For the past 4 months I've been dealing with unidentified allergies that have left my sinuses ravaged, my head hurting and my balance questionable. Considering how quickly said allergies came on and the fact that the symptoms weren't the typical sneezing,watery red eyes that I usually associate with allergies, I was loathe to accept the notion that drugs might help. After testing a fair few I found one that worked enough to relieve the weird headaches, but I didn't like the idea of having to rely on them for the indefinite future.
I was reminded of the neti pot through an esthetician who gave me a facial recently. While I recall it having had its 15 minutes of fame on Oprah, I'd never given it serious thought. By then I was willing to give nearly anything a try. So I bought myself a plastic version that's got none of the clean design of the pretty (though pricey) ceramic ones. It was an experiment, one that happened to turn out well. Though I can't profess to enjoying pouring warm saline solution through my nose, it has worked for me, and I've not had any recurring symptoms for nearly a month.
However that might change, since I cannot use said neti pot for the indefinite future. My lovely, sweet, generous boyfriend kindly passed on his cold/flu/malaise to me this week, and while he had maybe a half day of sniffles, my sinuses have shut down completely. There's no chance that anything - air, warm saline solution, the Pope - will be getting through these babies for awhile. Suffice to say I'm now experiencing those odd 'allergy induced' symptoms again, along with the inability to talk normally and not sound like a heavy breathing creep on the phone.
And yes, this makes me an even more pleasant person to be around right now.
I just got off the phone with REI for the second time today. While their customer service has never been stellar, it's reached a whole new level of ineptitude today. Apparently they don't *always* honor sale prices, as I learned the hard way. On January 31st I placed an order during their clearance sale for a handful of items, a few of which were on backorder. I wasn't worried, and in speaking to REI about another item last week, there was no indication of issues. In fact I was told the items were boxed up and ready to be shipped.
So this morning's emails came as a bit of a surprise. REI sent me 3 separate missives essentially indicating that "Oops, we screwed up, and that price on the sale item you bought during our sale wasn't correct." Unlike many other retailers that would swallow that loss in the name of good customer service and retention, these tards decided to give me the option of paying full price (!?!?) - or paying full price. Apparently I was supposed to be calmed by the notion of a coupon valid for 20% off a single item (valid for a whopping 60 days). 'Scuse me?
Calls to REI's 'customer service' department were not much more successful. Apparently customer care is a misnomer within the organization, as I was informed by a nice lower-level manager that this 'glitch' was big enough to affect REI's entire bottom line, and essentially that the greater good was more important. She could generously offer me the cost rate for the items I thought I ordered, which was 2-3x the price I thought I was paying.
In today's current economic environment, it's amazing that REI is so cavalier about customer retention. Outdoor retailers, both local and online, are a dime a dozen in my world, and given this example, it's obvious that the only differentiation that REI provides is one of (in selective cases, naturally) price. And that's not always guaranteed.
Think I'll be sending more of my business to my local shops along with my standbys - Sierra Trading Post and Backcountry.com.
And don't come back some other day.
This latest storm system has come in wet and warm, a real pineapple express. While a few resorts are crowing about their 'top to bottom snow' (I'm talking to you, Kirkwood), even that's borderline snain/sleet at the bottom of the mountain. Yesterday's foray to Kirkwood was quite the test of our ski clothes waterproofness. My bitchen new Holden jacket held up well, but my beloved Patagonia drop seat pants failed miserably. And with N still fighting this 'malaise' and with me feeling on the cusp of catching it, we didn't stay long. Instead we spent the afternoon re-waterproofing and drying out ski gear. Fun!!
So it's with a bit of nostalgia that I'm looking at my photos from Saturday, when I skied Jake's Peak again with friends (minus N, who was not well enough to slog up 2,000 feet on skis). We hit things early before the clouds arrived, and it was the perfect Tahoe winter day - blue sky, powder snow and sunshine. Even bumped into a friend on the descent (it's kind of a popular backcountry location what with its awesome views and easy roadside access). <sigh>
I know winter will return at least once more. I'd just like to see it stick around longer than a week.
Yesterday I noticed a small bump on the dog's head, next to her right ear. It seemed to have appeared suddenly, as that spot is an area where I tend to pet her, and hadn't noticed it earlier. A quick inspection showed it was indeed a skin bump (versus a tick or other sort of insect). I did what I do when I have any sort of question - I went to Google. According to a pet site that came up for 'dog bumps on head', Soleil either has acne, an abscess, a cyst - or cancer.
Dog acne? I must admit that's the first time I've heard of that. And given Soleil's 56 years old now, if indeed it's nothing more than a zit, it's arrived a bit late for her teenage years.
Stop walking in my freshly cut cross-country ski tracks. It ruins it for me when I try to ski back in what now resembles the aftermath of a bull run, forcing me to cut a completely new track thanks to your retardedness.
Isn't the point of snowshoes to make YOUR OWN tracks? If it's really that difficult for you then maybe you SHOULDN'T be ruining it for the others.
Thanks for getting your head out of your ass. Oh, and while your at it, stop letting your dog crap in the tracks as well.
Sincerely,
TG
Actually, winter came back to Tahoe last week, and has stuck around a bit longer this time. Today was the first proper bluebird sunshine day we've had in nearly a week, and I'm guessing a ton of people called in sick today to ski. I prefer storm days for the relative lack of crowds (and free refills) so I hit Sierra-at-Tahoe yesterday morning to 'product test' the 10 or so inches of new snow. It, like many of the Tahoe ski resorts, saw 5 feet of new snow over the past 7 days.
I've learned that it's essential to make the most of the snow when it comes because it's never guaranteed when the next storm will be.
However in this case there is more snow forecast for this weekend, so I'll be keeping my phat boards in easy reach.
So the Joy of Cooking is not an infallible resource for me, as I learned this weekend. The chocolate souffle's did not turn out, which I am blaming entirely on every one of those 6,200 feet above sea level. While they were very chocolaty (thanks to my decadent use of a Lindt 85% bar since I had no baking chocolate), the Joy of Cooking recipe ended up being more akin to a well-cooked molten lava cake than anything else. Tasty, but definitely not the fluffy souffle I was aiming for.
The meal was not all lost, however, as my attempt at a caramelized onion and Gorgonzola pizza turned out pretty tasty. Very rich, even with a sparing use of Gorgonzola (Parmesan was also used to keep it cheesy). That plus chocolate made for a very gourmand type of Hallmark holiday this weekend.
This past week I headed down to the Bay Area for a search engine marketing conference to which I had won a free pass. It was one of those events that cost enough to make it impossible for my small company to justify, so it was an opportunity that trumped all the fresh snow that finally returned to the region. While I was more than thrilled to see the return to winter, I was admittedly bummed about missing the powder turns.
No matter. I learned a lot at the event, both in terms of content and the culture of search engine marketers. Based upon the people I saw there, search doesn't have the same sexy cachet as other elements of marketing (like advertising). In some ways it's almost more of a field related to computer/information technology due to the technical aspects. As such there were a ton of young guys tending toward that pallor that indicates a life spent indoors, who definitely veered towards the nerdy side of the spectrum. Great people watching to be sure, but I didn't stick around for any of the so-called social events (even if there were free drinks provided by Google), as I figured it would resemble the awkward junior high moments I remembered from my magnet school days.
Instead I spent some quality time with my brother & sister-in-law, who live less than 10 miles from the Santa Clara Convention Center. As fellow foodies, they ensured I ate (and drank) well while there, including some killer chocolate souffles that I'm going to try and replicate tonight at 6200 feet.
I doubt they'll turn out quite as photogenic, but N was jealous when I emailed him the photo so I figured it's a Valentine's Day penance meal.
Overall the trip to the South Bay was interesting and informative, but despite the fact that my brother's there, and I can find cheap nail salons and useful food stores like Trader Joe's, I'll take the mountains any day.
