I was invited to go snowboarding with some colleagues of mine earlier this week. I haven’t had a chance this season to go snowboarding and was very excited. I couldn’t find my previous pair of snowboarding pants (think I left it back at my parents’ place), so I had to go to Rei to purchase a new pair. Snowboarding pants are so expensive! Even the one I got that was on “clearance” was $80. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve, waited for a deal online, but I really needed this snowboarding trip.

I got everything ready last night:

• jacket
• pants
• gloves
• beanie
• sunglasses

I went to bed early (10pm – if you know me you should start really worrying). I wasn’t feeling well and even declined to go out with some coworkers for dinner last night. My head was hurting (been wanting to bash it all day to stop the pain – banging it slightly against my desk didn’t help much). Anyway I also wanted to get enough sleep for tomorrow’s activity since we were leaving at 8am, which meant I had to get up at 7am. Apparently the sand man decided not to pay me a visit last night until it was ~4am. I realized whenever I try to fall asleep, the sound and thumps of my heart beating prevented me to catch any shuteye. I tried to sleep on a different bed, try sleeping in front of the TV, all failed attempts. Eventually I gave up and who knows when I really fell asleep, but I woke up to my alarm blaring at 7am.

I drove over to Rafael’s house as we were going to carpool. We reached the Snoqualmie Summit about 8:50am (park opens at 9am). Rented my stuff and did a couple runs, then met up with Andrew, Jessica, Jaideep, and Pallavi. Apparently I was the only one snowboarding and everyone else was skiing.

Today was HOT! I mean the sun was blaring and even with just a t-shirt + jacket, I was sweating the lie crazy. After several runs, Andrew, Rafael and I went back to the car to dump off some clothes. I was planning to just wear my t-shirt, but then noticed my lift ticket was attached to my jacket. Arggggh. I did take off the beanie. Afterwards I decided to snowboard with my jacket unzipped to catch the breeze, which turned out to be a great idea.

I tried to follow Dave’s (my carving instructor from last year) instructions, managed to go down half the hill with only 1 foot forward, then fell pretty bad. Knee first, followed by 2 flips. After attempting it several more times, and falling forward (not as bad as my 1st fall), I decided that I definitely need knee pads before trying to continue learning to carve. I have no issues falling on my butt, as there’s cushion there, but falling on your knees and wrists hurts really bad, especially after a few falls. Afterwards, I’ve just been seeing how far I can go down the hill without slowing down and changing direction.

Another thing I noticed is that my legs don’t get as tired anymore. Previously I would have to apply a lot of pressure to stop or slow down, but now it’s like stepping on the brakes in my car (okay I may have exaggerated a bit there). I wonder if I’m just getting better or maybe all that exercise on the elliptical has helped.

Rafael had to leave early and given that I also “hoped” to have plans tonight, I left with him around 2pm. Time sure flies when you’re having fun. For the first time this week, my mind was clear and I was actually enjoying myself.

I’ve applied Bengay to all my sore spots. Hopefully it won’t be too bad tomorrow.

Speaking of which, while applying Bengay, I remember a newbie mistake I made a long time ago. Never apply Bengay close to your private area. oooooh! It BURNS!

Going over to TekMan’s place later today for some BBQ, games, and fireworks.

This is just going to be a post with random crap. Haven’t done that in awhile.

Pulled an All Nighter

Anyway, it’s been a very long week for me. I’ve been coming home at 3 or 4am every night. Last night I even pull an all-nighter. Haven’t done one of those in a long time. I can’t believe how hard it is now. I remember doing it all the time in college. Of course people were shocked to find me early at work at 9am in the morning and most of they correctly assumed I haven’t gone home yet. You see, I’m renowned for coming in late. ;p

Anyway, my manager came into my office at 2pm and told me that I look horrible and should go home immediately and if I need to, just work some more after I get some rest. I decided I couldn’t really function well after being awake over 24 hours.

Always Be Careful With Bengay

So parts of my arm have been hurting (not exactly why). So I decided to apply some Bengay which usually helps and by the next morning, the pain is gone. Anyway, after applying Bengay, I went to the restroom to wash my hands so I can resume using my keyboard and mouse without making them oily. The sound of water however made me want to pee. So I then took a piss.

After sitting back down at my computer, I felt a slight burning sensation in my *cough* area. I thought to myself, “that was a pretty dumb thing to do, Toland.” Good thing I had washed my hands beforehand, or else it’d probably be burning up downstairs.