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Finally got my brand spankin new pair of Volant Chubbs today after a stupid ordeal w/ FedEx. They sure don’t make it easy for people with jobs to rec’v packages. Seems the guy I bought them from decided it was important that the package be signed for in person. They attempted to deliver last Friday, and didn’t leave the package despite the fact I’d left a signature with a note on the door. Apparantly that wasn’t enough.

So I called FedEx and asked them to not attempt delivery again, and that I would pick them up after the weekend as I would be out of town. Of course the local FedEx depot isn’t open on Mondays. And, the days it is open, it’s not open past 3pm. doh! So I scheduled to pick them up during the day on Tuesday(today), requiring me to leave work.

I get back from Colorado Sunday evening, and of course there is another delivery notice. They had attempted to deliver again Saturday, despite my wishes that they just hold the package. So I called the main FedEx number again Monday morning and asked them to ensure that another delivery attempt would NOT be made on Tuesday – I planned to go pick up the package and didn’t want it mistakenly out on a truck. The nice lady sent another note to the local depot and suggested I call again Tuesday before I leave work to pick up the package to ensure it wasn’t on a truck.

So Tuesday morning I call again to ensure it doesn’t go out on a truck and I can pick it up. The lady at the main FedEx # is nice enough to transfer me to dispatch at the local depot. The local depot girl is also very nice – after I explain my situation, she goes out and stops the idiot driver that had once again loaded my package, and she pulled it from the truck and held it for me.

Anyhow, I’m now the proud new owner of fatty powder skis. Also got my new (used) binders from VolantAddict over at www.epicski.com. Now I just need to get up to Taos to The BootDoctors and get ‘em mounted and waxed. Hopefully be able to do that this coming weekend, before I leave for Ohio.

Why oh Why am I going to Ohio right at the beginning of ski season? Half the resorts in Colorado are opening this coming weekend, and I’ll be in flatland. Ohwell. Should come back to the hills to a couple of nice freshly tuned pairs of skis ready to make turns.

Yay halloween!

Went out with Hanna and her friend Vanessa. Hanna and I were a corpse groom and bride, and Vanessa was a crazy freaky looking dead clown of some sort. She looked pretty creepy.

I managed to get away with trick-or-treating with the girls, without anyone questioning my age at all! Managed to build a nice little stash of candy that’ll probably last ’til next year.

One lady asked if Hanna and I were a real bride and groom…When I replied “uhhh….no”, she then asked if we were boyfriend and girlfriend! We both walked away giggling, but didn’t give away either of our ages as she had just given me a handful of candy. Don’t think I’ll be able to get away with that much longer, but it was a lot of fun.

Couple Halloween pics here

Made my first turns of the season this weekend, yay!

Drove up to Colorado Friday after work. Long drive for skiing, but it’s October, and there be snow up there. Go up to Loveland pass about 11:30 and night and found a nice little pull off to sleep at. I found that my winter sleeping bag is actually quite cozy, and certainly warm enough for winter in the car.

Loveland was really great on Saturday. 2 runs open, and blowing snow on more. Wasn’t too crowded – never waited for a chair. And, it was snowing in the morning. Was gorgeous. I did get to realize exactly how out of shape I am. I also realized just how fucked up the edges on my Heads are – couldn’t hold an edge to save my life!

After leaving Loveland in the afternoon I drove by ABasin on my way to Silverthorne, and there was a huge line at the base for the single running lift – I heard from some snowboards whom I gave a ride up the pass that people were waiting 30-40 minutes in line. Yikes!

Decided to give ABasin a go for Sunday morning, because I knew I wouldn’t be skiing al day and didn’t want to plunk down for another day at Loveland (I’ve got a pass for ABasin). Turned out to be a great decision. Got there right at 8:30 and was in the first batch up the lift. They had just opened their second run and had been blowing snow on it for a couple days, so there was a nice 3-4 inches of man-made fresh, nice and soft. Was snowing again in the morning, another beautiful day.

Left the basin when lines started forming around 10:30, figured I didn’t feel like waiting and I’d get home in time to do laundry and eat a decent meal. Ended up making it home in 6.5 hours! That stretch between Raton and Santa Fe is great for really flying!

Having a bitch of a time with Fed Ex and getting my new skis delivered. The guy I bought them from decided to ship them requiring an in-person signature. So, they won’t take a signature release, and I was out of town over the weekend so couldn’t accept delivery. Of course the depot is not open Monday so I have to wait until Tuesday to pick them up, but they’re only open til’ 3pm! On top of that, the depot doesn’t seem to have received the message to hold them, so they may very well end up on a truck Tuesday morning which would prevent me from picking them up – and of course no-one will be at the house to accept delivery and sigh. ugh!

I did however get my nice, low end, non-spendy marker binders w/ the wide brake in the mail over the weekend. They’re not much to look at, but they were the right price, and they’ll hold the skis to my feet which is what really matters.

Didn’t go to picture crazy this trip, but the few shots I got are up in the gallery HERE

More ITIL training today. Oh joy!

How very dry. It’s good information, and I think it can benefit our organization tremendously, but going through the training is pretty painful.

It’s ironic that most of the framework and best practices are things that Chris and I pushed for vehemently at IMG – we just didn’t have a name for it.

I suppose if we had attached some acronym or buzzword to it, maybe it would have caught on.

I also suppose that if I’m going to let my skills stagnate and be bored out of my head at this job, I might as well come away with something out of it, like extra letters behind my name on my business cards. I actually saw a job posting about a month ago, was an engineering/tech type position, but actually specifically mentioned ITIL certification as a desired attribute.

Joy. Fun. drool

Had the most disturbing dream last night…

I was in some house I can’t place and don’t recognize…There was a lady with me, some sort of realtor or appraiser or something of the sort… We were looking around examining the house and the yard. I remember a large bricked archway with stain glass near it…

fast forward to what I believe was the garage in my dads house. I was with a girl I went to highschool with, her name was stephanie. Coinicdentally, sheila had mentioned this girl a month or two ago… Anyhow, we were doing something with my car, I think it involved the windows. I remember at one point her holding up a large black piece of plastic that was shaped exactly like one of the side windows – as if it were completely opaque tint, like the windows were being blacked out.

For some reason I had the impression she was coming on to me, so I went inside the house to freshen up a bit, change my clothes, etc… It seemed I was gone for maybe 10 minutes, maybe a little less. I returned to the garage and we continued doing whatever it was we were doing with the car.

After a few minutes I heard some sort of noise from inside the house, so I went inside. Standing in the kitchen was the realtor/appraisor lady from earlier, she had let herself in. She saw me, but didn’t say a word. She had a horrified look on her face and turned towards the microwave.

I followed her line of sight and saw that the light was on in the microwave, and it was running. My cat Cassidy was inside, looking very distressed. I ran to the microwave and shut it off by opening the door.

The cat looked fine at first glance and I felt relieved for a second. Then he very slowly turned his head towads me and I saw his tounge hanging longly and limply from his mouth, and he started to look strange. I went to pull him from the microwave, and when I touched him he felt…really mushy – not wet, but his insides felt all gooey, like there were no bones. his fur felt wierd. He started letting out this gutteral distorted horrific sound – I think it was the most horrifying noise I can remember hearing.

In the meantime, stephanie had walked into the house very non-chalant like.. I turned to her with a panicked, freaked out look and she said “What? You were gone so long, and patches was being a brat”.

Then I woke up feeling very disturbed. I kept hearing that noise the cat made in my head all day, which certainly made ITIL training interesting.