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YesThatCasey's Journal

YesThatCasey
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02/18/2014 20:16 #58704

Snowboarding, round 2
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.

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Dianne - 02/20/14 13:37
How awesome Casey!!! I can't wait until next year, I have always wanted to learn snow boarding!! Looks like a lot of fun!
YesThatCasey - 02/20/14 12:46
Oh, I figured it out...I added The Knife music track, which YouTube's scan picked up. Since the labels don't want you to easily listen to it, the vid is blocked on mobile.
YesThatCasey - 02/19/14 14:30
I have no idea what the team behind Youtube's mobile unit is thinking when they make the decisions that they do...something along the lines of:

'Hey....let's ostracize the most rapidly growing user segment across the world'
heidi - 02/19/14 13:39
very cool!! That looks so fun.

I couldn't watch on my phone - says "This video contains content from WMG, EMI, UMG and UMPG Publishing, one or more of whome have blocked it in your country on copyright grounds. Works fine on my laptop. Weird.
YesThatCasey - 02/19/14 09:34
Was holding the phone in my hand, so mostly making an estimate as to where she was, with occasional glances her way. That's part of the reason I stopped filming at that point though, as I didn't want to risk wiping out and destroying my phone.
paul - 02/18/14 23:55
How does that work at the end where you turn around and are facing her instead of forwards.

02/17/2014 12:15 #58699

I know why they chose the lead pic
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.
YesThatCasey - 02/19/14 09:37
lol
tinypliny - 02/19/14 01:43
You were in drag?
mike - 02/18/14 18:31
we have a celebrity in the house!
paul - 02/17/14 20:38
Nice, you look like a very concerned citizen.

02/14/2014 22:03 #58684

Snowboarding
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:

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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.

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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
paul - 02/15/14 22:29
1 week to go.

02/11/2014 12:27 #58670

Allen Street Redux
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
YesThatCasey - 02/11/14 15:42
I thought about including trees in the list, but unless there is a significant increase in walkway size, space is an issue again. Trees are almost always a wise investment, but I think this is one of the few exceptions.

North Street bike lanes make no sense to me. You watch designated lanes to be along main thoroughfares where they get the most use and where mixed traffic is a problem. North could use them on top of Allen, especially considering how perilous that street is to bike on now, but if we are choosing only one Allen is the obvious decision; a sizable number of patrons bike to the area, best demonstrated by it being the starting point for Midnight Mass. As always though, it's the cultural problem in our area, where business insiders live on the false impression that bike traffic doesn't generate business.

Time is the only obstacle to my attendance. If you find yourself able to join just gimmie a shout.
joe - 02/11/14 12:40
Are you going? I wish I could!

I feel like bike lanes are going to be a no west of Main, since this year they are redoing North and adding bike lanes from the circle to Ellicott. :::link::: Business owners would probably scream about parking too.

I definitely agree with you about wider sidewalks though. All of the sidewalks and curbs are in such terrible shape, it's almost embarassing they would let a destination like Allen get like that. They should really change the code to allow patios without the fences, they take up so much space and make the sidewalk a lot less flexible.

I think sturdier, medium sized shade trees would be really nice too. The twigs the city plant get killed by cars, salt and people and end up never being replaced.

12/18/2013 20:18 #58466

Sporty Bling Bear!?

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joe - 12/20/13 16:34
Wow for real - those glasses seem like a perfect match.