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I have to take a moment in this post to thank our faithful followers and for their always entertaining comments...although the mockery that ensues from a botched automatic translation is unacceptable. Don Pedro: we must exchange some serious words :-[
Anyways... ;) I got to visit Chloe's apartment in Grand Junction last weekend (see pics above). Yes, in case you weren't aware, we had an argument and she decided to move out and live among the meth heads and weirdness only known as Grand Junction. No..of course not...Chloe does have an apartment in Grand Junction though, that she uses for when she works three days in a row. It is a very nice place about a five minute walk from the hospital with two other lady roomates who are also nurses at St. Mary's, and one that actually works in the same unit as Chloe. Pretty nice set-up really.
We climbed on Monday, since it seems we haven't done that in so long ;), and then I started some work up on the mountain (Sunlight mountain), to make a little money and get ready for the ski season. Getting a mountain ready for a ski season is pretty varied in the duties necessary. I ran and drove up and down the moutain a whole lot putting on tower and post pads so that all those oh so skilled skiers (and boarders, lets not be decriminitory here) can run into everything in sight while they tumble down the mountain, and can't sue the mountain saying we didn't try to protect them from that enormous obvious black metal tower in the middle of the run that they didn't see. Transporting the pads up the hill can be quite a trip sometimes. Aside from a quad motorcycle, one of Sunlight's key workhorse "trucks" is a chevota (combination Chevy and Toyota), that must be left over from WWII (see pics above). Driving that thing is always an adventure. The driver's seat is only a frame and your ass actually falls into the seat as opposed to onto the seat, and forget about adjusting the forward/back position of the thing, so hopefully you can reach those nice smooth polished metal pedals. The thing is actually an automatic, but the dial to put it into drive and reverse fell off, so you just have to count the number of clicks as you move the handle to put it into drive, or whatever the hell else you end up in. Since this "vehicle" is quite old, going down hill requires a special aproach. When braking, the rear wheels do not stop turning, so as the front wheels lock up (back when this thing was made, I don't think anti-lock brakes we're even a twinkle in dady's eye yet), the back wheels keep turning like there's no tomorrow, and you quickly find yourself driving sideways down the ski run over snow ice and rocks headed for a grouping of apsen trees: interesting. So, you either you need to go downhill fast, or pop it into neutral (if you can find it of course) and hang on for the ride. Besides fourwheeling up and down the hill with a two wheeling antique relic, I spent time going through medical equipment, putting the patrol shack in order, and digging and installing new posts that didn't survive those skillful skiers (and boarders) from last year.
I do a shift at WECAD tomorrow and then we're off back out to Utah for some...climbing (you know, been a while) for the weekend.
Our mountain is ready for the snow to come, so lets see what happens: it's always a surprise. Until our next post: behave (and if you don't, at least post some incriminating pictures so that we may all laugh at you).
Cheers,
Brendan
6 comments:
Aha, really recent news since I looked at 5 p.m. this evening! Absolutely LOVE the "Chevota"! I think someone should tell GM about this invention--maybe that could save them from going under. And, what an adventure going up and down the hill. Too funny! En attendant la prochaine avec bcp d'impatience!
P.S. How can we post photos on your blog? Is that possible???
I have no idea if it is possible to post pictures as a comment. Probably not, but they could always be left as a link.
To "post" picture, I believe you could use an href link, like that.
Ancient? Antique? That FJ40 is about as old as I am! :)
And the Chevy engine? "Today the J40 Series is prized for its compatibility with General Motors products. Not only does the J40 accept the same 6 lug wheel as GM, but the transmission is also compatible with the Chevrolet small block engines, including the 307, 327 and 350 cubic inch models. This allows for engine changes and upgrades, a viable option as surplus engines and engine components for the original J40s are becoming scarce."
Hey - when I was working at Northstar we had to readjust all pads if they weren't 2" above the snow line. At Squaw we almost never touched them as long as they were at least half visible. How is it at your mountain? Do you ski more or work more?
And no - Blogger does not allow IMG tags in comments.
Dude, paul, geeking out on the car info, but don't worry, i am very impressed :)
...and about the ancient antique: sometimes you're only as good as your looks, you know...but don't worry, you're doing just fine in that department ;)
As far as for our mountain, there is definitely a whole lot more skiing than there is work. As long as the tower pads are kind of there, we're good to go.
-Brendan
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