A Few Things

First off; it is winter out and I could not be happier. This weekend I will be scoping out some trails that might be perfect for backcountry skiing and that are not a 2 hours drive in one direction. The only thing that is missing form my ski kit are new boots and I am on the hunt for those at the moment. Added bonus to my backcountry skis I was missing a few screws (yes just as I am in the head) for the bindings and one day walking by a neighbors garbage I found an old pair of alpine skis and the screws were the perfect size.

Hmmm come to think of it I really hope those skis weren’t just resting on top of the garbage can??? No pretty sure they were done as they were not in good shape. But with the new screws alpiners, and skins (that I have been told my brother in-law has an extra pair for me) that makes my entire backcountry ski conversion FREE! SO brand new skis for ski hills and updated backcountry skis for backcountry.

Oh and at the T & L sale in the summer I scored an awesome helmet for 75%off. Helmets are great for ski hills, terrain parks and a must for skiing in backcountry where falling into tree wells, off rocks or directly into trees are all common hazards. So not free but at only $50 I was rather happy. Although I am in for the weather we will see if the Christmas mood changes as I am not in that yet.

Speaking of skis I may need to grab some cross-country skis for work for the next little while. That is of course if the OC Transpo and the city can not come to an agreement before 12:01am Wednesday morning. The idea that I only live 4.4kms door to door I would much rather walk which would take about 45mins. But in the snow carrying my gym stuff lunch and so on, this extra 1.5 hours a day would be a pain.

This would mean that I would have to be out of the house by 6:35am and not a minute later. Then after work got to the gym from 45mins to an hour and then walk home around 530 putting me there at about 6:20 that isn’t all that bad and the extra cardio would be great but it consumes a great deal of time in an already busy season.

I do have spare mountain bike tires that I put screws in for traction but there are still the chances of skidding into traffic or other larger objects. So it will be a waiting game to see if the strike actually happens and if so it will be a last minute decision.

Regardless I hope that those involved get there proper raise they require after the long freeze on wages. But with the union not even bringing offers of 7% over 3 years to their members…it’s not looking good. I don’t know enough at this point for the overall negotiations to state if one side is being unfair over the other. Is the City holding out to not have to pay what these employees deserve or are the Transpo employees holding out for an increase that is not justified. I have been busy but am attempting to catch up on this story today.

Finally in the Coldplay vs. Satriani case I have heard that Satriani attempted to contact Coldplay months before he ever filed charges, stating that he would prefer to stay out of legal proceedings. Obviously the band was never in touch with Satriani and thus the charges were filed.

I was listening to Satriani’s song, ‘If I could Fly’ and Coldplay’s garbage Viva la ‘coño’, and I as I went back and forth I could hear the similarity but needed to hear them side by side. I then cam across this clip; Did coldplay copy Joe Satriani? Take a listen to it and you tell me.