2010 Romp to Stomp

In an effort to 1. Make more of an effort to combat the beer belly and 2. Do something positive and contribute to the community, I signed up for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®. It’s being held this Saturday, January 23rd, at Mountain Creek in Vernon, NJ. I was initially invited to a group through a co-worker and since I have never strapped on snowshoes, I thought why the hell not.

I feel kind of like when I told my aunt I’d run a 5K: good about the exercise and cause, but bad about waking up early and running a 5K. I somehow got conned into a half marathon, kinda, we’ll see how that plays out. I also am going to be riding at Windham on Sunday for a group I volunteered for, so I’m sure I’ll be sore for that.

I’ve never done any of these benefit events, so I’m looking forward to it and the fact that I’m trying something new. Breast cancer really hasn’t affected my family too much. My mom’s mom had it, and beat it, twice before age 60, so I think I’ve got a decent chance in a battle with cancer.

It’s not just genes though. These events raise money and awareness. I absolutely hate going to the doctor and wasting precious time I could be snowboarding…or sleeping. Or when I have to wait 45 minutes for something that takes 2 minutes. What I have to try and remember is that one of those visits may be the one that saves me. Early detection is best.

Those yearly exams, I try not to skip them, but emergency room visits are over-rated. Most cuts and gashes can be solved with crazy glue and some band-aids, gauze or even duct tape. Most everything else requires OTC pain relievers and Jack.

You can view my personal page for the event here. If you would like to donate it is greatly appreciated and if you are near Mountain Creek why not join a team?

Oktoberfest, Bindings And Memory Mishaps

So this weekend I headed up to Hunter for Oktoberfest. This was the second weekend in a row they’ve held one, but Saturday was the best day for me to meet some friends there. They were coming in from Boston and I haven’t seen them in a long time. The drive up was about 2 hours give or take with the traffic. Hunter always has big festivals (Irish Fest, Beer and Wine Fest) and they had a lot of vendors (inside and out). The main beer tent was outside and had a few good Oktoberfest selections (Spaten, Dunkel etc.) and then some standards (Bud and Bud Light). It was more of a chill in the air then I expected so we limited our time outside except to hit up the vendors and food stands (sausage and peppers mmm). The inside bar was stocked and the lodge was crowded, but not so bad you couldn’t move around. One of my friends bought a glass boot to drink out of and many others had large mugs/steins. I stuck with a trusty plastic cup

Lucky for me Hunter also had a Swap and Sell going on downstairs as well as some great sales in their gear stores. I was looking around, not really seeing much and hanging out with friends until I spotted a box. It was a box for Rome Madisons, from last season. I moved swiftly, beer in hand to discover it was empty. Lucky for me I could still read at that point and quickly spotted the bindings mounted on a Rome Lo-Fi hanging from the ceiling. I dragged and employee to the window and said I want them. He then tried to sell me the whole combo, but I already bought one board and the park board is not in my budget yet (and it probably wouldn’t be the Lo-Fi either). I did however get the bindings and a free hat for $105, so I thought I did alright. I’m very new to this negotiating thing.

I kinda got a look from my friends when they found me at the counter buying stuff already. The “we’ve been in the store 5 minutes and you’re already dropping money on snowboard gear you crazy b*tch” look. It wasn’t a completely impulsive buy as those who have been here before know I’ve wanted them for a while. The impulsive thing would have been to buy the Lo-Fi too.

Aside from that, the rest of the day went pretty well considering when I got there friends of friends stuttered their name and almost fell over when being introduced (which is always a good sign). We left Hunter around 5:30p to head on a quick beer run and back to a friends’ cabin and their friends’ cabin. There was all around good times had with beer, food and a night in the hot tub.

The only mishap from the whole weekend is the camera situation. Now I intended on bringing my nice Nikon DSLR, but I of course forgot to head home to grab it. Said other people brought some hand held point and shoots but either forgot the memory cards or the memory card adapters. So they were at least better off than me. My two friends specifically rushed to buy a new camera (after the previous one was stolen) for this weekend and forgot to take the memory card out of the package. All in all, I think we had about 10-15 pictures between us. Maybe I can get my hands on some.

Long Absence and Personal Update

So I got hammered by freelance work in the past few weeks and it’s still rolling in. I work full-time and do extra on the side, so right now I have no life and no time. I did go on vacation to Florida last week to visit family (they all ditched me for the warm weather, but it’s just a vacation spot for me). I was working over vacation though and now I’m finally getting over my Florida sunburn and the blood blisters on my hands from the jet skis. I maxed them out at 51mph! I have a great camera (Nikon D50), but I just loathe carrying extra things around. I’m contemplating buying a small hand held camera. Suggestions?

The next things for me in the coming months are to knockout a few of these freelance projects I have going and get my life in order. Everything kind of hit at once and I had to drop personal stuff for business. Once I get things out the door and business organized again, I have to devote time to my personal web site, valuredesign.com, and this blog. I have been slowly trying to change the design over, but that hit a brick wall. I have a design waiting, so when I get things on track, it will appear (the final version should appear, lol).

Summer is going great. I’ve been hanging out with some friends at the lake when it’s break time, which isn’t as often as I’d like, but oh well. Summer is always super busy as I take on less freelance work so I can snowboard more. The excess of work in the summer pays for my winter obsession

AASI should be releasing their schedule of events and clinics for the upcoming season, so I’m excited to see what they offer and choose what I’m taking. I want to take my Level 2 Prep course right away and see where I’m at riding wise, and if money permits I want to take the Level 2 Exam and another clinic, just because they are fun. If a vacation is possible, I might drop the extra clinic.

I finally got back on a bike (mountain bike) after like 8 years or so. The reason for that is because my brother liked to take things apart when we were younger and not put them back together or be able to fix them, and not much has changed actually. I like it and it’s good exercise. I have a new bike rack in the mail, so I will take pictures and post them. It’s eye-catching; that’s all I’m saying.

And speaking of bikes, I went on a Harley! I love it. If time and money were of no matter I would learn to ride and buy a street bike though.

More to come…promise.

East Coast Summer Fun

Bad Company and The Doobie Bros at Bethel Woods

Some of you are still snowboarding out West and I am totally jealous. As of late, life has been a little hectic and I really haven’t put anything up and as VancityAllie pointed out, we mostly complain instead of trying to better our lives. I’m trying to get away from that.

There are some interesting things to do here in the summer: boating, tubing and wakeboarding on the lake, the farmer’s markets, hiking, climbing, mountain biking and concerts. What better way to de-stress than at an outdoor concert? I am less than an hour from Bethel Woods, the original home of Woodstock.

The Pavillion Stage at Bethel Woods

They put on some great concerts in the past like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Journey (both were amazing), this year being no exception. I attended Bad Company and The Doobie Brothers! I headed up with one of my bros and two of our friends to enjoy the views and the music. Bethel Woods is beautiful.

When going to Bethel Woods for a concert, we usually try to head up early to get good parking and hang out for a bit. Parking opens two hours before the concert and the gates open one hour before. Getting there when parking opens gives us time to chill, have a few and eat before heading inside. Everyone tailgates up there and you are bound to find a game of beer pong going on. Overall, one of my favorite ways to spend a nice summer night. I have yet to visit the museum, but I will one day.

If you’re ever around this part of NYS this is an awesome place to visit and enjoy some great outdoor music. You can get the Event List here.

A Snowboarder’s Car, Finally

09' Subaru Impreza Outback Sport

I recently got a new toy. The perfect car for next winter, and many to come, an 09′ Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. I’m super excited that I won’t have to stay home on a snow day (from snowboarding, not work) and that I don’t have to throw money at car repairs for a long time. My old car was a Dodge Intrepid, rode comfortably, but horrible in the snow and too big for me. I had constant problems with it, so this new one was in the works for a while. I actually saw the redesigned 08′ in a 2007 AASI magazine and decided I wanted it then. So, yeah, a long time coming. It came standard with the crossbars, heated seats, upgraded sound system and audio controls on the steering wheel. I have the all-weather mats (a necessity) and the i-pod interface which all came with a little extra discount since I’m an AASI member. I love it so far on dry and wet roads and can’t wait to test it in the snow!