Vail

At the very moment that I’m writing this blog entry I’m sitting in one of america’s finest gas guzzlers, that green peace would shake a stick at, on a ten hour drive back to Kansas City from Breckenridge, Colorado. What a great week. We arrived last Sunday evening and were out on the snow covered slopes by half ten on Monday.

One of my best mates girlfriends had decided to work in Colorado for three months over the break and was in Vail, only about a 30-minute drive away. I had originally thought that it would be easy to go and hang out with her and the rest of the girls she was with… not. The buses weren’t running on the day I could go and see them and my blind dyslexic navigational skills mixed with the fact I haven’t driven on the right side of the road for three years (let alone on ice) hindered me slightly. Another good friend of mine from Aspen however came through on Wednesday evening and we went out together on Thursday.

We spent some time trying to find some free parking and eventually settled on the Safeway parking lot. We were in a jeep that didn’t lock, but in a first world country like the states in doesn’t matter. We left the jeep open all day with all matter of thing to be nicked inside (all his kit, I wasn’t going to run the risk). After getting our ski kit on we headed into Vail village to meet the mates girlfriend. She was with another dude that snowboards, quite the character.

I just want to make it clear that to me its only been a good day out skiing if you’ve pushed yourself far enough that you have a fantastic wipe out that leaves everyone that sees going, ‘oh my god, I bet that f&*king hurt!’ I’d been quite successful with it up until then.

Anyway, we got up to the top of our first run and within ten minutes I’d wiped out hard. The snowboarder had been down the left side of the slope and I’d been picking up speed down the middle. He then decided to cut across the slope in front of me, not realizing how fast we were both going. I tried to avoid him but all I succeeded in doing was burying both my skis under his board and being slingshot down the mountain… I made superman look like a bloody fly on the wall with the air I got.

I landed about twenty meters down the slope from where my skis had come off. It really was the most hysterical yard sale and I rolled over onto my back and started laughing. The snowboarder had come to a stop just below me after some quite impressive cartwheels and was in a panic that I’d caused myself some major damage. After the girlfriend had brought my skis down she was also panic stricken. It got worse after I removed all my goggles and beanie. I’d come down so hard that the goggles had cut into my face just enough to create a little stream of blood down my face. Once she realized it wasn’t so serious she calmed down and we carried on.

On our second run we were caught in a blizzard, which was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. One of my best mates girlfriends was next to me and had formed a layer of ice on her face and was on the verge of tears. Not only do I feel like a have a responsibility to look after her as best I can when boyfriend is not around but she’s also a good chick she’s also a pretty good friend of mine now as well. But there she was, scared to death and literally freezing and I couldn’t do anything except try block as much wind as I could I try keep her going. To make things worse I almost felt responsible because she had been getting sick and had come out just to spend the morning skiing with us. I had realized she was sounding sick beforehand and had asked if she wouldn’t rather do something else but she’d said no.

Eventually we got down and went for a quiet beer and seen one of the other girls from back home…

Just realized that this is beginning to sound like a 16-year-old girls diary entry… I apologize.

There’s no real point to this story, there’s no rant, there’s just the appreciation for the friends that I’ve made over the last few years… there is something else but I’m not sure I feel comfortable sharing that yet.

Nothing in Particular

Just been one of those days. I am a pretty confident person but for some reason I completely lose my footing here in the States. It feels weird, very uncomfortable. I went to order a Burrito earlier. It was a propper Mexican place and the options were chicken steak and several others that I couldn't figure out. I asked the guy for a large Burrito packed with what I thought looked oh my god so tasty, thought it was pork. When I said it to the Mexican taking my order he started shouting something to me... DO I LOOK LIKE A GOD DAMN LOCAL!!! 

Said I didn't know what he was saying he seemed to look very confused. Was my english not good enough or did this guy just not understand it. After my last rant I'm sure I may be overusing this, but WTF! I can understand Mexicans wanting to come over to the land of the free and the brave (I'll delve into this later, because it just isn't). But, once they're here and they've managed to land themselves a job, they should probably try figure out what the hell they're meant to be doing. I really don't feel that trying to order a burrito is like taking a bloody test. I've learnt my lesson, next time I go in there I'll take one of two things. Either a Spanish to English dictionary or a translator!... or maybe I just won't bother going back again because it was too effing frustrating. 

To their credit the burrito was actually very good. I had it with all the toppings just because I had no idea what they all were or what they guy was saying. I could go on all evening just because it feels like one of those days. 

Am leaving Boston tomorrow to head for Kansas City so it will be a couple of days before my next rant. Am signing out for now. Russ, take it easy

... wtf... no, seriously.. wtf

I decided a while back to actually just try chill out with all the swearing but i the last 24 hrs my mouth has been so bad. If my parents had been around at the point I walked into Times Square I would have had my mouth washed out with enough soap to have cleaned even the most determined swamp donkey.

If you hadn't already figured out, I arrived in New York last night at half twelve after a four hour drive from Boston. The whole way into town I was full of "OH MY F&*K, LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT F$%KING BUILDING!" It really is the most amazing city to visit. 

After finally getting in we called a cab to take us into the city to meet up with a couple of friends. The poor cab driver had no idea what he was in for. I kept using only the most "descriptive" words I know when I would see a bigger, better or more American, just generally cool whatever. Then what would happen was i would stick my face against the window to look up which would cause it to fog up.... the obscenities that followed were disgusting. I'm sure the cabbie went straight home and prayed for me, or at least  had his cab exorcised. 

Rambling again (I've found myself to be quite good at this), anyway, by the time we hunted these guys down it was half past two. All the bars close at four... wtf? It makes no sense to me that New York is "the city that never sleeps" and yet they shut up at four. To really buzz up my rant, we ordered drinks at last rounds only to be told the moment they hit the table that we had to leave... wtf! How does that makes sense?

We finally got home about half four and passed out with the agreement that we'd be up at ten to do the tourist thing. While I'm on the topic of tourism. I hate it! I can't stand the plans to go and see some boring ass church or some big bridge that someone who once did something vaguely important... its annoying. My interest in NY was because it looked like a very cool place to work. Have been proven wrong though. I've been to several apartments and they're tiny, and a problem I seem to have picked up in the last couple of years is claustrophobia. Nothing serious but none-the-less it really gets to me sometimes (probably why I have lost my love of nightclubs). Back to story, we ended up only getting up and moving at twelve... 

Now my biggest bitch of my latest rant. You know, I come four hours here so I can have one day to check it out and the weather is absolutely the most shit possible. It was horribly overcast and drizzling and cold. Still powered through it though. We did Times Square, which is pretty cool. Never thought it would be possible to push that much marketing into that much space. Sure I would have appreciated it more if the weather had been more agreeable. 

Next stop, Ground Zero. Was quite moving being in the exact spot that so many people had died at in 2001. There are still people that put up pictures and memories from when they had spent time in the towers. There are huge dedications to the Firefighters. Still not entirely sure how I feel about three new bigger, taller towers being built in the space.

Then decided that due to the crap weather there was no point in trying to go up to the top of buildings to have a look at the view. We couldn't see the top from ground level because they were covered in cloud. So we headed off round the edge of Manhattan and had a look at the Statue of Liberty. Even from a distance it was pretty cool... thats really all I can find myself saying about it.

Good trip, glad I came but New York is like London on speed, and I'd already decided that was too much for me. New York is a no go. Anyway, my rambling rant is done for the day. So to my one follower, Russ, hope you are entertained.