First off, it was great seeing family on both sides, the Hovde clan during the week of Christmas, then my family coming to visit here in STP this week. There was quite a mix of in-house holiday evenings and going out to many various eating establishments in the Twin Cities. Running, climbing, and snowbiking will have to be on quite a bit to cancel out all the gorging.
Work took me and the other ground instructors out for a "moral boosting event" this past week amidst all the doom and gloom the airline has been suffering. It was a good and bad day. The actual stuff planned for the day went great- going out for sushi/hibachi, snow tubing; drinks. The unplanned part sucked, and that was getting two of my bags stolen out of a coworkers car. Among the lost items were: my trusted Timbuk2 messenger bag that I essentially live out of, our new auto gps, my iPod touch, my airport security badge, my brand new prescription eyeglasses, patagonia merino wool sweater and brand new hat, smartwool balaclava, co2 bike pump, Brooks saddle cover, lock, first aid kit, nalgene, and other odds and ends. Big lose for me, good haul for some snowboard brat at Buck Hill "ski resort" in the south MSP metro. I've never been a fan of midwestern "ski resorts", and I like them even less now. And I'm sure whatever kid stole my stuff has a rich set of Minneapolis suburb parents that could easily buy them all the things they chose to steal from me. Whatever. Sometimes in life you get hosed, and Monday was one of those times.
Other hosings of note are more job losses. Another climbing friend of ours just got laid off from, guess what, a pilot job. Go figure. Out of the four of us that climb together regularly, I'm the only one who hasn't lost my job. This recession has been an absolute butthole. It needs to end now.
On a good note, there is still bike touring coming up, I hope. We're talking about 2 tours now, one in CA, the other in TX. The CA could happen very soon; we have to get some dates down on the calendar and pull the fun trigger. I can't wait. It's reached the clear skied sub-zero January pain weather here in MN, and CA via bike sounds great. I can handle the cold just fine, and the northern winters have some amazing experiences to offer, don't get me wrong, but if CA is one the same menu, sorry MN winter, you might not get ordered.
For now it's time to get cleaned up and head to REI, big surprise. Always prepping for future stories.
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