So, got to head out to Holiday Valley again. Day started amazing with about 6 inches of fresh snow. Later on it became a more challenging, as the ice underneath was exposed in some areas while the snow started to form piles. This made runs a balance between flopping over snowbanks and occasionally skidding across ice. Maybe it isn't feasible for technical reasons, but it seems like the slopes would be so much better if they groomed them midday. Had a strap break too...which the place charged me $21 to fix, about as much as a ripoff as the $4 apple juice.

Didn't stop it from being an amazing time from start to finish. Early on I decided to try and grab a vid:



For my first experimental attempt, it came out pretty awesome if I say so myself. Learned a bit from it, so next time I'm out I'll be getting some more, and of better quality. Unfortunately, Michelle's attempt to grab one of me turned into a movie of her ear...so you'll just have to assume my run looked amazing.

I'd use that centerpiece too

linky

I wouldn't expect too much from this project though. It isn't mentioned in the article, but they revealed that it is unlikely the project will get anywhere close to Wadsworth, with the focus starting at Main and going west until they run out of money, which they are certain will fairly quickly.

For the first time in at least 5 years, I was able to slide around a mountainside (ok, hillside). Michelle wound up driving us out there, and Tanya met us shortly after. Unfortunately, Tanya hurt herself pretty quickly and had to return to drinking at a cabin (not the worst alternative plan).

I couldn't believe how much I retained after such a long hiatus. I thought for sure I'd stumble the first time getting off the lift, but I didn't have an ounce of difficulty the entire day. Only fell twice while riding, and both were fairly minor. The conditions were pretty close to perfect.

After the first 8+ runs I realized that I could have been tracking my performance. Ran up to the car to get my phone, bought Ski Tracker, which is an awesome app:



I wish I had snagged a screenshot of the map, since it doesn't seem to save that after you end the session. :o( I also wish it pulled out lift/idle times, so I may look around for other apps next time I'm heading out there.



Bonuses of the day:

Phone interview for a position that I'm excited about (though not sure I did all that well...had just removed a way-to-tight ace bandage during the lunch break, and mind wasn't very focused)

And going on a bromantic trip to Florida.

Going to sleep well tonight

So, tomorrow they are meeting to discuss the Allen Street redevelopment:

Along with Elmwood, I think this is one of the areas that has the greatest potential for ROI, and I'm going to try and attend. My thoughts on it below (which involve Wadsworth as well, which is unfortunately not a part of this project and gives me cause for concern). Much of it is geared towards increasing friendliness towards non-vehicular transportation, which I think should be encouraged for a drinking hot-spot.

- Extend bike path from Symphony Circle to Medical campus. This should be obvious, but after the debacle of Main Street, and the existing comments that mention a bike/pedestrian path between Washington and Oak but nothing of Allen, I'm worried the ball will be dropped again.

- Convert the street to one of the following: 1-way single lane (heading east, starting at Symphony Circle), 2-way with parking removed, or pedestrian zone. Seems safe to assume that only the first would be seriously considered.

The first two greatly improve the flow of traffic. Converting to 1-way would help with how difficult it is to use the parking lots adjacent to this street, allowing them to change to diagonal layout with cars reversing out instead of making the 20-point turn to exit going forward.

In the case of a pedestrian zone, Wadsworth could be connected to Days Park.

- Any additional space from the above conversion should be used to expand the sidewalk which is difficult to traverse during busy hours. Brick Bar, Nietzsche, Bend, and Hardware don't help with their patio's, but I doubt anything will be done about this.

- Convert College Street to 1-way going North, Mariner to 1-way going South, Park to 1-way North, and Peart St to 1-way South. The bottleneck created by (presumably) the selfishness of locals to avoid through-traffic creates a nightmare on Allen, and a dangerous environment for non-vehicle traffic.

- Increase bike rack access, hopefully incorporating an artistic theme for the area.

- Depending on some of the above decisions, implementing cobblestone may be beneficial, with elimination of curbs to improve bike/pedestrian travel.

- Extension of curbs at intersections of Delaware and Elmwood, though the latter may be less feasible due to the alignment. I find myself wondering if the Delaware intersection could be converted to a Roundabout considering its size (I can't recall where it becomes a 1-lane street).

- With Food Trucks clearly taking a permanent place in our city, it would be nice if there was a spot set up tailored to this business that would also generate revenue through a reservation system, although the amount of use it would see may not be worth it considering the limited real estate.

- Encouraging, perhaps commissioning, additional street art murals on non-historic buildings

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/swedish_high_school_institutes_gender_neutral_changing_room/

The solution is not to provide a separate space of equal rights, but to eradicate the barrier that is at best inconsequential, but often harmful, and certainly an impediment to progress.

Change the language to change the mental models and behavior.

Remove the barriers to empower all with one stroke.

Safe to say that I have beaten the game. In fairness, I took unfair advantage of the AI's unwillingness to give up and buy the final Province/Colony.



If anyone wants to guess at my game progression though, here are the end decks for each of us (trashing, sadly, is not accounted for).

It's been just over 5 years since Machiko and I ended things. Today was her birthday, and popping on FB to send her a small note turned into a far more emotional event than such a simple gesture should beget.

Each new encounter makes me feel increasingly unable to connect. Five years, a quarter of my adult life, of being alone. Amanda was someone I loved, but as much as I resisted it I still held back because inside I knew that her little Quinn was a piece that I couldn't appreciate as much as she deserved. The growing together, exploring and challenging...I associate these with being human, and this deprivation is taking its toll.

I believe I did the right thing with Machiko. I loved her with all my heart, and still do, but I knew she would always believe that we could have a child, and I could not deny something that I knew she could achieve and thrive at. The justification for this helped me through the wretched emotions I dealt with afterwards.

But less and less do I find myself truly relating to what is happening. A disconnection with reality is something of a fear of mine, and for it to take hold of such a part of my life only amplifies its power over me.

Michaelene recently became both engaged and available to expand our friendship, which was a pretty wonderful potential to realize. Yet with all of this the barriers remain, and my understanding diminishes.

I've always been a relatively independent person, but this is not an intentional extension of that trait. There is something about waking up next to someone and saying 'what should we do today' that dramatically changes my attitude over time, in a way I very much relish. The path out of this is wholly obfuscated.

The one change I've thought of is that I need a roommate on my next move, perhaps even trying to break my lease and expedite this shift. Little things like just hanging out in the afternoon during some generally monotonous activity have a noticeable effect on my state of mind. It seems obvious that there is more that can be done but I find myself at a place of ignorance and apathy; a thoroughly suffocating combination.

I need some help, to the point that I'm not even sure what kind of help to seek. Or perhaps I just need to rant to help diminish this paralysis. I've been able to ignore this much better as of late, but I think this medium might be a good way to get this out and hopefully limit the internal distractions.

Have a good night peeps. I'm glad I stumbled into this place in the world.