icebrrrg.com

Whew! Life’s keeping me busy (or is it the other way around?). Either way it’s a good thing, but between work, classes, renovations, dating, family visits and friends, I needed a break. I had signed on last month to teach a class at work, in the new Scottsdale AZ office. I decided to fly out on Saturday night for a little me-in-the-SW time. I love the Southwest (except Cali — Cali blows).

I was hoping to catch Verbal while I was in the Phoenix area, but a last-minute Vegas party took him out of town. On my own (de rigeur), I propositioned a friendly waitress in a local diner in the Camelback area, who turned me on to some good local hiking trails that wouldn’t be too crowded on a Sunday. Fortified with eggs, potatoes and a pot of coffee, I set on my way to the Lost Dutchman State Park in the Superstition Mountains.

I asked the rangers about the trails, in particular the one to the top of Flatiron (the big rock, over yonder). Here’s the scoop:

Siphon Draw Trail: 4 miles round trip, a very scenic hike, this trail winds up into a canyon known as Siphon Draw. It is possible to hike up the Flatiron (5.8 miles roundtrip), although it is not a designated, maintained trail all the way. It’s advised that only experienced hikers in good shape attempt to hike to the top, as the climb is steep and difficult to follow. Allow at least five hours to the Flatiron and back.

I thought that since it was already 1pm, I’d be out of daylight before getting up and back, so I’d just hike up to the Basin (only 3000 feet of elevation or so … easy). Well … I got my rile up on the climb up, so I went further than I should’ve. Got into a bit of trouble, too.

Want to see Flatiron and environs? See what sort of trouble I got into this past weekend. Nothing too major, but I’m still in a lot of pain. Me feets, the bleed! They bleed!

Never wear sandals on where it’s “not a designated, maintained trail”. Stoopid monkey. =P

Here’s a few more pis of that truck. As you can see, I went a little nuts attacking the snow drifts outside of Mike’s place, right after the purchase. She likes the rough stuff!

Look what followed me home!

I did something bad today … I bought another truck. I sold my old one as a trade, so it’s okay, right? This one’s a 2000 (5 years newer than my old one), has 70k miles less … it’s a treat. Mike Stef came with me and talk me into bringing it home.

I love this truck!

Before I get into this post, I have to say one thing. Holy crap! Meredith is giving it to George!

Sure, I watch Grey’s Anatomy. And I’ve been waiting for the smart, disarming schlub to get the hot girl for um, 2 years now. Of course, it won’t work, and this will jeopardize their friendship, etc etc, but hey, he got laid. Good for him. I wouldn’t have waited two whole seasons were I George, but I like to think that I wouldn’t wait around for two years for a girl who doesn’t hear me when I speak. No, that was so 2001 for me.

So on to this weekend. Mom and Jeff came up to see the house for the first time, right after I had finished taking Abe’s Honda Hawk for a spin around the block. They loved the tour and the house — I’m really enjoying showing off this place, it turns out. We didn’t stick around in Bklyn too long since they got a late start, and we had old-people-early dinner reservations at dopo Teatro in the Times Sq area. Great food. This is the third time I’ve been there; I went with the salmon this time. Eating healthy apparently tastes great, who knew?

The highlight of the night for Mom was a few hours at the Majestic Theatre for the Phantom of the Opera. She was like a little kid on Christmas. She’s been waiting to see this show on Broadway since oh, it first debuted. It was a good show (BTDT), and I was glad to help her realize a dream. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Today I enjoyed having a clean house (had to clean for the ‘rental visit … first time in a long time the DR wasn’t full of sanding and plaster-repair supplies), did some studying, took a nap with the shades up (a rarity in this ‘hood), and talked to a very cool Brooklyn chick. I look forward to more of that later this week. Anyway, tonight the boyz and I descended upon Frankie’s 457 in Carrol Gardens. Roger and Sil, Allan, and Alek … apparently all of the marrieds wanted a night off to talk basketball, baseball, topless waitresses and poker. Who knew metrosexuals and indie rockers and deejays needed to get together now and again to talk about topless waitresses? Alek gave us some freshly-spun tunes he mixed up, to boot. Fun fact: I’ll be posting some of those tunes right here before too long. I had more than my fair share of wine, and the food was absolutely amazing. I’ll have to eat there again.

Man, I love this ‘burg.

Is this the coolest thing ever, or what? Our own US ski team, out there in Torino, has new super-hi-tech ski suits that are skintight and flexible and warm, but should they crash, they instantly become rigid and offer armored protection. Here’s to hoping that this technology makes it into motorcycle protective gear sometime soon. Except the skintight part. No one needs to see that.

Science rulz!

In case you missed the non-announcement last week, I’ve quit smoking. Started last week, didn’t have a single one from 1pm Monday until I got weak at a bar in a snowstorm and, um, demolished a half a pack of Camels. Sigh. I’m human. But I felt so ill on Sunday, and I can still feel it today, two days later … so I’m sticking with it. It’s official. I’m stocking up on gum and healthy snacks.

I don’t know if it’s post-relationship stress disorder, stress from work, stress from the EMT classes, or what, but I’ve been having nightmares and my share of anxiety. I would say they’re nic fits but I was having them while I was smoking. Still, I will now offer much respect and much sympathy to people who are suffering nic fits. They suuuuck. It’s better than the alternative tho – dying from smoking.

Ah, Valentine’s Day. A wonderful day to spend lots of money and put lots of pressure on yourself and your lover to memorialize the occasion. Now, I was a romantic at one point, but the last few Valentine’s Days were just bad. The ex and I were bad at it, apparently. I’m sure many lovers young and old will have a great time, and lots of singles will be holding Black Tuesday parties around the country. I wonder if they all know that the “holiday” is actually a Catholic memorial of three martyred guys? =)

Saturday went somewhat as planned, as part of Jeff’s visit … we got a late start (d@mned 360) and headed in to the city for brunch at Telephone. One of my faves, this UK pub does a killer Tarragon Dill Tuna Melt, and has come choice beers and bloodies. We rolled over to Chelsea to see Tim’s new pad after. It’s shoebox-small, but it quite homey if you can look past the oversized head of Larry Kind leering at you while you eat your Wheaties … the snow started coming down while we were there. It was nice to chill with Tim, Erock and Ali-moo, and Russell and Hallah. Holla! It was dinner in Little Bombay, at Gandhi (with a name like Gandhi, it has to be good!), after that, and by now the snow had been kicked up a notch. Still no stiction on the road surfaces.

We trekked across the Williamsburg bridge for to locate Boogaloo, a swank bar on Broadway and 5th St. Ostensibly we were there to see a bud’s band, Hollis — but they were a big no show, pussed out due to the weather. So much for PA bands … I’ll catch them next time. But Jeff and I were immensely pleased to be at this bar as the snow started piling up. The owners/managers/bartenders, Craig and Tammy (not Craig and Chris, no no), are amazing people. They opened up early to let us in, plied us with some excellent sipping rums and tall tales of various natures … we liked the place so much we stayed for 8 hours, until 0430 Saturday morning. The 4WD ride home in the blizzard, riding under the JMZ train, with solid sparks raining from overhead, and white-out no-see conditions … simply awesome. I’ll be heading back to Boogaloo in the near future, you bet.

Sunday was a lazy recovery day … some 360, some food at Daisy’s Diner in the ‘Slope, a visit to B&N, and then I pussed out and put Jeff on the subway to get to the train station. Sorry about that bud, but a 2 hour round trip into the city in the snow wasn’t in the cards for me. :-/ Great weekend, though!

Jeff’s in town this weekend … he came up on the train yesterday after lunch, and I took a half day. We rolled down into Jersey to look at some pickups (I’m in the marked for something newer). We hit West Patterson and a few dealerships in Flemington. Brother Eric tried to give us the hard sell on used Tacoma, so we boogied out (it took three times asking, to get my Mazda keys back – bastige!). We rolled down the street to the Toyota dealer and while there were no Tacomas there in my price range, we checked out a nice ‘04 Nissan Frontier. It was a little too cramped in the cabin, but he put together a good financing package, and I was tempted. I’ll hold out for a Tac tho.

Getting back into the city at 7pm was a breeze, and we found a good spot and hoofed it to Dempsey’s. Always good to see Terry and have a few Jamesons. Played a bit of stick, then went up to Burritoville for a big-as-your-head Mystical Frisco. Good stuff. From there we walked St Mark’s, popped into Bull McCabe’s, browsed some used discs at Kim’s Video … got a good feel for the East Village, in other words … and holed up at the Edge to cap off the night. Came back to Brooklyn and showed Jeff around the new place after that, and topped the night off with a little 360 arcade action. Not a bad Friday.

Today is brunch, a visit to Chelsea to see Tim’s place, and a concert in Williamsburg. Give me a buzz if you’d like to join us!

Oh … and think you’re hot stuff on the race track? See what it’s like to get completely pwn3d!

Not much time to post an update before I go into an all-day, but here’s the lowdown. Sunday was a great Super Bowl party with the moto gang at Za’s … an excellent time. Abe even rode out to LI, braving the cold and traffic. Monday and Tuesday were Jury Duty … I was rejected (gee, they don’t want a volunteer EMT on a medical malpractice case? Go figure!) and am now JD-free for the next 4 years. Sweet. An I haven’t had a smoke since Monday at 1pm … coming up on 45 hours now, and yesterday I felt GREAT. This morning, I’m a bit nauseous. I hope it’s not an indicator of a tough time to come. Maybe it was just from reading on the subway …