Maybe I'm High Maintenance?

In my sales meeting today, our DOSM (that's Director of Sales and Marketing, for those of you not in the biz) asked each of us to fill out a short survey about ourselves for our Secret Santa ('tis the season for awkward work parties and gift exchanges!). The survey had the following listed on it:

Name:
Favorite Color:
Favorite Candy:
Favorite Soft Drink:
Favorite Magazine:
Favorite Coffee:

Without thinking, I answered with the following:

Name: Stacey
Favorite Color: White
Favorite Candy: Lara Bars
Favorite Soft Drink: Kombucha Tea (GTS)
Favorite Magazine: National Geographic Adventure
Favorite Coffee: Bongo Billy's Red Tea

After I actually started thinking about my answers, I realized that not only would my Secret Santa kick my booty, but that I am kind of high maintenance (we'll call it medium maintenance). I can't just have Starbucks (which I HATE by the way, big coffee burns beans!) I have to have a specialty tea from a small Colorado Mountain town with a population less than 2,000 people! And I don't drink soft drinks, so I want a tea made from fermented mushrooms. I also don't want just an InStyle that can be found on any news stand, I like to read a magazine that sometimes can't even be found in larger/specialty bookstores. I can't just have a pack of M&Ms, I like raw vegan bars that can only be found at Whole Foods here in Bham.

So I refilled out the Secret Santa Survey and turned it in. It ended up looking like this:

Name: Stacey
Favorite Color: White
Favorite Candy: M&Ms
Favorite Soft Drink: Diet Coke
Favorite Magazine: Real Simple
Favorite Coffee: Hot Tea

So there it is...the most boring Secret Santa Survey on the planet...my first one was way more exciting. We are having a Christmas party in 2 weeks, I think I might be Jewish that day.

Birthdays and Snowboards

So today is my 28th birthday. All day long I have been berated by my younger brother with comments asking me how it feels to be 30. It's been an okay day. I have learned in my now 28 years that it is not the presents or material things that matter, but the people in my life that I really want to talk to when my birthday comes around. I have had many happy birthday wishes today and am very appreciative of them, but a few friends that I would have expected to call first thing in the morning have not. I blame my parents for this, as a Thanksgiving Birthday is not the easiest to remember. Not the end of my world, but made me a little upset, thus setting the mood for the encounter today...

Two and a half weeks ago I drop off my snowboard to get tuned and have store wax put on it (a thicker wax applied when you won't be riding your board for an extended time). I took it to Steep and Deep in Homewood. I should have been suspicious when I dropped it off with specific instructions and the retail associate looked at me like I had 3 heads. I explained to her my expectations and asked if it would be possible to have this done and she said it would be fine. I also asked when it would be done, I was told next week.

Two weeks go by and I stop in Wednesday. Guess what, it wasn't done. I expressed my frustration as it had been well over a week from when it should have been done. I was then told the tuner would be in on Friday and should be done then. Fine.

I called today, since I was in the area to see if it was done and was told that it was not. Now I'm just plain mad. I told the sales clerk not to worry about it and that I would be over to pick it up and would wax it myself. I pull up to the store and go in and the guy from the phone tells me that they went ahead and started on it and it should be done in 5 minutes. Now I'm just pissed. There's not much I can do now that the board is 1/2 waxed, so I let them finish.

The manager of the store never says anything, but I see her send over this younger college kid to talk to me. I guess his job was to settle me down, but he sucked at it. He asks me if I am planning a ski trip, I let him know my situation and that I am planning on storing my board for the season. He then starts telling me about how he is about to move to Telluride and elaborates on how it is one of the last untouched ski towns, mentions how he supports the Valley Floor Preservation, blah, blah. I then ask him about where he is planning on working, as I do have several hotel/retail connections. He replies that his dad (who is a home builder in Bham) is going to start a branch of his company developing homes in Telluride. Seriously? Was he here for the conversation 10 seconds ago? I felt like I was talking to a politician, all about the conservation, but making sure you are taken care of foremost. Secondly, like that's going to work, does he think the two markets are ANYTHING alike? I have a feeling that this kid will be disappointed with life in about 10 years. Anyway, 5 minutes turned into 20, I get more upset by the minute, and 25 minutes later, I finally got my board back. I let the manager know that her customer satisfaction skills are completely inadequate and I will not be returning. For all of the curious readers out there, I ride a Burton Feather 154. Here's a picture:

Lessons for the day:
1. Do not get your snowboard waxed in a town that has less than 1 inch of snowfall annually.
2. If you have a birthday that falls near a major holiday, don't have any expectations for your friends. It's not fair for them.
3. No matter what your age, your siblings are the only people on the planet that can reduce you to acting like a 10 year old in 2 seconds flat.

Words to a song I like...

I was listening to this song today and forgot how much I love it.

Useless Desire
Say goodbye to the old street
That never cared much for you anyway
And the different colored doorways
You thought would let you in one day
Goodbye to the old bus stop, frozen and waiting
The weekend edition has this town way over-rated

You walk across a baseball field
The grass has turned to straw
A flock of birds tries to fly away from where you are
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye old friend
I can't make you stay
I can't spend another ten years
Wishing you would anyway

How the sky turns to fire against the telephone wire
And even I'm getting tired of useless desires

Every day I take a bitter pill it gets me on my way
For the little aches and pains
The ones I have from day to day
To help me think a little less about the things I miss
To help me not to wonder how I ended up like this

I walk down to the railroad track and ride a rusty train
With a million other faces I shoot through the city veins
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye old friend
You wanted to be free
Somewhere beyond the bitter end is where I wanna be

How the sky turns to fire against the telephone wire
And even I'm getting tired of useless desires

Say goodbye to the old building
That never tried to know your name
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye old friend
You won't be seeing me again
Goodbye to all the window panes shining in the sun
Like diamonds on a winter day
Goodbye, goodbye to everyone

How the sky turns to fire against a telephone wire
It burns the last of the day down

And I'm the last one hanging around
Waiting on a train track and the train never comes back
And even I'm getting tired of useless desires

Patty Griffin, Impossible Dream

Am I in a Bad Dream?

So the new Patty Griffin tour dates are up and the closest she comes to Birmingham is Knoxville/Asheville the weekend of January 11-14. I'll be in Denver for another show that weekend. Fantastic.

AND...to top it off, today is the opening day of Vail (yes, I am dressed in all black). I have installed the interactive snow report for Vail Resorts on my computer. When it's snowing in Vail, it snows in the bottom right-hand corner of my computer. It's snowed all morning. 6 inches fell last night and I'm not there. I'm not feeling too thankful right now.

UPDATE: After talking to several friends in the High Country, I realized that if I was in Vail I would not be up on the hill. I have NEVER gone up on opening day. Born Free is the only run that is ever open on the first day and 10 bazillion people are trying to ride or make turns down it. It is lovingly referred to as the "Ribbon of Death." It is a serious yard sale or a trip to the ER waiting to happen. It must be the excitement of opening day that I miss.

Shout Out...

I just finished reading Beeej's blog and had to give a shout out. Bryan Johnson is a college friend/Birmingham photographer phenom that I have mentioned before in the blog. He is currently in South Africa with Hanson/Tom's Shoes handing out shoes to kids in different schools. His stuff is pretty amazing, check it out.

Painting Southtown..

Yesterday I had the privilege of volunteering down in the Southtown Community of Birmingham. My QuEST girls and headed down and were able to help revitalize a mural that was painted over 30 years ago. Part of this mural is visible from University Boulevard and the other part is actually back in the neighborhood. We were fortunate enough to be able to paint back into the neighborhood and were able to talk with families. There was one child in particular that approached us and wanted to help paint. He name was DeMun (Mun for short). Mun decided that he wanted to paint our faces, so we let him! Here are a few pictures...