he said, she said

work has been pretty busy lately.  there’s a big trade show that’s coming up and as with any trade show, it seems like there’s a big push to get things done.  so while i’m busy slaving away at work, i hear that christi is going to be day tripping it to tahoe.  it’s a tough life…for her.

it has been rough at work, but it isn’t all work and no play.  after hours, i’ve been trying to do things to keep my mind off work.  some friends and i got together to blow off a little steam and play some games.  it was some late nights with not as much yelling as there used to be back in the day.

in other news, i’ve been doing some research in espresso machines.  we have been without a coffee maker since we moved into the house.  the thing is that christi and i don’t drink drip coffee, so we’ve never had a need to have a coffee maker in the house, but whenever we have guests, there is always coffee that needs to be made and there is no good way to make it.

after extensive research into the espresso machine industry, i’ve narrowed down the choices to two models in the jura-capresso line: the E8 and the E9.  the difference between the models is that one has black plastic while the other has silver plastic.  the difference in plastic colors costs $100!

once we do get an espresso machine, the great espresso machine calibration will begin.  i hear that trying to get the machine to make an espresso the way you like it could end up taking quite some experimenting.  it should be good caffeinated fun.

friday, i went to northstar-at-tahoe with some co-workers, including my boss. i’m calling it a team-building event =P

when we arrived it was already 39 degrees and the sun was out, so i opted to ride in spring attire. hoodie, no jacket. sunglasses, no goggles. my coworkers were making fun of me and my 10-yr old board, as they were sporting brand new outfits (one of them even had a jacket and boots with matching camo print) and brand new setups (board and bindings that had never seen snow).

i hadn’t been to northstar in years. omg, i didn’t even recognize the place. the village area, which used to have one casual pizza joint and a gear shop, now has a skating rink, an art gallery, a ritz carlton, swanky bars, and along with other fancy restaurants, get this… a mikuni!!! i almost fainted! mikuni is my all-time favorite sushi restaurant, but i don’t get to eat there often because they only have locations in the sacramento area.

the snow was hard and unforgiving. every carve made a “krrrrrrrr” scraping sound, and many times, our edges couldn’t grab the ice. i thought it was just me and my no-edges outdated setup, but others confirmed that their finely tuned rides weren’t any match for the ice mountain, either. as i whined about the terrible conditions, devin pointed out that our worst day on the slopes is still better than our best day in the office. touche.

BD, however, might disagree. on our first run of the day, he lost control on a steep hill, and his rental skis slipped out from under him. the ends of his skis hit the ice first, and when he landed on his back, the bases of his skis cracked completely through. BD had the wind knocked out of him, but we thought he was ok. i grabbed his unrideable skis, and with the help of his poles, he gingerly walked/slipped down the mountain in his ski boots. not yet halfway down the hill, BD was obviously struggling. i offered to ride down ahead and send ski patrol up to rescue him. he agreed.

i flagged down the first guy i saw with a radio, and explained the situation. he contacted ski patrol, and they were too short-handed to attend to any non-emergencies. however, the guy pointed me to the demo ski tent and suggested that they could swap out the skis, then i could take them back up the mountain to BD. ok. devin headed back up the mountain to relay the news to BD.

at the demo tent, everyone was in awe. “dude, check this out! i’ve never seen anything like this before!” the ends of the skis, held together by only the top layer, flopped around like the tail of a fish out of water. apparently, this was a rare sight, so i took a photo with my camera phone. i wish i knew how to get the photos off my phone so that i could post it here. impressed as they were, the folks in the demo tent couldn’t help me. they sent me all the way down to the village, back to the rental shop.

so i rode down to the rental shop, carrying BD’s pair of busted skis. they refused to swap out the skis, and insisted that BD come in, himself. so i waited for him there as he made his way, in ski boots, all the way down the mountain. after a failed negotiation, BD ended up paying for the skis. we ate a quick lunch at mikuni (omg, sooo delicious), then BD went to first aid. he said that he felt like someone was punching him in the liver, and that he might have a hairline fracture in his pelvis. he couldn’t move, not to mention walk, without pain. minutes later, BD returned. he was refused treatment at the first aid station because he didn’t have his insurance card with him. wtf?! i have never heard of anyone being asked for insurance at a ski resort first aid station. weird, huh?

anyway, i called in for one conference call with my VP, then rode the rest of the day with devin. the snow at the top of the mountain was even harder and icier, and the wind and snowfall had picked up. i wasn’t at all disappointed to have gotten only a few hours of riding in.

at the end of the day, we found the rest of the gang in a swanky bar, and i had a glass of really great wine. it was from sonoma. i wish i could remember the name of the winery. bummer.

on the way home, we stopped at ikeda for dinner. i wanted to bring a pie home for the guys (mike was at home playing command and conquer with paul, nelson and mikeC) but i wasn’t sure what they would like. i decided on the dutch apple. they all loved it, so i guess it was a good choice =)

*ice ice baby* -vanilla ice