Mission Accomplished!

5 and 1/2 hours of my Sunday

10 years off my life from dust and asbestos inhalation

Some inventive stemming moves (ie. my current profile picture) off the walls of the garage while rigging the ceiling suspension for my roommate's boxspring

And a little blood...

But, the garage is clean and organized!

Well, is it ever either of those things?  It's BETTER.  That's for sure.

Mission accomplished.

Training into Work

A brisk morning, sunrise post 5 minutes, beanie, gloves, flashing red light behind me, saddle beneath me.   A slalom down the mountain, passed the white white mission.

A peaceful lumbering ride into work, a low sporadic rumble, passing the traffic, their radios on.  A view of the bay, smooth as glass.  My bike slithering about in the slightly full cabin.  A peaceful, uninterrupted place to start work.

This will do nicely.

Accolades from a Seasoned Pro

At the end of my Mountain Rescue team's Tech Rock 1 training this past weekend, Brian came up to me while we were packing up camp and just blew me away with his comments.  He said that he was impressed by how comfortable, calm and composed I was on the litter lowering.  (Think of a patient strapped to a backboard, on the top of a cliff, with me, the litter attendant, hanging below them from a rope, all dangling off of cliff in the middle of nowhere.)  He said that he thought I'd do very well on the Mountain Rescue team and was really looking forward to working with me.

Such a surprise!  He really caught me off guard, and certainly didn't need to pull me aside to say all of that.  He really <i>wanted</i> to tell me it all!

I am so glad I found this team.  This is going to be sweet!

A Life Long Mission of Mine

Starting with Denali, I would love to attempt these mountains.  Training beginning soon!

James Harper, Ski Patroller for Bear Mountain, CA

I did it!

Random Acts of Kindness - The Blueberry Bagel

Today, I went out to pick up some parts at a machine shop for work and happened to see some shelving I’d like to have in my garage near a dumpster next to the machine shop I was leaving.  I got excited (as I do about things like this) and was about to load them into my car, but decided I should ask the nearby business if it was ok to take them.  After rummaging around the outside of their building, trying to find an entrance, and then trying to find a person to talk to, I happened upon their industrial-sized bakery!  I asked one of the bakers if I could have the shelves and they said no.  I was a bit disappointed naturally.  But then, the baker asked if I’d like to have a fresh donut or bagel!  A literally fresh from the oven, organic blueberry bagel!  So much better than some shelving!

Random acts of kindness like this always make my day fantastic.

An Epic Sunset for an Epic Day

An epic sunset that spanned the east-to-west sky after a beautiful, clear, crisp day up in Big Bear.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect day: I had just gotten signed off on running toboggans (a major step towards becoming a full ski patroller).