Well what a Sunday so far! Up at 4:30, took the rental car back (forgot to arrange another one for when I get back, school boy error . . .) made my flight, it was all so perfectly timed I managed to walk straight through and sit on the plane. Some may call that cutting it a little fine .. . .

I am now privy enough to see the inside of yet another airport, this time it is Minnesota (I think). I am sat with a beer and a turkey salad . . . Anyway, the reason for this post is not to discuss my business flight on a Sunday but to discuss yesterday. I should call it, in true school boy fashion, “My Saturday at Mt. Hood Meadows”

What a day! It was another one of those days where so much went wrong and yet it was still totally amazing! Let me get all the bad stuff out of the way and we can see why the day was so good.

• Bad stuff:
  Set my alarm for PM not AM so got up 2 hours late
• Had to park on the off site parking as I got there so late.
• Forgot my parking permit and got a ticket $30 . . .
• Left my camera in the car so no pictures
• Both my goggle lenses are scratched in places that make them useable for nothing other then dog toys. Thats gonna cost a few dollars . . .
  
• Got stuck in 1 lift que for nearly 5 mins. lol !
  
• I only took one board, the kink. I needed the other one :)
  
• I had a bottle of wine and a couple of beers the night before . . . and woke up a little dehydrated . . .

Now the good stuff, not bullet pointed, but explained in boring detail!

Well, I finally got to the chair lift and looked up the hill . . . Wow . . It was a little overcast but it was amazing conditions about 4” fell over night and the total for the storm that week was about 2ft. In English that means the snow was fresh and soft! I tried going in the pow a few times on the kink but I had to lean so far back on the board that I could not turn, I was laughing myself silly at how much fun it was to go screaming 100yards then have to bail to avoid a tree/boarder/stick/death! I decided I needed another tactic. I found the park run and sessioned it all day.

Well, I say sessioned, it was more like I was owned by the kickers, the rollers and the small half pipe (big one was closed for a competition). Based on that I avoided the rails!

The rollers are really good for technique. When I try to Ollie a BS1 my head ends up really low behind me, after my one-zillionth run I was managing to avoid that problem. After the rollers there was a little hit that allowed you to get airborn with out popping, and I nailed a few really nice BS1s on that :) . When you go along that run from there it flattens out a bit and I was buttering all over the place, nose presses, 360 nose butter (attempts . . .) I forgot to try some forward rolls or hand drags though.

Once I had finished messing about with all that it was the baby half pipe. I did not do as well as the other day, it was pretty icy and my legs were not responding to my commands! I never got out of the lip L but I had some of the most spectacular face plants since I have been in the US! The kind that has you laughing like a child! The pipe was not in great shape, they had cut the super pipe for the competition but not this one. As a result the transition was short and the vert was, well not vert! There were a ocuple of times as I rode high up the side I came straight out of the pipe, not too clever. I did try and hike the pipe a couple of times, but because of all the fresh snow it was really tough!

I was talking to a guy and he reckoned the baby pipe was much harder to ride for this very reason. The super pipe was due to open at 2:30, but I was way to tired by then! I guess the next time I go I need to get there early to have a few runs to warm up and then hit the super pipe. The post I make after that should make for good reading.

I took a few minutes out to adjust my bindings, I have been riding them stock but moved the ankle strap to offer more support against my ankle as opposed to across the top of my foot. This stopped the cramps I was having in my feet, there was me thinking they were due to dehydration! Then it was back to the top of that lovely 2-man lift.

I have my no-complies down now, I can even grab the board, lol !! I hit the rollers with my newly adjusted bindings, wow, what a difference. I think one of the major differences in my riding now compared to even a year ago is I can now really feel the difference in a set up, I know how I want it to feel and this was it! I had a new found confidence and went off to hit the 4 rollers doing sequential bs1, switch fs1, bs1, switch fs1 and then off that little hit off the bottom a really nice bs1. It felt so natural. It was also the marker of the end of the day! I was so tired and I knew I had to be up at 4:30 the next morning, back to the SUV!

This is major proof that practice makes perfect. You have to session something to really get it down. With the exception of the first run (that has the 4 mid sized kickers) which takes you to that part I did not hit another run all day, just that one; no-comply, rollers, little hit, short steep and flat for butters, mini pipe, short steep more butters then lift back up. For 4 hours. I was shattered and my legs are a bit achy now.

I can’t wait to get back up meadows next week. There is a good 2 months left for this season, I will have to see how much a pass will be for the rest of the year, I will be there at least once a week and at $50 a hit I need a more economical way of doing this! Especially if I keep leaving my parking permit at home.

I found out that lockers are $1 for the day. Next time I go it will be with a packed lunch and supplies, we all know how expensive and ropey “on-the-hill” grub is. That should shave a few dollars of the day. There is apparently a car pool scheme. I need to look into that, after all that should mean people to drive and ride with!

One down side to Meadows is it is hard to meet people. Each time I have been there has been a competition on and as such most of the boarders have been in their own groups that make it harder to talk to people. This also means there are less people actually sessioning a given rail or kicker.

This is one advantage of the UK scene, there areas are small and you can easily meet and talk to people. If you think about the last time you were on the mountain and meet some one to ride with, it is not an everyday thing. I am think that if I can get a few good days of practice I will enter a comp in April, just for a laugh and to meet people. You would be amazed how bad they are at rails over here . . . Even a gap to 50:50 on a box would be nice to see. Looks like I have to session some metal work . . . Did I sign those medical forms . . .

As you can see I had a riot up at Meadows, even with the list of disasters. Sometimes you have to stick with it despite the problems, I feel I really earned that day in the end and when I got home I felt ace! Tired but ace.

I am gutted that I have had to travel for work today. I could happily have gone back today for more of the same. But on the plus side we are due more snow this week and the conditions should be good next weekend.

That reminds me. I have been told by everyone I have spoken too that this has been an exceptional season for Mt Hood. The snow came early and has stayed all season. This has be an unprecedented amount of snow for Hood. Last season was one of the worst, with bare ground all over the mountain all season. Why am I saying this? Well I am trying to stay prepared for next season; I cannot expect these kinds of conditions every weekend next season! But I don’t care. I have been used to indoor slopes being crap for the last 4 years; with only the occasional time I can say it has been great. Some of the holidays I have been on have failed to deliver good snow too, that is the worst. Going away for a week and not getting good snow . . . bummer. So I guess Hood cannot be as bad as that! But I still have other options. I can drive to Mt. Bachelor or to Crystal (Washington) or jump on a plane to California/Canada/Utah easily enough. At the ripe age of 30 I will hopefully get a full season next year, bring it on!!!

I'll make this a pre-dinner post! Was nice to see the comment from GI Jane! I will be back up meadows tomorrow trying to bust bigger airs with my matching ensemble!

Looks like I prob will not make Tahoe at the end of March, it is getting busy here as we are deep in our Q4 . . . But I will email you separately about that! If I can get away to meet yo and Mike for the weekend (if the sofa is still on offer . . .) I hope to still be able to do that.

My personal mobile is no longer going to be in use, although it will take Vodafone at least 30 more days to cancel my contract, arseholes. . . . I cannot even check for texts or voicemails from here so it is totally dead! I may post it over to Smurf so she can check it for me!

There are 2 things that really stand out here in Oregon:

1. No sales tax
2. You cannot fuel your own car!

The sales tax thing is ace, it means everything is better value then else where in the country. On top of that, if you show your Oregon ID in other states you can shop there without paying sales tax!

The fuelling car thing is odd, you pull up to the pump, press the button to open the window, give the person your credit card then wait! Its cool, I will get use to that really quickly!

I found the messenger bag I was after. It is the Dakine one I wanted. I got the sand colour, not the militant green! It is a heavy weight canvas that my laptop fits in nicely. It has all the organiser pockets I wanted too. I prob will not use it for work much, too good for work! It makes a nice change as I have used backpacks for the last million years!

I had no luck finding the over night bag I wanted. I found one in a store but it was the brown camo one with the expandable front, I want the black non-expandable one! What do you guys think? They are pretty much the same price and I can find the brown camo one . . .

I was also looking for first descent for Tons-O-Fun but the store I was looking in are too alternative. You see, first descent was more of a holywood presentation instead of your typical independent snowboarding movie, can I find a HMV or Tower records around here . . pah! Where do Americans buy music from and DVDs? No wonder they have piracy issues over here, I am trying to spend the money but can’t!!!

Talking of spending money, I bought 2 DC tees, one in my currently fashionable brown colour and the other in a more classic white with black letters. I also bought a CK belt for my suit that cost the same as the 2 tees . . . go figure . . .

* * * *NEWS FLASH* * * *

JUST SEEN MY FIRST NyQuil ADVERT! IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND DO NOT WORRY, MOVE ON, NOTHING TO SEE HERE . . . WE LOVE YOU, YOU GIANT F***ING “Q” !!!

* * * *NEWS FLASH* * * *

Back in the real world ;) A message to Smurf;:there is a film coming out called “Running Scared”. Why am I telling you this? That actor you like, Paul Walker is in it. Not as good as “Eight Below” as that is Paul Walker and Huskies, but I figured you would like to know! See, I look after you J

Hmm, dinner may be postponed, I am off the beer now and on to the Vino J $5.99 from Fred Meyer . . . . Now that is what I call class!

* * * 50 minutes later * * *

Well the wine is ok, the meal was far better. I stopped posting piccies of food and stuff as it felt pretentious, however, once the old dear got word of the BBQ ribs, that was it . . . a lecture on food . . . So mother, this piccie is for you!

The low down is, king shrimp, 3/4lb . . . $10 . . . red and green bell pepper, sautéed in light olive oil and mixed ground pepper. After about 4 minutes add a medium twist of lemon and a large glass of a good (well, $6 . . that’s what £4 . . . so maybe replace good with . . “accessible”) white wine. Serve with lightly salted broc, cauli and baby carrots (full size look out of proportion . . . I will let coldbird worry about the innuendo. . .) and tuck in. As you can see once again I cooked way too much . . . tomorrow night will hopefully be a salmon steak, kinda fried/broiled in the same olive oil/ white wine, served with lemon and fresh ground pepper and the same vegetable compliment . . . happy mother! If I remember I may get some paprika.

Erm . . . that’s it until I get back from Meadows tomorrow!

Cheesy I know, but it is the first bit of Spurs footage I have seen since I have been out here. You can mute the Christian rock style music. . . Thankfully.

I like this picture of Smurf. It was taken in November at my friends wedding, it was a really great do. No doubt I will be told off for putting this picture up, but I as I said I like it :) Of course if Smurf asks me to remove it then it will be replaced with a dodgy one of another friend, Dave, Andy . . . . You will be in the firing line!

Thanks to the autistics talents of our very own Ginge, Smurf . . . you've been framed :P









Actually, here we go guys. Do you remember Andorra :)



Names will be ommited to protect the guilty! All I can say is that the 2nd and 3rd from the left . . . .. no idea who they were . . . . . But Dave and Andy were talking to them a lot, weren't they Jenni.

Oh . . Shit . . . You know what's happened there don't you . . . .

Well, it has been a long time since my last update! Monday was Presidents day here, I had grand plans of going up to Meadows and playing in the park. Unfortunately 2.5 hours of phone calls for work in the morning meant by 10:30 I was toast!

I had a very short conversation with Smurf and then passed out! I was meant to do so much on Monday but I only managed to buy OJ and some BBQ ribs!!! The rest of the week panned out in an interesting way. I now know the way to San Jose!

I spent a couple of days in the Bay area, it is really nice. The weather was good and I had some really good tours of a couple of facilities (must remember to write some visit reports . . .)

I eventually got back late Wednesday night. That meant today involved a new set of experiences, getting my hair cut was one! There is a chain called supercuts, it is cheap, $12 for a cut and wash, nice.

Now for some funny news . . . remember about a week ago I sat on my gps and broke it . . . well I replaced it for the princely sum of $150 . . . . today I sat on it again . . . luckily this one was modular so I only ruined the CF adapter card, $49 later and a lot of swearing I have the replacement part sat next to me . . . .

Shopping is still on my agenda. I need to find an overnight bag suitable for stopovers and a decent (funky) laptop bag. I have failed on the first front, maybe another trip to samsonite or check out the snowboard stores again. But with the later I have a good interim measure. I found in fry’s a range of neoprene sleeves, this means I can stuff my laptop in any bag and it will have the level of protect that a dedicated bag would offer. This means I can just look for a nice bag and I know the laptop will fit in it safely. I want a courier/record style bag . . . Any suggestions guys? If anyone says the Galleria I will shoot you . . .

In fact I have found Dakine do a good line in messenger bags (for the office) and they do a really nice wheely bag for overnights.

Maybe after I have bought a bed!

It is that time of the week, I have turned my attention to the mountain, it is looking good for Saturday! I would dearly love at some time to get 2 consecutive days up the hill, when is that next long weekend??? Maybe I will head up for a friday night session :) . . .

Wow, it has been a long time since my last entry, I will make a reall post when I get home from work.

In the meantime things are looking good here, got my work phone and laptop sorted. My bank account has some money in it and I have a nother SUV. This time a Suzuki XL-7. Not as good as the explorer though.

I'll be back!

With out a doubt, this was the best day I have had since I have been out here! I got good nights sleep last night which really helped, but now the details!

I spoke to Smurf this morning, a shorter conversation then I planned, but we are going to talk again tomorrow for a lot longerJ. Then Mum called and updated me with the family, Dad is really into his golf. I am really please to hear that, it means getting presents for him will be a lot easier!

I think the biggest upper this morning was booking the flights over for Smurf! 13^th until the 30^th. I am so excited about that I almost lost for words. Almost! I need to sort so much out before she comes, hopefully by then I will have my apartment furnished.

The rest of my day (so far!) has been spent snowboarding. My word what a day. Possible the best day on record for me! It was about -4 degC, clear skies and brilliant sunshine! I headed up to Mt Hood Meadows, after some faffing with parking I got on piste at just before 10am. I was very ambitious; I paid $57 for a ticket until 9pm. I made it to 4pm!

This image was from the top lift at Meadows and is crying out for Andy and Tons-O-Fun! You can get Corona and Tacos on the mountain, Mexican food and beer, then boarding . . . hmmmm . . .

Meadows is so much better then skibowl for park riding! They have 2 half pipes, a baby one (6ft) and a super pipe (err . . not sure . . BIG!) They have a proper pipe dragon to cut it and they were both pristine today. I rode that baby pipe most of the day, I can just get out of the lip, how’s that for progression? From never being in one to getting about 1ft clear on front and backside air! Well I am impressed. I reckon I could have done better but there were loads of STGs in the way . . . . I rode over one guys skis, he was a prick.

I really like this pic as it shows the difference between the diddy pipe I was riding and the super pipe that the locals were killing! The chair you can see on the left going over the superpipe it the one that serves the park. Such a good setup. This is part of the "night -ski" area!!! How did I miss that last time out???

The reason I was riding pipe was because the main park was taken up in the morning with a slope style competition. Real mix of abilities, I would not have been out of place if I had entered. They could not ride rails for love or money, only one gap to fs board slide on the kink, the rest were 50/50. But nearly all the riders could throw down fs3s or fs shifties on the kickers!

While the competition was on I was getting the 2-man chair over the park, riding down next to it over little rollers and practising popping bs180s, some good, some not . . . more practice! That would take me into the small pipe and then back to the chair.

This is the view from the Mexican cafe looking up at the pipe contest and the top of Mt Hood, this was at a mid station so about 7Kft. 2.1Km I think.

Once the competition ended I rode the fun box (only 50/50) and the medium kickers, just straight airs, the pipe riding had taken its toll on me! The park is amazing, really well shaped and at least 3 lines. From the top there was a flat down (gap on), wavy box, box (gap on, only 18”). Then the park opened up! Off to the right (as you rode through) there was a huge hip with a 5M table, in the middle there was a kicker with small, medium and high err, kickers! Then after that down to the left was an even bigger hip (but shorter), a quarter-pipe about 200M wide with a hip on the far right of it and also a rainbow rail.

I was really surprised about the lack of rails, there were only 4 in the main park and as you rode out the park there was a C-rail, an Ollie on box (about a 2ft Ollie off the ground) and a really wavy rail.

Right at the end of the day as I was going back down to the car park I found ANOTHER park! It was a beginner’s rail park, so I hit the 2 rainbows on the way through, there must have been about 12 rails in there, I cannot recall all of them but they were not all beginner thingies, definitely some tricky looking metal bars in there.

I am hoping to go back over for the afternoon tomorrow; if I do I will get more piccies!! The snow ratio is looking a bit better now, 2.5days out of 19! That is 1 day on snow in every 7.6 days so far. I think the magic ration is 1 in 7, if I go up tomorrow I will make it!!!

This was the State of Madison Airport as I was trying to leave on Friday!

You can see a runway over too the left and a comedy advert on the lorry on the right. Not the best framing, but I was luck to get any picture!

This is why all the flights were messed up and and stuff.

I did not get a chance to get piccies in New York or Chicgo, but NY was the same, Chicago was just cold and windy, no snow!

It can be odd how things work out. In this case I am happy with the results. You all know that I can't exchange my bindings with out a proof of purchase and as a result I bought another set. I have 2 boards why not 2 sets of bindings!

I went to the shop and I found out my boots (US10) are between binding sizes . . . I can squeeze into a medium (the black pair, the originals, are mediums) but it is right at the limit, so all the straps are maxed out and it is not 100% satisfying. I tried the large ones in the shop and they were not necessarily better, but different. I prefer the fit of the larger binding and it was a coincidence that the only colour they had left in that size was the cham-pag-ne. To the rest of the guys out their the closet we may understand is “beige”.

The black ones are still ridable and I will take both setups over to Mt Hood tomorrow. When I send them back in for warranty I will ebay the black ones and invest in a new board and bindings. The big sales start in March (well in the UK) and I want to retire the Parka and replace it with a Ride Theory with white Cartels (don’t worry mum, it is all boarding talk!)

The wind has died down over at hood and I expect to spend a full day in -10deg C conditions up at Meadows. I expect to post an entry when I get back from the hill, till then, enjoy your Sunday roasts!

* * * * * * * *

IMPORTANT MESSAGE!!!!!

Can someone please call Tons-o-Fun for me and get him to email the full details of that DVD request to my hotmail (that means you Dave, and you Dave and also you Andy, maybe Smurf too). I can send the stuff no prob, but I do not have access to work email still and prob will not till next Friday . . . . My UK mobile is 100% out of commission and all communications should be via my hotmail!!!!

TRANSMISSION OVER

* * * * * * * *

I think this is the first time this week I have felt chilled and relaxed. That is a sign of something . . . maybe Pinot Grigio . . . I was just looking at some old pictures and two things struck me.

1. I have next to no pictures of my family! Mum, can you put some to one side for me please, maybe post them out, I can scan them and send them back, or maybe I can ask Dave or the Sheppard to scan them?
2. It is amazing how quickly you can forget stuff! I will explain in the next paragraph!

As many of you know snowboarding has, for what ever reasons been a big part of my life for many years. But if we pan back for a moment and look how it all started we can point fingers at the usual suspects!

If we go back to Eric (ok, that’s getting old I know, but I am trying to protect the giraffes on the internet . . or something ;). He had a birthday some years ago. Coldbird and I manage to plan a weekend away, of which a small part was going to Tamworth Snowdome for some sledging and a skiing lesson. Well, that was a whole adventure that would need a long time to explain! But after that weekend I mentioned How I always wanted to try snowboarding and there were some things I wanted to achieve before my 25^th birthday. Any, Eric being the kind of guy he is picked up on this an booked a lesson for coldbird and myself at the next opportunity (just after my 25^th). There were only 2 spaces available on the lesson hence Eric stepped back, picked up the video camera and let us make fools out of ourselves. I still have a copy of that DVD!

Anyhow, why am I going into all this? I regularly tell stories to people of my holidays and nights out boarding, it covers the names you would expect, Dave/Andy/Adam and other internet interlopers. I don’t really get to mention that in the early days all the lessons were spent with Eric and Coldbird (cept the first trip to Andorra with Dave, but that is another can of worms!)

This picture is from the second holiday I ever went on. It was a crazy trip, a 3 day weekend to Les Arcs with Duncan, Matt, Eric and Coldbird. Some of you would have seen the DVD (again lovingly crafted by Coldbird!) but not many of you would have seen any of the pictures, hence this pic is from my 7^th day on snow! (excluding MK and Tam).

You have to remember the early days, it helps keep things in perspective. I may not have boarded as much as I would have liked to since I have been in Portland, but the desire is there as strong as ever and the people that have been there from the start are still a big part of it.

In summary, thanks to all of you that make boarding what it is to me, I will hopefully post some additional pictures of you all, prob do some kind of profile thingy for each of you, but for now there is a rare snippet of Eric and I on snow together, I hope we get a chance to do it again sometime Eric!

This picture, from left to right.

Duncan, Eric "the dragon" Richardson, Matt. Crazy weekend summized by long mobile calls, tree crashes (Duncan!!!) tantrums and courtesy flushes (Matt) Hot chocolates, Birthdays and Valentines (Coldbird, yielding the camera in this case) and lots of beer, me! Then table, chairs . . snow and so on . . . .

Wow, I am so tired. The flight out of Chicago was delayed by 2 hours . . . Not gone to pic my stuff up, will do it in the morning . . .

But here is what I wrote ealier!

Friday 17^th Feb

After much speculation about weather etc . . . I managed to leave Madison and make it to Chicago. It was about a 40 min flight . . . hardly time to get comfy. Had a few interesting moments today, once again it was hit home to me that you have to be careful when you pen the written word, subtle inflexions can be missed and entirely change the context of the subject you are trying to address. As such I am going to make more of an effort to pre type all my emails/blogs - anything really to make sure I look at all the wriggly lines. Hopefully this will force me to pay more attention to what I write instead of mindlessly drivelling on . . .

Today was also a strange day as it was the first time I really missed Smurf. Don’t sound surprised there, this is a tale about extremities. You can miss people after a few minutes, hours or days, but to realise that you have not seen some one for the best part of 3 weeks with no scope of being able to see them again for nearly double that. . . Wow, that is really missing someone. It is also the first time I doubted whether I made the right choice coming out here. So when I say it was the first time I missed her it was the first time I had that heart sinking moment of not know when I am going to see her next. Horrible feeling, never felt like that before.

On balance it has driven me to make more of an effort. I will call my Smurf as often as possible, hopefully every other day until she is sick of me! It will be tricky as I am living in 3 time zones and I get a little mixed up, but just the couple of minutes we spent on the phone today really cheered me up. I must also be careful as I do not want to make phone calls when I have time constraints. I have made a couple of calls to her already when I have to cut the conversation short, that kind of devalues the effort. Well it does in my eyes, “Hi, how are you . . . yeah . . yeah . . . great . . . got to go now . . .” are those calls worth making? I think it depends how and why they are made.

I am going to try and book the flight for Smurf to come over in April this weekend and I am going to gear myself up to getting my apartment inhabitable for when she can make it out. I have booked a week off and will have to go back in for a few days then spend more QT with Smurf. I know she is going to kill me for this, but I am going to put a picture up of her! Don’t kill me babe, some people that read this have not met you yet! Despite your best efforts I have managed to get some piccies of you that are not just hands or hair, but they can be posted on another day!

I have a 2 hour lay over here in Chicago and I am thoroughly shattered, I am going to arrive in Portland about 10:30pm, I have to drive to pick up my stuff and then go back to my hotel, I should be done by midnight. Hopefully I will have time to post this up and crash out.

I have made a decision to do some work tomorrow (boardsheep will have an email from me!) and I will be working on Monday too (Presidents Day, as I am not a President I don’t think I qualify for the day off!). No one is forcing me to work, so don’t go giving me the sympathy vote just yet! I will need that in a week or so! I am, as they say, a little behind the curve at the mo and need to put some time in now to get ahead a little! Today with the customer was tough, real tough. . . I have lot to do repair some broken bridges.

On the plus side I should get at least one day up at Hood this weekend and next weekend will most likely be 2 full days. I am keeping a snow count of how many days I have spent on snow, so far it is 1.5 days out of 17 . . . I think that is less then if I was in the UK, but they were damn good! Now I am inducted into my health care thingy I feel a little safer about boarding.

Americans use the word “so” as a linking word instead of “and”. It really pisses me off, so I do nothing about it . . . ;) soooooo . . .ssssooooo . . . pah!

I am out of steam now. I have a day of domestic crap to look forward to tomorrow. I need to find a laundrette, a dry cleaner (they are not the same over here . . .) get my new bindings, go to the PO box, then the office to email/fax and the bank, get some groceries, and then, only then, if I get all that done I can go boarding . . . . on Sunday . . . If I have any energy . . .

Ug . .. it is gone 8 in the morning and I am shattered . . . got to wake up as I have to be smiley for work, in reality I just want to be somewhere comfortable. This hotel to hotel malarky really takes it out of you, especially when you do not have an actual home to go back too. The sooner that apartment is sort out the happier I will be.

I will post later in the weekend when I have some more news about how excellent the boarding was! Mind you it is a long weekend here (Presidents day) and the chances of the slopes being really busy are very high . . . .

I forgot to mention the update on my apartment. I am moving in on the 1st March. This is due to cash flow and being paid . . . obviouse really! I am really excited about it all. I now have an address (although I will not give it out untill I actually sign stuff . . .) and I can really start to make plans for the future.

After discussions from people, once I move in to the apartment I will be able to use the phrase "I am from Oregon". At the mo I am still using the London signature.

On that bombshell, good night!!!

Hmmm, where to start with todays mad adventures!!! I guess the best place to start is to explain the pictures! These are the extras of Eric that I promised coldbird! Now go update your blog!!!!

Now then, New York. There was a lot of snow there, 27" fell on Sunday . . . Most of that was still around today. Today was always going to be manic, so many work issues to sort out before catching a flight in the afternoon to Madison Wisconsin. Got in to work an we had all seen the weather report. Snow. And lots of it!

There was a huge risk that Madison airport would be closed, after calling the customer it was agreed to cancel the meeting and hence cancel the flight, we all needed an extra day at the office. Efforts were made to book a flight back to Portland for Friday/Saturday . . . No flights out of NY to anywhere unftil Sunday morning . . crap . . we better risk that flight to Madison! At 11 am this sudden u-turn was in full effect! The customer meeting was back on, I was frantically filling out HR forms, my new work computer was almost ready! The one that was meant to be ready yesterday had a duff mother board and the rep did not make it out to check it out. A lap top without any network connection was not going to hep me in Portland!

This new laptop was workign ok, then suddenly it stopped seeing its network card . . . another one duff!

This week has been a nightmare, flight out cancelled, people at office off sick, IT issues customer visit cancelled then back on etc . . . Today was the worst . . . Put my trousers on and the zip was broken (on the old suit!) so I was late this morning as I changed into jeans, all the stuff at work then when I got to this hotel my shampoo bottle had leaked in my suitcase. Luckily I have all that stuff in a seperate bag in a seperate compartment of my bag!

Looking at the amount of travelling I will be doing for the next couple of months I am really please I got a samsonite case, it has taken a beating so far but looks like it is going to wear well! In the US there is checked baggage wheight limit of 50lbs per bag, this restricts the size of the bag you can have, as such this wheely one is just the right size, any larger and I would always be overloading!

Anyhow, I am now in Madison. What can I say, lots of snow here, the plane that brought us in was possibly the smallest jet I have ever been on, only 3 seats wide and about 20 rows!

I was looking at trying to play in the snow, but it is so flat here, it is like Lincoln!

Where does that leave everything? I am in cold and snow Madison, flying back to Portland tomorrow night, check back into ly long stay hotel and Saturday I am buying some new Cartel bindings.

Burton finally came back to me and I have to send proof of purchase with my claim, that proof of purchase is in the UK . . . As such I have to buy another set of bindings if I want to board this weekend. And I want to board! There has been some light snow up Hood and I want to ride :)

I have alot of stuff to do this weekend and originally I was planning to do some boarding around the other stuff, but now I have decided that I will do the other stuff around the boardign :)

Well I am tired now, this is my 3rd time zone in as many days, so I bid you all farewell!

15th February

A long day today, had a medical fo work .. . eventually. I was seriously pissed off today espcially when the Doc said "Your blood pressure is high, are you nervous?" I simply said, no. I am stressed. I want to tell him why . . basically the whole medical fiasco was an example of people not communicating correct and not be prepared. I have said too much.

Had a great dinner tonight, some picky food at TGI and good convesation with peeps from work, some good strong characters, alsways makes it interesting!

Also watched the curling. The girls have a calendar! . .

ANyhow, I am real tired now and will go crash. No real updates now till the weekend, but you can alwaus email me (at my hotmail please!!)

Night night!

14th February:

I did not get a chance to post today, hence the combined post on the 15th. I served my duty (not being serious about the duty part!!!) as a good boyfriend and sent Smurf a flour . . . sorry, flower and more importantly a bottle of vino :) It is no compensation for not seeing her, but I hope it was a nice little surprise for her.

I am sure you and Alice can kill that in a pre-drinking wine-fest!

Any how, happy thingy to you all etc . .. yaddy-ya ;)

Spoke with Smurf, after being delivered next door, she has recieved rose and wine in safety! It was too risky trying to send it to her work, it was bound to end up in the wrong hands!!!

How was the birthday Niki? Did Eric remember???

13^th February:

Having some I.T issues here today! Anyhow. I will try again! I was looking through some of my pictures last night and I found this one. This is from a trip to Cornwall in October, Dave and I were celebrating our birthdays. Em had organised a weekend of activity that was great fun. In fact it was so fun Smurd was sick on the sea safari and Em was going to strangle the very next Heron that was trying to get at worms on the sany beach!!

I digress!

I think this picture of Dave really captured the weekend, lots of activity, insane laughing and a really great time! Dave has been into kites since Em bought him one last Christmas (I would tell you the full story but my mum reads this blog . . .) The wind was really blowing a gale, the kite we were using on this activity day was pretty big and well, both dave and I got dumped on our arses!

It was a total riot! If you ever get the chance to go power-kiting/kite-boarding/one of those kite buggy things . . . then do it, it was fantastic.

Then there was the morning when we went surfing, Paul (Ems bro) drove us over to this really beautiful beach, we got change on the road as Dave mooned some farmer in a JCB! I am still not convinced Dave enjoyed the bodyboarding, but I loved the surfing! Thanks again to Em, Paul and their folks for putting up with us all! Infact we went back for New Year. I have a quality picture of Eric to post on that one! lol !!

* * * * * * * *

Later on the 13th . . . .

I have tried posting that bit several times today. The interspaz connection at work was knackered. Today has been a totally wasted day and I am not happy. Interspaz at wok meant not only no google/hotmail but no way to access the itranet and other worky things, it meant my colleague had a crap day too. On the plus side I had a crazy BLT for lunch, good thick bacon, about 1/2lb worth J And a $6 OJ. The receipt was really fun, it read as “freshly squeezed OJ”, sure that gag is a couple of years out, but there is still a few miles in it!

After I left the office I went to the bank and paid more pennies to Wamu, Citi bank tried to call again, but stuff them for being inflexible . . . Still not happy with First Direct, although I am getting over it ;)

I went to a couple of Snowbaord stores, there was the US outdoor place, that seems the biggest independent in Portland. They stocked all the stuff I like, Ride boards (Theory $449, ouch!), Burton bindings (Cartels were in there for $209) They are having a 20% off sale. If it was 50% I may have gone for another set of Cartels, really good binding, highly reckomended, although laterally a bit sloppy, I guess that is the freestyle advantage of them?

They had a host of Quicksilver shirts, long sleeve, but at top dollar of $48 . . . :O They had a rugged Volcom suit that was about $200, would really suit Pandy, twas a light brown pin stripe. It was a thick material and a rough cut suit, not a clean lined one like the CK I got in the end. Volcom shirts were pretty coo, like the QS ones they were fitted.

Defo a shop to check out in a couple of paychecks time ;)

They said they can send the baseplate back for me, but I am still stuck with the “I need to ride this weekend!” syndrome . . .Is this what credit cards were invented for? Answers on the comments please, the winning comment will get a special prize of a Grande, no-fat, Vanilla Latte. In case you are wondering, that is the coffee of choice for me, should I walk into a Starbucks ;)

I took a good drive around Portland this afternoon, the downtown is really swish. I think Smurf and I could spend a long time looking around there. The Rose Quarter has lots of music gigs in its 20,000 capacity indoor thingy, I am right niext (walking distance by the lok of it!) of both the Portland International Raceway (street circuit!) and the local gee-gee stadium! Just over the way from there is the baseball practice nets and fields and other bit of green!

Unfortunately, due to me watching too many episodes of Black books and Coupling in the airport on this laptop, I am now out of battery. I will be posting on V-day J

Last year a few of us went to Cornwall for a kind of late birthday celebration. Em very kindly organised a wonderfull weekend of events (DO NOT MENTION THE HERONS) and I think this picture really sums up for me how it all was, side splittingly funny and full of surprises!

This is Dave with a medium sized power kite in a really strong wind!!!

Here is a movie you just know that Smurf will be going to see asap! It has huskies!!!! I think Old Jack is the coolest :)

A bit of a ropey cut and shut job on the sofa picture, but what do we think of it? I am not sure if I like the rightangle corner bit . . . mayb a lower side on it would look better???

Opinions please :)

Hello Campers!

Well, the last day or so have been might strange! Yesterday I spent much of the day trying to pack for this comming week and as such that meant a shopping trip. I have been needing new work clothes for over 6 months, but I have been holding out untill I got here to do it. As such I managed to get a CK suit, 2 pairs of shoes, 5 shirts (all fitted, 2 with french cuffs). I finally got a deccent hold all too, a split roller. I resisted getting the Burton one and went for a more profesional Samsonite one. Shoes and dirty washing live in the bottom section and the rest in the top. It is a good size an handle a weeks worth of work stuff easy.

I managed to pack all my stuff up and take it round to my colleagues house to store for week. This is where things cam unstuck . . . I sat on my GPS . . .So if anyone needs a 256Mb CF type 1/2 card then let me know as it is all it does now !!

I finally got to bed at 1am with my alarm set for 5:30 . . . . I got up, got into the SUV and trundled (without GPS . . .) to Portland airport, took my car back to the rental place checked in, got a coffee and sat at the gate hoping my flight would be ok.

Now I may have to explain but the East coast has been have a few weather issues at the mo Just as they calle dmy flight it was announced my connection had been cancelled. . . . I called my bag off the plane, called my boss explained what happened, went back to the rental place (got a red Escape this time, the silver one I had was higher spec . . :( ) drove back to the hotel and explained that although I had officially checked out I would need the room for one more night . . .

Back to room, sit down, fire up lap top look for Spurs score. Bugger . . . Well at least we have a new kit supplier for next season . . . I mean, its not like I just bought a spurs shirt less then 2 months ago . . . I reckon it was pressure from the tubby group about the kappa skin tight Italian fit. Looks great on athletic footballers, not so on the average spurs fan. Can't find the kinda image I was looking for, but the guys understand ;0

Anyhow. a few Googles later I find that Frys have a special on a GPS card, so a drive to frys and an unplanned $150 later I have a new compact flash GPS card. The cf card is important as it maked the device portable for walking. This one had a larger antena that is detachable and you can stick it on the windscreen, look slike it will give a better signal in bad conditions.

On a side note, I went la-z-boy yesterday and they had the sofa suite I like and some recliners I like. I am going to see how money goes, but I will prob get 2 recliners, one in blue and one in terracota (they did not have pink . . boooo) and have them in a snake skin fake leather print, then go for a white sofa :)

Come on mum, you knooooowww it will look good, especially with all the furniture you and Dad have got for me (again, a hundred times, thank you!).

Ermmmmm . . . I am out. . . brain fry has set in . . . so I will sit back, watch black books and have a soda . . .

mmmmm McLaren . .. The new F1 car looks . . . well . . . WOW!

Just watching the best South Park ever. Marty, you know the one, no not trapper keeper 2000, Christian Rock band! Why is it so good, while lines like

"Cartman:[when Token seems out of earshot] I'm going to kill you one day, Token."

and

"Detective:[somberly, dramatically] Man must learn to think of these horrible outcomes before he acts selfishly or else... I fear... recording artists will be forever doomed to a life of only semi-luxury."

You have to see it to get it, but if you cannot find the episode or be bothered to read the whole script then a highlight is:

[Cartman's house. He, Token and Butters begin to practice]
Cartman:	All right, guys, this is gonna be so easy. All we have to do to make Christian songs is take regular old songs and add Jesus stuff to them. [some sheet music is shown. Cartman has already crossed out the original author's name] See? All we have to do is cross out words like "baby" and "Darling" and replace them with [writes next to "baby"] Jesus. All right, Butters, give me a beat. [Butters doesn't understand, but starts drumming. It's rather good] Okay, nice. Very nice. All right, Token, give me a smooth bass line.
Token:	I don't know how to play bass. [Butters stops]
Cartman:	[Sighs, has his left fist on his forehead, eyes shut] Token, how many times do we have to go through this? You're black. You can play bass.
Token:	I'm gettin' sick of your stereotypes!
Cartman:	Be as sick as you want, just give me a God-damned bass line! [Token begins to play a bass line, then is surprised that he can actually do it, then realizes that Cartman is right]
Token:	God-damnit! [Butters joins in and their sounds flow together]

That and the fact the drummer Butters looks like . . .. well . . I don't know many drummers . . .andyI would not want to single out the only . . drummer I know . . . *cough* Marty *cough* . . . ..

Spot the Marty! ;)


:)


Where as I have more in common with Tim-may . . . .

Hell, I KNOW I am special ;)

Good evening family, friends and especially all Skoda owners. . . . Only kidding, I ment Smurf ;) We are but days away from the most commercial day of the year, where countless people will spend not just money but time on their loved one. And shortly after Niki's birthday we have Valentines day ;)

I will make my excuses now Niki, I know it is your 28th and that is a special birthday for a lady, but I don't think I can make it over, but should you want to spend a weekend in an unfurnished flat in a rainy town then get your cold bum and hussy-band over!

On another note it looks like I am not going boarding tomorrow, there is just too many things I need to sort out before my (very) early flight on Sunday morning :( On the plus side it means I can get my bindings sent back to Burton, becuase they have very thoughtfully not replied to my email, despite the propoganda, sorry marketing, I am still left without a safely usable product . . . I did toy with the idea that I could buy an interim binding as I wanted another set for my other board, but right now I have more important things to spend that $220 on. Yes, thats how much the Cartels are now, if you can find 'em anywhere!

Time for a quick "shout out" to the boys that were living it up in Chelmsford tonight, that would be boardsheep, lil-wanker and . .errr . . . Brad. Brad is leaving hi current job to seek a more fulfilling lifestyle at the circus. If 12 years of gymnastics has not prepared him for it then the last 6 months of jumping through hoops at work has! *Boom-Cha*

Thank you I will be here all week! Now you are thankfull for the time difference ;)

There is a midget wrestling a poddle-rocking on the TV . . . . No sorry, it is two midgets *little people* wrestling on member of Van Halen and afat guy in bad shoes . .

Which reminds me . . . After all my big talk of brown suits and baby blue/pink pinstirpes I manage to convince my work colleagues to come to the mall . . . *sorry midget wrestling has just got ridiculous . . a phrase I could never have imagined I would type . . . ah crap, an old guy with a crap irish accent . . .* I digress. . . . I needed the opinion of others on the suits I was looking. One was discounted on price, another was too light in colour, another was a bad cut, then we were down to two . ..

I I put on my 40S jacket that was a dark brown with a thin close set (1/2inch) baby blue stripe. It was head nodding all round, that was the one defo. Then I put on the the lighter brown suit with a ligh pink strip (1 inch apart) and Ana came out with a classic phrase, not these exact words but, " The blue stripes are closer together, that makes the suite more slimming and makes you look taller". I think Ana may have clocked on that I am short and tubby :) hmmm, maybe I should now post a picture of me, to show casual browers of blogs who I am. . . .I know one that would make you all proud! One of me half cut, with blonde highlights and . .. well . . .accesories ;)

As I said it was between those two suits and one was cruely snatched from my grasp due to some truthful comments (tis ok, I cracked up laughing at the time as well as now!) It was time to price up the the baby blue (blue is bling don't you know), it was a lot, even with a coupon . . .

Niki . . you would love it here, they have discount coupons for everything. In fact, if you forget to bring your coupon in they have spares at the till . . .. Then suddenly the shop keeper appeared. Brian then pulled out a suit that wase boarder line brown/charcoal/black . . too many colours for one man to know, I now doubt his hetrosexuality .

. . It fitted really well (The suit, you dirty monkies . . . honestly . . . what are you lot like) and was a better cut then all the others I tried, it was also on a "15hour special, plus coupon discount of 10%". In English I picked up a CK suit for under £170, including them taking the trousers up. They were a 30" inside leg, but they have to take them up 2" lol !!! I was wearing them on (or is that off?) the hip and had to get a 35" waist to avoid sporting the Simon "belt at my nipples" Cowell look, that was a mouthfull. . .

ermm . . . anyway . . . Can I find a slim fit double cuff shirt over here? No. As my mother well knows I hate the swathes of material that accompany double cuff shirts but I like cuff links. . .. I went in to J-crew (I heard you go "Aaayyyyyeee" there Andy). Their slim fit shirts are really nice, cept they do not have proper double cuffs . . . . I reckon I will go for 2 of them and sod the cuffs for the time being, but what kinda shirt do you wear with a CK pinstripe? I may well wear my short sleeve, black, quicksilver one to the office next week, introduce the business casual look ;) Hell while I am at it I may as well go the whole Alan partridge look! If only I had two hoots of a clue. Hold on, here we go.

And on that bombshell I am going to quit my drivel and return to my now tepid white wine! No doubt I will speak at you all tomorrow :)

Have a nice day :) . . . .. I am amazed they don't choke on their own pearly whites . . . Dave, call mum and explain, I can see now she does not get the joke . . . .

Look at this bad boy! I sooo want this furniture set, I am hoping to get to check it out over the weekend!

Damn, they do hot have a shop I can go into. As pictured here it would cost $2380 . . . . wowza . . . In normal money that is £1390 . . . . That sounds a lot to me, what do yo guys think???

Going to go look at furniture today. I want 2 lazboy recliners. One in baby blue and one in a shocking pink.

I have a feeling they may not do the colours I want :(

Hmmm, mobile phones . . . Or as I should say, cell phones . . . Since talking to Marty a while ago I have now seen the new light pink V3C, not sure if the link will work . . . As for the razor wires, how cool are they! Should anyone want to buy me a welcome to Portland present I would happily accept a pair of razor wires. Or Burton bindings.

I have decided to ride my bindings on Saturday. I can't afford to send them off now to be fixed and buy another pair in teh mean time, so I will have to ride them to distruction then send them off. It is only the back foot toe strap that is knackered, I can ride without it safely enough, it is just annoying.

If anyone has any light to shed on the cell phone on binding issue please make your comments known ;)

Today has been a really good day, I put my applciation in for the apartment, not sure how things will transpire but I will keep you up to date! I found a few shops today that I will nee dint eh future, REI is like GI Joe, but slightly more activity and less utility, if that makes sense. I picked up a helmet (left mine in the UK, what an arse . . . need to get that on ebay now) The RED Hifi cost $100, thats £58. I went for white this time. I will still be able to use my headphones too.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Oregon does not have any sales tax . . . In english that means when you buy stuff you do not pay the US equivilent of VAT. . . . My Burton gloves were $34 . . .thats right I got change out of £20 for a pair of Burton toasted gloves. I went for the black guantlet style, that way my wrist guards will fit under them!

I took a drive areound Jentzen beach. Do not be fooled by the name it is a shopping centre next to the apartments I have been tryign to get into. It has a lot of stuf flike a target, REI starbucks . . . Anyhow, you can get pretty much anything there it is more like a large commercial estate.

While on my travels, tryign to work out how to get to the max line etc . . . I managed to stop and get a picture of Mt Hood, I like ths one as it shows the airport too. After a quick crop it looks ok. It will never blowup to the A3 I have the Courchevel piccies at but I may be able to get an A4 ou of it and hang it in the spare room. I think my camera is starting to show its age a little now. Although it is a 5MP camera it is only ISO200. That leads to a lot of noise in the image unless it is really bright and clear. I think I will have to add that to the list of things to get when I get my self sorted. Maybe later in the year, towards next season. I have seen a nice Pentax 6MP waterproof to 3ft, but it is heavily compromised in terms of its package and ability.

Looks like work wil start for real tomorrow, there is brief before heading off on travels next week. I am really looking forward to getting stuck into it again, there is a fair amount of responsibility and opportunity around the corner.

I find a place to get a service wash today, it was really funny looking at all of my casual clothers in one carrier bag and being charged $10 for a service wash . . . for everything I own . . .I really need to invest in new togs. Which reminds me, I can't belive I left my red body warmer at home :(

I also realised today i am becoming desensitised to the size of American cars. . . they are starting to look normal to me now . . . it really is shocking how quickly you can adapt to such things . . .

Sorry for the long and boring post, it is totally inline with how I feel, just a little strung out! I am just hoping to get these few outstanding items sown up in the next few days, then I can really crack on witht he real stuff and make some plans goign forward. . .

See you all later!!!

A quick reminder to ya'll ;) (see, I can blend in). Scroll down to the first entry for the day and read that first. When I make multiple entries in a day the most recent i.e the one I write latest in the day; is at the top of the page. You need to be a little bit savvy here and look for my earliest post first, otherwise it will not make all the sense it should. Because that last sentence was an perfect example of gramatical correctness!

Go on, shooo . . . pan down about five hits of your "PgDn" button! It's inbetween the return key and the number pad on regular keyboards!

Ok, so I am drunk . . . I meant company's, not companies in the previous post (see below) . . . hmmm, as it says at the end - *hic* . . . This is a blog, not a grammatical masterpisss . .. *hic* .. where'ssss those damn potato chips gone. . . *stumble* . . . DAMN! . . . *hic*.. ..

Do any of you remember my minivan dream? If you hit that link check out and pimp up an XB, the classic Jap style low ride minivan must be in white, with privacy glass and sounds that kick"

Well, it seems there is a Jap scene over here . . .. I wonder if this is avialable on the company car scheme? Need to get a handle on the companies policy. . . The one I am looking at is a 5 door with snowboard rack . . . . and is under 10KGBP . . . . interesting Mister Bond . . . . *hic*

Now, those of you that know me will know me for not being fussy about my food most of the time. The expections are if I am paying top drawer or I am cooking for myself. Now, if eating out you can not tip, send stuff back, leave whatever.

When you are at home cooking and I start by preparing my food I have an idea if I am cooking/eating for convenience or as an activity in itself. Tonight I went out and got my stuff, came back in, opened a bottle of white and started preparing the grub.

The idea was to finish the stuff I had in the firdge, rather then go for beef again I decided to do a simple salmon steak in a parsley, lemon and cream sauce. The shop had no salmon so I decided to go for more of those lovely shrimp I had with my steak last night. So I sitck the carrots in, have a beer, stick the green beans in then stick the shrimp in a light olive oil and a lil bit of salt. Now this is where I got pissed off, the bastards shrunk to a third of the size! Then I realised they where heavily frozen, these were not the same batch as I got yesterday . . . Unfortunately due to the beer and glass of Vino I had I could not go out and get some better quality shrimp . . . I was stuffed with this shit! I tasted one and it tasted as most frozen seafood does. Plain. The seafood equivilent of froze, inensively farmed chicken.

So as in all time tradition, if the ingredients are shit, season hell out of it, I added some (a lot!) of parsley, stuck a good glass of white wine in, put the lid on and let it reduce. As I necked a glass of the wine myself. One for the food, two for you. It will taste better that way, the wine and the food ;) . To finish I squeezed a wedge of lemon, and added some cream in to it and whacked the lid back on. As I served it up I gave it a twist or two of pepper (mixed corn, out of the grinder).

And then sulked.

It tasted ok. But it was ment to taste good. I am on my own a lot at the mo and I am trying to use my time constructively by getting back into cooking, mainly simple (quick and nice looking) yet good (as in healthy and tastey) food. I am going to stick with my idea of cooking the same thing 2 nights in a row and buy some better shrimp tomorrow. I hope to get some better shrimp so that I can use less parsley, lemon and cream and really try and serve it in more of a white wine reduction that is subtle enough so you can taste the sodding shrimp, not disguise it.

Hmph. Why do blogs turn into grumps? They should be called glogs. Grumpy-logs . .. . There you go my first million is tied up in that idea.

On a high note, the wine was a good deal, crisp and light, ideal for shit seafood. . . . ;)

I am now going to protest by doing my laundry. How the hell do these toploaders work? Expect a drunken . . . no . . . I'll do the laundry tomorrow !

Ok, so I spent the whole day looking at apartments again. I have had enough! I am apartment blind . . . I narrowed it down to two, the Merrick in downtown and the Harbour court (links are working this time . . .)

The place at the Merrick I liked was "under application", there was another available but without the view of downtown it lost a lot of its charm, even if the complex did have a roof garden and hot tub (communal).

The Harbour court won as it was the best apartment overall, it had air con, gas cooker, was about the largest place I looked at (1132Sqft, floor plan is not on the link though), the staff there were really on the ball (even if the guy claims to be able to nail 1080s on his snowboard, would love to see it!). The only downside is it is a 15min walk to the lightrail going under an interstate, looks a little dodgy, not too bad. Defo a taxi back job.

The one I am looking at has a good sized covered balcony that will allow for BBQs, space for a table to sit 6 people happily, although I would prefer a 4 seat round table and a couple of other chairs. Will also be able to have acouple of boxes/grobags (there you go dad, you can maintain it for me!)

The master bedroom (12.5'x15.3')has a patio door onto the balcony (how swish!) a walk in wardrobe and a spaciousl bathroom. The second bedroom(12.6'x11.3') has a window onto the balcony and a walk in wardrobe.

The entrance is through the Kitchen (which I ws not keen on) but there is a cupboard for coats. The kitchen has a half wall seperating it from the diner/lounge area. This is what make sit feel so big, mind you the diner/lounge is 13.7'x21'. That is plenty big enough for one guy and potentially his Smurf ;) . In the corner there is a gas fire and a aircon unit.

They have one apartment that is a little bigger, but the balcony is not as open or large. I don't think they have one available anyhow!

So there we go. I am going to their office tomorrow to start the application, because I have no US rent history it is a little more complex so we need to discuss how to work it in terms of deposit and garantees etc . . . the stress is just begining!

The rest of the day was a washout, lots of driving around looking at places full of kids and fat people . . .nuff said. Infact at once place I joked about bringing my shotgun, whisky and rocking chair. . . . It did not go down well . . .

I was given a local rag, Portlands equivilent to the Metro, it has all the local shops/bar listings and stuff. I doubt I will have a chance between now and the end of the month to do anything with it though, but I really appriciated being given it!

I came to the conclusion that some people are in their jobs for a reason. If I say trolly wally you get the idea. Anyhow, I will leave there as I risk going very un PC. Please now go make you jokes in the comments area, oh and mum, yes, register, it is free and safe don't panic!

Look at that, a whole post and I did not once mention the fact I am thinking of going to Mt Bachelor at the weekend, it is a 4 hour drive but they have a big event on. It is either that or meadows, all depends how I feel on sat morning. Still not got that binding sorted out! Thinking about it I will prob go to Meadows as their pipe is ment to be in good shape at the mo. Well with a 13ft base how can it not be . . . . Damn it, I mentioned snowboarding . . must . . stop. . . typing . .

Just when I thought I could not bear to look at another apartment a couple of really good looking places have been flagged up, again much cheaper then the ones near downtown so I am off to look at those in a bit.

Not sure if i posted about the Ford delaership yesterday, went to look at a Ford "five-hundred" big thing, huge . . .. way to big for me . . . looked at a Fusion too, much nice, very Mondeo! DOn't say a work Marty, not one word . . . But I am going to see if they can swing a AWD compact SUV for me . . . I really like them, ideal for over here. There are no roads to play on like in the UK so you mayas well go for practicallity!

Anyhow, more viewings . . .

I can't post much, I left the power cord for the laptop at work and as I have been on the vino I can't go get it.

I opened a bank account today, I went with wamu it was recomended to me and I can say so far the customer service has been top drawer, if you are on the look out for a free USD checking account, look them up!

After lunch The peeps at work sat down with me and pointed me in the direction of a few more apartment blocks, I looked at all of them and although they were in real nice forrest settings and were really cheap, the actual appartments were just really badly lit . . . Portland is a rainy/overcast place, I need natural light . . 5 places visited to no avail. The guys are comming to check out Harbour court with me tomorrow to give me their opinion! I am all for it even though it is expensive . . .

I thought I would take a mo to reassure my mother I am eating well, tonight is the second night in a row I have cooked steak, went for a 14oz and basically sweated some finely chopped chalots, threw in the peppered steak and a glass of wolfblass red (cab sav don't you know . . ) while the baby carrots and green beans were boiling, once done I served up the veg, then the steak, through some single cream into the chalot/red wine sauce and lightly heated. Once that was poored over the steak I gently heated some large prawns in the remains of the steak/chalot/redwine pan stuff then chowed down, I have tried to post a pic, hope it worked!


I found a store today called "G.I Joe" It is a huge outdoor place, they do sooo much! I have to go back when I have more time, also been told to check out REI, ment to be "at least five times better!"

It looks like I am of to NY on Sunday for 4/5 days for health check, HR brief etc . . .. Don't expect many posts next week . . . Hopefully I will be able to catch up with the big H, otherwise it will be all work and no play . . .

Oh looks like the piccy worked, so here is a (bad) pic of Mt Hood, will get more at the weekend. This pic is from skibowl looking up to Meadws and Timberline.



I looked at cars today, but nothing to report excpet that I realised today how much I miss my skoda, that Fab VRS was the best car I ever had and I really regret selling it. Strong words for a guy who can count his regrets on one hand!

I think I am going to try and get a compact SUV, once the finance guy comes back off holiday I will have to talk to him to find out how it all works . . .

And on that note I am off to try and wash some pants. By that I mean by undies, not trousers ;)

Oh, one last thing, today was the day that I realised how much I miss Smurf, am I getting old? (Oi, I herd that, you are not exactly spritely these days!) Never really missed anyone properly before, but I am missing my Smurf! I hope you are all looking after her for me!

Banks really piss me off. I am really angry right now . . . The only time I need the sodding 4k balance on my first direct credit card is now when I am doing stuff on expenses and need the buffer that a credit card allows. What happens, on the 2nd of feb they reduced my credit limit from £4k to £500!!! I am not happy . . .

Anyhow, I have duely cleared the couple of hundred that was on there and will now have to let work know I will have to put weekly expenses in as I do not have the cash flow to do it monthly.

I would be fine with £500 for 99% of the time, but of all the times to do it . . Oh, they sent me a letter on the 2nd Feb to let me know it had changed. Thank you very fucking much. As Eric says "It is always easier to get acceptence then permission"

I have just called my other credit card company and I went through the automated service to get my balance. I nearly fell off my chair, it said it was over 5k!!!!! I put the phone down, shakily grabbed my glass of wine took a big swig . . . then called back. Thank fully it was a better line . . . it came up with a far better number, under 2k, of which 75% is work expenses from being here. A wave of relief washed over me!

That really shook me, I thought maybe someone had ripped my card off! Anyway, I am going to take my panicing and lay down with the lights dimmed . . .

Note to self, get to the US banks tomorrow and sort it asap.

Where's that red wine . . . grrrr . . .

So another week starts and I am now realising this is a place I am going to be for more then just a couple of weeks. It is hard for me to remember this as I have done a bit of travelling for business over the years and you know you are heading home soon. So the first 2 weeks are going to be weird lke that.

Anyhow I went to the DMV today to try and get a license, but I can’t do that with out a fixed residence, so I ended up flat hunting. So far I have found one I hate, great location but it was not clean . . . and one I love, It's bit further out to the East side (better access for Mt Hood I think”!) But really clean, big, facilities are ok, but un furnished. . . Let that read “Expensive to live in” But so far it is No1 on my list. I am going to view a couple more this afternoon, but they are going to struggle to live up to the stats of the the one I like. . .10 min walk from the Max line in to down town, has access to a river side walk to the local shopping centre and marina, 40 min drive to work, no different to being in the UK . . .hmmm . .If only I could remove these rose tinted specs.

One of the other place I saw was 1170Sq ft (that is big, by any standards!) right next to a tram line, other side of the river to the down town, kinda the equivilent of London bridge, it had the most amazing view, the ceiling must have been 15ft tall with 11ft windows with a corner aspect looking over the downtown region. It even had covered, allocated parking .They wanted $1350, to save your brains thats about £785 for a monsterous 2 bed apartment. . . If Smurf was over here with me I would go for it, only because the walk in "closet" in the master suite woul (just) be big enough for her bench tops. . .

Anyhow, I may go back and barter with them, if only for the sport ;)

There are a couple more places I need to check out tomorrow, I would post links so you could all see them, but I am too tired!

I keep meaning to make a post about the size of US cars, you all hear about it, but untill you see them it is hard to comprehend. I mean, just check out the Ford F150, 230in long over 19ft . . .you think that is big look at this other one 262in, 23ft .. . Now let me give you some context, a new ford focus 14ft long . . . imaging parking at tesco . . . think how wide they are . . . And they are not the biggest trucks out here . . .

So thats my lot for the day, I am now going to concentrate on selecting an apartment . . . . drink more wine and then try and talk to my bank!

A quick thanks to all of you who have posted comments! They have all made me smile, even you boardsheep! When you come over we can talk shop on the way to hood :)