at Best Buy, but I did pick up some movies. At the mall, I got the card from the Cingular store. Then I looked for some short-sleeve shirts. I picked up a few and, in doing so, spent way too much money.
Later than evening, I went to Dublin Square with a whole bunch of friends. We watched the Spartans win the NCAA hockey championships! Go Green! During the hockey game, we played a game that I'll call "The Island". Basically, you get to send anyone to the island for whatever reason. Once that person is there, though, they can't leave. It was interesting who thought who should be sent to the island. It's an amusing game to get a conversation going.
Sunday
I drove to my grandparents' house for Easter dinner. The usual family was there. It was fun as usual. Though, I think the table conversation has definitely gone downhill in the last few years. My cousin Erin brought her boyfriend along. I didn't know if he was going to stick around through dinner.
Apr. 9th, 2007 @ 07:58 pm
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| » Back down state |
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Our flight didn't leave until 11:00am. So we had a somewhat less hectic morning. After getting Amy some Starbucks and filling up the Durango, we made it to the airport in plenty of time. We got all checked in and were waiting around it was announced that the plane taking us to DTW was delaying by fog leaving DTW. At that time they figured that it would be leaving back for DTW around 2:00pm. We headed over to the ticket agent. Amy had a Chamber of Commerce event and date at 5:00. While waiting in line we decided that the best course of action was to just have our bags checked to DTW. We figured that there was going to be air traffic jams and all sorts of trouble going out of DTW and since we were going to miss our connection to GRR anyway, we didn't want to deal with it. We would just rent a car and drive to Lansing. Amy would get her car the next day.
The ticket agent was just happy that he didn't have to deal with us, so there was no trouble with the airline. We went over to the rental car desks at the airport and tried to reserve a car at DTW. They were all booked. MQT has free wifi, so we managed to rent a car online through Expedia from a different company. We called and confirmed it, so we could minimize any surprises since Amy had a tight schedule. We could also track the plane online and were more informed than the ticket agents. They would announce that the plane was in the air and we had already found that out. They would announce a new ETA, and we could already see. Handy things: laptops.
Anyway, once the flight landed the ground crew got it turned around in a hurry. We were airborne by just after 1:00pm. The flight down to DTW went smooth. Once on the ground at DTW, we sat on the tarmack for a while, thereby negating the time we made up with the fast turn around and the speedy flight. Jenn and I got the bags while Amy picked up the car. Amy absolutely flew back home. We made it from DTW to TechSmith in about an hour. Amy dropped us off and should now be on her date.
I checked my email for any problems during the Screencast push to live. I didn't find any so I'm assuming everything went OK.
Feb. 21st, 2007 @ 05:41 pm
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| » Michigan Tech |
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The career fair at MTU was pretty big. I heard that there were somewhere around 170 employers present. We were in the tennis building and pretty close to the door. We had a folding table and two chairs. We set up SnagIt and Camtasia signs and had a table skirt so students could identify us. We also set out a ton of goodies: pens, highlighters, stick-um pads, and M&M packets.
We were steady throughout the day. We had good foot traffic and took lots of resumes. Jenn and I handled most of the students looking for technical positions (probably 80%) and Amy questioned the marketing, sales, and writing positions for the most part. Though, by the end of the day we were all getting more comfortable handling any of the positions. I thought that the quality of the people we were seeing was pretty high. MTU has what they call an "Enterprise" program. Their computer science/engineering students are involved in real world projects. They have clients who give the students requirements and a deadline. The students then apply what they've learned about programming, software engineering, and project planning and deliver a finished product. The projects ranged from embedded systems (including programming for the Motorola Razr) to web applications and databases. The whole program is a very valuable experience for the students. One disappointing thing was that a number of students were talking about how this week was midterm exams. So a lot of students were either taking exams or busy studying and were not able to attend the career fair.
MTU provided a lunch for the employers. It was less than great, but I did meet some people from Redmond, WA. They worked for Genie and not for Microsoft, however. We talked about Whistler and the Olympics.
When the career fair was winding down a number of people who were manning the employer booths came buy and offered to trade goodies. I got a water bottle and some carpenter pencils. MTU offered to keep any extra goodies that we had and make them available to students. So we left all our goodies, which made it easier for us to get out of there. Take down was easy and we packed up the Durango and headed back down to Marquette.
It took slightly longer to drive back down to Marquette because all the other employers were headed down that way, too. We stayed at the Days Inn and got there around 5:30ish, I think. There was a restaurant that shared a parking lot with the Days Inn called Timber Creek (I think). After standing up all day, none of us wanted to make getting dinner very hard, so we just went there.
We were back in time for the 2nd half of the MSU game (which they ended up winning). I remembered some work I needed to take care of since Screencast was pushing live the next day. I used Amy's laptop to finish up what I needed to do. Meanwhile, Amy was painting her nails and managed to get fingernail polish all over. So, I drove her to Target to get some fingernail polish remover. I went to bed after that and was asleep by 9:30pm.
Feb. 20th, 2007 @ 08:00 pm
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| » Say 'yah' to da UP, eh |
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Amy Walsh, Jenn Dyni, and myself volunteered to go to Michigan Technical University on a recruiting mission at their annual winter career fair. Amy found the cheapest flights left out of GRR to DTW, and then from DTW to MQT. Amy drove us to GRR in the afternoon and caught a jet to DTW. The flight was short and uneventful.
Since we flew Northwest, we parked at the McNamara terminal. Note to self: when going from the end of one concourse to the center take the shuttle. It's a long walk. We took a 34-seat Saab turboprop from DTW to MQT. It took about 1:20 and was pretty painless.
MQT is a pretty tiny airport. So gathering up the luggage and getting the rental car could all be done within 50 feet. I volunteered to drive. We got a brand new Durango, which was pretty nice. It was a little bigger than my Jeep so it took getting used to.
We drove into Marquette and stopped at Applebee's for dinner. Then we pushed on to Houghton. The drive took around 2 hours or so. When we finally go to the Country In Suites and checked in, it was nearly 11:30pm.
Feb. 19th, 2007 @ 11:00 pm
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| » A Picture Share! |
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Found while cleaning out my phone
Dec. 2nd, 2005 @ 02:14 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 9 |
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I immediately left for DeWitt. I had gotten some sleep in the car, so I wasn't feeling too tired. The worst was going from Cottage Grove to Chicago. It was boring and I was questioning if continuing without rest was a good idea. Once I hit Chicago, though, I was fine. The traffic kept me awake. I put on The Doors again and kept up with traffic. This time it was moving at a good clip. I only made one mistake when I went to take the Skyway. Due to construction and semis, I couldn't get over fast enough and missed it. It was OK, because I just stayed on I-94 and went the long way. There was some construction, but the traffic was light so I didn't have any problems.
I stopped for gas and pop in Benton Harbor, then I continued on I-94 toward home. It got really windy and I had to keep both hands on the wheel. I made it home safely, however. It took me 5 and a half hours – even with the detour in Chicago.
The mountains overlooking Lake Dillon
Apr. 2nd, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 8 |
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We were in no hurry to get up, but we did have to be out by 10:00am, since we were going to drive back home today. Also, if we left too early we would get back to Madison sometime late at night. We had one more day of skiing left on our lift tickets. Should be ski or not? We decided to just ski for a few hours. Now where to ski? Our legs were hurting badly. Five straight days of hard skiing will really take a toll on your legs. Originally, we were going to just go to Keystone. It was close and we knew we could handle it in our condition. But, we had yet to see what Arapahoe Basin was all about. We knew it was hard, but to explore something new and say we had been to all the Vail resorts sort of ultimately won the day. A-Basin was east anyway. So that's where we went. We cleaned up the condo, packed up all our stuff and were on our way.
A-Basin was a different from the other resorts. It was much smaller with only 6 lifts (Vail had about 40 lifts). It was also pretty much all for hardcore skiers. There was some very tough terrain to ski. The parking lot was right at the base of the hill, instead of far away. It reminded me a lot of the places we skied in Montana.
It was a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky. We put on a lot of sunscreen. We took the main lift up and did some groomers on the top half of the mountain. We decided to check out the other side of the mountain so we headed back down to catch the other lift. Jim tweaked his knee on the run down to the bottom, so he decided to call it a day.
Me at the top of A-Basin
Will and I continued to ski. We hit some steeper runs with some moguls. Will and I wanted to do a run down the so-called "East Wall". This is a rock-strewn side of the basin. You had to take a long traverse to get there. The wind and the signs posted warning of "extreme terrain" made me kind of nervous. We traversed until we got where we wanted to be and started our descent. It was powder with a crust on the top. It wasn't terribly steep, either. We made it down with little trouble. The worst part was the first part of the traverse, which was rocky and had some surprise dips and turns. Then we did some fast groomers and worked our way to the other end of the mountain again. We took a wrong turn and ended up on the steepest run I've ever seen. Oh yeah, it was covered in moguls and exposed rocks, too. It took us awhile, but we picked our way to the bottom.
The East Wall at A-Basin. You can see the traverses Will and I took.
It was close to noon and we called it a day. We went back to the car and took off our ski clothes for the last time. Then it was off east. I started driving. We hit some switchbacks that took us up the mountain and to a nice place to pull off and get some pictures. So we did. We then went over the Loveland Pass and caught I-70 east.
All three of us at the overlook as we were leaving
I drove through Denver. It was moderately busy and I managed to miss the exit for I-76, but navigator Jim prevailed and we got back on track in no time. We stopped in Fort Morgan, CO for dinner and gas and then continued. I finally gave up the wheel in Kearney, NE. Will took over and I mostly slept. He drove to somewhere in Iowa, where Jim took over. Jim again got the graveyard shift and got us back to Cottage Grove.
Apr. 1st, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 7 |
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We had skied Vail, Beaver Creek (albeit both not so thoroughly), Keystone, and Breckenridge. The only Vail resort we hadn't skied yet was Arapahoe Basin, but our legs were so very tired. A-Basin is supposed to be pretty hardcore. But, Vail got a ton of snow the previous night. We decided that we would go back to Vail again and continue to explore its vastness, despite the awful traffic on I-70.
We made it easy on ourselves and parked in the same lot as before, so we knew where to go and how to get on the hill. We took the gondola up this time because it was faster than the regular chairlift. We worked our way over to the China Bowl again to do some more tree skiing.
The powder was just awesome. There were times when I was skiing in powder up to my knees. For those of you who haven't experienced a good powder day, you don't know what you're missing. It is so smooth and it just feels like you're floating down the mountain. It takes a slightly different technique than blasting down groomers. For one, the powder tends to slow you down. You also have to lean back slightly in your skis to keep the tips from digging into the powder. Later on in the day, when the powder gets tracked up, it forms moguls that you have to navigate.
Will crashes into the powder at Vail
I had a near disaster coming down Jade Glade in the China Bowl for the first time. I was almost past the very steep part and took a spill. My left ski went perpendicular to the fall line and plowed up a lot of snow in front of it while my right ski kept going down the hill. The result is that my left ski caused me to stop right now. It felt like my left hip was pulled out of its socket while being twisted. I just lay on the hill covered in snow for a long time. All I knew was that it hurt a lot. I was dreading getting up and seeing how damaged I was. Eventually, I worked my way up and came the rest of the way down the hill. Yup – my left hip hurt. It made turning hard. I informed Jim and Will of my injury and I decided to take it easy. I took a groomer (well it was pretty tracked up and not really a groomer anymore because it had continued to snow) down in an attempt to see if I could still ski. I fell again, but had the presence of mind to roll on my back so I wouldn't drag my legs and possibly further hurt my hip. I was favoring my hip on the way down, so I knew I wasn't going to be able to be as aggressive as I had been.
After a couple runs, we decided it would be best if I took a break to rest my hip. We went to Two Elks Lodge, which was relatively nearby. We got some coffee, pizza, and fries. It was very expensive. I don't recall exactly, but you can imagine because Two Elks was on the top of the mountain. We sat around for an hour or so and recouped. Also during that time, the final divorce hearing took place, so I became officially divorced.
The remainder of $20 after buying a small pizza at Two Elks Lodge
I was determined not to let my injury get the best of me. I mean it hurt when I turned, but it wasn't debilitating. I took some ibuprofen and hit the hill again. The rest helped immensely. I still took it easy, but I hit some powdery and other more advanced terrain. I just took it slow and picked my way down the hill. I still had a good time.
Toward the end of the day, we worked our way back to the car. On the final run out into the base of the hill I saw a lift operator almost clock a skier. They were yelling at each other and lift operator's buddy was restraining him. I don't know what it was all about, but it was interesting nonetheless.
Jim is loving the powder at Vail
We clomped our way back to the car and put our gear away. Then we went to a gift shop in the village to get some souvenirs. I got a mug and a sticker. I also got a cap and a shirt that was all rolled together. Jim and I scoured the rack for a large, which I finally bought. In fact, we all bought the shirt and cap. When I got home and unrolled everything I found the awful truth – we had bought a kids shirt and hat!
The drive back to Frisco was uneventful this time, thankfully. Since it was our last night in Colorado, we wanted to try another restaurant in Frisco. We drove around until we found the Boat Yard. We sat down and Jim got a beer from the bar. We took a look at the menu and questioned going there. We decided to bail. We all took a pull off of Jim's beer and left (Jim paid for the beer at the bar). Will stammered something about getting a call or something as we left. We ended up back at the Backcountry Brewery, where Jim and I got souvenir glasses again.
Back at the condo, Will and I gave it an honest effort to finish the rest of the beer, but we ultimately failed.
Mar. 31st, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 6 |
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I was excited for this day. We were going to head to Vail – one of the premiere ski resorts in North America. I was eager to see what it was like. We got a decent start and drove west along I-70 to Vail. Unfortunately, we had to pay to park (every other resort had free parking). Maybe we were just blind, but we couldn't find any free parking. At least it was relatively close to a lift. We tramped down some stairs and through the shopping district until we got to the lift.
We didn't have any place in mind to head to, so we just worked our way across the mountain. Vail just kept going and going. We'd get to the top of one peak and look around and see another couple of chairs off in the distance. We eventually made it Blue Sky Basin. This is the ultra expert area. About nothing is groomed and it is pretty much all black diamond or double black diamond. There were signs all over warning about going off the trails, which is perfectly legal since it is national forest, but can be extremely dangerous. We did one run, which was full of moguls and very long. It was also cold, snowy, and windy at the top of Blue Sky. We decided that we weren't up for it (this being our 4th straight day of skiing) and headed back where we came from.
We eventually ended up doing a bunch of runs on the China Bowl. Vail has a number of so called "back bowls", with the China Bowl being one of them. It had a nice treed run that had pockets of powder, but was steep enough so you don't get stuck. When we had our fill of the China Bowl, we skied Mid-Vail for a while. It had some nice fast groomers and some easier ungroomed runs. It was pretty busy, though. Towards the end a storm moved in and it started to now pretty hard.
Of course, today was the day I didn't put my turtle fur in my backpack. I pulled my hood over my helmet and tried as best I could to hide my face in my jacket collar. I looked pretty stupid, but what could I do?
Me looking stupid during a snow storm at Vail
Around 3:00 we made our way back to the car. We got on the freeway and started back east toward Frisco. Unfortunately, we hit a massive traffic jam. There were times when we didn't move for 10 minutes. It took us 2 hours to get back to Frisco (it should have taken us 30 minutes). Poor Jim had to pee before we left Vail. He decided to hold it until we got back to Frisco. He chose unwisely because he ended up holding it for a long, long time. We don't really know what caused the back up. It was probably a combination of the weather, semis putting on snow chains, and an accident or two (we saw emergency vehicles pass us on the shoulder).
After we got back to the condo and unloaded everything, we relaxed as usual before heading out to get something to eat. That night we decided to try the Dillon Dam Brewery in Dillon. It was packed when we got there. We put in our name and the hostess told us we could either wait or sit in the bar area if something opened up. Almost as soon as we went into the bar to get something to drink we saw a table open up. We immediately grabbed it. It took forever for a server to get over to our table. We thought it was because it was busy. Nope. Turns out the table we sat at wasn't part of the bar area even though it was in the bar area. The server was nice and let us stay, though, so it was cool.
I had a decent pilsner and a boring lager. Though, I ordered the lager in a logo glass. I had a buffalo burger, which was quite excellent. We hung out for a little bit and then called it a night.
Back at the condo we hit up the hot tub and pool. It was very nice to soak our soar muscles. Jim tested out the sauna, but for some reason being all hot and sweaty didn't sound appealing to me. We did stay too long and soon found ourselves back at our condo. We then crashed pretty early as per usual.
Will is enjoying one of the condo's many ammenities
Mar. 30th, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 5 |
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Originally after two days of skiing, we were going to take a break from skiing for a day. By all accounts, we should have. But somehow we dragged ourselves out of bed resolved ourselves to go skiing. I should note that copious amounts of alcohol plus altitude ensure a hellacious hangover. We took our time and eventually and made the journey to Beaver Creek. We didn't know where Beaver Creek was exactly; we thought it was by Vail. So we drove over to Vail, about a 30 minute drive. We drove around Vail for a while and couldn't find anything about Beaver Creek. They made me get out of the car (in my state, it was quite the feat) at an info place and see what was up. It turns out Beaver Creek is another 10 miles west from Vail.
The aftermath: Me the morning after the epic drink-a-thon at The Goat
More driving west and we finally find Beaver Creek. They have this wicked chairlift from near where we parked that takes you to the rest of the mountain. It has more lateral movement than vertical. At one point you crest this hill and immediately descend again. The effect is similar to a rollercoaster. Not so hot when you feel like you're going to puke.
In a stroke of brilliance, we decide to try out Grouse Mountain. Yeah, for the first run of the day we went down a run known as "Screech Owl". That bastard was something. A black diamond that was long, steep, and full of moguls. We picked and picked our way down. It seemed like it took forever. I had tightened up my boots, so my feet were killing me. I had also put on my fleece under my outer shell. In the previous days I had only worn a light sweater and long john top under my shell. It was supposed to be colder, so I put the fleece on, too. It was a bad move because I got way overheated. Through on top being super hungover, and I was absolutely miserable. When we got to the bottom, I immediately stripped off my fleece and put it in my backpack.
Jim is on top of things at Beaver Creek
We headed over to the main lift above the lodge to try some easier terrain. We found a good run called Harrier that we did a few times. The first time I thought I was not going to make it. In between Harrier runs, we did a groomer, which somehow made me feel better. Then we hit Harrier a few more times and I actually liked it. My hangover was passing, finally.
Towards the end of the day, it started to get cloudy. We thought about heading back and were on the way when we spotted a pocket of powder. Not being able to resist we went down the run. It was deep powder. I could stick my pole into it past the top of it. I fell once and just about got stuck for good because every time I put my hand down to push myself up, my hand just went into the snow up to my shoulder. Eventually, we got going again only to find that the run we had taken ended up in this thick copse of aspen trees. It was really tight. Jim crashed into a tree and lost his ski. I almost crashed. Will didn't have too much trouble. We rested for a minute and made an attempt to get out. We took it slow and eventually we all popped out.
Now it was really time to go, and it was blizzarding. We were at one end of the ski area and we needed to make it back to the other end. The most direct route according to the trail map was a long traverse. It turns out that it was quite flat. So flat in fact that you had to either pole or skate. It was snowing really hard, too. Somehow, we all just sucked it up and muscled our way past mob after mob of honkies. We learned the fine art of tucking whenever we could, too. After poling for what seemed like an eternity, we finally headed down the fall line and made it back to the shuttle. I was covered in snow, sweating profusely, and freezing at the same time.
After twenty minutes of hard poling and skating I need a beer!
We were all starving by the time we made it back to the car. It was decreed that we stop at KFC in Frisco to sate our hunger. We consumed mightily and pushed on back to our condo. The rest of the night we watched some TV and eventually went to bed exhausted.
Mar. 29th, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 4 |
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It was decided that we would go to Breckenridge. So it was up and at 'em early again. Being used to Eastern Standard Time makes getting up early in Mountain Standard Time a snap. None of us had been to Breckenridge before, so we didn't really have any idea where to go. A guy we rode the chairlift with at Keystone told us that Peak 10 was a good area to try. So we made our way over there. It was very similar to The Outback at Keystone. There were lots of huge groomers to race down as well as some more challenging terrain. We mainly stuck to the groomers again.
A photo op on the top of Peak 10 at Breckenridge
A couple notable things happened while we were on Peak 10. I was a gym (there's that word again) and dropped my pole from the chair lift. The majority of the chair was over the main run except for the part where my pole landed, fortunately. Also, on one ride up the chair, Jim and Will noticed a bill (as in money) blowing down the hill. It went into the trees on the side of the run, which they made a note of. On the way down they stopped where the bill went into the trees and sure enough they found it! It was a 20 dollar bill – enough for one round of beers on the mountain.
After a while we got tired of Peak 10 and decided to explore the rest of the mountain. It was very busy. We wound our way through honkies and across the hill. Way over on the Independence Chair it was near chaos. Good thing there were line sheriffs there to make some sense out of the maelstrom.
During our cross-mountain journey to the Independence Lift, we had noticed this T-bar that ended at the top of a humongous bowl near the top of Peak 8. It looked like it had some powder even thought it also looked very steep and windy. We decided to try it out so we boarded the T-bar and rode up.
I had never ridden a T-bar before. It is this 'T' shaped thingy dangling from a cable that is being towed up the hill. Two people get on either side of it and you put the cross piece behind your butt. It sort of drags you up the mountain. I soon found out why they didn't just have a chairlift. As I neared the top of the hill it got really windy. I mean blizzard kind of windy. Blowing snow and ice stung my face. It was freezing cold, too. People didn't spend a lot of time at the summit, that's for sure.
We skied along the top of the bowl until we found a suitable place to descend. Sure enough there was some powder, but it had a crust on it. Nevertheless, we made our way down it successfully. It was quite the thrill because it was steep with adverse weather conditions at the top.
After the run down the bowl, the consensus was to get something to eat. So we headed back over by the base of Peak 10 to eat at Ten-Mile Station. There we had more overpriced beer (the $20 bill came in handy here) and food. Again, it was sunny and warm. It was great. This is also where I sent the text message many of you received.
This would buy you a case of beer in Michigan. In Summit county, this is good for one round.
After relaxing for a bit, we headed back onto the slopes. We skied Peak 10 for a few runs and then went back to the top bowl. We made another couple of runs down the bowl in different spots. Then it was back to Peak 10 because it was less crowded. I had tons of fun ripping down the groomers there. When it was time to head back, we decided to take a treed (and moguled) run down the mountain. It was challenging, but we took our time and picked our way down.
We caught a shuttle back to our car and then headed back to our condo. We relaxed for a bit and then went to this place called Dos Locos in Keystone for diner. It was a Mexican joint where a bunch of locals hung out. We ate and then headed across the street to The Goat, which I mentioned earlier.
This time we went to the bar section and plopped down at the bar. Then the fun began. There was pool played and lots of PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) consumed. In addition, I think we had 4 or 5 shots a piece. These ranged from straight Jagermeister (I know, I know) to something the with pineapple juice that the bartender concocted. The bartender was a girl named Amy that we think liked Will, though nothing ever happened. Jim bought the hat off her head (it was a knit cap thing with The Goat logo on the front). We had fun bullshitting with Amy and some of the other people who were at the bar. I ended up buying a T-shirt and we all got stickers. Somehow we got off really cheap, too. I think Amy "forgot" to put a lot of things on the bill for us.
Jim sporting the hat he bought off the bartender's head
Eventually we made it home and Jim passed out on the floor, but not before he and Will had a beer can fight. There were beer cans everywhere in the morning. Will and I stayed up talking about my divorce for a while before we eventually went to bed, too.
Mar. 28th, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 3 |
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I got up around 7:00am and felt wonderful. It is amazing what 10 hours of sleep can do for you. This was our first ski day and we were all excited. We ate breakfast and headed to Keystone. We got there at about the time the lifts opened.
A quick note about parking at the various ski resorts. All the resorts, with the exception of A-Basin, had parking lots away from the actual hill. There was usually free parking and a free shuttle to pick you and your gear up and take you to the hill. Interestingly, I found out that there is a reason for this. As everyone knows, there are tons of condos and such surrounding ski resorts. The close parking lots were replaced by the condos. The parking lots are moved further and further away as more and more condos are built. I've heard a rumor that the resorts do not make enough on lift tickets alone to keep afloat. So they rely on real estate sales to make a profit. What happens when the real estate runs out? Who knows.
Our lift tickets were rather large tags that we attached to our clothing with zip tie-like things. They were good for 6 ski days over a 9 day period. They were for all the Vail resorts, which included Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge, and Arapahoe Basin. The lift tickets were a great thing because basically we could just get in the lift line without going to the ticket counter. At each resort, there were employees standing in lift lines with scan guns that scanned the bar code on our tickets. It beeped and they waved you on. Simple and convenient.
It was a gorgeous day with a bright sun and no clouds in the sky. We skied the front of the mountain first. We stayed on groomers and got our ski legs under us. Will and I had new skis and it took us a while to get used to them. For me, I had gotten the Atomic SX:10s. They were 170cm parabolic skis. Eventually, I got the hang of them and I loved them from then on. I found I could carve really well and take tighter turns than on my old fairly straight K2s. I was worried that they wouldn't handle speed very well. They did chatter when I tried to stop until I learned to put more weight on the front. My old longer skis were easier to turn if I leaned back on them, so learning to put weight forward was hard to do.
My new skis
After we got used to our skis, we made our way to the back of Keystone, called The Outback. This had a couple massive groomers and some mogul runs as well as an opportunity to go through some trees. We raced down the groomers for a while and eventually got hungry. So we went to Labonte's Cabin, which was at the bottom of the North Peak. There were Adirondack chairs scattered about and a terrible cover band playing. And by terrible I mean that I could have sung better if I was falling down drunk.
It was sunny and fairly warm. We got some beers (14 oz Fat Tires for $5.00 a piece) and some grub (like $8.00 for a burger). We took a break for about an hour or so before getting back to the task of skiing.
Beer, snow, and sun at Keystone
We hit The Outback again and somewhere in there managed to ride the gondola. I had never ridden a gondola before. It was interesting. It was slower than a chair lift, but it was warm. If the weather was nasty, I could see that the line would be ridiculous for it. Around 4:00pm or so we had enough and caught a shuttle back to our car.
Jim had a Camelbak backpack. It was a smallish backpack with a Camelbak water bladder integrated in it. In the dry mountain air and sunshine, proper hydration is key. I was feeling a little off after the day of skiing. I think I was dehydrated because I drank a liter of water in record time when we got back to the car. I made Will stop at Pioneer Sports again so I could pick up a water bladder. I got a 1.5L bladder and rigged it to my backpack I brought. It worked well, even if it looked a little odd. Actually, a lot of people had either a backpack, Camelbak, or a combination like Jim had. It made the chairlifts a little sketchy because you couldn't sit back. It kind of felt like you were going to fall off. Good thing a lot of them had a bar you could put down with leg rests.
Back at the condo, we relaxed for a bit and watched MSU beat Kentucky and advance to the Final Four and drank a few beers. Jim and I noticed that Will's face was extremely red. It seems that he didn't want to put on any sunscreen. So he got absolutely fried – to the point of getting blisters. Sunburn is something to be especially careful about in the mountains. First, you are higher up and have less of the atmosphere to shield you from the UV rays. Second, the UV light is reflected off the snow and up onto your face. So the result is that you get tons of exposure VERY quickly.
Why you should always wear sunscreen when in the mountains
After the game, we wanted to try a local place in Frisco for dinner, so we decided on the Backcountry Brewery. They had a great IPA (my favorite) and delicious pork tenderloin.
When we got back to our condo, we all wandered off to bed fairly quickly.
Mar. 27th, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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| » Colorado Trip - Day 2 |
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Around 4:00am MST we got to Denver. At 4 in the morning, there wasn't much traffic at all, so we tore right through it. I was kind of dreading going through Denver. The last time I was there Erin and I explored the city because we were seriously thinking of living there. Anyway, we started to climb the Front Range and immediately hit a near whiteout. It was snowy and foggy to the extreme. You could not see 5 feet in front of the car. We wisely pulled off on at El Rancho. We stopped at a gas station and got a donut and some coffee and contemplated what we should do. It was decided that we should wait until the sun came up and the weather quieted down before proceeding. We couldn't check into our condo until 3:00pm, so we had plenty of time to kill because were about 1 and a half hours away.
It was about 5:00am MST and a McDonalds was just opening luckily for us. We went in and got some breakfast and coffee and chilled out for a while. Soon other people trickled in. You could tell they were heading for the ski hills because they all had ski carriers on their cars. These two old guys were one of the first people in the restaurant after us. They kept talking about how great such-and-such a ski hill was. I think at least one was a snowboarder because he was demonstrating riding a snowboard in the restaurant. We just wanted them to leave because we were tired and annoyed – not necessarily in that order.
At maybe 6:30 or so we shoved off for Frisco, CO. The trip from El Rancho to Frisco was pretty quiet, as the storm has gone away and it was light out. Knowing we were very early, we stopped at the Wal-Mart in Frisco to look for sunglasses, disposable cameras, and other random items. We didn't find any suitable sunglasses so we went to Pioneer Sports just next door. Jim and I were successful in our quest for sunglasses there. We hopped back into the car and found the check in place to see if by any chance we could check in early. By the way, it was about 9:00am at the time and check in time was 3:00pm. We were denied our request and so found ourselves with about 6 hours to kill. It should also be noted that all of us were walking zombies. That is what 17 hours in the car and very little sleep will do to you.
For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to get drunk somewhere. So we went to the local Safeway and bought some beer, water, breakfast food, and some munchies. Will drove us to Keystone, which is not too far away. We hopped out of the car and stared at the slope for a while. If I hadn't been so tired, I would have put on my boots, grabbed my skis and headed onto the hill. But I was utterly exhausted, so it didn't happen. Instead we drove to this little tiny "town" called Montezuma. By town I mean a little cluster of houses with an outhouse on the side of the street.
We are walking zombies at this point. Zombies who want to ski!
In Montezuma they provide for the tourists needs
Now, Montezuma is not much more than a collection of shacks (not kidding) on this dead end road. We took some pictures and drove around a bit. Will pointed out a shack that his friend used to live in and that he stayed in. I couldn't believe someone lived there. Anyway, so we made our way back to Keystone, but stopped on the way at this cross-country ski trail. We were bored, so we decided to go for a walk. I found some aviator style sunglasses for Will on a sign post. We walked the trail for a bit and took some pictures. We got cold and tired, so it wasn't long before we headed back to the car.
Will showing off his cool shades I found hanging on a sign
It was now about lunch time so we went back to Keystone and Will suggested we eat at a place called The Goat. It was pretty quiet in there, so we found a table and ordered some drinks and food. The Goat had some fine looking servers... We stayed there a while and killed time drinking and talking to the bartender and servers. Around 1:30 or so we decided we had better leave before we got too hammered.
A guy at the bar mentioned that you couldn't buy beer the next day because it was Easter. So, not knowing better, we went across the street to a liquor store and bought a 30 pack of PBR and two six packs of microbrew. This was to be unnecessary because it turns out that Easter was pretty much like any other day. Most everything was open.
Will said he knew of a scenic spot to take some pictures of Lake Dillon and the mountains. He took us to this little park and we walked a quarter of a mile or so to a nice lookout spot. We got some pretty good pictures there. It was discovered that the snow downhill from the path was exceptionally deep. So, logically, Will and Jim decided to jump into it. There are some great pictures of Jim doing a face plant into the snow and Will leaping off a picnic table.
Jim decides to get up close and personal with the mountain
Strangely, they got cold and so we headed back to the car. I stopped to take some more pictures while they kept walking. On the way back to the car, I came across the word "Gym", which was peed into the snow, which I took a picture of.
Gym leaves his mark
"Gym" was Jim's nickname. It is pronounced "gime" (rhymes with "time"). It is from a Simpsons episode where Homer sees a big sign on a building that says "Gym". Well, old Homer says something like, "'Gym'? What the hell is a 'gym'." Except he pronounces it like I described above. He goes into the building and sees people working out and goes, "Aahhh, 'gym'." Again, with the funny pronunciation. Anyway, so "gym" was also used as, "Don't be a gym". As in "Don't be a jerk/ass/moron/etc". Maybe you had to have been there.
On the way back to town we stopped a little pull-off that gave the names of various mountains. It was interesting, but ultimately irrelevant to this story. We had a little more time to kill after the scenic park so we decided to find our condo. We found it with little trouble. From the outside it looked like your average row apartment building with private doors. Ours was on the first floor, thankfully. It sucks to carry your ski gear up stairs. We drove around the little subdivision for a while and tried to see how close we could get to a mountain. Turns out there was a freeway between us and the mountain. Hey we were super tired. Also, in case you were wondering, not many of the beers we bought were consumed as we were driving around.
Finally it was about 3:00pm. We went to the check in place and Will went in to get us all squared away. I promptly fell asleep for about 5 minutes while he was inside. It was 5 minutes of pure bliss. We drove back to our condo and unpacked everything.
Our condo wasn't the biggest place in the world, but it suited three guys for 6 days just fine. It had a living room with a TV, VCR, and DVD player. On top of the TV was a metal cowboy hat. Metal! The place had a fireplace (a real one, not a gas one). There was a couch, three chairs, and a drum. I kid you not, there was a drum made out of a hollowed out tree branch with rawhide head. There was a dining room with a table and bookshelves lining the walls. The kitchen was a small galley style, but it had all the essential appliances such as a microwave, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and the all important coffee maker. It had two bedrooms. The master had a queen bed and its own bathroom. The other bedroom had two twin beds and a vanity. Will claimed the master because he did the leg work to put the trip together. So Jim and I shared the second bedroom.
The entire condo was decorated in Southwestern style from the 1980s. Teal and pink were prevalent as were gaudy knickknacks. We thought the owners were from Wyoming and, at any rate, must have been quite the cowfolk. It was quite ridiculous, but since we each paid around $600 for six nights and 6 lift tickets we didn't complain too loudly.
Once we got situated, we got real lazy real quick. We searched the phone book for pizza places that delivered to Frisco. We got lucky and found a Dominoes that did just that. When we got our pizza we ate quickly, had a couple beers, and hit the hay at about 9:00pm. It was early (well actually it was 11:00pm EST), but we had been up for a long time with little sleep. At the end, we just kept from shooting each other.
Mar. 26th, 2005 @ 11:00 pm
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