Whitetail president's day weekend

Went to Whitetail.  The boarding was pretty good, best I have done.  We started out with a green.  then quickly decided the blue hill was for us.  The top of some of the trail was very rough full of moguls.  Then The First Black Diamond...rode!  It was very warm 50+.  As the day went on the mud and rocks started to show through. This picture is of the green hill from the blue hill. 

You can see the mud peaking through.

Mark getting ready to roll.

A couple of nice sunset shots after a hard day.

Update on the XBOX.  The Graphics card seems to have failed.  I got a refurbished one and a 2 year warranty.  The good news is it was an older model which took my hard drive and it has HDMI output to help streamline the wiring.  I probably need to get a new hard drive for reliability, but its ok for now.

phone pics from the blizzard in Wv

February post

Had a bunch of work issues in the beginning of the month.  Went on a mountain getaway to West Virginia.  I was cold windy and snowy.  Only got to hit the mountain one day as opposed to the planned two due to the single digit temps.  This real problem was that the house was situated near the top of a mountain on the steepest road I have ever been on.  Oh and it was snow covered and ice underneath.  It was a set of 180 degree switch backs that were on inclines.  I should have made a commercial for the Lexus GX470.  It was a challenge coming up and going down.  If my new insurance company knew what was going on they would raise my rate back to Nationwide rates.  But we made it.  We had a great time, nice house and when the weather broke Sunday night the views were unbeatable.  I hope the whole group had fun, much food was eaten and much liquor was drunk.  I also won the semi annual Boggle challenge (my studying paid off).

On a less happy note my XBOX 360 has come to the end of its life.  This was a original launch unit that I don't know if it got the red ring of death service, but it is not looking so good this time.  

Weekly 12/16

So the Ravens lost last night (12/22).  Their soft offense final came up short versus the Pats in the AFC championship.  A few plays going the other way we would have won.  Really leaving it up to a lucky play isn't winning in a dominating fashion (something we haven't done all year).  There is always next year, but with Ray and Ed getting up there will this be the year the D doesn't push the team to over achieving?  I'm not blaming Joe for this one by himself, but mediocre play gets this result.  Frankly this offense shouldn't have been in the post season.  Well at least they won a bunch of games, but what could have been this season...

GOP primary
So the new emerging leader is Newt.  Last week Newt said and I paraphrase: paying people for 99 weeks of sitting on there butts doing nothing isn't right.  That's the compassionate conservatism I know and love.  If he was aware of the unemployment process he would know it is already tied to looking for a job (as he proposed).  How about instead of blaming the victim he would come up with a real plan to create some jobs so people wouldn't have to be on unemployment for 99 weeks?  Not that the current administration is doing much on that front. I cant believe they are concentrating on should they be paying benefits or extending the payroll tax cut versus stopping the problem that caused the people to need the benefits.  How about an active program to create and encourage job growth?  More real training programs, how about some protection for the precious "good" jobs we have here? The requires spending and the republicans are against that no matter the merit of the program. How can anyone make an active impact in the current situation without spending money?  The Democrats are scared to spend, because the Republicans will jump on them for it.  Somebody needs to have the balls to face the problem of the economy and not just hope it goes away.  With that being said the pipeline being cancelled is working in the wrong direct Mr. President.  You know we need jobs, but I'm sorry you will lose a few environmental political points, but they aren't going to vote for the republicans anyway. They will get over it.  Those lost construction jobs, ultimately (upon completion) refinery and shipping jobs and higher fuel cost will effect the economy in the wrong way.

Workout status
So I am week 2.5 of the KTD. I ache after every workout which is good I guess.  The leg portion I am getting used to.  I guess the legs can handle high reps.  The upper body not so much.  My upper back is so sore and biceps.  The chest portion isn't as bad as the back but it still gets sore.  I am going to keep this up for 4 weeks total before starting my next routine.         

Made Nachos

 Made Nachos for the game last weekend.  Here is the recipe but it is straight forward:

Brown meat and onions

Toppings for before or after baking

Ingredients for covering the meat and bean layers

The bean cheese layer

Spread Bean layer first followed by the meat

Jalapeños next

More Cheese

Salsa

Next you can refrigerate until ready to bake and serve

Visit to Flight 93 Memorial

 

On the way home from Seven Springs we noticed a sign for the Flight 93 Memorial.  It was only about 45 minutes from where we were getting on the highway and actually was in the direction we were heading. I had planned to ride up to it on my bike the last few seasons, but I glad I waited until the official national memorial was completed.   It was a crisp morning, but actually very beautiful (pictures from my Iphone).  there was a long ride in from the turn off the highway to the visitor center, but the landscape is quite striking.  Once there the place was very somber and held a certain energy.  Somber much like a cemetery or a church at night.  I was struck by the pictures and names of the passengers and crew memorialized at the site.  To see them and who they were struck home to me the sacrifice they made in stopping the terrorists from carrying out their plan.  the thinking was they would try and hit the capital building.  Having been to this site and ground zero  (and actually driven by the Pentagon) this one had the most impact on me.  I guess the other sites, even though it was closer to time of when it happened, still had life going on around them.  The traffic and noise of the cities, but this place was quiet as if in respect for what occurred there.  I left a little sad but with a better appreciation for those on flight 93.    
 

New workout for 2012

Ok after surfing the net for some workout ideas for the new year I settled on this:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-ktd-winter-workout-special.html

KTD.  Kinetic triple drop. Pretty much do lots of reps and lots of exercises until you can't or you pass out.  Builds endurance burns fat, probably wont gain you much mass, but will allow you to skip cardio! First day was Sunday 1/8 legs.  I was sore for 3 days.  I did Chest on Monday 1/9.  Chest not as sore but still some soreness.  I meant to rest Tuesday and do back on Wednesday, but I had been fighting a cold and basically went to bed after work.   I have also done a 2 month workout schedule the first 4 weeks I will keep on this 4 days a week legs, chest, back.  After that I plan on doing a smolov squat routine 4 days a weeks squats with a goal of adding 100# to your 1RM in 3 months.  Interspersed with that limited upper body and a 2 day a week bench routine which is supposed to add 50# to your 1RM again in 3 months. This might be too much and I will have to do the squats only, which is fine.  I will do limited upper body with that routine still concentrating on my shoulders.  First I have to get over this cold and I will go from there.