Gone

I have been in Paris for 4 days now.

The week was a little agitated. The afternoon before I left, I received a phone call from a potential employer asking me to come visit their company. It is located about 2 hours and a half from Hamilton, and it was too late for them to wait for me to come that day. I told them I was leaving the country the next day, that I tried to postpone my ticket, but it would be much much cheaper for me to just fly back even next week... Which I offered to do of course.
I haven't heard anything from them since, which is probably not a good sign.
Anyway that kept me anxious as I was trying hard to keep packing. It really looked like a great job... We'll see

The trip went well. We woke up at 5am, which was the time we were supposed to leave for the airport. I realized a new PR getting ready in less than 7 minutes. Who can beat that?
Oggy drove a little faster than he should have and got me at the airport by 6am, in time to check in with no rush.
So there I went. It was hard to say goodbye, even just for a few weeks.
Then things went smoothly except maybe for the 2 kids who couldn't stop kicking my seat during the overnight flight. But I got both my huge bag and my skis, I was barely late at the arrival, and I had my personal driver Milouze ready to pick me up.

It's funny how I didn't imagine I would feel depressed coming to Paris. Probably because I didn't want to be here now, with no real idea of where I will go next. Or because of the sad circumstances that make this country now forever different to me.
But I have to keep moving. A lot of things to take care of, and also I have to try to enjoy this forced exile and to find a way to come back to my new home.

Season 32

I'm back... and season 32 has started.
Now that I am officially unemployed (or should I say "actively looking for a job") I can workout, go out and do all the stuff I never had time to do!
Well not quite.
Work has not let me go yet. I still have to finish that paper.
Life has not made things easy either interfered with my motivation over the last couple of weeks.
But the earth didn't stop. Time is ticking and days flying by. I have to get going.
Has I write these lines, I have 4 short days left in Montana before my forced vacation in France.
The snow finally came (not too much but almost enough) and with this I declared started my 32nd ski season.
I know, the first winters were not quite ski-seasons, and it might be more accurate to start counting from the day I actually stepped on skis for the first time. But see, I don't remember when that was.
Anyway. My rule, created a couple of years ago, is that I have to ski at least n days during season n. It gets more challenging every year which is really cool. Of course, beyond the nth ski day, it becomes the more the better...

So here we go: n=32 (I am so geeky I know)
and here went day 1 and day 2!

Day 1 was on November 28th at Lookout Pass with Oggy and Junior. They always open early because they always get tons of snow first. I haven't gone there for the last 2 years: it's not really my favorite hill. They do get powder, but when it happens, the road gets really bad, and it's not quite steep enough to really take advantage of it. I guess this time it wasn't an issue. No fresh snow, and barely enough coverage on the lower portions of the area. I can't believe they even opened some if it. It was baaaad. I still had my workout since I had the good idea to take my teles that day. It was cold enough too... For recovery we headed to the Syme hotel in Hot Springs were we met Oggy's brother and the brother's girlfriend. Nice hot water soaking, decent dinner, great breakfast, and back to the Bitterroot Valley.
So I am still not super fond of LP, but I have to admit I love being able to ski in November...

Day 2 was a short, sunny, very cold day. On Wednesday, December 2nd, I headed all by myself to Lost Trail. It hasn't opened yet but they had already started working on grooming the runs. The Gnome Collector, who had called me the day before to brag about a trip to Big Sky, actually showed up too. Ha ha. I was ready to go when he arrived so I figured I would see him on the hill later.
I chose to hike up Speedway to the top of chair 1. As cold as it was, I had taken off 3 of my layers by the time I reached the halfway point. I should always hike on freezing days.
I picked Thunder as my first run. hmmm. Nice fresh powder, but not too good of a base. Quick feeling with my pole indicated about 4-5 in of depth hoar, a 2-3 in easily breakable icy layer, and on top probably 6in of fresh snow. So I could feel the rocks underneath more than once. Not that great. The snow was quite heavy too.
I reached the forest road where I put the skins back on. I figured there was no point in going further down, it would only get worse.
On the road, I found the tracks of the Gnome Collector and followed them. They were going all the way to the top of chair 1 and then snowboarding down the South Face, which is what I also did (wait SKIING! me not snowboarding!). It turned out to be quite good!
Unfortunately, because of a poor choice of socks, the blisters has started and I decided to head back to the car instead of climbing for another run.
And my conclusion for day 2 is : Lost Trail is still the best area around here.

So what is coming up now? Well I have one more chance to go before I leave: that would be on Wednesday. Mrs K talked last night about going to Lolo Pass. That would be nice...
But will I have time? I have to take Buster to the vet, find him a cat-sitter for January, write my paper, pack my stuff, interrupt my phone, insurance contracts, go to the bank, write my paper, pack my stuff, write my paper...arrrrrrrrrrrgh

Ryan Creek, MT, last night

Born a few dozen milleniums too early

Global Warming Could Forestall Ice Age

News and new resolutions

Crazy times and no commitment to this blog. It's been almost 3 months since my last post!

and 3 months since my last day of skiing (Trapper Peak on may 31st).

Even though I have been in a blog dormancy for this time, a lot has happened in my real life.

First, people have left. My neighbors and very good friends K., Francis and little Grettel abandoned me for eastern horizons. Poor Fos' didn't his fluffy buddy chasing him around the neighborhood anymore. I don't know if he ever recovered from it...

Then Christoph and Lindsay decided the lost horse boulders were not enough anymore and flew far far away to some small country in the Alps.

THen an unplanned trip home, followed by a trip to Seattle that marked somehow the official start of the job hunt.

Also marked the official start of the "freaking out because I don't have that much time left to finish my project an write a paper plus I still need to find a job"

I don't think anyone will say job hunting is easy. However I have decided to add a another degree of difficulty since I have decided I want to do something different from what I've done for the last 10 years...

I moved. Left my 96˚F bedroom (35˚C) and my now empty neighborhood for a bigger, cooler house with a greener yard (Oggy's). I thus now have 2 goats and a dog to keep company to my Fos', who also has discovered that the area provides an infinite number of mice, voles and shrews. And a cat to fight with.

And finally, 2 sprint triathlons to stay busy and in shape while Oggy has been preparing his IM Canada.

I started with Kalispell on June 21st. Not too good performance. My swim was 5 minutes slower than expected (21 minutes for 1/2 mile!). I guess it's open water and my trajectory was probably not the best. Followed by a decent bike ride, and my slowest 5K ever.

I confirmed my slow open water skills at the Polson Bay Water Daze where I swam the mile in 43 minutes. Without a wetsuit this time though, so no quite as bad.

I finished that short season with the Bitterroot Classic Triathlon, sprint distance, on august 22nd, where i actually did... better. 750yds in 13:30 minutes, the bike ride in 46 minutes (transition included), and the run in... well I guess I have to say it... 37 minutes (ouch), transition included. I don't think I was that slow at the transition bike-run, which means I ran reeeaaaaallly slowly. It turns out I finished 10 minutes earlier than 2 years ago, but I made this resolution: I will become a runner.

So on august 23rd, I started training for a half marathon, that will take place in Boise on november 7th. There.

Oggy completed his Ironman race, with an excellent swim and a great bike leg, but a run slower than he wanted. He has decided to train for the 1/2 marathon too. So has quite a little crew. We'll see who sticks to the program, but it looks like it's going to be a fun trip...

So now the clock is ticking. In 2 months and a half, my current contract will be over. I don't know yet where I'll go next. I don't what country I'll be in for Christmas. I don't know what country I'll be in next year. I hope I can finish my project. And I have to get ready for the 1/2 marathon.

But I'm going to try to keep updating the blog.

Another good time at the Wilma

On may 8th the Gourds were playing at the Wilma, in Missoula.

It's usually not my favorite type of music, but for some reason, I don't know if it's their style, or just because they're really really good, I just love them.

And I think the last 3 times I went to a concert, it was to see them...

Oh wait! No! In between there was also the great Michael Franti... Still at the Wilma...

Go see their website and listen!

Witch doctors and plane seats

My favorites are the PTs. They just saved me when I couldn't move or do anything.

About a month ago, I flew to DC for a "retreat". It was an interesting trip for me because I had never seen Washington. I didn't have much free time, just enough to enjoy a fantastic "steak tartare" at the Café du Coin (hmmm flavors from home!) and long expected sea food at the Sea Catch. I also went for a walk to the National Mall. I wish I had more time to visit the Smithsonian and all these museums. I had to make a choice... and opted for the American History Museum, but on my way there I walked past the Museum of Natural History and couldn't resist. 

I first walked through the Mammalian museum and was chased by a herd of little screaming creatures. I moved on to the dinosaurs and fossils and was very impressed by how they present evolution using words and concepts understandable by kids. Who soon followed me in the fossils hall and drove me out of it.

I then went upstairs to see only the first half (unfortunately) of the exhibition called "Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake". Amazing! They illustrate with remains of settlers the way they can discover all sorts of information just by looking at human skeletons.

I had to run out though to be sure not to miss my plane. Which could actually have been a good thing? It turns out the flight from DC to Denver was quite bad, my neighbor being physically unable to fit on her seat, and therefore occupying half of mine. I have this bad habit of not moving during a flight, just trying to sleep, hoping I won't wake up before it's over. I did because my neighbor needed to get up a few times. It wasn't that bad, except for 1) the water she finally spilled on my lap, 2) the fact that I spent 4 hours crooked on an uncomfortable seat.

But what can you do? I could have complained but the plane was packed and I couldn't see how it would have improved my situation. It might have allowed me to vent some of my frustration, and made my neighbor feel embarrassed or upset. great.

The bottom line: I woke up the next day unable to move my back. Had issues in the past, and probably very unshaped abs, but this hadn't happened to me as far as I can remember.

It took me 2 days before being able to go back to work, and 2 weeks and a half before being able to workout again - and this only with the help of my heroes the physical therapists. Chiropractors couldn't help me there. I have to say I feel almost like a professional of lower back issues. I'm ready to help anyone in need...:)

Of course, this affected my ski-days-count (i still made it ti 20, which means I need to find a way to go 12 more days before the end of spring), and also I couldn't continue training for the triathlon and decided to cancel my participation...

Oh well. I have since resumed training (next race should be June 21st), hope to keep this blog a little more updated, and at the same time find a job for next year. Ouch.