Warren Miller: Children of Winter

I just bought tickets to see this on Saturday.





Check out www.warrenmiller.com for more info.

Opening Day at Vail

It was a blue-bird day last Friday, and I enjoyed every minute of it while I was outside. Vail opened and I couldn't resist spending some time on the slopes with my friends. Since then, I have skied every day except for Saturday. Instead of skiing, I started the new trabajo by getting stuck in an elevator for 30 minutes. Fun stuff. Back to the skiing - we just took a few runs on Born Free because it was about the only run that was open. At the top of Born Free with Karen and Adam (I'm on the far right).

Sillyness on the lift.

Tomorrow is opening day for Beaver Creek. I plan to ski here at Vail because my office is 100 yards from the lift and I don't feel like driving over there. Hopefully some of the crowds will migrate over to Beaver Creek so I can get on the lifts quicker. Either way I'm going to try to ski every day until I start my new job in mid-December.

Think snow, because we need it BAD!

Morning Ride

This morning was supposed to be a ski morning for some friends and me, but due to the 50 degree weather all week, we decided to cancel. Instead I went on a quick bike ride up to Beaver Creek Village. It. Was. COLD. My fingertips went numb after riding less than a half mile. I even had gloves on. Apparently they weren't good enough. Nor were my socks because my toes all fell off. A pretty ugly sight indeed. I checked the temperature when I got home and it had only risen to the low 20's... and the sun was still struggling to break through the clouds. Next time I'll make sure to were better gloves and get foot warmers. Oh... nevermind... no foot warmers needed since my toes fell off. Looks like I'm all set!

The New Job

As I stated in my last post, I got a new job! I will be working for Thul Electronics. They are a home electronice integration company. They do everything from home theaters, to alarm systems, to lighting, to a/c. I will start by helping install the home theater systems and see where I want to go from there. I'm thinking sales or programming are good routes, but we'll see. Since I told my boss I would be here until mid-to-late-December, I don't start until... mid-December. I can't WAIT!!!

I will actually be doing something that I have an interest in and I will not be sitting at a desk all day. Plus I will be able to PAY MY BILLS!!! WOOO HOOOOO!!!

I Bought an Epic Pass

Some may ask "why would you do that? You already get a free ski pass for working at the resort." Ahhh, my friend, you bring up a good point. But I don't think they will let me keep my pass after I QUIT!!! "How could you quit in an economy such as this?" I'll tell you. I got a job that pays better... MUCH better. And I'll enjoy the work alot more, too. Granted I won't be able to ski during the week like I have been, but paying my bills seems to be a little more important right now.

So hooray for a new job! I don't start for a month because I want to keep this job until my family comes to visit so they can use my free ski passes. HA!!! I'm so excited! Also, I'll be able to get in a decent amount of skiing before I leave this job. I'll post more about the new job later. Right now I am going to leave work because it is 5 o'clock in the p to the m.

BYE!

...That's What She Said

I have joined the group of those individuals promoting the resurgence of "...that's what she said" made popular again by one of my favorite shows, The Office.







Please leave a comment with the best line that was said before you blurted "...that's what she said."

Phone Angst

My phone is not making me happy. First of all, let me say that taking my phone was a mistake and I realize this. I went on a night-time, moonlight hike Saturday night. It was about 2 days after a full moon, so it was super bright. We hiked about 3/4 of the way up Beaver Creek before we turned around. One of our hiking partners just moved up here and wasn't handling the combination of altitude and cardio exercise very well. The two girls took off ahead but I stayed back with the newbie to make sure he was ok. The snowmaking machines were blowing away which made it hard to hear each other even from 10 feet away. The last thing I wanted to happen was for him to drop back, get altitude sickness or something, and us to be out of ear shot.

Anyways, I'm not sure what happened but when I checked my phone after we got back, it was in orgasm mode. I guess the keys were stuck because it kept typing "Uouououououououououou." Now it just chooses to work sometimes and not others. Come to think of it, it pretty much sounds like my phone has turned into... (insert joke here).

After pulling out the battery and SIM card several times and leaving them out, it still is not working a day and a half later. Don't know if it got wet from my leg sweat (I was wearing water proof wants so I know it wasn't from the outside... and get those dirty thoughts out of your head. I wasn't THAT excited about the hike.), frozen from the hike causing some kind of permanent damage, or if it took some kind of impact as we slid back down the hill. But the majority of the sliding was on my butt and the phone was in my front pocket.

Now I can pull the battery out, put it back in, and I may or may not be able to use it correctly for about 2 minutes. Sometimes it doesn't respond to me pushing any buttons, sometimes it won't register when I click the trackball in, other times it just laughs at me.

It's a Blackberry Curve 8310 and I have only had it since July. I decided to buy phone insurance after my last phone fiasco. Of course there is a $100 deductible to get my new phone replaced (probably with a refurbished model) and I can get a brand spanking new one online for only $80 (after rebates and re-signing a contract). Guess I'll be cancelling that insurance to save the $5/month.

That's all I got. Any suggestions?

On Writing This Blog

I was going to write a big long post explaining crap that has been going on in my life. At first I just started writing. Then I realized that it would be much more involved to clearly explain the chain of events that has led me to where I am... why I moved out here, why I was thinking of moving back to Austin, all the factors that would influence my decision. So I erased everything that I wrote and started over. Again I realized that to lay it all out without blabbing and confusing you like I usually do needed more organization. It was time to break out the outline.

I. Intro

II. Why I wanted to move to Colorado

III. Why I wanted to move back to Austin

...this is an assignment! I started to feel like I was back in school. My least favorite thing to do in school = writing assignments. "Forget this, I'm not in school for a reason!" While in school, either high school or college, I would work hard enough on every other assignment so I could still pass the class without writing a paper. Sometimes it bit me in the ass. I actually failed one class because of my aversion to writing. "So why am I doing it again for this post? Wait... why do I even keep this blog if I hate writing so much?!?! I certainly don't write here just to write. It's a way for me to tell my friends and family what's happening in my life and a record of my activities... right?"

Well if it's a way for me to write about the goings-on in my life, why don't I want to write about the most important goings-on in my life? (I know "the goings-on in my life" sounds weird but I like it). As my mom would say... because I said so. So there. I like rambling on sometimes. I like writing about my experiences sometimes. But if it comes to me feeling like it's a task, it's gone too far. All I can promise you is this, if I feel like sharing, I might. Otherwise I won't.

Because I said so.

Redemption

Not really redemption. I just went to ski conditioning and didn't make a TOTAL ass of myself. Rather than show off by kicking the boxing dummy, I stayed far away from him. I did however give him a light punch in the face as we were leaving. WHO'S A DUMMY NOW?!?!?!?! Probably still me.

Embarassing

I attended my second day of ski conditioning last Monday. I'm hoping that preparing for the ski season will help me with better technique and keep me skiing harder and longer... as long as I don't do stupid shit like I did on Monday.

I met the group at the gym and joined them for a fast paced walk on the treadmill. My left knee has been a bit sore since my 35 mile bike ride on Halloween, so I didn't want to hurt it by jogging/running. The girl on my right told me she saw me as I was walking in but didn't say anything because I was pretty far ahead. We don't have a membership to this place, so we have to sneak in. I was in the process of explaining that I was trying to act natural and not draw attention to myself as I was walking in when I stepped a bit too far to the right, off the treadmill. I barely caught myself before being tossed like a rag doll off the back of the treadmill. Just about everybody on that side of the gym turned to see what the commotion was, resulting in my beet red face.

After laughing it off, we went in the studio room to start our workout. Typically we set up 4 stations and rotate between them for 15 minutes. Rest for a few minutes, set up 4 more stations and rotate for another 15 minutes. Then comes core work. So after busting my butt working out, it was time to relax and go eat some wings at the Tap Room. Of course I couldn't leave before a bit of goofing off. In the corner of the room is one of those boxing dummies that you see in police training and stuff. They always make them look so mean.

One of the girls was kicking it and I took it upon myself to show her a little different technique (not that I know any). I showed her how to raise your leg with your knee bent and then extend your lower leg to impact the dummy. My first kick was great, right in the chest. Then I decided to go for the head. Mistake. I jumped up and ended up on my ass. I had to redeem myself so I tried it again. Only this time I jumped too high and managed to come down on the top of the head with my heel like a karate chop. Again resulting in Dan on his ass. I finally wised up and decided the end of a workout was not the best time to horse around. No need to strain something before the season even starts.

Shelf Road Climbing and Camping

I spent the end of last week and the weekend pursuing one of my passions... CLIMBING!!! During my last trip to Austin my friend touted the awesomeness of some climbing area and made me promise I would go before I move back to Texas. Since there is so much good climbing close to me, I couldn't see driving 3 hours to another area to climb. Yet, I decided to take my last summer vacation and head with my friend Alex to climb somewhere new. We chose to drive to Shelf Road (by Colorado Springs) and climb for a few days. Of course, Shelf Road just happens to be the place Alan had raved about. We stopped at a climbing area outside of Buena Vista on our way down. It was pretty cold out, but the rock was amazing. Our first route was around 85 feet long and used up almost all of the rope. We climbed one more route before succumbing to the lack of light and the approaching cold.

We rolled into the camping area around 8 p.m. and set up camp. There was only one other group when we arrived. It was wicked cold, got down to the teens. I turned into a caterpillar that evening as I cinched my mummy bag around my face, exposing only my nose and mouth to the bitter cold. As morning came, I shivered my way out of my cocoon and into my climbing attire.

The first two walls we chose to climb were not wise choices. They didn't get very good sun and the rock sucked the warmth right out of our hands. It's much harder to climb with ice fingers... I guarantee you. Later in the day we hiked across the canyon and found where we would climb for most of the remainder of the week. Cactus Cliff (as it is called) stayed in the sun almost all day and had a myriad of epic routes. You couldn't look at the wall without seeing at least 5 routes that cruised for miles up the perfect limestone.

We learned from the first day that we might as well just spend the whole time at Cactus Cliff in the sun. It was warm enough to climb with our shirts off before the clouds blew in that afternoon.

Jamming my hands into the sharp limestone cracks left my hands looking like a leper. I left my fair share of blood on the rock to get back at it.

Our final day of climbing led us to a different area with fewer people called the Menses Wall. The view was still gorgeous.

The first climb we chose was called Period Epic, followed by the walls namesake, Menses. It was named this because of the huge red streak that made its way down the route. We made our way up a few more before realizing on the route Lightdays, the theme of the route names. A bit disturbing, but funny none the less. If you don't get it, it may be for the better.

We couldn't have chosen a better group of days to climb during this time of year. Overall, the sky's were clear and the climbing was outstanding. I would almost consider living in Colorado Springs just to have easy access to the thousands of routes in the area.

Our Next President!

I'm not going to really say much about this, because I don't like shoving my political views in peoples face.... BUT... I couldn't be happier that this man is going to be our next president.

He may not be the most experienced man, all of his policies may not be the best, but he certainly has a way of getting people off their asses, motivated about changing our jacked up nation, and uniting our nation in a way that nobody has been able to in far too long. Here's to a better future!

Starting the Ski Season

Chris convinced me to join him last Sunday to pop our 08/09-ski-season-cherry. He didn't have to try very hard considering that he paid for my lift ticket to Loveland Basin. His only stipulation was that we had to leave early enough to get there for first chair (we weren't actually on THE first chair, but we were in line before the lift opened). Good thing I got an extra hour of sleep from the time change. It allowed me to recover a little bit from the defeat Texas suffered the night before. My friend was having her birthday party that night and the theme was "Black and White Party." People talked of going in tighty-whitey's and wife beaters or panda suits, but I opted for formal wear and my graduation gown. I arrived at the party just in time for the RedNecks to score a touchdown with one second left. Here was my reaction.

So, back to a lighter note, here was me the next day when we got on the lift.

If you closely examine my eyes and the expression on my face, you will see that my mood had improved considerably. It's hard for it not to when you have views like this are you are riding up the lift.

Chris and I always manage to have a good time whilst (yes, I said whilst) skiing. Especially on the lift. We often brake into song. Sometimes that may not be the best thing for the bleeding ears around us, but it certainly makes us feel better. Sunday was no exception. Our inspiration? A snowmaking machine called a Polecat.

In our grand tradition of ridiculousness, we came up with our own version of "What's New Pussycat?" It turned into "What's new Polecat... snooooooow snoooow snow."

Since we got there so early, we were able to enjoy great snow before the hordes arrived and the day warmed the soft powder into melting butter. I was a bit nervous at first to get back on my skis, but after a few runs my confidence returned in glorious fashion. Now I remember why I love skiing so much... bombing down the run and hitting little jumps along the way. Now I'm looking forward to as much skiing as I can get in this season.

Halloween Bar Hopping

Halloween came this year and I couldn't decide on a costume... or more accurately I couldn't come up with a costume that I wanted to wear. I got home from work and started racking my brain to come up with a good costume. Thought about being one of the brothers from Boondock Saints with Chris. Wasn't crazy about it and I didn't have a necklace with a cross. Writing a bunch of Celtic stuff on myself would have been fun though. Thought about keeping on the bike clothes I wore for my ride that day. Not original enough. Everyone up here is active and it would look like I had just finished a ride... which I did. Plus I smelled like a junior high locker room. Thought about wearing a black speedo and putting fake blood in my hair to be Greg Louganis. That would fulfill my ritual of being scantily clad, but I didn't feel like losing any appendages to frostbite. I had alot of other mediocre ideas, but nothing that stuck out.

Just as I was losing creative hope, I had an epiphany. I could put on a black trash bag and cut out a 'D' to tape on it... I could be a douche bag!

And so it was. We got our group together and planned out a night of bar hopping. Dish, The Gore Range Brewery, Rick and Kelly's, and E-town. I stuck to gin and tonic and rotated in water every few drinks... the water was clutch. It was pretty fun being in character as a d-bag. The sad thing is how well my rude comments and general douche-baggery was accepted. Here's an example of how much everybody enjoyed it.

Now that I think about it, I could have been this guy and had the same outcome.