TopherNet.Org

Finally managed to track down a pair of Volant Chubbs last night. Brand new v2 175′s comin my way! Little more spendy than the ones at REI that were too short, but still…

So then came the conundrum of bindings, especially considering my attempt to stay thrifty and save enough of my hidden, hard-earned, ski gear cache (pun) for a fresh pair of expert mid-fat all mountain boards. The thrifty attempt seemed to be more difficult as le Chubbs require a wide brake since they’re 94 at the waist – and vendors want $50 for a set of brakes!

As luck, karma, coincidence, etc, would have it, a friendly user over at www.epicski.com was selling a pair of barely used Marker M41′s – with wide brakes no less. More coincidentally, they had just been pulled off a pair of Chubbs! =)

Not the most snazzy nor most exciting binding in the world, but perfectly non-spendy and more than adequate for my girlish figure (din3-10) and wide enough for the new boards. And quite the steal at $35!

So, binders should be in by end of the week, and not sure on the boards yet – they’ll be coming fedex, but I believe they’ll be on the slow boat – I guess that’s what you get for $1 shipping.

I’ll be waiting for these new toys to arrive to get my current Head C160′s fixed up. I talked to the kind folks up at Taos’ Boot Doctors yesterday, and it seems they just got a new grinding/machine that isn’t quite up and running yet, and won’t be for another week or two. Once I know they’re up and running, it’ll be time for a trip up to Taos to get everything done at once; Mount/Prep the new Chubbs, clean up the base and edges on the Heads, and potentially (have to query mr. pocketbook first) a full-on boot fitting/canting from the experts.

So begins another week. New gear on the way, no place to use it (yet). Should be a freaking boring week. ITIL training wed-fri, which means I won’t be leaving early on Friday and won’t get a head-start on my drive up to Loveland. I guess that’s not a huge deal, I’ll just park and sleep when I get up there around midnight.

A-Basin opened yesterday (sunday). Check it out:

So, Arapahoe Basin didn’t open friday as they were supposed to. Apparently this weeks weather hasn’t been great for making snow, so they delayed. The are now going to open tomorrow, sunday, with one run. Loveland still has only the single run as well.

My hope is that both get good cold weather and hopefully some more natural snow this week and are able to open another run or two. I will be headed up next weekend, as I am boneheadedly determined to make turns before the end of October!

Not happy with the Dakine heli-pro pack that I picked up – it has nice features, but is just too big and I am unable to find the smaller version anywhere, except in pink. It also is awkward as you have to undo some straps to open it at all, which is a bit of a pain, and it has a bunch of extraneous straps hanging out all over the back which will be a bitch on lifts.

I came across the BCA Stash pack online, looks perfect. No frills, better suited to my girlish figure, and is purposefully void of straps, etc on the back so it is chair friendly.

Not much else going on. Went to wax and tune my boards this past week in hopes of skiing this weekend, and found that something is wrong… Base seems high, and side/base bevels seem out of whack. The last time the edges were touched were at Buckeye sports in Ohio (bad idea), and that was along with a base grind. I think they fucked ‘em up. Found a reputable shop to get them fixed up, but unfortunately it’s up in Taos which is a bit of a ride. But, unless I can find a good shop locally (I’ve heard no good recommendations), I’ll be schlepping my gear up to The Bootdoctors in taos.

I did get my cargo box though, and got my front windows tinted finally. Will post a pic when I have chance.

Need to install my own copy of AWStats on the webhost, current install from powweb won’t do reverse resolution, so I have no idea who any of the connecting hosts are. No fun.

Welcome to TopherNet.org.

You know you have something better to be doing right now.

So you’ve found my little shithole on the net. This is my little space for journaling, taking notes, and generally stroking my ego with the notion that somebody out there cares.

If you do happen to come across this blog for whateve reason, please use this sticky entry as a guestbook and leave a comment. I’d appreciate it.

You can also check out my in-progress photo album here.

And, for anyone who cares, this blog made possible by the color blue, the number 3, and these wonderful packages:

• PowWeb Web Hosting
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Cheers!

-Chris

Interesting and/or (in)significant things as of late:

Balloon fiesta just finished up. Of the 4 days I crewed we flew 2, shitty weather. No rain or wind for weeks, and then… Was a very good time though, and I got to fly during one of the mass ascentions, which was a first. Checkout pictures here

Ski season is right around there corner. Not here in NM, but at least up in CO… Ski Loveland is opening this friday the 14th, and A-Basin opens next weekend. Considering making the trek up this Saturday to get in some early early season turns.

Loveland Cam’s : here
Loveland Snowmaking Stats and pics here

I got to build a squid proxy running on linux for work. Slowly but surely introducing(forcing) OSS! Testing this week, and if all goes well should go into production next week.

The new Battlefield 2 patch 1.03 came out last week with some much needed improvements and a new map. Pretty cool.

Yes, I spend way too much time playing video games. But not for long. Gotta get my boards all waxed up and ready to turn.

Ohwell. Enough for now.