Here they come!

I went by the resort this morning to get my schedule for next week and to pester the guy at Goody's about a job, and I decided then and there weekend skiing is not my style. It was packed (relatively speaking), and the lifts had just barely opened for the morning. I can only imagine how dreadfully icy the two runs will be by the end of the day today. I had been thinking about doing a lesson this weekend, but on second thought, mid-week might be a bit less hectic. Understatement. I have Monday and Tuesday off so, assuming it snows which it's supposed to, I'll hit the slopes on those days. Keep me away from these weekend crowds!

On another note...

Apparently one day of renting was enough for me. I took the plunge today and invested (yes, of course this is an investment) in ski boots (and a helmet, and two pairs of socks). In classic Audrey style, I tried on four or five pairs and then went with the first ones I tried. BUT now I have my own skis and boots and helmet and goggles and I can go skiing anywhere! No more renting! My own gear! This is so exciting. Skiing world, here I come!

Got Free Time? Ski!

I skiied today! Third time EVER. It was pretty sweet. I mean, considering the total number of runs open was 4, 3 were green and only 2 actually reached the base, it was pretty decent. And I only fell once. And it really is JUST like ice skating, except obviously skis are longer than ice skates. We did the same run about five times, but it was a good warm up. I now realize how cool it is to be able to ski while you work (or are on break, or afterwards, or before, or whatever). Unfortunately it's all just an excuse to spend more money, as I'm going to need boots, poles, and a helmet...

And It Begins

Yesterday was opening day at Winter Park. Wahoo. There were about three runs open, and at work we probably had about five customers all day. (Today we had ten. Huge improvement.) Despite the slowness of the early season, the excitement of winter was almost infectious walking around the village the last two days. It's in the air and it's in people's eyes. Ski season is here, watch out!

The Grinding Grind

First day of work today.

That's all there is to it.

Oh, you want to hear more, you say?

Let me begin by saying I think Sara Deane was right when she said the corporate environment is not for me. That is not to say I don't think I'll enjoy my job - I think working in Winter Park with the people here will be awesome. It'll be a ton of fun, and I'll learn how to barista in the meantime. That said, Starbucks training is worse than MGMT100 (anyone who has ever been anywhere near Wharton knows what I'm talking about). The company actually pays someone to develop this training that involves "educational" videos, handbooks reminiscent of the Terra Nova testbooks in Elementary school, and an environment fueled by kitchy acronyms and motivational quotes. I actually spent 4 hours of my life today "learning" that if a customer has a complaint, listen to them. Be nice to customers. Be nice to coworkers. Be cheerful and energetic. Know your product. Chat.

Is it just me, or is all of this common sense? Now I know what they say, that common sense isn't so common, but you'd think a group of 20-somethings, all with previous customer service experience, could be grandfathered out of this absurd, idiot-proof training course. I mean, it has MODULES for crying out loud. I get that Starbucks has to sell their name and the "Starbucks Experience" as much as their coffee, but I'm not sure it takes a workbook and an hour of patronization to figure this out. A simple one-liner would suffice.

But it is what it is and I can't do anything about it, except resolve to try to avoid large corporations at all costs in the future.

Silver lining? At least we get paid.

Probably the worst view ever.

If I chose to look out my bedroom window, this is what I would see. Can't complain.

High Rise

Trying to get myself off my incessant TV-watching kick, I've been doing wholesome things like reading, cleaning, and 'rithmetic. Inspired by a lack of edible bread products at the local Shop'n'Save (perhaps I was spoiled by my summer job?), my afternoon activity was to challenge the high-altitude gods and make my own bread. Having read up on some of the effects of 9,000 feet on yeasted doughs, I proceeded as usual. That is, I proceeded without a recipe and only my gut to guide me. It guided me to an uncertain combination of yeast, water, sugar, bread flour, oats, salt, and some pumpkin seeds for good measure.

Any guesses on the outcome? Well, knock me over with a feather, but it worked! My dough rose and I now have a loaf of warm, soft, chewy, fresh, home-made bread.

Over-unders are being accepted on how long the loaf will last, though.

All In a Day's Work

Today is my second "official" day in CO. As such, it seemed high time for some adventures.

After an accumulated five or so inches of snow over the last forty-eight hours, somehow it got into our heads that an adventurous drive up to some mountain tops was an excellent idea. I mean, we had 4-wheel drive, right?

Well. It was pretty excellent - I mean, the view was nice - until on our way up a particularly steep and icy slope we encountered a Suburban coming - or rather, sliding - down the one-lane "road" and frantically waving us back down the way we had just come. So smarties that we are, we reverse down the hill until we find a nice ditch to rest in while the Suburban slides on past and spins out into the same ditch about twenty feet further downhill. As a gaggle of men heave-ho the Suburban out of their ditch and on their way down the slippy-slidey hill, we try desperately to get our car out of its predicament. A few tire spins later we're back on the road, only to spin into a ditch again just about where the Suburban had. Now, the snow-pack was so slippery you could hardly walk on it (in fact I definitely wiped out and fell - hard - on my tush), and here we were about to go in reverse down this steep slope; ditch on one side, drop-off on the other. We fretted a few minutes until we saw another pickup truck coming on down the mountain. To avoid them hitting us, we ran up to their truck, and asked them for help. Lo and behold, they had chains on their tires, so they could do things like grip the snow and stop and maintain control of their vehicle in general. So together four of us pushed the car out of its new ditch and one of the nice men coached our driver down the steep part of the hill until we reached a spot we could turn around and thenceforth creep slowly down the rest of the way.

So. Lesson learned. Next time you want to go up into the mountains on snow-packed roads, bring chains.