Way to be kicked while down…

Thursday I get offered some overnight shifts and I think to myself, I could use some cash, I’ll take some work.

“I can miss some skiing, the snow has not been that great.”

Friday night we start to get some real snow and decent weather and there I was working overnight, which means that first tracks on fresh snow is not possible for me.

Insult?  Why yes.  Yes it is.

I’m still so glad the snow is here though.  We really needed it…. although most of the people that have to drive in it tonight will disagree.

S.

Mid-Season Meltdowns….

As per the norm, the Midwest as has been rejoicing the warm weather as silently I die a little inside.

I hate the mid-season melt down.

It makes the snow into this wet sugar wet/sand mess and then it gets cold again making it a solid ice mess.  Then they groom it into a rice mess and then it warms up again making a whole new ice mess.

Then it snows.

Then we all ski on a thin layer of rice over ice until enough days go by that you’re not at risk of hitting something you can’t get your edge into if you really lay down on a turn.

Non-skier readers, I apologize.  This is my little posting for me really.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that it is snowing again today and that the temperatures are down again.  This is even despite the fact that softened up dog poo in the yard has now refrozen into ice pucks like super glue to the ground after I only managed to get about a quarter of it cleaned up this week.

It can wait.  I’m pretty sure it will still be there in the spring.

Says me.

Vintage Ski Movies…

Recently the hold that I have had on Netflix let loose and I got a bunch of movies that I had forgotten were in my list.

Oddly enough, they were all vintage ski movies.  I’m not sure if that is the correct terminology for movies made in the 60’s through the 80s, but regardless…

I have been watching these movies in fits and bursts.  Initially it was just too weird to see 80’s and 90’s hero’s on straight sticks tumbling down hills and calling it good (I must admit that the day glow one piece suits didn’t help with my attention span), but then I popped in a movie called, “The last of the Ski Bums” from 1967 and discovered heaven.

These movies have great music, epic snow footage, some kind of Monkee’s madness montage stuck in and occasionally matching outfits.  The ski bum movie is narrated by a guy with a keen sense of humor and the acting barely counts.

As the early 60s movies turn to late 60s/early 70s movies you get things like t-shirt contests that would make your mom blush and guys who in their 20s look like they are in their 40s. (See K2’s promo video, The Performers for 30 minutes of sheer nonsense.)

These classics are a must view for any skier needing something to refresh the season for them and to add a good laugh.

Happy viewing!

Says me.

I keep wondering…

what I’m supposed to be doing.

That in turn leaves me wondering if I’m missing something pretty obvious, and… well…

large.

So, if you know me pretty well, and have seen me not clued into something I should really be clued into…

now is a good time to tell me.

Thanks much.

Sarah

Simple math….

Walking my geriatric old man dog is an exercise in patience and leisure. There is no great distance to be reached… there will be no land speed records broken.

A slow saunter down around the block and back is about all he can muster with his bad hip and arthritic joints.

We don’t walk past the driveway on days that are foul weather.

My dad’s dog, who happens to be in my charge for a few months, is a whole different adventure.

She runs circles around me while she walks. She seeks out puddles, points everything, charges things that move and is constantly trying to lasso me with her leash.

I’m under the impression that 2 dogs are 4 times as much work as one dog and I am merely a player in their little dog entertainment games.

S.

I went to Colorado…

Last week I flew to Colorado on a plane.

I rented a car from one of the worst customer service representatives I have witnessed in years, Steve, at the Avis counter that we got to by taking a shuttle bus driven by an entertaining and happy man.

I drove a Chevy Cobalt, 4 cylinder, silver, 4 doors, that they gave to me out of that lot and straight towards the mountains where I proceeded to become a total idiot for 6 whole days.

I forgot things I have known for years.

Reports I run every week completely slipped my mind until days after they were due.

Time, or at least the knowledge of it, evaded me for days and sleep eluded me like I forgot how it worked even though I was exhausted beyond my own comprehension.

I saw vistas that could bring tears to your eyes.  I rode chair lifts that would scare the dooders out of Paul.  I sat in gondolas with men that have more money than anyone I know personally, and I had a few beers.

I went up the hill on my butt, and I came down the hill not on my butt.

I sat in a hot tub until my legs steamed when I finally emerged.

No one had put my dog to sleep while I was gone, or crashed my car without my knowing it.

Overall I would say that the trip was a success.