IHATEUTA

I dropped my car off at a shop by the new soccer stadium on 94th and State to get fixed this morning

I figured I'd be able to take a bus up 94th South to my parents house or to catch a ski bus to Snowbird or get breakfast at Village Inn

There are no bus stops between State St. and 700 East

There are bus stops between 700 East and Highland Drive

Buses don't go by the stops on 94th South

It takes 2 hours to walk from State to Highland with occasional optimistic stops at bus stops

The Village Inn on 94th and Highland is conveniently closed

Good to find out after you've walked 20 blocks to get there

Luckily the bus that runs by my parents house was actually running

I ate waffles and bacon at my parents house

It was better than Village Inn and it was free

The car repair was cheaper than I thought it would be

That was good

My mom gave me a ride back to the repair shop so I wouldn't have to walk

What did you do this weekend? I went to Jackson

So on Thursday I found out that some of my friends were going up to Jackson Hole for the weekend and they told me that they had room in the car for me if I wanted to go. I'd never skied Jackson before so I definitely wanted to go. On top of that they were staying at Caitlin's cousin's guest house right by the resort so I'd have a free place to stay. I was waiting to hear back from a job interview but on Friday around one I decided to just go. I crammed into the backseat of Dan's Tacoma with Caitlin and Dan and Courtney sat up front. The ride up wasn't bad, just a normal road trip until we were about 2 hours from Jackson. We were driving through a canyon going about 60 cause the roads had been good when we hit a huge patch of black ice. We started fishtailing with a rock wall on one side of the road and a drop off that we couldn't see the bottom of on the other. After fishtailing all over we started sliding sideways and I just thought, "Please don't hit a dry spot". We ended up doing a 360 and sliding off the road and stopping in a snowbank. We were all pretty happy that the only thing that happened was us taking out a few reflector posts. There was also a truck right behind us with a tow strap so we were back on the road in 5 minutes. It definitely made the ride more interesting. We got to Jackson around midnight and the guesthouse we were at was so cool. It's 5 minutes from the resort but super secluded in the woods.

It had finally snowed about 8" but there was super hard crust underneath so it took a bit for the snow to get good. Once we figured out what faces to ski it was a blast. I wish I had a couple weeks to ski there and see all the awesome terrain they have.

We got back to the house around 11pm to find a truck blocking the lane to the guesthouse so we went to see if one of Caitlin's cousin's friends could move it. We pulled into their driveway where there were about 10 of them. They turned around and we just stared. They all had their faces painted, kind of like war paint, kind of like clowns etc. They were getting ready to have a bonfire of about 20 Christmas trees they had rounded up so we decided to stick around. They had bought a couple different types of gas to see what burned best. They dumped it all on the pile of trees and lit a flaming arrow. They shot it at the trees but it came up short an nothing lit. They dumped more gas on and then shot the arrow again. It landed in the trees but nothing lit. So they ran up and started messing around and one of the guys actually jumped in the pile of trees, and then the pile lit up. He jumped out but we were just standing there thinking what a stupid move that was.

We left this morning to come home and the closer we got to Salt Lake the harder it began to snow. So here I am, back in SLC with 20" of powder but so happy I got to go up to Jackson.

So the reality of not having to go to school still hasn't completely set in. I still get home and feel like I have homework to do, then I realize I can just relax. The problem is that I've spent way to much time in my house lately, seen to many movies and spent to much time on Facebook. At least now I get to start getting out. Jackson Hole this weekend, Telluride in a week and a half, Oregon, Washington and BC in March. It'll be nice to get out. The thing is that I'm pretty broke after school but I think that's what makes it more fun. You bum rides and find couches, floors and parking garages to sleep in. You get to meet interesting and sometimes crazy people hitching rides up and down the canyon. You realize you don't need half the stuff you have and sell it to pay for trips. There are a few other trips and stuff that will hopefully work out so hopefully these next few months will be some of the best ever.

Barrack The Rock Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know you're big time when there's stuff like this for sale




Hands down one of the worst commercials ever made

http://www.victoryplate.com/

The Dream continues

School started on Monday, I didn't have to go

My clutch went out on my car

Me and Caitlin had a crazy time towing the car to the dealership

The repair wasn't cheap

Good thing it's easy to hitch hike in the canyon

My new job isn't to bad

Getting tips for pulling people's car out of the snow is awesome

The mountains are possibly even prettier at night

I just saw a website for skis that cost $12,000 and $19,000
http://www.carradanskis.com/

Those cost more than I do

Those cost almost as much as college did

The best skis I've ever had cost $800 and were custom, AND had my name on them

I just found another set up for $67,000
http://www.luxury-insider.com/Current_Affairs/post/2008/10/Limited-Edition-Lacroix-Courchevel-Exclusive-Skiing-Kit.aspx

Thats more than my MBA will cost

Mexico

So I got back from Mexico last night after spending a week and a half there. I went down with my family to help build a school in a little mountain village thats kind of far away from everything. I have been alot of places and done alot of things but this was one of the coolest/funnest things I've ever done in my life. We went to Pajalton Bajo which is in the middle of the mountains on Southern Mexico in Chiappas. The town has an elementary that we stayed in but the nearest middle school in an hours walk away so many kids don't go, even less go to high school and the first 2 to go to college just finished their first semester. We had 3 and a half days to build the school, a soccer field and 5 stoves for houses where people cook over open fires everyday. The town was so excited they threw a huge welcome party for us on Monday and then we got to work. We got the main part of the school built in a day and a half but it took the rest of the week to get the bathrooms and a few other things put in. The soccer field was for a kid's eagle project and was really cool because the town flattened out a piece of land by the school which was a major undertaking because there is literally no flat land in the area and it took 2 weeks for an excavator to clear the land. The stoves are being put in because the women cook over open fires all day and are breathing the smoke. They also strap their babies on their backs so they are also breathing the smoke. They still cook with fire but it's in the stove and a chimney takes the smoke outside. I got to help build one in a 70 year old house made out of mud bricks and a thatched roof. It belongs to a 90 year old guy named Domingo who we called John Wayne cause he was just awesome. On Friday the governess of Chiappas came to see the school and the stoves and she stopped in to see Domingo's. She was excited to see the improvements in the village and told us about some more initiatives that the government is starting to help people in the region. Thats just a brief overview of the whole trip but if you want to know more let me know. Here's a list of things I learned or experienced.

Never let a pregnant vegetarian plan your meals

Things in the mountains of southern Mexico are very old fashioned as evidenced by:
-Men run everything in the village
-When teenagers steal they are publicly flogged

You can live 70 years in a house made of mud

Montezuma's Revenge absolutely destroys people

The Mexican police force has an enforcement department and a prevention department. Neither does anything.