Suffrage

Before long, this man will be making my life very miserable but the reward at the end of it all should be worth it.

I will spend several hours hiking up a mountain similar to this one in order to make one run on my snowboard.

After that, however, I will be enjoying some relaxation and icy cold beer.  It will be well worth the pain and suffering I will endure.  I guess that's why they call it earning your turns.

Silly Rabbits

So I'm back from my little internet hiatus.  I will say that I've got much faster, consistent, and better service than I did before, and it's totally worth it.  Sure I'm spending a little more money but now I'm co-habitating with my lady friend so she's helping to pay for it, which is okay by me.  Anyway, since I've got my interwebs back I'm able to continue sending my wisdom to the world.

After many long weeks of work and many long weekends getting the house "organized" for the big move (i.e. the co-habitation), I had a weekend off.  Fortunately, B-Diddy was also hosting the annual rabbit camp.  I took this as an opportunity to enjoy some time out in the woods with guys hanging out at the cabin telling lies, playing cards, and having a few beers.  Also, we were doing so ice fishing and rabbit hunting but that almost seemed secondary.  

To some things up, we ate a lot of really good food that basically consisted of meat being put on a smoker (no vegetables to been seen) and there was a lot of it.  We had pork shoulder, goose, scrapple, bacon wrapped sausage, cheese, and there was also a rabbit that was freshly harvested.  It was all extremely delicious and lots of fun.  Unfortunately I didn't take any rabbits but I had fun blowing through two boxes of shells shooting clays.  Sometimes it's not about the hunt, but more about the time spent hanging out with friends.  

Take Five

No I'm not referring to the late great Dave Brubeck, I'm referring to me, taking a possible break from this little rant I've got going on.  See, for a while now, I've been having issues with my internet service.  While I'm not going to name any names or point any fingers, I will say that the consistency of the connection was less than ideal.

To make a long story short, I had two technicians come to my house, spent hours on the phone with technical support, spent hours on the phone with customer service, and at the end of the day it was going to cost me more to reduce my speed (which I was told would fix my problem).  I took this as a sign that it might be time to part ways with my service provider.  As you might imagine, that was no easy process either.

Now, I'm in the process of getting new internet hooked up, which seems like it is taking more effort than I anticipated.  One service call for installation resulted in the technician telling me that I needed a new line run from the pole to my house, and that he would have to come back later to make that happen.  Apparently it was too late in the night and too cold for him to climb the pole.  I guess the techs don't like working in the dark when it's 18 degrees outside.

So for now, I'm "borrowing" internet from someone in my neighborhood.  It's not the most convenient situation but it works for now.  Of course, this might cause me to miss a post or two in the coming weeks.  But for now, thanks "adam", whoever you are, for letting me use the tubes to get this post up.

Stank-olia

Over the past weekend, the SC saw a solid week of chilly temperatures.  When I say chilly, I mean wicked cold; like highs in the low teens.  These were the kinds of temperatures that made it hard to breathe if you were outside and made you not want to be outside at all.  It was also the kind of weather that is ideal for keeping (and making) snow on the slopes.  Luckily for me, the was my weekend to be on shift (trying) to keep all the patrons safe.  

My schedule called for me to be at the mountain from open to four pea em on Saturday (a seven hour shift) and the entire day on Sunday (plus two hours of training after) which made for an eleven hour day.  Luckily, conditions were ideal, which meant I was on my board for a majority of the time.  Also however, to keep things interesting, I hiked for a few turns too.  This, unfortunately meant that I was sweating; a lot.

I'll put it to you this way: I really only have one solid set of base layers that I wear when I'm on the mountain.  When the conditions are good I ride my board as much as I can.  This also means that I'm going to get really warm in my gear, regardless of how cold it is.  When you add in the hikes you only increase the bodily warmth by a factor of three (at the minimum).

So there I was, wearing the same kit for two straight days, for eighteen hours on the slopes, for (at least) four hours of before and after time, for way longer than I should have without any semblance of cleaning in between wears.  As you can imagine, I was/am beyond ripe.  Luckily, I have a girlfriend that doesn't care about how (bad) I smell.  And fortunately for me, she spent her first day on the slopes and didn't hate it.  

What's in a Name

Lately I've been feeling like this blog is kind of a sham.  It started out as one thing, but really never materialized in that regard.  Instead I've talked about just about everything other than stacking cheddar (or any variety of cheese for that matter).  I don't know if this is because I just don't have the energy to come up with new topics that revolve around the snowboarding radicalness that I like to portray, or some other reason.  I have a few thoughts so in no particular order, here is a list.

01 -  I'm too old to really be "hip" in the snowboarding world

02 -  The snowboarding industry isn't quite as lame as I once thought

03 -  I have a girlfriend that doesn't let me have fun

04 -  I lie about my girlfriend not letting me have fun

05 -  I just don't care enough to spend the energy

06 -  There hasn't been enough snow for me to consistently ride

07 -  I don't like cold weather

08 -  I'm too slothy to pull off radical maneuvers

09 -  I'm too scared to try radical maneuvers

10 -  My gear is too old to be radical

Anyway, I could continue with a boring list of things but I'm not.  I just know that this blog is going in a different direction.  If this continues, maybe I'll have to change the name to "Stacking the Couch."  Fortunately though, there has been good snow lately and it actually feels like winter in that it's been wicked cold.  Hopefully it keeps up so I can get in some quality slope time and maybe get back some of that awesomeness that I once had (seriously, I really did).

Equations

So I've never been very good at math but I do enjoy it.  Specifically, I like the word problems.  Here's a little equation that I recently found myself working on.  It goes something like this:

What do you get when you take a lot of snow and add a lot of warm air and rain?  While the answer might seem obvious, it's not as simple as you would think.  In some cases, the product of this little problem is different depending on who is trying to solve it.  For me, the result tends to equal depression.

See, the weather here in the SC was just getting to the point where the slopes were open and operating nicely.  It was plenty cold and we had some help from Mother Nature with a bit of early season snow.  Now, all we get is mud, bare spots, limited slope availability, and a season that almost was.   

Sure there is cold weather on in the forecast and the slopes will bounce back, but it's tough to really get motivated about a ski season when your standard February warm spell hits in January.  Granted, it's still early and there are plenty of weeks of possibility for another coating of natural but at this point, I would just take an extended cold snap that will allow us to get back to what we all look forward to in the winter; skiing, snowboarding, and building the occasional snowman.  

Digging Trenches

After a nice long summer and a festive start to the new year, it's been plenty cold for the past several weeks and the local ski hill has enough snow to cut some serious turns.  Of course the ten inches of fresh that Mother Nature provided wasn't bad either.  With that in mind, I spent my first few days on the slopes patrolling.  In fact, this past weekend was one of my shifts and, as the sun was slowly sinking beyond the hills, Ieva managed to snap a few sweet pics.  This is one of those.  I don't really see the need to clog up the rest of this post with a bunch of pointless words so I'll leave you with that.

Ring - a - Ling

Well, I don't have much to say except today is the last day of 2012 and the eve of the beginning of 2013.  It's been a long year a lot has happened but it's finally over and a new year can start.  I'm ready to get in going as big things are on the horizon for 2013.  Hopefully I'll have lots of great updates for everyone and lots of interesting posts to read.  Some of them may even be true.

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Sleepy Time

With the chaos that is the holiday season looming close (as we sit on the eve of Christmas) I decided to make a trip to visit my parents.  As with most holidays, all of my siblings and their families would also be joining us.  This means that no less than 18 people may or may not be staying in a house that was originally built to provide shelter for about five.  This means several things, with the most important (in my opinion) being identifying suitable sleeping arrangements for everyone.  

While this may seem like an easy proposition, it's more difficult than you might imagine.  For the most part, the shorties will sleep anywhere; in a tree, under a table, in a chair, you name it, they will sleep.  I, on the other hand, prefer a bit more in my sleeping need.  No I don't require a big fluffy bed, but one thing that is critical for me is have the space cool or even cold.  I cannot sleep in the heat, and with 18 people (as noted earlier) in the same house with the food being cooked constantly, that tends to raise the overall temperature of the home quite significantly.  

With this in mind, I began to search my parents' house for the most suitable location for me to get in a solid night of sack time.  For reference, the house is a one story ranch with a basement.  This means that the main floor is obviously out (because it reaches temperatures upwards of 75 degrees).  The kids typically play in the basement so the heaters are cranked to make sure it's warm enough.  I was running out of options.

As I walked onto the porch to grab another beer and ponder my options, it hit me.  I was going to sleep on the porch.  After a little searching for adequate sleeping materials I managed to put together a fairly decent bed.  It wasn't the best, but an old military sleeping bag, a few seat cushions, and a pillow provided me with one of the best nights of sleep I've had at my parents house in a long time.

Grab On

So a couple of posts ago, I mentioned (and included a picture) my wicked awesome new handlebar mustache.  Over the past few weeks of having said awesome handlebar mustache I've received a lot of mixed reactions.  That is, some people really like it and some people really don't.

While I haven't been conducting an actual survey, I think it's fair to say that the women I've asked typically don't like it (but aren't surprised that I have it).  This (unfortunately) includes my girlfriend.  On the other hand, I've received a lot of compliments from guys that think it's fantastic.  In most cases, these accolades have been unsolicited, but I'll take all the positive feedback I can get.  

I think it generally breaks down like this: the ladies don't like it because I look like a 70's porn star (not my analogy) even though I've done nothing to encourage this comparison.  The guys like it because they either can't grow a solid mustache or they aren't allowed to grow one.  I can only assume their significant others exert more influence over them than mine.  

As the weather continues to change and the cold air moves in I think I'll have to give up the mustache and grow back the beard.  It will be more comfortable when I'm on the slopes this year  and quite possibly (and more importantly) there will be one less reason for my girlfriend to question what she's doing with me.  

Interruptus

Since the inception of this blog, I have been very diligent about posting something every Sunday evening.  Sure there have been some exceptions here and there but that has usually been because I was out of town or it was a holiday or something significant.  It didn't matter if I had something interesting to say or not, I still posted.  

This past Sunday was one of those rare exceptions to the rule.  As you're probably aware, today is Monday and I'm just now posting.  I would like to say that I had some grand reason for the delay but the simple matter is that I didn't have internet service at my house.  That's right; the reason why I didn't post yesterday was because my internet was down and I didn't have the motivation to go somewhere else just to get service.  After all, was this post really worth running around in the middle of the night to some cafe just to upload a post?  I think not.

Declines

As noted in my previous post, last weekend was the 30th running of the infamous Dirty Dozen.  I survived the ride and managed to make it up all the hills without falling (but not without issue).  Ever since the ride however, I've felt very unmotivated and very sluggish and I'm not sure why.

In the past when I've done big ride weekends or been in races where I'm redlined for an extended period of time,  I've had a few days of lethargy and then I'm back to normal.  This past week has been a complete departure from that way of feeling.  I've spent the entire week being exhausted without reason.  I've been asleep (usually on my couch) several hours earlier than I normally fall asleep.  It's even gotten to the point where I'm having trouble getting out of bed (and not because I don't want to go to work).  

I realize a lot of this is trivial and I should be back to normal before long.  Soon I'll be riding again (as long as the weather permits).  Soon I'll be staying up late during the week.  And maybe, just maybe I'll grow my beard back thus getting rid of the super awesome mustache that I'm getting a bit too comfortable with.   

30 Dees

This past Saturday was the 30th running of a little known "race" up thirteen of the steepest hills in Pittsburgh.  The reason I put the word race in quotations is because the Dirty Dozen is only a race for about ten people and a day of survival for the rest.  This year was my third running and, in true DD fashion, there were cold temperatures, lots of windy spots, and snow.  Fortunately for me, because of road construction one of the hills was not on the route so we were down to only twelve hills, but that was still going to be about eleven more than I actually wanted to do.  

Like all good DD mornings I was a basket of nerves.  The day itself was going to be no different than the previous two years except I was on a new bike with different gearing, I was well under prepared physically, and the road conditions due to the weather were a general unknown (when a significant portion of steep riding is on slippery or icy roads, things can go seriously wrong).

The long and short of the day was this:  It snowed on and off almost the whole day and the temperatures hovered in the mid thirties (so it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick).  Riding as hard as you can to get up a hill makes you hot and sweaty.  Standing on top of a hill when you're hot and sweaty makes you very cold.  Slippery roads lead to lots of falls and wrecking (fortunately not for me).  

I learned a few things on this ride.  The first thing I learned was that I need to be in better shape if I plan to ride my current bike up these hills again next year.  The second thing I learned was that riding up really steep hills wears down your arms almost as much as your legs.  The third thing I learned was that mustaches are not as warm as beards.  The last thing I learned, and possibly the most important, is that if you're going to fall over in a slippery corner, make sure Jerry isn't there to see it because he'll yell at you loudly to go back to the bottom and ride the hill again.  After all, those are the rules.

T - Minus...

With time running out, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will not be in the shape I was hoping to be in for the impending DD.  Since the shape I am currently resembles a pear, I am going to change my plans and prepare for a more intense degree of pain than I want.  It seems to just make sense.

The way I figure it, I'm not going to be racing nor did I ever have plans to make it a race.  There are plenty of faster people than me to take care of that issue.  As long as I can keep turning the pedals over I'll be fine.  It just might take me longer than I really want.  Fortunately though, hill six is currently under construction so it's not in play.  That means I will only need to climb an even dozen hills.

I think I'm only fooling myself into thinking that twelve hills instead of thirteen will somehow be easier,  but I'll take any little mental breaks I can get.  In reality, I'll probably suffer more because of this little notion but only time will tell.  I just hope the weather is nice so I can enjoy some aspect of the day.

Train Wrecks

So I'm just under two weeks from my third installment of the DD and suffice it to so say, I'm a touch worried.  I'm worried about my bike, I'm worried about the weather, but most importantly, I'm worried about how out of shape I currently am.  This is supposed to be the year I get the dot next to my name in Chew's big book of DD's, but that only happens if I finish.  

See, earlier this year, before I went on my little junket to Florida, I was riding the hell out of my bikes.  I had spent the winter on my trainer trying to get in shape and had been logging solid miles for several months.  Some of my friends even thought I was too skinny; which was a compliment for me.  Then, after a week on the beach drinking margaritas and rolling a cruiser around the islands, I returned to reality and got both fat and lazy.  Yeah that's right, both (but at least my neck is still tight).

Now, I'm doing all I can to eek out some semblance of a training program in the last week and a few days before I embark on suffer-fest 2012.  With any luck I'll make it through this year's event without any significant issues but at this point I'm only 62% optimistic of that occurring.  Fortunately for me, this year there will only be twelve hills on the course as one of them is under construction.  This is beneficial in that I won't have as much pain inflicted upon me, but it might also mean that I don't get my dot.  After all, if it's not the full course, I didn't really do it.  That would be the most painful part of all...

Branching Out

So I've decided to start my own business.  While I'm not quitting my 9 to 5er just yet, I am in the initial stages of planning this little venture.  As with most good companies, the hardest part about getting the ball rolling is coming up with a cool name.  

I spent a goodly part of this past weekend trying to figure out what would be a good name for a business.  After all, there are plenty of bad names already taken and I want to make sure the name I choose has just the right amount of coolness, description, and room to play.  I'm trying to use words that aren't too boring but yet aren't so big that the overall name is difficult to say let alone spell (especially since I'm a terrible speller).  

Ultimately though, it's not just the words that are chosen for the name.  You also have to take into consideration how the name might appear in a logo and let's not forget the type of initials a name could end up with.  I would be willing to bet that the Sink Hole Investigation Technologies, LLC. or Delta Industrial Cyber Kinetic Solutions, Inc. would be okay with different initials for their letterhead.  

Maybe someday I'll be able to parlay this little venture that I'm considering into something big that will allow me to enjoy additional free time throughout my day and let me work my own schedule.  I'm not setting a timeline for this just yet because there is still a lot of initial work that needs to be done.  Someday though, I'll hopefully be able to turn this into the best job of all; an early retirement.

Frankenstorm

So if you live anywhere on the east coast and you have not battened down the hatches; stocked up on cases of canned soups and other non-perishable foods; set aside no less than 27 gallons of water; then you are not ready for Frankenstorm.  What is Frankenstorm you ask?  I'll put it to you like this:  imagine if a hurricane, a tornado, a tsunami, and a dust devil all went out and got really drunk on water.  Then, after waking up very slowly, they stumbled around puking up rain everywhere they looked.  It would be a little more severe than that.  

While I have no plans to build an arc, I'm not counting that out as an option.  Schools in the area are already closing, refuse pick-up is already being rescheduled, and storm drains are being cleared in anticipation of the deluge that is about to ensue over the next several days.  The weather people are predicting significant rain and wind over the next several days and possible power outages for the about a week.  

While it's too early to tell what is actually going to happen, by tomorrow we should either be in the thick of it, or cursing the weather folks for convincing me that I needed to buy those 200 cans of sardines "just in case."  Either way, I'm hoping to survive the onslaught and make it through to next week with little water to bail out of my basement.  

The Greatest Place on Earth

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I spent last weekend in the 'burgh.  While it was a really great weekend filled with lots of activities, there was only one thing I was looking forward to doing while there.  I have been in the market for some new furniture lately so I figured while I was in a city of significant size, I would visit IKEA.  

For those of you not familiar with IKEA, first I'd like to say I'm sorry because you don't know what you're missing.  I'll describe it like this; imagine that some Swedish folks got inside your head and created furniture and living utensils that were exactly what you would design if you had a stitch of creativity.  Granted, they don't have EVERYTHING you could imagine but it's fairly close.  Most of it  comes flat packed with an instruction book that contains an adorable cartoon man to guide you through the assembly of your chosen piece of furniture.  

Anyway, so last weekend, even though I has mere minutes away from IKEA I was thwarted in my efforts to get there.  That's a story in itself but the bottom line is that I didn't get to go.  Instead, I decided to drive to Baltimore this past weekend and check out that IKEA.  While most people think that the SC is a hip an metropolitan town, it's really not.  Therefore it does not qualify for the type of location that would host an IKEA.  Thus, I drove to Baltimore and visited some friends and family along the way.  

The upside to the trip (besides having my parents treat me to sushi); I was able to pick out some sweet new pieces for my house.  The downside, I'm going to have to drive back to Baltimore to get it.  I realize that seems like a gigantic hassle just for a few bits of pressed wood that I have to assemble myself, but let's face it, those Swedes really have this whole home furnishings thing figured out. 

A Practice in Lists

So this post is a day late from my normal schedule because I was traveling this weekend.  I spent a few days down in the 'burgh with Jerry and Bunny just to unplug for a few days and enjoy some time away from the SC.  We rode bikes and talked about future plans for travel and did some sightseeing around the city (even though I've seen most of the sights already).  

One thing we discussed was the upcoming DD.  This came up because I've been a bit less than aggressive in my training for this little event.  In particular, before this weekend I hadn't been on a bike in about three weeks; since my wreck.  Because of this, I jotted down a few things that I need to make sure I take care of between now and then.  In no particular order here is my list:

1)     Ride - (although this seems obvious, I need to write it down just so I don't forget)

2)     Get my bike ready - (why you might ask?  See the reason above)

3)     Shave off about 10 lbs - (some might dispute the need for this but I think it will help)

4)     Trim my beard - (this may help with number 3)

5)     Prepare to suffer - (this isn't so much for the ride as it is for the entire trip)

While this isn't an all inclusive list, it's a start.  I have a few weeks yet to work at this so I'll try to balance this list with the growing list of house projects that has been accumulating.  Sometimes it's not getting the list completed as much as it's getting a few items removed from the list.  Ideally it will be items one and three from above, but I'd be okay with completing any of this little "to-do."

Under Reaction

So two weeks ago I wrote about a little digger I took on my mountain bike.  It was nothing out of the ordinary for me as I've wrecked on my bike before and intend to wreck again (although I don't try to make that the outcome of any ride).  I was sore for about a week but after that all was well, or so I thought.

This past week I was driving home from the office when my phone rang.  It was my mother.  She was calling because she read that post and was worried about how I was doing and wanted to make sure I was okay.  When my mother inquired about my current condition, I began to laugh hysterically.  To this, I believe my mother was taken aback.  

First, she asked if I had made the whole thing up.  When I told her that I hadn't made it up, she asked why I was laughing.  What I found so funny about this exchange was the fact that while my mother was worried, she wasn't worried enough to call right away.  Instead, she waited about ten days before being concerned enough to inquire about my well-being.  For some reason I found this really funny.  

Sometimes I guess it's the little things that really matter and this complete lack of concern while being incredibly concerned was humorous to me.  In other news, Sean and Lucy had their baby.  A sweet little girl.  So congratulations guys for your new bundle of joy.  While I'm extremely elated for the new parents, I might have just lost a reader.