She who conquered the hill

Downhill skiing has to be one of those things that I would avoid at all costs just because I'm terrified to try. The thought of me trying to ski down a hill always ends with the image of me rolling all the way down and seriously hurting myself and other people. Yesterday was our departmental ski trip and I signed up because I didn't really want to be left out (although I nearly wanted to opt out because I was so scared). And so I went anyways because there were lessons promised.

Yesterday was the big day and I was all geared up in my ski pants, toque and mittens and ready to hit the bunny slope. But as we approached the club we looked straight up to see the slopes that were very high and long. The first thing I asked was, "Where are the bunny hills?". As we went out with our rental skis, I discovered that there were no bunny hills. Georgian Peaks Ski Club (which is a private one with a membership of $30,000!) has the highest peak in all of Ontario. Petrified I just moved around and waited for the instructor. On flat ground I could move very well but it wasn't as easy as cross country skiing (which I'm much better at). My first attempt on the slopes resulted in a spectacular wipe out where I hit my head and face in the snow and subsequently busted my glasses. The most embarrassing thing was having to call one of my managers and to get the keys to the car so I could grab my spare pair and then have both of the managers, one of the other analysts and the VP rush to see what the fuss was. My VP was worried but I told him that I wanted to quickly get my other pair because I wanted to go back and try again (scored bonus points for sheer determination).

Much to my enjoyment, I got the hang of stopping and was going up and down the hills fairly well. At lunch my everyone was trying to convince me that the highest slope was easy and that if I could manage the medium sized hill (which I thought was the bunny hill and ended up being the same difficulty as the highest peak) that I could easily ski the big one. "Do you think I'd really make you go us there if I didn't think you could handle it?" Well the honest truth is that I went up to ride the lift and to see the amazing view of Georgian Bay with the impression that I had a non-ski way of getting down. Holy fuckers, there wasn't and the only way down was to ski down the hill. We took some pictures and we all proceeded to the edge of the slope and I looked down and I thought I was going to piss in my pants because the first part was so steep. I stood there and wanted to cry and I looked at my manager with the face of absolute fear. I eventually just leaned forward and started to move and after 2 wipeouts I found myself at the bottom of the steep section and ready to ski across the nicely sloped Miss Pow grade portion of the hill. The greatest thing about all of this was that I had most of my colleagues watching me as I went down the hill and who also came to my rescue after some nasty spills (not to mention that it's lovely to be so well taken care of by a group of men).

It took me a really long time to finish the run but I'm proud to say that after beginning the day not knowing how to downhill ski, I was able to by the end of the day ski down Ontario's highest slope with only 6 falls!! Baby, I said 6!!! I know I wasn't as good as everyone else from my company, but I was really proud that I was able to overcome my fear however shitty I was at it. And to top off the rest of the day I started my drinking at 3:00pm on the patio and drank till midnight with my department, got drunk with my bosses, and I also won one of those shearling Canada Olympic hats!

Cleaning Frenzy!

After being deathly ill for the past week, I've suddenly found myself filled with a shitload of energy and now I'm climbing up the walls. I have so much to do it's ridiculous. First task? To clear out all of the fuggin' clothes I don't wear anymore. I don't know what it is with me, but I seem to find a sentimental attachment to everything and therefore have an extremely hard time throwing it away. I've got clothes going all the way back to middle school which I couldn't bear to part with, I have clothes that used to belong to my mom and dad that I didn't want to throw out, I've even found baby clothes that I once wore and for some reason I thought would be a good idea to steal out of a bag from the last Goodwill collection day we had at our house. Maybe because I'm working now, I'm not so obsessed with wearing everything until it's threadbare or the fact that I really can't see anyone wearing the clothes I used to own. I'm trying to whittle down what I own and keep only what I feel are necessities (which is still A LOT).

So far 2 garbage bags and still counting...

Words that describe me

So after weeks of forgetting, I finally remember to bring home the personality test I did in a Leadership training course at work. I don't know how I feel about all of them. The results were interesting though... The profile system I did was call DiSC. It's basically a page of words grouped into fours. You take your penny and scratch the words that you think most and least reflects you. For whichever word you pick, a shape appears and you tally it up in the end and calculated the differences for each shape (# of most minus # of least, per shape). As you're reading the words, you have no idea how they're related or how they profile you.

Result: Promoter

Emotions: wants to keep up with others in effort and technical performance
Goal: personal growth
Judges others by: self-discipline; position and promotions (I don't agree with latter)
Influences others by: confidence in their ability to master new skills, development of "proper" procedures and actions (again don't agree with latter, there's no right way to do things)
Value to the organization: is skilled in technical and people problem solving; displays proficiency and specialization
Overuses: overattention to personal objectives, unrealistic expectations of others (bha I don't think so...)
Under pressure: becomes restrained; is sensitive to criticism
Fears: being too predictable; no recognition as an "expert"
Would increase effectiveness through: genuine collaboration for common benefit; delegation of key tasks to appropriate individuals

Another portion the test tells you what your "Dimensional Intensity Index" is. This is simply a list of words you scratch to reveal depending on the numerical result for DiSC. Words that describe me are:

Inquisitive
Self-assured
Competitive
Quick
Self-reliant
Calculated risk taker
Self-critical
Enthusiastic
Gregarious
Persuasive
Impulsive
Emotional
Self-promoting
Trusting
Stable
Mobile
Outgoing
Alert
Eager
Critical
Discontented
Persistent
Independent
Rigid
Firm
Stubborn
Arbitrary
Rebellious

I love my daddy

My dad has to be one of the funniest men alive. I don't know if he means to be, but some of the things he says just cracks me up. Sometimes I laugh so hard I think I'm going to wee in my pants.

My dad hates a lot of television commercials because he thinks they're retarded. And yes, most of the time he is right. His latest target has been this commercial from CIBC featuring the main character from "Love Monkey", a show also featuring Jason Priestly (I thought he disappeared). Anyways, he's leaving the bank, there's annoying music playing and he's questioning all these people about their finances and all the people keep on saying "Yes!". So as my dad is walking away he always mutters his own version and always in a whiny high pitch voice...

- Are you poor?
-Yes!
- Do you want money?
- Yes!
- Do you want to win the lottery?
- Yes!
- Jesus Christ, go get yourself a fucking job!

Bha ha ha! I guess you actually have to know him and hear him say it to find it funny.

Casino Rama

I think out of all of my new year's resolutions, the one where I wanted to hang out with friends and keep in touch with them has been probably the only one I've been able to keep so far! It's sort of a challenge with most of them in school and with me working, but it always feels good when we make the effort to get together and have a blast too.

Yesterday's adventure took us to Casino Rama. The last time I was in a Casino was during a family trip to Las Vegas, and there I wasn't even able to stop in the aisle. So this time around I was really excited about being able to gamble (although I was only adventurous enough to play the slots). It's was a great trip organized by Rumeister, and only $5!! It included a nice coach bus ride up there and a really good buffet too. Needless to say my non-gambling friends and I spent A LOT of time eating (resolution #1 broken 10 fold). After spending 2 hours eating we made the arduous task of moving and walking around the casino. Immediately I was turned off from gambling. On a Friday night, here were the senior citizens of North Ontario, slouched at their slot machines pressing buttons like robots with fags hanging out of their mouths. Some younger folk dressed up for a night in the casino to also slouch in their seats, pressing buttons like robots with fags hanging out of their mouths. I felt bad for the husbands who had to guard slot machines while their wives gambled away their paycheck for the week.

What I hated the most was the smoking. Most of the people I saw were smoking and all old. In addition to the white women with really bad afro-perms, men with mullets and cut-off plaid shirts, we also saw and old man pushing his oxygen tank around. The coat check even had a sign saying, "We do not hold oxygen tanks". That would make a pretty terrible story: explosion at casino caused by gambling addicts lighting up in close proximity to oxygen tanks belonging to other gambling addicts with emphysema.

The scariest thing I saw was how much people were dishing out. We had made our way over to where our friends where at the Craps tables, and there was this man who had just put down $1,000. I mean he didn't look well off... but still!! $1,000!!!! I don't know how much he had put down before, but apparently he had gone to get more money. We took off and in the time we had gone, he went to get another $2,000 and left after losing everything. Sweet Jesus. The funniest thing was that you could apply for credit with Casino Rama. I'm sure it's ploy to get the addicts to spend more money, but it was wrong that they didn't show the interest rate on the application form.

Earlier in the day I went back to my undergrad office to see the admin staff and my old counsellor and she actually asked me if still wanted to do some artwork for one of the computer labs. Last school year, I had suggested that I might want to do some artwork, like 3 giant wall canvases to brighten up the place and I couldn't believe that she remembered! I did a mini photo shoot in the ladies bathroom after we came back from the casino. In Engineering, it used to be a department that was 100% male (now it is 80%). Over time they had to rename some of the mens bathrooms as ladies and subsequently we have urinals in our bathrooms. I had a friend take a picture of me using the urinals in the bathroom and then somehow it evolved into more pictures of all of us using the urinals! Personally, I'd like to used my shots as artwork for the lab. It has a more symbolic and abstract meaning... Empowerment of women in Engineering!