James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

I'm really happy I don't have Southern food like that in our town. I'm having weight issues as it is.

Next big town over has a place with all similar Southern breakfast food to the picture above and we'd hit it up when going over there when we first moved here. It's REALLY heavy food. And makes you heavy.
 
Santapez said:
I'm really happy I don't have Southern food like that in our town. I'm having weight issues as it is.

Next big town over has a place with all similar Southern breakfast food to the picture above and we'd hit it up when going over there when we first moved here. It's REALLY heavy food. And makes you heavy.
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Moves to southern town known for mountain biking. Starts running more, biking less. Doesn't eat southern food. What next? You don't own a gun? You didn't vote for Trump? The south is lost in you, my friend.
 
Norm said:
Moves to southern town known for mountain biking. Starts running more, biking less. Doesn't eat southern food. What next? You don't own a gun? You didn't vote for Trump? The south is lost in you, my friend.
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I've said many times, this area doesn't have Southern culture, it's Appalachian.

It's like Poconos vs Staten Island. Or something.
 
Norm said:
Starts running more, biking less.
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in his (or my) defense, the biking trails have been closed... freeze/thaw shit... although, i feel like i saw an announcement dupont was open again but now i can't find it.
 
jShort said:
Explain this attempt of comparison
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Well, best I can do as up there it's probably still similar between Poconos and Staten Island. Kind of hard to leave NYC and get into totally different cultures especially as there was so much movement in that area from NYC outward.

But down here historically the mountain areas developed differently than the flat lands. Less accessible, completely different type of farming which also lead to different types of food. Music is different, food is different, weather is different.

The mountain towns are completely different than the flat land areas. You'll see more similarities between Raleigh/Greensboro/Charlotte/Greenville than you would the mountain towns even though those cities are relatively far from each other.

MissJR said:
in his (or my) defense, the biking trails have been closed... freeze/thaw shit... although, i feel like i saw an announcement dupont was open again but now i can't find it.
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No defense needed. If I wanted to ride bikes more I would. It's been cold & wet and I just have other things I want to do. It's not like I'm sitting on the couch. I was actually thinking of riding Saturday... While Dupont was closed there's a gazillion miles of trails in Pisgah which is even closer.

2Julianas said:
Wait wha?? So you're in the Staten Island of the Poconos?
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That's what I post online on forums when people ask about if they should move here. We're the Staten Island of the south. Except with more shootings. Don't come here. Horrible.

No joke I was up at a conference in NYC earlier this week and a lot of annoying people constantly ask about what it's like down here as many of them are near retirement age.

I sell them on Florida.
 
Santapez said:
Well, best I can do as up there it's probably still similar between Poconos and Staten Island. Kind of hard to leave NYC and get into totally different cultures especially as there was so much movement in that area from NYC outward.

But down here historically the mountain areas developed differently than the flat lands. Less accessible, completely different type of farming which also lead to different types of food. Music is different, food is different, weather is different.

The mountain towns are completely different than the flat land areas. You'll see more similarities between Raleigh/Greensboro/Charlotte/Greenville than you would the mountain towns even though those cities are relatively far from each other.



No defense needed. If I wanted to ride bikes more I would. It's been cold & wet and I just have other things I want to do. It's not like I'm sitting on the couch. I was actually thinking of riding Saturday... While Dupont was closed there's a gazillion miles of trails in Pisgah which is even closer.



That's what I post online on forums when people ask about if they should move here. We're the Staten Island of the south. Except with more shootings. Don't come here. Horrible.

No joke I was up at a conference in NYC earlier this week and a lot of annoying people constantly ask about what it's like down here as many of them are near retirement age.

I sell them on Florida.
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grew up in staten island i dont think I ever heard this reference. Any part of Staten Island that has winding hills has million dollar Mcmansions and former mob bosses buried underneath.
 
iman29 said:
grew up in staten island i dont think I ever heard this reference. Any part of Staten Island that has winding hills has million dollar Mcmansions and former mob bosses buried underneath.
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Wasn't trying to say we're like Staten Island. Just trying to say we're dissimilar from areas that are sort of nearby, but not that close. If you are in NJ you know how different Staten Island is from the Poconos. But if you're not from the area you may think the whole area is similar.
 
The Snow Archive

This picture comes from the Snow Archive, from the last trip we took to the lodge in Vermont. We'll be back up there again tomorrow. taking a 3-day weekend this time. Alex won't be with us this round, though Utah & Bob will join us again this weekend; at least for 2 of the 3 days. This week marks the only week in February where I will work a full week. The next 2 weeks are 4 days, and the following is 2. Not bad. Just 11 work days left in February.

I see it over and over that you really need to keep a social network as you get older to stretch your years to the limit. I totally get it. D was gone most of the last 3 days and it's just not my thing, being alone. I mean it's fine for a stretch like that but it quickly becomes clear that a solitary lifestyle isn't something I'd really enjoy too much. I know a lot of people like the solo life, but I think that's just when you get a free weekend or a few days. Anyway, I digress.

We'll be in this parking lot again in less than 24 hours and it looks like it's going to dump overnight Saturday up there. So I'm hoping we get a solid 3 days of skiing out of the weekend. Somehow we always end up on the ski hill on Super Bowl Sunday; this is at least the 5th time it's going to work out that way. We don't plan it, it just happens. In all honesty, I just don't care about the big game.

But anyway, make friends, and do things you enjoy with them. You'll live a longer, happier life. Oh and drink coffee. Study after study links coffee consumption with a healthier lifestyle.

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Norm said:
. D was gone most of the last 3 days and it's just not my thing, being alone. I mean it's fine for a stretch like that but it quickly becomes clear that a solitary lifestyle isn't something I'd really enjoy too much. I know a lot of people like the solo life, but I think that's just when you get a free weekend or a few days. Anyway, I digress.
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Man, I feel this. I didn't realize how much so.
 
Last Weekend

Last weekend was the absolute best Vermont ski weekend we've had since going up there. Now, I will grant that I haven't been skiing too long. But man, it was some seriously excellent conditions across the board. Saturday at Sugarbush, Sunday at Pico when we woke up to 8" of the lightest powder you can imagine, then Monday at Killington with no crowds. Just such an amazing weekend.

We continue to use the lodge and enjoy it. We met a few more really good people which seems to happen every time we're up there. This was our 3rd trip and we plan to do 1 more in March to get 10 nights out of the winter lodge package. At $44 a night, it's hard to beat. We did eat out Friday night with Utah and the boy. But we could have easily bought dinner food and cooked it there. With almost no cost incurred on these trips, we do splurge once per trip up there.

These trips, and skiing in general, has made the winters go from really drab to much more enjoyable. While I wish we could go up more often than once per month, I also think we might get bored if we went up every weekend. With the Ikon pass you only get 7 days at Killington/Pico, so you wouldn't be able to stretch the season out anyway. So far, we're at 4 of 7 used, and it's unlikely we will hit 7 this year, though I guess you never know. I do prefer Sugarbush though it's hard to do that on a Sunday then drive home 5.5-6 hours after a day of skiing.

So far we've done 12 days this year and have 2 more trips planned. We should end up with 17 or 18 days in total, which would be my biggest year yet. In a few years when the kids are all out of the house, those numbers should go up. But for now it'll suffice to get us through the winter. On that note, man the weather is drab out there right now.

Here are 2 pics that show some solid snow coverage. In all, there was almost no ice to speak of which is unheard of.

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Norm said:
Last Weekend

Last weekend was the absolute best Vermont ski weekend we've had since going up there. Now, I will grant that I haven't been skiing too long. But man, it was some seriously excellent conditions across the board. Saturday at Sugarbush, Sunday at Pico when we woke up to 8" of the lightest powder you can imagine, then Monday at Killington with no crowds. Just such an amazing weekend.

We continue to use the lodge and enjoy it. We met a few more really good people which seems to happen every time we're up there. This was our 3rd trip and we plan to do 1 more in March to get 10 nights out of the winter lodge package. At $44 a night, it's hard to beat. We did eat out Friday night with Utah and the boy. But we could have easily bought dinner food and cooked it there. With almost no cost incurred on these trips, we do splurge once per trip up there.

These trips, and skiing in general, has made the winters go from really drab to much more enjoyable. While I wish we could go up more often than once per month, I also think we might get bored if we went up every weekend. With the Ikon pass you only get 7 days at Killington/Pico, so you wouldn't be able to stretch the season out anyway. So far, we're at 4 of 7 used, and it's unlikely we will hit 7 this year, though I guess you never know. I do prefer Sugarbush though it's hard to do that on a Sunday then drive home 5.5-6 hours after a day of skiing.

So far we've done 12 days this year and have 2 more trips planned. We should end up with 17 or 18 days in total, which would be my biggest year yet. In a few years when the kids are all out of the house, those numbers should go up. But for now it'll suffice to get us through the winter. On that note, man the weather is drab out there right now.

Here are 2 pics that show some solid snow coverage. In all, there was almost no ice to speak of which is unheard of.

View attachment 255515

View attachment 255516
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Nice ...Jealous...
 
Sunshine Village

This week I moved on to my 4th ski resort, Sunshine Village. Not gonna lie, this one was tough. Below is the before/after pics of the logo, which was the smallest print I've tried to paint so far. The yellow is the same in both, just taken at different times of the day so the ambient light makes it look different. You can probably tell in the first pic that I will print out a logo, then slice it up with a razor blade to get the outline started, then I'll peel it off and trim it up with the yellow and blue. As you can see, I probably wait too long to peel it off and some of the paper effectively glues on. This is all a learning process. I am a hack, to be sure.

The final product came out well enough, if not exactly Picasso-worthy. I'm working with some cheap brushes and old paint. But I'm not delusional to think that really makes a difference here. I'm enjoying it, and it gives me something to do on these boring work calls I often have through the day. Sometimes I listen to an audiobook while I do it. But mostly, it's during the work day on & off. The first few signs took maybe a day or 2. This one took almost 4 days in total. It was also the longest one, with 16 letters.

There are 15 more resorts I have to get to, and that will be 16 in a few weeks after the Montana trip. We discussed where to put these, and I think we settled on the basement walls. I was considering the office, but that may end up being too cluttered with that many signs. I'm sure I'll take a picture of the wall after I hang the first batch.

So anyway, this is from last year's trip to Banff, which was really cool. We went with Alex & Mark and I imagine we'll be back someday, though probably not before we retire. I guess you never know but it's kind of out there. We'll see. We also did Lake Louise on that trip, which is also one of the longer names I need to do. I may go with something shorter, perhaps Pico or Alta next week.

Anyway, I like the colors on this one. It's brightens up the collection. It might even tie the room together, like a good, solid rug.

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You might need one of these to make your stencils.
I'm sure there are other options but I know this one works well since m my wife has one of their machines.

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The Variables of Travel

A few weeks ago when we drove the car from Florida back to New Jersey, we stayed at 2 different places along the way. First was in Savannah and the second was in Richmond. Both times was an on-the-fly "hotel" booking which we got a few hours before we got to town. We're still of the mindset that it doesn't really matter if you have a place lined up; something will be available. In both cases we got a decent deal on a non-standard, interesting place. This is why I put "hotel" in quotes. Neither was a hotel.

I've mentioned retirement a bit recently and it's still something that I'm passively thinking of, and 1 of the tangential thoughts is how to do this as inexpensively as possible. To be sure, when we retire we will probably do 8 trips in the first 3 years, many of which will be longer road trips where the ability to find cheap(er) road accommodations will be necessary. I imagine these larger cities like we stayed last time offer a much larger variety of options, some cheaper than others. I can't imagine the middle of nowhere Indiana having an Alpha Romeo room, like the place we stayed in Savannah.

Below is the Richmond place, which was this sort of inner courtyard of older buildings, kind of standalone but not entirely, which was probably once really high class but now serves as a unique place for conference goers to stay. Apparently, the part of town we ended up in is a big conference area. This was something the waitress from the night before had told us.

I just did a random hotels.com search in some random spot in Indiana, and you can get a room for $51 a night at a Motel 6. I wasn't aware those places still existed. There's also a place for $40 a night but at a certain point, is that too cheap to feel ok about yourself? Like if you say $9 all-you-can-eat sushi, would you eat there?

So anyway, I look forward to retiring and I am going to do Pico next because I want a green sign.

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