Boxing Day madness

On Boxing Day I had a couple flights out in Cochrane - finally!

Admittedly, I haven't been making a huge effort to get out there, but when I have called the windtalker, the news was usually less than ideal.

Greg was out there from Vancouver, and did a crazy crosswind/downwind launch that left me pretty much speechless. I was kinda trash talking him for fun telling him that launching in basically northwest winds was impossible, but man, he proved me wrong! It was kinda funny to watch, but he got off the hill without much difficulty. Someday I'll pull one of those off too.

The two launches that I did were, well, crappy! I don't usually botch my launches, but man, I really sucked! I really need to make more of an effort to get out to Cochrane to practice more often, that's for sure.

When I finally did inflate my glider, I had a couple flights that were pretty decent. I made myself kinda nauseous during my first flight as I kept looking up at my wing, making sure it looked okay. It was kinda stupid, as even if there was something wrong with it, there's not much you can do when you're already flying. But hey, it was great to see that Keith's inspection of my glider proved to be correct - my Santana is fine.

On my second flight I landed precisely where I wanted to - at the end of the truck runaway lane...yay! It was a fun afternoon. I hope the snow melts so I can do it again.

A month until the Dominican...wow, time is passing by fast. It's going to be so much fun and a great experience too. Until then, mow money, mow money, mow money!

My wing will fly again

My glider passed Keith's inspection last week, and got the thumbs up to fly again. Apparently the brown marks on the lines were simply dirt, which is certainly nothing to worry about. My reserve was repacked, and my glider is now home with me, ready to be airborne. What a relief!


Nothing really new lately paragliding-wise. I booked my flights to the Dominican, and although I'll be flying ultra-cheap, I'll have 7 takeoffs and landings to deal with. Add to that a couple nights in Tampa, and the fun begins. Actually, I decided to spend a day checking out Busch Gardens, so seeing a bit of Florida will be really nice. A pet peeve of mine is "passing though" places without getting a chance to do even a bit of exploring. I'm sure Florida will be beautiful.

Ever since I moved to Calgary, I just can't seem to get into the holiday spirit. I think it partially has to do with snow and anticipation; in Winnipeg there was nothing to do, so the countdown to Christmas began quite early. Besides that, plenty of snow on the ground made things seem more "Christmassy". Out here, other than people scrambling last minute to buy gifts, the Christmas season doesn't seem as apparent. Oh well, I guess I'm not any better. And hey, I'm a happy camper if Santa acknowledges the fact I've been good this year, and brings me the only thing I requested: Jocky Sanderson's Performance Flying.

A month and 2 weeks until my trip - I'll be sure to make this trip better, and safer than my last. Merry Christmas!

I'm happy to be an optimist

So, things are better...much better lately. I had the week from hell after my trip, but hey, when life sucks, it usually gets worse, but then eventually things start to turn around.

I spent the last week making sure to have fun, which I definitely did. I know I did a lot of partying in Lanzarote, but I felt I needed some, North-American style. It's been a good week, but man, where the hell has the time gone? I just about died when I realized today was December 10. People have started saying "Merry Christmas", while meanwhile I figured Christmas was like 3 weeks away. It's very strange when you don't have an accurate sense of time.

So I guess I have to start Christmas shopping! I swear, the older I get, the worse I become at getting this kind of stuff done. Thankfully I have a couple gift ideas that do not involve being enveloped by cranky mall crowds, so that's a plus.

I met a French paragliding pilot on a ski lift at Nakiska yesterday - what are the chances??? Nice guy - he's been flying for 10 years, gives tandems, and also teaches. He hasn't flown in Canada yet, but I promised I'd call him next time I go out. Life explained using statistics would make no mathematical sense.

Apparently my wing is okay, including the lines. I'm going to make a huge effort to get out to Cochrane and groundhandle the thing to make sure. I haven't seen my baby fly since my accident and I want to see her in the air again! I will find time for this...hopefully the wind will be kind over the next week or two.

I need to book my flight to the Dominican...yeesh, I hate booking airline tickets. I might have found a super-cheap way of getting there, but it does involve getting on 3 planes, with lots of travel time. We'll see - I have to make some phone calls tomorrow. Tee hee, only 1.5 months until another paragliding adventure trip!

Man, I gotta survive the next couple weeks at the casino. Most of the time I don't mind work...in fact, I have a lot of fun. But man, some of the shifts I gotta work just plain suck! The longer I work there, the more I hear about work politics and conflicts. I'm so not interested in that shit. I wish people were nicer to one another, I really do. Oh well, it's just a job - you go there to make money, and distance yourself from the issues you don't care to hear about or be a part of. Those folks sure are great at partying though! Maybe they should try paragliding so they'd realize being dicks won't get them far.

I think I should go to bed now...working at 10AM blows.