Went to see The Impressionists at NGV with Kate yesterday. Very good, recommend it to anyone. It's quite a feeling to see so much talent and vision packed into one set of rooms, works created by some of the greatest, some of them simply breathtaking. When you stand across the room from a painting so life-like and yet not anywhere near as detailed as a photograph, and you eye and perception fills in all the details you need to the point where you are transported to the location and time of the piece, it's really something special. And then whan you consider the artist created it sititng a dozen inches from the canvas, by daubing little pieces of paint on there seemingly at random, or so it appears when you stand that close to it, it's very humbling.
And of course Kate (the Incandescent Kate) is one of the better people to go to something like that, which is especially handy sicne she got the free tickets, not me :)
I am very happy that I am friends with Kate, and yesterday was a very good example of why :)
We also went to see a very cool film called Before Sunset, the sequel to Before Sunrise that I haven't seen, also Kate's suggestion, and also free.
That Kate's pretty good, I tell you ;)
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Friday, August 27, 2004
Friends
Be warned: I'm shitty at keeping in touch with my friends :)
In the last week I've had two people concerned that I didn't exist anymore, and that's not the first time.
I have a tendency to be very passive in keeping in contact with my friends, usually being so lazy that I wait for them to make contact with me. I know it's terrible, and I try not to do it, but I keep falling back into the same behavious pattern again and again.
Which means I spend a lot of time explaining to my friends that I still care about them and that they haven't done anything wrong and that, as cliched as it is, it's not them it's me.
So be warned, that as a friend I am very likely to be bad at keeping in touch with you, but also be aware, that when you do contact me, I'll be as supportive as I can be, regardless of having spoken to you yesterday or 3 years ago. :)
that's all for now
In the last week I've had two people concerned that I didn't exist anymore, and that's not the first time.
I have a tendency to be very passive in keeping in contact with my friends, usually being so lazy that I wait for them to make contact with me. I know it's terrible, and I try not to do it, but I keep falling back into the same behavious pattern again and again.
Which means I spend a lot of time explaining to my friends that I still care about them and that they haven't done anything wrong and that, as cliched as it is, it's not them it's me.
So be warned, that as a friend I am very likely to be bad at keeping in touch with you, but also be aware, that when you do contact me, I'll be as supportive as I can be, regardless of having spoken to you yesterday or 3 years ago. :)
that's all for now
Late Shift
Well, I'm back at work, and this week it's the Late Shift, finishing up at 8pm. Nothing worse than the late shift, I arrive and everyone pounces on me to get something done, which I only have half a day to do for them, and then the last half is often wreathed in boredom :)
Boy I'm glad t be back ;)
Boy I'm glad t be back ;)
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Last Day
Last day on the slopes, so we all march out to do our duty ;)
Weird day, very cloudy and windy at the top of the slope when you get off the chairlift, but nice and open underneath, so you start the run with limited visibility but then it opens up to real nice skiing.
Spent most of the day on Ruined castle with a little jaunt on the summit before lunch. As we came upon the gully chair, having skied from the summit all the way to the bottom of the jar, we noticed a little rain, which turned unto snow as we went up the 50 meters altitude covered by the lift.
During lunch time the weather got worse, to the point where it was really bucketing down later in the afternoon, switching from rain to sleet to snow flurries then back again as the temperature wavered slightly, very weird :) Needless to say I didn't ski in that garbage as I'd already had a great morning and didn't want to spoil it by getting cold and wet ;)
Dinner was pasta and everything else left in the kitchen :) lasagna was great again
Weird day, very cloudy and windy at the top of the slope when you get off the chairlift, but nice and open underneath, so you start the run with limited visibility but then it opens up to real nice skiing.
Spent most of the day on Ruined castle with a little jaunt on the summit before lunch. As we came upon the gully chair, having skied from the summit all the way to the bottom of the jar, we noticed a little rain, which turned unto snow as we went up the 50 meters altitude covered by the lift.
During lunch time the weather got worse, to the point where it was really bucketing down later in the afternoon, switching from rain to sleet to snow flurries then back again as the temperature wavered slightly, very weird :) Needless to say I didn't ski in that garbage as I'd already had a great morning and didn't want to spoil it by getting cold and wet ;)
Dinner was pasta and everything else left in the kitchen :) lasagna was great again
Friday, August 20, 2004
White
White is the colour I expected to see on the ground, and occasionally in the sky, but when you see it everywhere in every direction, you know it's not going to be a good day :)
Woke up and visibility was about 10-30 meters, with a real loss of definition of the snow on the ground. Loss of definition means that you can't easily tell what the ground looks like, the snow all looks a slightly blurry white (or blue, without glasses or goggles) and you can't see if it's ice, snow, powder, groomed, even, bumpy, slushy, etc. So you essentially ski by feel, adjusting your skiing style for the terrain based on when your skis hit it. When you're skiing down an access trail at 5km/h is relatively easy, but skiing down a 60 degree slope at 40km/h is very tricky indeed :)
So discretion being the better part of valour, I stayed in the lodge. Nobody else agreed, but when visibility dropped to about 2 meters later on, the clatter of people returning to the lodge seemed to validate my decision :)
Their tales of disorientation and almost being lost and nearly going off the edge of the trails, filled me with the self-righteous joy I deserved ;)
This brings me on to Scooter's Snow Rant number 1: Clothing and colour choice.
Why on earth would you choose to wear a white or cream coloured clothing in an environment where getting lost can kill you and where people travel at high speed with sharpened edges. I guarantee that more people will die or be injured in white and cream then in blue, yellow, red and brown. Although, the one thing better than that was the trend a few years ago for snowboarders to wear Arctic Tundra camouflage jackets. A disruptive pattern material especially designed to make it hard to see you in a snow covered tree/bush landscape. I remember standing at the bottom of Slalom Gully at Hotham, in a light snow fall, and these guys were literally slipping in and out of visibility at a range of 20 meters, while the people around them were completely visible. This was the same year that some snowboarders died after wandering off the patrolled area, and I remember distinctly thinking that they were probably wearing the latest fashion trend and it would have helped kill them.
This of course brings us to my favourite concept: Evolution in action - stupid people die early. And it would be perfect if they didn't keep taking smarted people with them :)
Anyway, that's the rant for today ;)
Woke up and visibility was about 10-30 meters, with a real loss of definition of the snow on the ground. Loss of definition means that you can't easily tell what the ground looks like, the snow all looks a slightly blurry white (or blue, without glasses or goggles) and you can't see if it's ice, snow, powder, groomed, even, bumpy, slushy, etc. So you essentially ski by feel, adjusting your skiing style for the terrain based on when your skis hit it. When you're skiing down an access trail at 5km/h is relatively easy, but skiing down a 60 degree slope at 40km/h is very tricky indeed :)
So discretion being the better part of valour, I stayed in the lodge. Nobody else agreed, but when visibility dropped to about 2 meters later on, the clatter of people returning to the lodge seemed to validate my decision :)
Their tales of disorientation and almost being lost and nearly going off the edge of the trails, filled me with the self-righteous joy I deserved ;)
This brings me on to Scooter's Snow Rant number 1: Clothing and colour choice.
Why on earth would you choose to wear a white or cream coloured clothing in an environment where getting lost can kill you and where people travel at high speed with sharpened edges. I guarantee that more people will die or be injured in white and cream then in blue, yellow, red and brown. Although, the one thing better than that was the trend a few years ago for snowboarders to wear Arctic Tundra camouflage jackets. A disruptive pattern material especially designed to make it hard to see you in a snow covered tree/bush landscape. I remember standing at the bottom of Slalom Gully at Hotham, in a light snow fall, and these guys were literally slipping in and out of visibility at a range of 20 meters, while the people around them were completely visible. This was the same year that some snowboarders died after wandering off the patrolled area, and I remember distinctly thinking that they were probably wearing the latest fashion trend and it would have helped kill them.
This of course brings us to my favourite concept: Evolution in action - stupid people die early. And it would be perfect if they didn't keep taking smarted people with them :)
Anyway, that's the rant for today ;)
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Light cloud, roast, guests, drinks
Light cloud in the morning, so out we go again to ski some more :)
Skied all over the Summit and Ruined Castle, making the most out of the good snow and good visibility, with real improvement seen in my style, especially down Cabbage Patch, where I was skiing like a CHAMPION!
(if I do say so myself) :)
Tonight's meal was supposed to be a night out in the village, but we decided that there was no need, as we had more than enough food (hence the leftovers the previous night). So tonight turned into Roast and drinkies night.
Chris C found that he had met a few people he knew from Perth on the slopes, so they came to the lodge for pre-dinner drinks, then Chris S had invited some friends to dinner and post-dinner drinks, so it was a full lodge that night :) Three roasts were cooked on the new Barbecue (with roasting hood) and everyone going up the chairlift in the afternoon was yelling out comments about how they wanted to come for dinner :)
The friends Chris S had invited were Craig and Cindi who worked on the mountain and were involved in running the resort, so we had a good chat about the marketing opportunities in the mountain and how they needs to improve things :) I think we gave them a bit of a grilling :) but then we got on to stories about falling on the slopes and broke the ice a bit, no pun intended. It was interesting to hear about the Freestyle MotorX jumping that they had a few nights earlier. We had wondered why they had painted a big combined Target roundell and World Industries devil-boy logo on the snow (10 meters across), but it turns out that World Industries, who were sponsoring the MotorX action, had just done a huge launch through Target and Craig was keen to show them how this sort of event could be turned into a revenue. Pretty interesting stuff actually. We also got the skinny on the plans to replace the playground and Lakeside Pomas with a chair, which is welcome news for me :) I hate the damn pomas :)
Skied all over the Summit and Ruined Castle, making the most out of the good snow and good visibility, with real improvement seen in my style, especially down Cabbage Patch, where I was skiing like a CHAMPION!
(if I do say so myself) :)
Tonight's meal was supposed to be a night out in the village, but we decided that there was no need, as we had more than enough food (hence the leftovers the previous night). So tonight turned into Roast and drinkies night.
Chris C found that he had met a few people he knew from Perth on the slopes, so they came to the lodge for pre-dinner drinks, then Chris S had invited some friends to dinner and post-dinner drinks, so it was a full lodge that night :) Three roasts were cooked on the new Barbecue (with roasting hood) and everyone going up the chairlift in the afternoon was yelling out comments about how they wanted to come for dinner :)
The friends Chris S had invited were Craig and Cindi who worked on the mountain and were involved in running the resort, so we had a good chat about the marketing opportunities in the mountain and how they needs to improve things :) I think we gave them a bit of a grilling :) but then we got on to stories about falling on the slopes and broke the ice a bit, no pun intended. It was interesting to hear about the Freestyle MotorX jumping that they had a few nights earlier. We had wondered why they had painted a big combined Target roundell and World Industries devil-boy logo on the snow (10 meters across), but it turns out that World Industries, who were sponsoring the MotorX action, had just done a huge launch through Target and Craig was keen to show them how this sort of event could be turned into a revenue. Pretty interesting stuff actually. We also got the skinny on the plans to replace the playground and Lakeside Pomas with a chair, which is welcome news for me :) I hate the damn pomas :)
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
More Sunshine
Yet another glorious sunny day, skiing hard on the summit in the morning and then the afternoon over at Towers.
A good long hard day of skiing, crystal clear blue skies, right up until the beautiful whisps of orange in the sunset. Skied until my legs told me I was due to stop, then limped home on the village trail, snowplowing like a beginner :) (and grinning like an idiot)
Skied a lot of the mountain:
Summit -The Knolls, Exhibition, Cabbage Patch, The Slot, Chainsaw
Ruined Castle -St Elmo's, Ruined Castle, Father Fosters, Big Dipper
Scott -Scotty's, Sundown, Shadow Ridge
Towers -Main Street, Rapunzel's, Highway 83
Dinner was leftover Curry, Leftover Mexican, a spare Lasagna and whatever else we could squeeze in. All still good after being reheated, the Lasagna being especially good, and a preview of the Pasta night to come :)
A good long hard day of skiing, crystal clear blue skies, right up until the beautiful whisps of orange in the sunset. Skied until my legs told me I was due to stop, then limped home on the village trail, snowplowing like a beginner :) (and grinning like an idiot)
Skied a lot of the mountain:
Summit -The Knolls, Exhibition, Cabbage Patch, The Slot, Chainsaw
Ruined Castle -St Elmo's, Ruined Castle, Father Fosters, Big Dipper
Scott -Scotty's, Sundown, Shadow Ridge
Towers -Main Street, Rapunzel's, Highway 83
Dinner was leftover Curry, Leftover Mexican, a spare Lasagna and whatever else we could squeeze in. All still good after being reheated, the Lasagna being especially good, and a preview of the Pasta night to come :)
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Sunshine and the Summit
Awoke to the sound of kids playing noisily outside the bedroom door, tried to get back to sleep until I heard one mention that they couldn't see any clouds! Got up quick smart to discover that it was a gorgeous clear day, sun shining brightly and only a few wisps of cloud. A good day to be out there skiing :)
Brekky of scrambled eggs on toast, bacon and eggs cooking on the barbecue on the balcony,
Adrian getting lots of comments from people going past, mainly envious ;)
Then it’s off to school for the kids and the adults hit the Summit runs just outside our door.Fabulous steep runs, groomed fresh, hardly anyone else on them, we ski all across the hill, each time meeting up at the chairlift with huge grins on our faces. The best skiing available, deep packed cover on steep groomed runs, a quick chair, no crowds and crystal clear skies. Did some of the best skiing I’ve ever done, turning well, spending a lot of time with my torso and skis pointed down the hill, just using the edges in the turns. Skied until lunchtime when the legs were starting to give out. Definitely need to improve fitness for next year, but then I said that last year too ;)
Quick lunch of some sandwiches and then its out again over to do a few runs on Scott’s and Ruined Castle. Went a little adventuring between the two, since normally there isn’t snow between them except at the bottom. Visibility had dropped as clouds rolled in, cutting down the definition so it became hard to spot exactly what you were skiing on, you can’t see the loose snow, ice, bumps, etc, so you just ski into it and work it out as you go along. It’s a bit harder on the knees as you have to do the whole shock absorber thing :)
Dinner consisted of barbecue, with heaps of fresh bread and everyone sitting around the table laughing at the stories of the day, seems like everyone had a fabulous day, the sort of thing you are always looking for, nobody can have a bad day with weather like today’s :)
Brekky of scrambled eggs on toast, bacon and eggs cooking on the barbecue on the balcony,
Adrian getting lots of comments from people going past, mainly envious ;)
Then it’s off to school for the kids and the adults hit the Summit runs just outside our door.Fabulous steep runs, groomed fresh, hardly anyone else on them, we ski all across the hill, each time meeting up at the chairlift with huge grins on our faces. The best skiing available, deep packed cover on steep groomed runs, a quick chair, no crowds and crystal clear skies. Did some of the best skiing I’ve ever done, turning well, spending a lot of time with my torso and skis pointed down the hill, just using the edges in the turns. Skied until lunchtime when the legs were starting to give out. Definitely need to improve fitness for next year, but then I said that last year too ;)
Quick lunch of some sandwiches and then its out again over to do a few runs on Scott’s and Ruined Castle. Went a little adventuring between the two, since normally there isn’t snow between them except at the bottom. Visibility had dropped as clouds rolled in, cutting down the definition so it became hard to spot exactly what you were skiing on, you can’t see the loose snow, ice, bumps, etc, so you just ski into it and work it out as you go along. It’s a bit harder on the knees as you have to do the whole shock absorber thing :)
Dinner consisted of barbecue, with heaps of fresh bread and everyone sitting around the table laughing at the stories of the day, seems like everyone had a fabulous day, the sort of thing you are always looking for, nobody can have a bad day with weather like today’s :)
Monday, August 16, 2004
First Runs
Up bright and early, as we’re all keen and the kids need to be mobilized to get them all to ski school by 9:45am. I ski alone for a large part of the morning, heading over to Ruined Castle and doing about 6 runs before I have to queue for the chairlift. Spend a lot of time on Father Foster’s listening to Prodigy and Red Hot Chilli Peppers and bouncing down the hill working on my short turn technique. A fabulous morning over at the castle, where I was later joined by Adrian and Rodney. We skied all over the castle and then zapped over to the Summit where my knees started to cramp really badly, so I went back to the lodge for lunch :)
After lunch was back at the castle for a few more runs and then stopped early due to the return of the bad knees :)
Monday night also saw a moto cross trick jump exhibition, the first time on snow in the southern hemisphere, situated right outside the lodge, so all we had to do was walk out on to the heater alcony and get a great view of the 4 riders doing flying supermen, kickers, and even a backflip. One of the guys tried his first backflip in the snow and didn’t quite make it, so he left the bike while it was still upside down and slammed it down into the big snow ramp, scary for him, but highly entertaining for us :)
After lunch was back at the castle for a few more runs and then stopped early due to the return of the bad knees :)
Monday night also saw a moto cross trick jump exhibition, the first time on snow in the southern hemisphere, situated right outside the lodge, so all we had to do was walk out on to the heater alcony and get a great view of the 4 riders doing flying supermen, kickers, and even a backflip. One of the guys tried his first backflip in the snow and didn’t quite make it, so he left the bike while it was still upside down and slammed it down into the big snow ramp, scary for him, but highly entertaining for us :)
Sunday, August 15, 2004
On The Road
7am in Rowville. Not a pleasant concept at all, awake at 5am after a good solid 3 hours sleep, and cruising out to the Hillier’s place where we were all meeting up. A large mountain of food and stuff, spread across three cars, one of them a crew-cab triton ute, so it had the lion’s share :) On the trip are: Sharon and Adrian Hillier, with kids Zack, Cassie and Jade. Rodney and Jim brother and friend of Adrian’s, Chris and Danielle Cawood and daughter Tamara (pronounced ta-MAR-a). Chris and Tamara (pronounced TAM-ra) Stilwell and their children Caylie and Colin.
Pretty good drive, stopped at McDonalds Glenrowan for fuel and breakfast and then stopped at Mt Beauty for chains. Beautiful view of the mountains on the drive up the Alpine Highway, beautiful clear skies made it possible to see the entire mountain range covered in snow, the best I’ve ever seen, absolutely stunning. Also, a real bonus, we didn’t miss the turn off to Mt Beauty this time :)
Arrived on the Mountain about 1pm, just in time to meet Chris and Danielle, who came up via bus as they now live in Perth and had flown in to Albury and gotten a lift to Mt Beauty with Chris’ parents.
The Oversnow transport at Falls Creek is really cool, big tracked vans, like those use in the Arctic and Antarctica. So we load up all the stuff and grind up the mountain to the lodge.
Every year we stay in the same lodge, Cummings no 7, which is located at the top of the village bowl, just near the Eagle chair to the main areas and also just near the Summit chair to the advanced area around summit and international. Right in the centre of everything, easily able to ski in and out. :) I resume my role as king of the kids, performing both as court jester, punching bag, adventure playground and chief source of shoulder rides :) I think they sense that I never really grew up ;)
Pretty good drive, stopped at McDonalds Glenrowan for fuel and breakfast and then stopped at Mt Beauty for chains. Beautiful view of the mountains on the drive up the Alpine Highway, beautiful clear skies made it possible to see the entire mountain range covered in snow, the best I’ve ever seen, absolutely stunning. Also, a real bonus, we didn’t miss the turn off to Mt Beauty this time :)
Arrived on the Mountain about 1pm, just in time to meet Chris and Danielle, who came up via bus as they now live in Perth and had flown in to Albury and gotten a lift to Mt Beauty with Chris’ parents.
The Oversnow transport at Falls Creek is really cool, big tracked vans, like those use in the Arctic and Antarctica. So we load up all the stuff and grind up the mountain to the lodge.
Every year we stay in the same lodge, Cummings no 7, which is located at the top of the village bowl, just near the Eagle chair to the main areas and also just near the Summit chair to the advanced area around summit and international. Right in the centre of everything, easily able to ski in and out. :) I resume my role as king of the kids, performing both as court jester, punching bag, adventure playground and chief source of shoulder rides :) I think they sense that I never really grew up ;)
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Chance favors the prepared mind
Today was all about preparing for the ski trip tomorrow. In theory. In actuality it involved sitting around watching movies and surfing the net and only doing preparation for the ski trip at the last possible moment, finishing at 2am instead of the preferred 9pm :)
Friday, August 13, 2004
Lamb Feddish
Well, what else does a Friday bring but drinking :)
Started with two work groups getting together at Feddish bar, coincidentally ending up right next to each other, stealing some space that had been booked to another group from our work (but not our area) but we didn't feel too guilty, they had space for about 30 people and only 5 showed up :) It was pretty good, hanging out with Clare, Peta,Nicki, Bec, Raylene, Sharon D, Joe, Damien, Mick, Steph, Lee, Matt, Kylie, Jamie, Amber, Belinda, Lochie, Amelia. Turned into an amusing night watching Joe try to survive being in a group of some many women that he had snogged (or more) and still trying to make his move on another :)
So much fun was had by all on the banks of the Yarra, consuming alcohol with great abandon until happy hour ran out, and then still drinking fairly quickly :)
Then it was off to The Lambs Go Barr in Fitzroy with Mick and Steph to meet up with Kate and her crew. That was pretty nice, had a few more drinks and had some nice long conversation with the Katemeister, even managed to meet her friend Kerry from Canberra that she has been hanging out with a bit.I must say that I very much enjoy Kate's company. I don't think I've ever been bored in her presence and could converse with her for hours. Her friend Kerry is very cool too, she has that Canberra intellectual thing going, so she's very articulate and seems able to converse seriously on silly topics without batting an eye :)
Started with two work groups getting together at Feddish bar, coincidentally ending up right next to each other, stealing some space that had been booked to another group from our work (but not our area) but we didn't feel too guilty, they had space for about 30 people and only 5 showed up :) It was pretty good, hanging out with Clare, Peta,Nicki, Bec, Raylene, Sharon D, Joe, Damien, Mick, Steph, Lee, Matt, Kylie, Jamie, Amber, Belinda, Lochie, Amelia. Turned into an amusing night watching Joe try to survive being in a group of some many women that he had snogged (or more) and still trying to make his move on another :)
So much fun was had by all on the banks of the Yarra, consuming alcohol with great abandon until happy hour ran out, and then still drinking fairly quickly :)
Then it was off to The Lambs Go Barr in Fitzroy with Mick and Steph to meet up with Kate and her crew. That was pretty nice, had a few more drinks and had some nice long conversation with the Katemeister, even managed to meet her friend Kerry from Canberra that she has been hanging out with a bit.I must say that I very much enjoy Kate's company. I don't think I've ever been bored in her presence and could converse with her for hours. Her friend Kerry is very cool too, she has that Canberra intellectual thing going, so she's very articulate and seems able to converse seriously on silly topics without batting an eye :)
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Cushions
Ok, so now we're washing the cushions off the couch, which we don't own but it belongs to my flatmate's sister :) the covers say Professional Wash Only, but we figure we'll give it a go in the washing machine and see what happens. I mean they're cream coloured covers, getting yellower every month, so something needs to be done :)
so, they're in the wash, and it will either work or not, time will tell.
so, they're in the wash, and it will either work or not, time will tell.
Weekend update, about three days late
:) Well, what fun is a weekend update on the weekend?
Friday: work end of project dinner, pretty good, sat at the boring end for a bit and then it ended up being the good end when more exciting people showed up. Including a couple of work people that I don't normally speak to that much, so it was good to finally have a social conversation :) Then out to Camberwell to see He Jam, Rose, Trudes, Erin, Damien and Joe. The Palace, normally a shit bar, held true, but at least it was fun lauching at the cheesy dancers, especially when Erin got up and danced in a cheesy way too :)
Saturday: Nothing, bought Cool Hand Luke, Butterfly Effect and Proof, and no man can eat 50 eggs, let me tell you that!
Sunday: nothing, work, boring :)
That's it!
Friday: work end of project dinner, pretty good, sat at the boring end for a bit and then it ended up being the good end when more exciting people showed up. Including a couple of work people that I don't normally speak to that much, so it was good to finally have a social conversation :) Then out to Camberwell to see He Jam, Rose, Trudes, Erin, Damien and Joe. The Palace, normally a shit bar, held true, but at least it was fun lauching at the cheesy dancers, especially when Erin got up and danced in a cheesy way too :)
Saturday: Nothing, bought Cool Hand Luke, Butterfly Effect and Proof, and no man can eat 50 eggs, let me tell you that!
Sunday: nothing, work, boring :)
That's it!
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Skiing
While I was changing the tire I noticed a legacy from the day trip Georgie and I took to the snow the other weekend. And since it was such a re-letter day, I figured I'd post the whole skitrip story here :)
So, Winter is upon us and Georgie and I figured we should get in some time up at the snow, so the scene is set, the plans made. We decide to take my car, as George needs new rear tires, and his car is a big V8 statesman, so any loss of traction on the rear would be disastrous, as the car is heavy end powerful and would slip out of control very easily. Also, every time we've gone to the snow in recorded history, we've taken his car, so it was my turn. My car is overdue for a service, but not really hurting from it, it's in need of a new battery, but an overnight charge every 12 months covers it nicely, I also need new tires, as there's some uneven wear on the front due to a need for a wheel alignment, but there's still enough tread, and it's a small 4 cylinder front-wheel-drive, so even if it loses traction a little, it's easier to get it back under control.
The day starts as usual, very early :) The drive up is uneventful, the usual stop at Mansfield for chain hire and something to eat. Then the fun begins. Usually most of the places in Mansfield have ladder chains for hire, except a RUD shop, which had diamond chains for a good price. Now there's no RUD shop, and the main shop only had ladders. No biggie, you rarely have to fit chains at Buller on a Saturday.
As we enter the mountain we are informed that we'll need to fit chains.
This is always a bummer, especially when you discover that one of the chains is too large and doesn't fit right. But being a ladder chain, it fits ok. Except I forget about the trick to take up the slack at the end of the chain, and now I have scratches around the front quarter panel ;)
We get on the mountain, have a few runs around Horse Hill and then start to head over the other side. We ski down the the bottom of Grimmus, only to discover it's closed, due to high wind. Now our only solution is the very crowded T-Bar. As you may already know, Georgie and I are big guys, and two big guys going up a steep hill on a T-Bar are apt to joke about it breaking. This is all pretty funny, up until the point where it actually breaks. That's when it became insanely funny. We're lying in the snow either side of the T-Bar track pissing ourselves with laughter, Georgie with a T-Bar in his hand. Everyone coming up the T behind us started laughing as soon as they saw us. It was a lot of fun :) Then some ski patrollers coming up the T offered to take the broken T up for us, and we realized afterwards we'd made a mistake. From then on all the people coming up the T weren't laughing with us, they were laughing at us, assuming we'd fell off the T, rather than the T falling off on us :)
The day was a serious blizzard, visibility <5 meters, horizontal snow and sleet, hands freezing to the ski poles on the T-Bar. We have to herringbone up the hill, into the wind, through the snowmaking (wiping sleet off your goggles every few seconds) and down the gentle beginners slope, visibility so bad at times that we're skiing down by feel, knowing if you're on ice, snow or in a drift only when your skis hit it.
We stop for lunch and have some very bad food, my phone decides to reset itself, clearing all the data, leaving nothng in the memory, no phone numbers, no calendar, no extra game software. Not a big problem as I had it synched with my work machine, but It was very annoying at the time.
As we're taking the trail back to the sheltered side I have to spend 5 minutes staning in the blizzard in the middle of the trail, with nobody else in sight, that he is on the wrong trail to the village, but that he should follow it anyway, instead of heading out across the top of the hill. The trail markers are bright orand and about 10 meters apart, so you can only see the next one after you pass one, not before, and this bozo wants to strike out across country, looking for a trail he won't recognize, on a mountain he doesn't know, marked by poles he may not see, alone. I try to make it clear that he will probably die, that I wouldn't risk it myself, as I'd probably get lost and I knew what direction it was and had used the trail many times. So I think I convinced him, but got to the point where I didn't care. If you tell someone they will probably die if they do something dificult and be in no danger if they take the easy way, and they decide not to take your advice, it's not my problem anymore :)
The rest of the afternoon we spent in the sheltered side of the hill, skiing until I couldn't ski anymore due to lack of fitness :)
So we get the chair about 3:30pm and get to the ski-hire place in time to hear they just closed the mountain due to blizzard :) good timing on our part.
We go back to the car and I fix the chains a bit and we drive back down. Partway down we notice nobody else has their chains on anymore, so we stop and take them off. Not such a good idea as it turns out, and a few corners later I turn the wheel and the car doesn't turn :) we're only doing about 20 and there's a large bank of snow on the side, so it's not like we're going off the cliff, but we're still sliding into a large area of slush and snow about 20cm deep. Luckily we were going slow enough that I had enough time to get past the moment of panic and think about it. I stop trying to slow down, because if I stop in the sludge we will be bogged until someone can come and help us out, so turn the wheel hard to the side and as we enter the sludge I feed in a bit more accellerator and the car keeps it's momentum and we make the turn in the sludge ok and get back on the road. :) Georgie and I laugh a bit and we keep on going. :) What could go wrong? :)
That's about it, we return the chains, get home earlier than we thought and all is well, but bad chains, closed lifts, broken T's, blizzards, snowmaking, morons, exhaustion, and running off the road, certainly add up to a very funny day out :)
So, Winter is upon us and Georgie and I figured we should get in some time up at the snow, so the scene is set, the plans made. We decide to take my car, as George needs new rear tires, and his car is a big V8 statesman, so any loss of traction on the rear would be disastrous, as the car is heavy end powerful and would slip out of control very easily. Also, every time we've gone to the snow in recorded history, we've taken his car, so it was my turn. My car is overdue for a service, but not really hurting from it, it's in need of a new battery, but an overnight charge every 12 months covers it nicely, I also need new tires, as there's some uneven wear on the front due to a need for a wheel alignment, but there's still enough tread, and it's a small 4 cylinder front-wheel-drive, so even if it loses traction a little, it's easier to get it back under control.
The day starts as usual, very early :) The drive up is uneventful, the usual stop at Mansfield for chain hire and something to eat. Then the fun begins. Usually most of the places in Mansfield have ladder chains for hire, except a RUD shop, which had diamond chains for a good price. Now there's no RUD shop, and the main shop only had ladders. No biggie, you rarely have to fit chains at Buller on a Saturday.
As we enter the mountain we are informed that we'll need to fit chains.
This is always a bummer, especially when you discover that one of the chains is too large and doesn't fit right. But being a ladder chain, it fits ok. Except I forget about the trick to take up the slack at the end of the chain, and now I have scratches around the front quarter panel ;)
We get on the mountain, have a few runs around Horse Hill and then start to head over the other side. We ski down the the bottom of Grimmus, only to discover it's closed, due to high wind. Now our only solution is the very crowded T-Bar. As you may already know, Georgie and I are big guys, and two big guys going up a steep hill on a T-Bar are apt to joke about it breaking. This is all pretty funny, up until the point where it actually breaks. That's when it became insanely funny. We're lying in the snow either side of the T-Bar track pissing ourselves with laughter, Georgie with a T-Bar in his hand. Everyone coming up the T behind us started laughing as soon as they saw us. It was a lot of fun :) Then some ski patrollers coming up the T offered to take the broken T up for us, and we realized afterwards we'd made a mistake. From then on all the people coming up the T weren't laughing with us, they were laughing at us, assuming we'd fell off the T, rather than the T falling off on us :)
The day was a serious blizzard, visibility <5 meters, horizontal snow and sleet, hands freezing to the ski poles on the T-Bar. We have to herringbone up the hill, into the wind, through the snowmaking (wiping sleet off your goggles every few seconds) and down the gentle beginners slope, visibility so bad at times that we're skiing down by feel, knowing if you're on ice, snow or in a drift only when your skis hit it.
We stop for lunch and have some very bad food, my phone decides to reset itself, clearing all the data, leaving nothng in the memory, no phone numbers, no calendar, no extra game software. Not a big problem as I had it synched with my work machine, but It was very annoying at the time.
As we're taking the trail back to the sheltered side I have to spend 5 minutes staning in the blizzard in the middle of the trail, with nobody else in sight, that he is on the wrong trail to the village, but that he should follow it anyway, instead of heading out across the top of the hill. The trail markers are bright orand and about 10 meters apart, so you can only see the next one after you pass one, not before, and this bozo wants to strike out across country, looking for a trail he won't recognize, on a mountain he doesn't know, marked by poles he may not see, alone. I try to make it clear that he will probably die, that I wouldn't risk it myself, as I'd probably get lost and I knew what direction it was and had used the trail many times. So I think I convinced him, but got to the point where I didn't care. If you tell someone they will probably die if they do something dificult and be in no danger if they take the easy way, and they decide not to take your advice, it's not my problem anymore :)
The rest of the afternoon we spent in the sheltered side of the hill, skiing until I couldn't ski anymore due to lack of fitness :)
So we get the chair about 3:30pm and get to the ski-hire place in time to hear they just closed the mountain due to blizzard :) good timing on our part.
We go back to the car and I fix the chains a bit and we drive back down. Partway down we notice nobody else has their chains on anymore, so we stop and take them off. Not such a good idea as it turns out, and a few corners later I turn the wheel and the car doesn't turn :) we're only doing about 20 and there's a large bank of snow on the side, so it's not like we're going off the cliff, but we're still sliding into a large area of slush and snow about 20cm deep. Luckily we were going slow enough that I had enough time to get past the moment of panic and think about it. I stop trying to slow down, because if I stop in the sludge we will be bogged until someone can come and help us out, so turn the wheel hard to the side and as we enter the sludge I feed in a bit more accellerator and the car keeps it's momentum and we make the turn in the sludge ok and get back on the road. :) Georgie and I laugh a bit and we keep on going. :) What could go wrong? :)
That's about it, we return the chains, get home earlier than we thought and all is well, but bad chains, closed lifts, broken T's, blizzards, snowmaking, morons, exhaustion, and running off the road, certainly add up to a very funny day out :)
Tires
Well, so much for plan A. The Spare doesn't have a mag wheel. I thought it did, but since I didn't check it in the five years since I bought the car, my memory had faded. No mag wheel means the great rotation plan won't work until I get the flat fixed. So now I am driving around with three mags and a spare. :)
But that's ok, I can then get the tire fixed and do the rotation as I replace it. Then I don't have to worry about having uneven tires on the front wheels, as I'll move the current rear tires to the front, maintaining rotation direction, as is recommended for radials. As if I know :) Still, it's good to know I can still change a spare in pretty short time.
But that's ok, I can then get the tire fixed and do the rotation as I replace it. Then I don't have to worry about having uneven tires on the front wheels, as I'll move the current rear tires to the front, maintaining rotation direction, as is recommended for radials. As if I know :) Still, it's good to know I can still change a spare in pretty short time.
Another weekend passes
Yet another weekend winds its way along, whisking away in an alcoholic blur :)
Friday saw the weekend open with some freebie drinks at our favored bar Yak. Had a few choice beverages, drinking with the crew from work. Mainly IT but also some ex facilities (Chia and Kylie). Discussions were afoot of the Ball and how to organize the tables etc. Then I moved on from there out to Berley's house for a sendoff for Shaz and Mikey who are heading off for two months on a trip around Australia (http://home.connexus.net.au/~drift/). It was a good night, caught up with Berley, Shazzy, Gerty, Troy, Mikey and Ricky. All the usual good fun, laughs a plenty. Some of the dancing was a bit of a concern, I'm not sure Troy and Shaz should ever be allowed near swing music again :)
Saturday was involved in working for a big part of the day. It was originally looking like all day, but we did some scripting and managed to get it down to finish at about 1:30, which made us all very happy indeed.
Then I did some Shopping at JB, which is my arch nemesis, and met up with Clare for a few drinks and a bite to eat. We went to transport and sat outside on the river side. They do a decent beer and very nice chips, so we just sat there overlooking the river and chatted about various things that people chat about :) It was good (as always) to catch up and it was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours, especially when I expected to be in at work :)
That night we went to Helen's birthday celebrations. It was at Tolarno's in St Kilda, on Fitzroy st, which is the pub owned by Ian Hewitson. It's a pretty good pub, and as can be expected, the food was fantastic. We were in a semi-private salon, just us and one other group, but because of our size we were still on two tables. So I sat on the table with Prue, Aaron, Kaysie, Rex, Terri, Helen and Joe. But that was really only for the meal, otherwise we mixed it up a bit. On the other table was Rosie, Damien (Kennealy), Morton, Erin, Jessie, their brother whose name I can't remember and Jess' boyfriend who I haven't met. A good time was had by all and I downed a few beers to add to the afternoon's lot. :)
Then Joe and I headed off to Twister to meet up with Clare Peta and Nikki. However, despite the fact that the girls are regulars and were recognized as such, we didn't get in. Joe and I suspect that one of the security guys (142) doesn't like us and has decided to stuff us around. Since he's the one that knocked us back twice before, for no particular reason. Anyway, so we trooped up to the Espy and had a few beers to drown our sorrows. Then Joe and I headed off home, telling the girls to give it another shot at Twister, since we figured they would have a better chance getting in without us. It's no biggie for us since we don't actually like the place and only go there to hang out with the girls. Whereas they love the place and have lots of friends there :)
So that was it so far. Now I have procrastinated enough and need to go and change a tire on my car. It got a slow leak ages ago but now it's at the point where it's super flat and won't hold up for anything more than a day. In theory I should put the spare and the good back tire on the front and put the two worn front ones on the rear, since it's a front wheel drive car. But we all know that's not going to happen, too much like hard work :)
Friday saw the weekend open with some freebie drinks at our favored bar Yak. Had a few choice beverages, drinking with the crew from work. Mainly IT but also some ex facilities (Chia and Kylie). Discussions were afoot of the Ball and how to organize the tables etc. Then I moved on from there out to Berley's house for a sendoff for Shaz and Mikey who are heading off for two months on a trip around Australia (http://home.connexus.net.au/~drift/). It was a good night, caught up with Berley, Shazzy, Gerty, Troy, Mikey and Ricky. All the usual good fun, laughs a plenty. Some of the dancing was a bit of a concern, I'm not sure Troy and Shaz should ever be allowed near swing music again :)
Saturday was involved in working for a big part of the day. It was originally looking like all day, but we did some scripting and managed to get it down to finish at about 1:30, which made us all very happy indeed.
Then I did some Shopping at JB, which is my arch nemesis, and met up with Clare for a few drinks and a bite to eat. We went to transport and sat outside on the river side. They do a decent beer and very nice chips, so we just sat there overlooking the river and chatted about various things that people chat about :) It was good (as always) to catch up and it was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours, especially when I expected to be in at work :)
That night we went to Helen's birthday celebrations. It was at Tolarno's in St Kilda, on Fitzroy st, which is the pub owned by Ian Hewitson. It's a pretty good pub, and as can be expected, the food was fantastic. We were in a semi-private salon, just us and one other group, but because of our size we were still on two tables. So I sat on the table with Prue, Aaron, Kaysie, Rex, Terri, Helen and Joe. But that was really only for the meal, otherwise we mixed it up a bit. On the other table was Rosie, Damien (Kennealy), Morton, Erin, Jessie, their brother whose name I can't remember and Jess' boyfriend who I haven't met. A good time was had by all and I downed a few beers to add to the afternoon's lot. :)
Then Joe and I headed off to Twister to meet up with Clare Peta and Nikki. However, despite the fact that the girls are regulars and were recognized as such, we didn't get in. Joe and I suspect that one of the security guys (142) doesn't like us and has decided to stuff us around. Since he's the one that knocked us back twice before, for no particular reason. Anyway, so we trooped up to the Espy and had a few beers to drown our sorrows. Then Joe and I headed off home, telling the girls to give it another shot at Twister, since we figured they would have a better chance getting in without us. It's no biggie for us since we don't actually like the place and only go there to hang out with the girls. Whereas they love the place and have lots of friends there :)
So that was it so far. Now I have procrastinated enough and need to go and change a tire on my car. It got a slow leak ages ago but now it's at the point where it's super flat and won't hold up for anything more than a day. In theory I should put the spare and the good back tire on the front and put the two worn front ones on the rear, since it's a front wheel drive car. But we all know that's not going to happen, too much like hard work :)
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