Scooby-Scooby-Doo, Where are You?

Get out your ski's Scooby lovers because winter is back and it's bad. As of last night, I saw my first snow flakes fall. I'm glad to report nothing stayed on the ground, but I'm sure it's a short matter of time until it happens. To coincide with the first snow fall, there was also another first - the first time I had to scrape my windshield. It was a balmy 32 degrees when I woke up and even now it's only 48 outside. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.
-SD

The last couple weeks here at work there's been a tear in the hallway carpet. People kept stumbling over it and finally someone decided that rather than having someone trip, it was better to put a chair over it with a hand written sign saying "Hazard: Carpet is torn." Instead of tripping on a piece of carpet, everyone had to remember to avoid a chair in the middle of the hallway. Then someone with a sense of humor put another sign on the chair, "Hazard: Chair in middle of Hallway." This drew quite a few laughs from people. Finally one of my coworkers called maintenance and got a promise it would be taken care of. So, this morning when I came in it was fixed all right...a couple strips of duct tape had been put over the rip. What is this, the Red Green Show? The moral of this story? Next time something needs fixing at the office, just use some duct tape and do it yourself.
-SD

Wal-mart - the store you love to hate. Most Wal-marts have a nice selection and seem to be in stock on most items, MOST. This is not the case at the Williston Wal-mart. It never has anything! One problem is it's so crowded. I have resorted to only go on weekday evenings after 7pm. Don't even think about trying to go on a weekend. If you're lucky enough to get a spot that's not a half mile away, you'll be spending loads of time waiting in line as everyone in the state of Vermont flocks to this one location. Even on the slowest weekday everything is out of stock. For instance, I went to get some 5W-20 oil last night. For once they actually had some, but there was only 3 quarts left, not enough to change the oil in my car! I'm just plain sick of this happening every time I go there.

Of course the alternative is to find another place to shop. Will that ever happen? Probably not. Target is a far-off runner up (besides the fact that there isn't one in VT) with K-mart so far behind it'd be lucky to see Wally-world's dust. For now I'll continue to fight the crowds, wait in long lines, and spend way too much at the Williston Wal-mart, just like everyone else in the state of Vermont :-)
-SD

As of Saturday, I have hiked all the 4,000 ft mountains in Vermont. Here is a list:

Mt. Mansfield (The Chin) 4,393 ft.
Killington Peak 4,235 ft.
Mt. Ellen 4,083 ft.
Camel's Hump 4,083 ft.
Mt. Abraham 4,006 ft.

Try them for yourself!
-SD

I had a very interesting time hiking Killington on Saturday. Many people know this as the biggest ski resort in the Northeast, but it's also the second highest peak in Vermont. A friend and I braved rain, wind, and generally nasty weather to get to the Bucklin Trail to start our trek to the top. The interesting part of the story came at the first sign we encountered - Bridge out ahead. Apparently a storm back in 2000 washed out a stepping stone bridge across a stream and now there was a "possibility of getting your boots wet." Being the cocky hiker I am, I just ignored it. We hiked a couple miles until we got to this small stream. It wasn't small enough to jump across, but there were a few slippery looking stones scattered around the middle to make it over. My hiking partner scampered across them with no problem. Of course when I went to do the same thing, my foot on the last roof-shaped rock didn't quite catch the right grip and *splash* I was in two feet of water! Talk about embarrassing. After a good sock wringing I hiked the last 5 miles with wet feet, which actually came in handy because it was pouring rain on top of Killington. It was a good hike but next time I'll bring my waders :-)
-SD